Page 71 - 2018 Western Amateur Commemerative Program—Skokie Ridge Country Club

WGA_Program_2018_V5__ 6/28/2018 3:43 PM Page 69

In August of 1972, Jim Jamieson
finished second to Gary Player at the
PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
In 1973, he placed third in the Masters.
Jamieson would later be named the
Director of Golf at the Greenbrier
Resort in West Virginia, a position
formerly held by Sam Snead.
THE WINNING CADDIE
Jamieson’s caddie was Thomas
“Moose” Phillips, who was going into
his senior year at Glenbrook North
High School. Tom served as caddie
manager Tony Battistello’s assistant Jim Jamieson holds the George R. Thorne Trophy alongside Brent Musburger of CBS Sports.
and was the club’s top-ranked caddie.
memories for being on the winning bag on the financial success of the
This position allowed Tom to skip the
in the Western Open. Tom’s research tournament, 250 young caddies would
lottery and select any top player in the
didn’t stop with PGA TOUR players. be going to college on full four-year
field. He bypassed all of them to use
He would graduate with honors from Evans Scholarships. He also noted that
his #1 pick to select Jim Jamieson, a
Indiana University, followed by a PhD better weather on Thursday and Friday
relatively unknown newcomer to
from Northwestern. Since 1986, Tom would have made for record-breaking
the PGA Tour.
Phillips has served as Professor and attendance and also that the club
Young Tom Phillips chose Jamieson Chair of Biological Sciences at the grounds and clubhouse had handled
based on the recommendation of his University of Missouri. the “onslaught” beautifully.
older brother Bobby, a former SRCC
The Western Open moved south to
caddy who had seen Jamieson finish THE SUN SETS
third at The Masters a few months ON THE WESTERN OPEN Midlothian Country Club in 1973
and then to Butler National in west
earlier. Bobby was in Augusta at the The final four-day Western Open
suburban Oak Brook from 1974–1990.
invitation of former SRCC Assistant attendance totaled nearly 58,000
From 1991–2011 the tournament was
Pro David Spencer who was Co-Head spectators, all of whom would enter
held at Cog Hill in far south suburban
Professional (from 1967–2004) at and leave the club premises through
Lemont, where it was renamed the
Augusta National. Both Bobby and the “Techny gate” west of the second
BMW Championship in 2007.
David believed that Jamieson’s putting and sixth holes.
mastery at Augusta would serve him In 2013, the PGA TOUR returned
Sunset Ridge’s total tournament
well on Sunset Ridge’s fast-paced to the North Shore when the BMW
attendance was just shy of the
greens during the Western Open. Championship was played at
Western’s record attendance at the
Conway Farms in Lake Forest. This
Based on his brother Bobby’s Augusta time, set at Olympia Fields in 1968.
marked the first PGA TOUR stop in
scouting report, Tom selected Jamieson The blustery and chilly conditions
Chicago’s northern suburbs since
with his #1 pick. This led to much kept fans and players bundled up on
Sunset Ridge hosted the Western
bewilderment and head scratching to Thursday and Friday and affected both
Open 41 years earlier.
those in and out of the caddie house. scoring and attendance for the first two
That only increased after Jamieson’s days. Warmer weather arrived for the Every June Sunset Ridge
stunning win over an established field. weekend and this helped attendance commemorates its only PGA Tour
surge to 17,000 on Saturday and nearly visit with Western Open Day when
Tom would receive 5 percent of Jim
20,000 for Sunday’s final round. members play the rerouted holes with
Jamieson’s first-place winnings and
pin placements from the final day of
earn $1,500 (nearly $9,000 in 2018 Club President Gordon Anderson
the 1972 Western Open.
dollars) along with a lifetime of reported to the membership that based
2018 WESTERN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP History of Sunset Ridge Country Club 69