BLOOMINGTON — Ben Kilborn knows the routine of playing in a Bloomington-Normal Golf Association event. Go to the course where the tourney will be held, fill out the same old form, pick a tee time and pay a fee.
When he took over as BNGA president last year, Kilborn thought there must be a better and easier way. In other words, he wanted to take the BNGA into “the modern age” with the technology everyone uses daily.
After working with long-time BNGA president Mike Henry last year and seeing how things operated, Kilborn is putting his stamp on the organization in 2023 by going digital.
Kilborn and the BNGA are partnering with Golf Genius and its app to make signing up and playing in tournaments more convenient than ever.
“You can sign up from your couch to play the tournament versus I have to get to Ironwood today to sign up and it’s across town,” said Kilborn.
The Golf Genius app won’t only be used for signing up for tournaments. It will be a golfer’s scorecard during the event and provide “Live Scoring” so everyone in the field knows where they stand along with a traditional scoreboard to post scores afterwards.
“I can think of instances in my career in different events I would have loved to know where I was with four holes to go and maybe played a little differently,” said Kilborn, who played at University High School and Western Illinois.
Golfers will need to be registered, which is for free, with the Golf Genius app to sign up for tournaments. Kilborn has the emails of those who participated in last year’s Two-Man Best Position and already has 50 golfers registered with the first event in May.
Kilborn said he’ll be able to send out email blasts letting golfers know when sign up begins for tournaments instead of relying on golfers seeing flyers on a clubhouse wall somewhere.
To pay the $1,500 yearly fee for the Golf Genius app, Kilborn has secured four sponsors for different tournaments — Koth Gregory & Nieminski Law Firm, Accuval Group Home Inspections, Prairie Dermatology and Mounce Automotive. Each organization will be displayed on the tournament they sponsor on the Golf Genius Web page.
Kilborn knows there will be “some headaches and heartaches” in the first year getting used to the Golf Genius app. However, he firmly believes it will “help grow the game in Central Illinois and Bloomington-Normal.”
“I’ve been using this a lot (in other tournaments),” said Kilborn. “I’ve had frequent calls with Golf Genius. They’re helping me build the website and build the tournaments. They will be there to support me and I’ll be there to support them.”
New event
The BNGA season will begin with a new event replacing The Interclub.
The Four Ball Championship, which uses the better ball of two-man teams, will be held May 13 at Ironwood Golf Course. It will not only feature the typical gross division, but also a net division using handicaps.
“I’ve played in a lot of gross/net events. The team aspect is really fun,” said Kilborn. “You don’t have to be perfect. There is no net championship in any (other BNGA) event. I wanted to let the higher handicappers have a chance.”
The Four Ball also will be open to women and professionals (only one pro per team). Trophies for the gross and net division champions will be named in honor of the last two BNGA presidents, Elston Mitchell and Henry.
Kilborn hopes the Four Ball will draw at least 40-50 teams the first year and be a suitable replacement for The Interclub.
“It went from a cool two-day event with the best players in town competing, but the past few years (some clubs) couldn’t field a team,” said Kilborn. “It was hard to find six people willing to play in it. No one seemed to know who won or cared.”
The Four Ball will be the first tourney to register golfers with the Golf Genius app. It will be followed by the City Match Play (June 3-11 at The Den at Fox Creek), Two-Man Best Position (July 7-16 at Prairie Vista), Medal Play (Aug. 5-6 at Weibring Golf Club and Crestwicke Country Club) and the Parent-Child (Aug. 12-13 at Highland Park and The Links at Ireland Grove).
The Junior City has seen declining participation in recent years with the explosion of youth golf tournaments and will be discontinued.
“If there is an outpouring in the community to have this back I’m more than happy to do that,” said Kilborn. “But if I see three or four people in the event, I don’t see why we should do it.”
State Am back at BCC
The 92nd Illinois State Amateur Championship will be played for a record ninth time July 20-22 at Bloomington Country Club.
The 6,600-yard tree-lined BCC layout has stood the test of time. When the State Am came to BCC in 2018, 6-foot-8 Jordan Hahn of Spring Grove shot 3-under-par 277 to edge Rob Wuethrich of Bloomington by a stroke for the title.
State Farm Youth Classic
The 21st State Farm Youth Classic for golfers ages 3-22 is set for June 26-27 at six Bloomington-Normal courses.
Registration is underway at www.theyouthclassic.com.
PHOTOS: Day 1 of the IHSA State Boys Golf Tournament in Bloomington-Normal
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Contact Jim Benson at (309) 820-3404. Follow him on Twitter: @Pg_Benson