LIV Golf Chicago Preview: RangeGoats GC have plenty to play for at Bolingbrook
Team: RangeGoats Golf Club
Previous event team finish: T5
Season-long team standings: 9th
Top finisher from previous event: Peter Uihlein, Thomas Pieters (both T20)
Fun stat: No team has more eagles than the RangeGoats (18) this season, and the team continues to lead in Driving Distance Average (313.8), which is three yards longer than the second-place team.
Preview
If you’re a fan of RangeGoats Golf Club, don’t apologize for being excited entering LIV Golf Chicago. Yes, no player on the team is in the mix for the Individual Championship this week, but the bigger picture should produce plenty of smiles.
The team is coming off a true team effort at LIV Golf Greenbrier and a T5 finish. Thomas Pieters and Peter Uihlein finished the week at 10-under and tied for T20. Their teammates also did their parts. Captain Bubba Watson finished 8-under for the week for a T28 and Matthew Wolff finished 7-under for a T33. Sure, there were no top-10 finishes but there also were no bad outliers.
That’s exactly what the RangeGoats need to do in Chicago to set the stage entering the season-ending Team Championship in Dallas. And remember, the RangeGoats have shown the ability to make a run at the Team Championship (just look back last season in Miami).
The team will be in a similar situation next week when it will be among the 10 teams that will play in the Day 1 quarterfinals in Dallas after the team had previously been mathematically eliminated from contention for a top-3 seed and a bye.
But first things first. Chicago will be important for not only the team continuing to click, but for some players’ futures. Wolff is firmly in the Lock Zone and has all but secured his status for 2025, but two of his teammates need good weeks to ink their positions. Uihlein is in the Open Zone at No. 29 while Pieters is at No. 34. To remain in the Open Zone, the two just need to finish inside the top 48 in the final standings to sure up their status for next season.
Bolingbrook Golf Club will present challenges this week, however. It’s not a long course, where the RangeGoats typically thrive, but there are areas where the team can find success.
The course has a history of challenging the world’s top players with a mix of natural elements and skillfully crafted greens. It was designed by famed architect Arthur Hills and partner Steve Forrest and is just 30 miles from downtown Chicago. The signature hole is the par-3 15th (which is at No. 6 this week since the front and back nines are flipped) and features an island green and creates plenty of late-round drama.
Bolingbrook GC is officially 7,104 yards in length and has rolling fairways and elevated greens, which will play into the hands of the League’s best ball-strikers and scramblers. Players will also have to navigate seven different lakes, contributing to the possibility of big scores and a constantly changing leaderboard.