Sugar Grove, Rich Harvest Farms proud to be in national spotlight

This week Jerry Rich hosts the 2009 Solheim Cup international golf tournament on his very private and exclusive Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove.

To conduct the event, the LPGA has recruited more than 1,600 local residents to serve as volunteers in dozens of departments dedicated to making the tournament a success.

Recruiting volunteers for this event was easier, in some ways, than for other LPGA events or previous Solheim Cups simply because the tournament is being held at Rich Harvest Farms. Being able to get onto that private course, for whatever volunteer purpose is to be served, is the draw.

In effect, Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich is Willy Wonka, and he's opening his 'chocolate factory' to the community.

"That's exactly what this is!" said Melisa Taylor, a Sugar Grove village trustee and the village liaison to the LPGA for the Solheim Cup. "This is their opportunity to walk into the chocolate factory, get on that property and see it. That golf course is a diamond in the rough. The property is so perfect."

The Solheim Cup is a biannual golf event pitting the best American golfers against their European counterparts. It is a premier golf event, and the first major professional golf tournament held at the golf club created by the Sugar Grove businessman.

The significance of this event to a place like Sugar Grove, a farm community of 9,000 residents, is so large it nearly defies description. Asked to name the next biggest thing to ever happen to Sugar Grove, Taylor laughed at the thought.

"The annual Corn Boil,'' Taylor said. "It's small enough you can set up your chair, let your kids run around, and you never have to get up. It is held on the property behind the grade school."

For four years, Kelly Hyne, executive director of the 2009 Solheim Cup and an LPGA Properties vice president, has been coming to Sugar Grove to recruit locals to serve at the tournament, which requires thousands of people in order to run smoothly.

"We started four years ago networking and building a group of supporters that included community leaders, sponsors and volunteers," Hyne said. "We had more than 50 people attend the event in 2005 and that said to me that the group here was ready to dive in and make 2009 the absolute best Solheim Cup yet.

"There has been much pride, hard work and genuine friendship in preparing for this once-in-a-lifetime event, and I'm excited for tournament week when everybody who had a hand in it can enjoy the fruits of their labor," she said.

Hyne visited with local convention and visitor's bureaus and government entities in order to locate hotel rooms and other amenities required for the loyal group of fans that follow the Solheim Cup. She created more than 30 volunteer committees, and selected volunteer chairpersons for each committee, helping to empower the community to help make the Solheim Cup a local property as well as an LPGA property.

The relationship established between the tournament officials and the locals has created a buzz louder than the area's insect population.

"The energy level around here is starting to amp up," Taylor said. "This is a potential $15 million impact to this area, and you want it to evolve into something for our future.

"The LPGA has been humbling and great to work with," she said. "Knowing they are going to be leaving here in a couple of months, they still have embraced our fundraising for all kinds of stuff, and donated tickets. They don't nitpick and analyze it all; they are just very generous to the community."

Hyne's experience in Sugar Grove calls to mind the movie musical 'Brigadoon,' in which a New Yorker lands in an ancient Scottish village and falls in love with the small-town lifestyle.

"I've learned a lot about the area, and I have met a lot of great people that will be friends for life,'' Hyne said. "The community has definitely embraced this event from all sides."

"This is an event that happens in the United States once every four years, and it is coming to Sugar Grove," Taylor said. "That is big."

Time for the annual Corn Boil to take a back seat.