The John Deere Classic is played on one of the greatest public golf courses in the United States right here in the Quad Cities and it all started 20 years ago.
On Thursday, July 11th during Good Morning Quad Cities, Past JDC Chair - Doug Hultquist - joined News 8's Angie Sharp and Storm Track 8 Meteorologist Eric Sorensen to talk about how TPC Deere Run was born back in the 1990s.
"Many thanks goes to John Deere," he said. "Then, the Hewitt Family - called the Rock River Trust - owned this property called Friendship Farm and they decided this was going to be a great place to put a TPC (Tournament Players Club) golf course that could host the tournament."
Professional Golfer D.A. Weibring, who grew up in Quincy, Illinois, designed the course in 1997, with a ground-breaking on April 2, 1997:
"D.A. didn't want to do it on April 1st, because he wasn't sure if people would think we was serious!" explained Hultquist.
He added that it's very rare to have this world-class course in our area:
"D.A. did a great job of taking advantage of the Rock River at a number of areas," he described. "The course is also very fair. Two of D.A.'s 'stakes in the ground,' if you will, were that when you looked at your next shot there weren't any hidden hazards. There wasn't a creek or a pond or a sand trap that you couldn't see. He didn't think that was fair. Then, so that players of all levels could play this golf course, he always believed there would be a bail-out area - so you didn't have to carry 200 yards over the water. There's another route you could take, so that beginners and newer players could come out and have a nice time."
That's still the case in 2019. While TPC Deere Run hosts PGA Tour Pros every July, the course is open to the public the entire year so that you can experience the magic that happens here as well.