{"id":415559,"date":"2025-11-30T18:05:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T18:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/415559\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T18:05:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T18:05:18","slug":"while-the-weather-outside-was-frightful-golf-was-on-the-minds-of-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/415559\/","title":{"rendered":"While the weather outside was frightful, golf was on the minds of many"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEORIA (25News Now<\/a>) – PEORIA (25News Now<\/a>) – A heavy round of snowfall pushed through Central Illinois on Saturday, shutting down some small businesses and forcing several planned events to cancel. However, one new business decided the weather wouldn\u2019t stop its biggest day of the season.<\/p>\n

Illini Golf<\/a>, Peoria\u2019s newest indoor golf facility and home to the only public PuttView<\/a> green in Illinois, stayed open for Small Business Saturday and still managed to draw a crowd, thanks to a special appearance from one of the state\u2019s top young golfers.<\/p>\n

Tyler Samaan, just 17 and a Division I commit to Valparaiso University, is one of Illinois\u2019 fastest-rising junior golf talents. He traveled from the Elgin area to participate in a \u201cPutt-Off Challenge\u201d and golf pro Tommy Kuhl.<\/p>\n

\"GolfersGolfers Tyler Samaan and Tommy Kuhl face off on a “Putt-Off Challenge” at Illini Golf’s Small Business Saturday(25WEEK News)<\/p>\n

Illini Golf Owner Matt Coulter expected a full house before the storm hit, but he remained grateful for every person who showed up despite the weather.<\/p>\n

While several nearby businesses cancelled their Small Business Saturday promotions, Coulter wants the community to know the new indoor golf facility is built for year-round play, especially on days like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to have a facility where people could come, play your round,\u201d said Coulter. \u201cBad weather outside, rain, snow, or if they just didn\u2019t want to be outside in the heat, they can come in here and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

For visitors, Samaan was the main draw. A self-taught golfer whose journey from a former gymnast recovering from a neck injury to dropping his handicap from above 20 to +4 by his senior year has made him a relatable inspiration. Samaan\u2019s rapid rise earned him major honors, including 2024 Boys Golfer of the Year, two conference titles, a top five AJGA finish, and a social media following of more than 90,000 combined across TikTok and Instagram.<\/p>\n

Samaan said being invited to Peoria for Small Business Saturday meant a lot to him, especially because the trip helped support a family friend and brought golfers together on a day on a national important day for small businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot to me. My goal is [to] get the younger generation and motivate them into golf. It\u2019s a great game, it brings together a lot of people and that is why I am here today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tyler also explained why he accepted the invitation to come to Peoria:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend Jack Coulter, his dad just opened this new golf headquarters, Illini Golf, here in Peoria. They have a lot to offer, whether it\u2019s the PuttView or the foresight simulators. They invited me out for Small Business Saturday to promote and bring together the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The new Illini Golf also features five Foresight<\/a> simulators and private lessons, making it a rare year-round practice option in a region where winter weather usually brings golf to a halt.<\/p>\n

For Peoria area golfers, Coulter said opening Illini Golf represents more than a store. It\u2019s a chance to build a dedicated indoor space for players of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing this whole experience at Illini Golf is to grow the game, whether it\u2019s women, juniors, men, anybody that wants to play golf can work on their game, especially during a snowy day like today,\u201d said Coulter.<\/p>\n

Illini Golf is located at 4700 North University in Peoria. <\/p>\n

You can watch 25News<\/a> – any newscast, anywhere – streaming LIVE<\/a> on 25NewsNow.com<\/a>, our 25News mobile app<\/a>, and on our WEEK 25News SmartTV streaming app<\/a>. Learn more about how you can get connected to 25News streaming live news here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 WEEK. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PEORIA (25News Now) – PEORIA (25News Now) – A heavy round of snowfall pushed through Central Illinois on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":415560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[9835,64,194911,4537,1430,7007,33688,29672,11260,26790,5039,167509,194910,5395,41345,71178,62,194914,194913,67,132,68,313,2452,194912],"class_list":{"0":"post-415559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-25news","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-coulter","11":"tag-crowd","12":"tag-golf","13":"tag-green","14":"tag-illini","15":"tag-indoor","16":"tag-outside","17":"tag-peoria","18":"tag-play","19":"tag-putt","20":"tag-puttview","21":"tag-saturday","22":"tag-small","23":"tag-snow","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-tommy-kuhl","26":"tag-tyler-samaan","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-weather","31":"tag-week","32":"tag-year-round"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115639977664488767","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}