The Illinois Women's Open is a three-day, 54-hole state championship of golf administered by the Chicagoland Golf Publishing Company of Naperville, Illinois, and the non-profit Chicago Friends of Golf.
The tournament, founded in 1995 by Chicagoland Golf editor and publisher Phil Kosin, is open to female-at-birth professionals and amateurs age 17 and over who reside within the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Special age and residency exemptions are also considered.
The traditional dates of the Illinois Women's Open are the Thursday, Friday and Saturday immediately following the week of the British Open in late July. The IWO championship field is limited to the top 84 players, and a qualifying round to determine the final field is scheduled if needed. The event's home course is the upland links-style Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, Illinois, designed by Ray Hearn.
Each year's champion has her name added to the Elaine Rosenthal Memorial Trophy, which honors one of Chicago's and the nation's early women's golf pioneers. Rosenthal played in many championships in the late 1910s through the mid-1930s, representing the Chicago area and playing out of Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood, Illinois. She volunteered her services as part of "The Dixie Kids" a foursome of talented teenage golfers who barnstormed the United States in 1917–18 playing exhibition matches. Those charity matches marked the first time in the history of golf that spectators paid for tickets to watch a golf event. In this case, the money raised went to the American Red Cross to buy medical supplies for use on the battlefields of Europe. Equally remarkable are the identities of the four teens: Rosenthal and Alexa Stirling were the women; Perry Adair and Bobby Jones were the men.
Tournament hosts
- 1995–1998 Odyssey Golf Course, Tinley Park, Illinois
- 1999–2021 Mistwood Golf Club, Romeoville, Illinois
Winners
| Year | Champion | Winning score | Low amateur | Low professional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Tristyn Nowlin | 208 (−8) | Crystal Wang 212 (−4) | |
| 2020 | Canceled | |||
| 2019 | Jessica Porvasnik | 211 (−5) | Monica Kaho Matsubara 212 (−4) | |
| 2018 | Hannah Kim | 200 (−16) | Tristyn Nowlin 206 (−10) | |
| 2017 | Alexandra Farnsworth (a) | 208 (−8) | Samantha Postillion 211 (−5) Vivian Tsui 211 (−5) | |
| 2016 | Stephanie Miller (a) | 207 (−9) | Embur Schuldt | |
| 2015 | Madasyn Petterson (a) | 208 (−8) | Chelsea Harris 213 (−3) | |
| 2014 | Emily Collins | 212 (−4) | ||
| 2013 | Elise Swartout | 216 (E) | ||
| 2012 | Samantha Troyanovich (a) | 216 (E) | ||
| 2011 | Jenna Pearson | 216 (E) | ||
| 2010 | Allison Fouch | 217 (+1) | Katherine Hepler | |
| 2009 | Aimee Neff (a) | 209 (−7) | Brittany Johnston 212 (−4) | |
| 2008 | Aimee Neff (a) | 208 (−8) | Seul Ki Park 214 (−2) | |
| 2007 | Nicole Schachner (a) | 215 (−1) | Jenna Pearson 215 (−1) | |
| 2006 | Jenna Pearson (a) | 208 (−8) | Carolyn Barnett-Howe 213 (−3) | |
| 2005 | Annika Welander (a) | 207 (−9) | Allison Finney 208 (−8) | |
| 2004 | Sarah Johnston | 212 (−4) | Noriko Nakazaki 217 (+1) | |
| 2003 | Nicole Jeray | 212 (−4) | Alexis Wooster 219 (+3) | |
| 2002 | Maria Long | 217 (−1) | Rebecca Halpern 222 (+6) Sarah Pesavento 222 (+6) |
|
| 2001 | Emily Gilley (a) | 223 (+7) | Dagne Root 229 (+13) | |
| 2000 | Emily Gilley (a) | 217 (+1) | Jennifer Broggi 219 (+3) | |
| 1999 | Kerry Postillion (a) | 214 (−2) | Margie Arnold 216 (E) | |
| 1998 | Nicole Jeray | 211 (−5) | Kerry Postillion 215 (−1) | |
| 1997 | Kerry Postillion (a) | 218 (+2) | Diane Daugherty 218 (+2) | |
| 1996 | Kerry Postillion (a) | 219 (+3) | Margie Arnold 227 (+11) | |
| 1995 | Diane Daugherty | 139 (−5) | Kristin Milligan 146 (+2) | |
- a – denotes amateur
- P – playoff
- Source: Chicagoland Golf Publishing Co., Phil Kosin and Joanne Miller
Notes
- Played on Symetra Tour from 2015 to 2019.
- For the first time, the IWO received more entries than spots in the field (96) and held its first qualifier, with 18 players going for 9 spots. Neff in round two shot 7-under 65 at Mistwood, a course women's record (men's record 64) and IWO record.
- The 2007 Illinois Women's Open ended with a state-record 10-hole playoff. At the end of regulation, amateur Nicole Schachner was tied with professional Jenna Pearson at 1-under 215 (Pearson missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole of regulation for an outright one-stroke victory.) After the duo played a four-hole, aggregate-score playoff over holes 1–2–3–3 and were still tied, the format reverted to sudden-death on Mistwood's 528-yard par-5 third hole. The twosome played the hole five more times with the same result as the first two times through during the four-hole playoff – seven straight two-putt pars. Finally on the 10th hole of the playoff and sixth of sudden death, Schachner two putted from 13 feet and Pearson missed a 7-footer to extend the playoff. Also notable is both the first and second rounds began with shotgun starts for the first time in tournament history – necessitated by the presence of severe thunderstorms and cloud-to-ground lightning in the area.
- Annika Wellander of Winnetka became the youngest IWO champion when she won three days past her 19th birthday. She held off a fierce back-nine charge from 20-year LPGA Tour veteran Allison Finney (also a Winnetka native) to win the title by one stroke. Both Welander and Finney's 54-hole scores broke course and tournament records.
- Sarah Johnston played the LPGA Tour under her married name of Sarah Lynn Sargent.
- In 1997 the golf course was blasted with a 110-degree heat index and tropical humidity for the final round. Amateur Kerry Postillion, the only player in the field who eschewed use of a roofed power cart, set an IWO record when with eight holes remaining, owned a whopping nine-shot lead over her nearest chaser. Her lead quickly disappeared when she began suffering from heat exhaustion; she and runner-up Diane Daugherty ended in a tie after 54 holes. However, Postillion won a three-hole, aggregate-score playoff with a one-over-par 12 to Daugherty's 13.
- The original July 17–19, 1996 Illinois Women's Open was washed out when 16-inch rains flooded the Chicago area. The golf course, built partially on a flood plain, had over five feet of water on seven holes. The IWO was rescheduled for August 14, 15 and 17.
- The inaugural 1995 Illinois Women's Open (IWO) was shortened to 36 holes due to cloud-to-ground lightning and torrential rain during the first round. None of the groups had completed nine holes, so the entire round was wiped out.