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Wilmington Country Club to Host 2022 BMW Championship

Written by Live Love Delaware on April 21, 2022. Posted in Working in Delaware.

The PGA TOUR, Western Golf Association and Wilmington Country Club officials announced today the 2022 BMW Championship will be played on the South Course at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware. While official dates have not been announced, the event is scheduled to be held in late August of 2022.

“We’re thrilled to be taking the BMW Championship to Wilmington Country Club, one of the finest clubs anywhere in the United States,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA Senior Vice President of Tournaments. “The South Course has everything you look for in a traditional championship layout. It will present a strategic test for the world’s best players and a perfect venue for fans and PGA TOUR partners.”

The 2022 event will mark the first time the PGA TOUR has played an event in Delaware, and it will be the third time since 2018 that the BMW Championship has been held on the East Coast. The 2021 BMW Championship was held at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, hosted the 2018 BMW Championship.

“It is a great honor for Wilmington Country Club to be the first club in the state of Delaware to play host to the PGA TOUR, and to the prestigious BMW Championship,” Club President Gary Ferguson said. “The passion that fans in this area have for golf is unmatched, and they will enjoy the opportunity to watch the best players in the world compete on this spectacular and challenging golf course.”

Wilmington Country Club was established in 1901, with its original 18 holes covering 135 acres. The club relocated in the 1950s, bringing in renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. to design the South Course, which opened in 1959. Playing over 7,500 yards from the championship tees, the South Course has been recognized as one of the United States’ best golf courses by Golf Digest.

While this will be Wilmington Country Club’s first professional event, the club has long been a proving ground for the world’s best amateur players. After hosting the 1913 U.S. Women’s Amateur on what is now known as the “Old Course,” Wilmington has hosted five other USGA events, including the 1965 and 1978 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 1971 U.S. Amateur, the 1978 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 2003 U.S. Mid-Amateur. The club also hosted the 2013 Palmer Cup competition between Europe and a United States team that featured 2019 BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Patrick Rodgers.

The club and its membership have a deep commitment to the state of Delaware.

“Delaware is excited to host the 2022 BMW Championship,” said Governor John Carney. “The First State has a long and proud golf history and is ideally positioned to support one of golf’s great championships. Not only will the BMW Championship enhance the local economy, it will showcase a wonderful course and dynamic community to a global audience.”

“We are thrilled the Wilmington Country Club in New Castle County has been selected as the site for the 2022 BMW Championship,” said New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer. “New Castle County has a historic relationship with professional golf, including being the home to the LPGA Tour’s McDonald’s Championship for nearly a decade. We’re excited to welcome back professional golf to one of the premier golf locations on the East Coast.”

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki added: “I join with all members of our community to welcome the BMW Championship to Wilmington Country Club. This event will attract many to our city who will be able to enjoy our terrific restaurants and fine hotels in addition to watching the greatest golfers in the world compete for one of the PGA TOUR’s most coveted titles.”

In addition to having an estimated $30 million economic impact on the Wilmington area, the 2022 BMW Championship is expected to play a vital philanthropic role by introducing more golfers and fans on the East Coast to the Evans Scholars Foundation and its mission of awarding full tuition and housing college scholarships to deserving youth caddies.

“We are proud of our collaboration with the Western Golf Association and of the support that we’ve been able to provide to the Evans Scholars Foundation,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “As the title sponsor of this tournament for the past 14 years, together we have helped to send over 3,000 young students to college to pursue their dreams.”

All proceeds from the BMW Championship benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation. Since 2007, the event has raised more than $35 million for Evans Scholarships. Two caddies have earned Evans Scholarships from Wilmington Country Club – Owen Griffin graduated from the University of Illinois in 1983, and Dan Walsh currently is a junior at Penn State University.

WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski noted that “the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club will give us an opportunity to show a new market the power of the Evans Scholars Program. This is a critical step in our efforts to expand from coast to coast and reach more deserving young caddies.”

The BMW Championship features the top 70 PGA TOUR players vying to earn one of 30 spots in the season-ending TOUR Championship and the chance to be crowned FedExCup champion. Past BMW Championship winners include Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods.

This article was sourced through the BMW Championship website at: https://bmwchampionship.com/news/wilmington-country-club-to-host-2022-bmw-championship

Delawarean Recalls the Movers & Shakers Who Have Shaped His Home State

Written by Live Love Delaware on January 25, 2022. Posted in Working in Delaware.

Author John Riley’s Second Book Salutes Pro-golfer Ed “Porky” Oliver

On Sept. 15, 1953, Delaware’s elite gathered in Fournier Memorial Hall in Wilmington to salute two Delaware superstars: Ed “Porky” Oliver and Dave Douglas, the only two golfers from one state on the U.S. Ryder Cup squad.

“It was the dinner of the year,” says John Riley, author of How He Played the Game: Ed “Porky” Oliver and Golf’s Greatest Generation. “The governor was there, and the mayor was there. Oliver and Douglas were going to England and playing as partners — two guys from little Delaware.”

The local paper, The Journal Every Evening, noted that “both have been in the big money class the past two years.” But Oliver was outpacing his friend in earnings. “For 25 years, he was Delaware’s celebrity,” Riley says.

Today, most Wilmington-area residents have heard of Ed Oliver Golf Club, located on the city’s edge. But few know about the gregarious golfer for whom it is named. Riley is seeking to change that with the recent release of his book, published by Faith & Family Publications.

It is not the first time Riley has brought Delaware’s movers and shakers into the limelight. With former Philadelphia Eagle star and Delaware resident Kevin Reilly, he co-authored Tackling Life: How Faith, Family, Friends and Fortitude Kept an NFL Linebacker in the Game. Riley also wrote Delaware Eyewitness: Behind the Scenes in the First State.

Indeed, Riley has had a role in some of the state’s significant business undertakings. The many changes he witnessed are reflected in his books, which are odes to Delawareans and the forces that shaped them.

John Riley Shares Delaware History

Initially, Riley wanted to chronicle the decline of Hercules, a chemical company with a Delaware presence that dated back to the 19th century. But the autobiography buff also wanted to chronicle the eras that influenced him and the state’s history, including the Vietnam War draft era. Delaware Eyewitness became a memoir and an insight into Delaware business and politics.

Riley mentions some 400 local personalities in the book. But few would argue that that author also has a past worth telling. He grew up with eight siblings in a 900-square-foot home on Wilmington’s East Side. Porky Oliver and his family lived down the street. Oliver’s son, Bobby, and Riley played on the same high school golf team. When Riley caddied at Wilmington’s Rock Manor Golf Club, players often spoke glowingly of Oliver as a hero.

Riley attended Salesianum High School and the University of Delaware. As a college senior, he was drafted and entered Army Infantry Candidate School. Fresh from the Army, he considered running for U.S. Congress, much to Joe Biden’s dismay. Biden, who was running for the U.S. Senate, felt the two twentysomethings would be known as the “kiddie candidates,” Riley details in his book.

Riley eventually did spend time in public service. He served on the New Castle County Council and as director of business development for the Delaware Economic Development Office, the predecessor to the public-private not-for-profit Delaware Prosperity Partnership organization.

A Ringside Seat

Riley participated in significant business deals that changed the state’s economic landscape. In 1994, he helped engineer MBNA’s purchase of DuPont’s Louviers complex — golf course and all. Three years later, Riley was on the team that convinced AstraZeneca to make Wilmington its North American headquarters.

His roles put him in the eye of big business, and he joined Hercules when the company specialized in chemicals for paper processing. Riley was head of government and public relations at Hercules, and when the Ashland Corporation purchased and dissolved Hercules, he became the specialty chemical company’s director of government relations.

Riley also witnessed the transformation of DuPont, which merged with Dow Chemical in 2017. MBNA was later sold to Bank of America. But out of change comes progress. While AstraZenca has since downsized, the Wilmington campus now accommodates other major corporations, and soon it will have residential and retail space.

Those who cut their teeth in corporate banking and biopharma are making a difference in Delaware, Riley maintains. These sectors have subdivided, expanded and become entrepreneurial. In Delaware, biotech and fintech have emerged from pharma, chemicals and banking.

The state’s adaptability comes from the outstanding talent and intelligent people who live here, he says.

Delaware’s Golf Great

After detailing his experiences in Delaware Eyewitness, Riley’s thoughts drifted to the golfer Sports Illustrated had called the most popular man on the golf circuit. “He had a Pied Piper personality that people embraced,” Riley says. “They followed him and lived and died on his golf exploits his whole life.”

Porky’s portly body had earned him that nickname. But he had many others as well. “One golfer said if you called him by his real name, he probably wouldn’t have answered,” Riley says.

Delawareans, including News Journal sportswriter Al Cartwright, kept regular tabs on Oliver even after he’d moved from the state — and with good reason. Oliver won on the PGA Tour eight times and finished second in major championships.

In May 1960, Oliver was diagnosed with cancer and had a lung removed. He didn’t stay down for long – he was in a tournament by that fall. But after suffering a relapse, he returned to Delaware, where supporters, including President John F. Kennedy, raised funds to help the family. Oliver died in September 1961 at the age of 46. Olympian-turned-actor Johnny Weissmuller and Arnold Palmer sent flowers, and Bing Crosby, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead sent condolences by telegram.

When Riley was on the New Castle County Council in 1983, he and his colleagues, including now-Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, successfully lobbied to rename the Greenhill Golf Club after Ed Oliver. Today, Riley is working with the city and the golf club management to tell Oliver’s story through photographs, trophies and other collectibles in the clubhouse.

At the event for Riley’s book release, not many of the 120 attendees knew the golfer personally. No matter. “They all had an interest,” Riley says. Purzycki and Governor John Carney spoke, along with former Phillie Phanatic Dave Raymond, motivational speaker Kevin Reilly, book advisor Don Kirtley and Tom Humphrey, the Delaware chair of the BMW Championship, which is coming to Wilmington Country Club in August 2022. There was an emotional moment when Oliver’s son and grandson addressed the crowd.

They were all on hand to celebrate a Delaware celebrity because he was a Delawarean. “It is,” an attendee commented, “a distinctly Delaware event.”

Book sales that night raised more than $1,700 for First Tee Delaware, a youth development organization that marries golf with a curriculum that builds life skills and empowerment. To purchase How He Played the Game, visit olivergolfbook.com.

Delaware State Parks wins 2021 Gold Medal for Excellence

Delaware State Parks Wins Gold Medal for Excellence

Written by Live Love Delaware on November 20, 2021. Posted in Working in Delaware.

A World War II Army base, a pristine beach with a lighthouse view, a hip restaurant and a daredevil zipline course — what do they have in common? They’re all features within the Delaware State Parks systems, which recently won the prestigious 2021 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.

Delaware and Florida are the only repeat recipients of the award given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration with the National and Recreation and Park Association. Delaware, which is 20 times smaller than any other finalists, last received the honor in 2015.

The award is timely. This year is the 70th anniversary of Delaware State Parks, part of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). While the division does not know the factors that set Delaware apart for the award, many of the 6 million annual guests can attest to the parks’ appeal.

The History

On the genteel side, Bellevue State Park was once the property of the du Pont family, and the elegant mansion still graces the grounds. Nearby, the stables remain occupied by horses that trot around the indoor training facility.

At Auburn Valley State Park, the Marshall family’s Queen Anne-style Auburn Heights Mansion looks down on an old paper mill site. The former owner collected Stanley Steamers cars, and his impressive collection is in a museum next to the mansion. Rides are often available.

In Delaware City, Fort Delaware, located on Pea Patch Island, dominates the Fort Delaware State Park. The stone-and-brick fortress is formidable, but the wildlife and bird refuges are just as awe-inspiring — albeit in a different way.

Dover’s First State Heritage Park is a happy amalgam of historic sites, including the Biggs Museum of American Art, the Delaware Public Archives, the Johnson Victrola Museum and Legislative Hall.

To the south, Cape Henlopen State Park is on the former Fort Miles Army base. Remnants are readily visible, from the concrete fire control towers to the bunkers under the dunes to the Fort Miles Museum, which has hunted down and displayed many types of the big guns once on the grounds.

The Swimming and Fishing

The Delaware State Seashore Park and Fenwick Island State Park share the Atlantic coastline with Cape Henlopen State Park, which consistently receive praise for their pristine views and amenities, including the opportunity to surf fish with a license.

Parks like Holts Landing are known for crabbing, fishing, and clamming.

The Boating

Most of the parks near the sea and back bays have boating ramps. But so does Fort Delaware State Park, which rests against the Delaware River and the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.

The park system has two marinas: Indian River Marina and Summit North Marina

The Food

No kidding. The Big Chill Surf Club sits atop the concession stand at Delaware Seashore State Park. Dine alfresco with breathtaking ocean views on one side and the Indian River Inlet Bridge on the other.

Just over the inlet is Hammerhead Dockside, which is next to the Indian River Marina.

The Camping

There is no shortage of campgrounds in the First State’s parks, and bookings jumped nearly 60% from 2012 to 2020, contributing to $319 million in spending.

For back-to-nature “primitive” camping, head to Brandywine Creek State Park, where 19th-century blue gneiss stone walls crisscross the landscape.

Full hook-up sites are available at Lums Pond State Park, which offers cabins, cottages and yurts.

For a complete list of options, visit Delaware State Parks RV and Tent Camping.

The Trails

Delaware’s parks are laced with so many trails that a website is dedicated to them: https://destateparks.com/Trails. Select the type (hiking, biking, equestrian, water or accessible) and the park.

Tip: the Gordons Pond and Junction and Breakwater trails have won local and national awards for the scenery — don’t forget your camera.

The Adventure

Climb Delaware’s only natural rock wall at Alapocas Run State Park or roll across the mountain-biking trails in Brandywine Creek State Park or White Clay Creek State Park.

Lums Pond boasts the Go Ape zipline course, which includes rope ladders, treetop crossings, a Tarzan swing and, of course, ziplines.

In Kent County, Killens Pond State Park has bragging rights to a waterpark with four-speed slides, a tot lot, and a leisure pool. In Laurel, Delaware, board a pontoon boat for a tour around Trap Pond.

The Attractions

The division thinks outside the box, and historic buildings, ponds, coastlines and trails aren’t the only draws. Delaware State Park amenities include the Brandywine Zoo in downtown Wilmington, Deerfield Golf & Tennis and Garrisons Lake Golf Course.

To learn more about the awards, visit aapra.org. To see the list of Delaware state parks and amenities, visit destateparks.com.

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