chicagoland’s;open;hope
chicago golfers like to boast that the windy city could host an entire pga tour sea-
son. we have our augusta national (chicago gc), our tiger-approved pga cham-
pionship site (medinah), usga championship hosts olympia fields, kemper lakes
and the merit club, western open favorite cog hill, the tree-lined skokie and north
shore, the linksy chicago highlands, the exotic rich harvest farms, the urban bev-
erly and, for seth raynor enthusiasts, shoreacres. and, yet, there’s no perfect venue
for a u.s. open. handout-seeking politicians and birdie-friendly winds marred the
2003 olympia fields u.s. open, chicago gc can’t and would not take the crowds,
medinah is married to the pga of america and cog hill has been ripped by pros ei-
ther for poor conditioning or the rees Jones renovation. the chicago tribune reported
last week that the 2013 bmw championship will go to conway farms, the home of
northwestern alum luke donald. it’s a dazzling track, but it’s 31.2 miles north of wrig-
ley field. and that’s chicago’s North side. ok, there is one perfect venue: it is wick-
edly challenging, tom fazio-renovated, centrally located and has an adjoining public
course that could provide parking and hospitality. now all butler national (shown)
has to do is admit women. —Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune (@TeddyGreenstein)
l.c. lambrecht
cover // contents // 10 things // pga tour // lpga tour // champions tour // european tour //equipment // tim rosaforte
