Bo Van Pelt, PGA Tour Player & 1995 Champion - “ Winning the Northern Amateur was one of the highlights of my amateur career.  The competition, course, facilities and tournament are all first class.”

• The Northern Amateur, founded in 1967 by Arthur J. Ellis, was created under the aegis of the Northern Illinois Men’s Amateur Golf Association.  The first Northern Amateur was held at Chevy Chase Country Club in Wheeling, Illinois and moved to five sites before coming to Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Indiana in 1983.  Several past champions have gone onto success on the PGA tour including Howard Twitty (1970), David Ogrin (1978), Joe Ogilvie (1993) and Bo Van Pelt (1995).  Winners have represented colleges such as Oklahoma State, Alabama, Arizona State, Duke, Indiana, TCU and UNLV.  In addition to collegians, mid-amateurs have also been successful.
• In October 2001, the decision was made to discontinue the Northern Amateur and focus efforts to promote junior golf in Northwest Indiana.  In 2002, the Northwest Indiana Junior Golf Association (NIJGA), was created.  Each year the NIJGA serves approximately 250 kids in junior golf through a series of rules seminars, clinics and tournaments.
• With the NIJGA being fully established with an Executive Director, Sand Creek Country Club and the NIJGA decided to re-start the Northern Amateur as a joint effort in 2011.
• The Northern Amateur returned with the mission to provide an opportunity for highly skilled amateurs to play in a top amateur event while increasing exposure to golf courses and tourism along the Indiana lakeshore.

• Sand Creek was originally founded in 1974 by Bethlehem Steel as a private facility for supervisory employees.  The original 18 hole layout was designed by Ken Killian and Dick Nugent.  The course opened on August 14, 1976.
• The course has had many changes over the years.  The original front nine is now called the Creek nine.  The original back nine, now called the Lake nine, was altered to create room for housing with 4 holes remaining from the original design.  A third nine, the Marsh nine, was designed by Jerry Mobley and Charles Howard and opened in 1995.  The Park nine pitch and putt course opened in 1999.
• In addition to the 4 nines, Sand Creek offers outstanding practice facilities including a driving range with practice tees on each end, a pitching area supporting shots up to 50 yards, a chipping green and a large putting green.
• In addition to the Northern Amateur, Sand Creek has hosted several other events including:

USGA Open, Amateur and Junior Amateur qualifying events
Indiana Golf Association Junior events
Northwest Indiana Junior Golf Association events
Plantations Junior Golf Tour events
Indiana PGA Section events
Chesterton High School Boy’s and Girl’s events

Contact Information

The Sand Creek Country Club
1001 Sand Creek Drive South
Chesterton, Indiana

219-395-5200

www.sandcreek.com

NOTE:  WE ARE UPDATING OUR EMAIL ACCOUNT WHICH MIGHT CAUSE A DELAY IN OUR RESPONSE.

APPLICATIONS FOR 2013 CLOSED AS OF MAY 17, 2013. To view the 2013 application and information, click on the link below to open the application where you may print and/or save to your computer.

Northern Amateur Application 2013.pdf

Note:  Applications for 2013 are now closed.

email - TBD

Mailing Address:

The Northern Amateur
c/o Sand Creek Country Club
1001 Sand Creek Drive South
Chesterton, Indiana 46304 phone 219-395-5200