THE GOG BLOG SPEAKS OUT-THE COMEBACK “CUT” SHORT

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For Destination Golf Visit Lawsonia.com Green Lake Wisconsin

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Rory Spears in the studio at WSBC AM 1240 & WCFJ AM 1470.

The comeback as it’s being called got “Cut” short on Friday when Tiger Woods missed the cut at his own event. Then raced home to Florida to get away from the weekend of golf, where the good players played on. Justin Rose won a playoff to take home the trophy, and the winners check.

It was interesting to see the Saturday coverage of the tournament, be a replay of the comeback that fell short on Friday. CBS shame on you. It’s amazing that if you keep trying to get people to believe that golf is boring without TW, some might be dumb enough to believe it. One can’t help but laugh when you hear dumb statements like “he is the only one who moves the needle.” Well it must not be much of a needle, or a pretty small needle at that.

Commissioner Tim Finchem said as much in a press conference a couple of years ago, when he said the only time Woods makes a difference is when he is in contention on a Sunday afternoon. But any Sunday where you have some names in contention, and the tournament is not a rout like Martin Kaymer’s march through Pinehurst at the U.S. Open, you get the ratings. What’s sad is the networks attempt to keep trying to ram Wood’s down the public’s throat. This is not Wood’s fault. NBC and the Golf Channel are worse about this than CBS. ESPN doesn’t much get it either.

Some of the ratings numbers we hear are so fishy, they must have been casted out there by someone with a rod and reel. I suppose you could make the argument that golf fans tune in just to see Woods spraying shots with his driver, or to see if he is involved in yet another rules violation or club throwing incident. Kind of like the people who tune into an NBC broadcast of a Notre Dame game, only when the Irish are getting beat by the likes of Navy, or getting pounded by USC.

If Woods can’t rebound by winning the British Open and the PGA Championship, he is not needed on the Ryder Cup team. The last six Ryder Cup’s Team USA is 0-5 with Woods, 1-0 without him. Some media types don’t get that. As for 2014 in Gleneagles, I think the Team USA has a better chance of winning without Woods. Woods record at Ryder Cups is nothing special to begin with, things would be different if it was.

It appears now that Woods next appearance will be at the British Open, maybe it should be at the Greenbrier or at John Deere. Perhaps then we will see if he is really back.

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It’s the final week of golf in 2014 for the Glenview park District Golf Course. Renovation work begins next Monday.

If you want to play the Glenview Park District Golf Course, this is the last week to do it. The Rick Jacobson renovation begins next week, the course should reopen in June of 2015.

A few miles east of Glenview is the Wilmette Park District course located on Lake Avenue, that club will reopen on July 11th with a fund raising outing. Contact the club for details.

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Shepherd’s Crook Golf Club is located on Green Bay Road in Zion. Visit Shepherdscrook.org or call 847-872-2080.

A special thanks to everyone who made our live broadcast of Golfers on Golf Radio yesterday at Shepherd’s Crook a great one. All of us enjoyed the best view we have ever had while doing the show. The 9th and 18th holes of Shepherd’s Crook looked great on a beautiful Sunday morning. We are looking forward to another remote, when we get one scheduled.

Coming up this week, the roll out for the Western Amateur that starts on July 28th at Beverly, and the celebration of the 25th Anninversary of the White Eagle Country Club in Naperville. I’ll have the details as they unfold. Last week I enjoyed a visit to Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, that is enjoying it’s 25th year as well. The courses are in great shape as the state amateur approaches from July 15th through 17th.

Before I left Cantigny that day, I stopped in the newly remodeled pro shop to buy a new pair of golf shoes. I picked up a pair of the Foot-Joy DNA brand that came out earlier this year. It turns out that it was a good thing that Cantigny actually had my size and choice of color in stock. It seems as if you want a pair of these shoes that run anywhere from about $200 or up depending where you buy them, and you have to order them. The back order time is now 60-90 days. I guess that is what happens when you have an item that is selling like crazy. Maybe Dick’s Sporting Good’s needs to put shoes like these out, so their bottom line improves. Yeah nobody is buying golf equipment or apparel, stories like that just aren’t true.

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The renovation work is underway at the Mt. Prospect Golf Club.

I took time to visit the renovation work that has started at the Mt. Prospect Golf Club and saw the bulldozers and tree people hard at work. Golf course construction company Wadsworth Golf is on site and the project is rolling. Isn’t that great news Jake Griffin, I new you would want to know. It’s nice to see another park district making an investment in you the golfer and customer. Better times ahead, stay clicked in.

I’m rolling up my sleeves to dig in with our new format and new options on the new website. But still getting the hang of all of our new options, hopefully it will all come together soon. In the meantime, go play. The weather is great. RS

Golfers on Golf, June 29 Radio Broadcast

Golfers on Golf is talk radio created by golfers for golfers, and is broadcast live on WSBC 1240AM in Chicago. This week’s show includes:

  • This show was broadcast LIVE from the clubhouse patio a Shepherd’s Crook Golf Course in Zion.
  • Publisher Val Russell from Chicagoland Golf Magazine sits in as a guest co-host with Ed, Rory, and Bill.  Val discusses Chicago area golf news and upcoming features in his publication.
  • Al Hill and Larry Meyers with the City of Zion chat with they guys and explain the vision and philosophies that let to the Keith Foster design for Shepard’s Crook.

THE GOG BLOG’S SUNDAY MORNING SHORT GAME-GOG RADIO LIVE REMOTE #2

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Golfers on Golf Radio Live Remote No.2, today at Shepherd’s Crook Golf Club in Zion. Located on Green Bay Road. Come see the show, then tee it up right after we do at 10:40. Standing in photo L-R Mike Munro & Ed Stevenson, seated L-R Rory Spears and Bill Berger.

If you miss us live, you get a mulligan. Yes it’s golf, so hear the show right here on this site under the past shows.

A reminder if you missed our first post, our site has changed but improved. Things will look a bit different but hopefully better. I feel like someone who just got new clubs, anxious to use them but know there will be a growing period until being locked in.

Welcome to Shepherd’s Crook a Keith Foster Design

The show today will be a round table of great golf talk. Shepherd’s Crook GM Larry Myers will join us, and Val Russell the Publisher of Chicagoland Golf sits in for Mike Munro. We hope you will join us on site, and or by listening on the radio.

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Congrats to Jordan Fahel for winning the 95th CDGA Amateur at Hinsdale Country Club by a 2 & 1 margin over Blake Johnson. The championship is played with 36 holes of stroke play, followed by four days of match play. The last day is 36 holes and Fahel had to play 132 holes of golf to win. Many of them with blisters on his feet. Fahel and Johnson will both play in the 84th Illinois State Amateur Championship at Cantigny Golf from July 15-17th.

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The WWGA completed it’s 114th Women’s Western Amateur Championship at the Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. Mika Liu of California defeated Cammie Gray from Alabama by a 3 & 2 score on the 34th hole of 36. The 115th WWGA national Amateur Championship will be played at the Brentwood Tennessee Golf & Athletic Club in 2015.

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Lawsonia.com

If your ready for some destination golf. Head north to Green Lake Wisconsin and play the golf courses of Lawsonia. 36 holes now under the operation of Oliphant Golf. Coming up on July 19th is the inaugural Langford Shield golf outing.

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Lawsonia Links Hole No.2

It’s not too late to sign up. More coming up in the days ahead about Lawsonia Golf and the new Langford Look being restored.

The sun is out. Go Play. The Gog Blog returns on Monday.

THE GOG BLOG RETURNS-NEW AND IMPROVED

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The Blog Between the Radio Broadcasts

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GOG Blog Writer Rory Spears

It is with great pleasure that I can tell all of you golfers, that The Gog Blog is back and is moving forward in a better direction. All of us at Golfers on Golf are excited about the opportunities that we now have with the site. A fresh look and the chance to do some new things that our old format did not allow us to do.

I was at the Solheim Cup in 2009 at Rich Harvest Farms when I started the news part of the site, and from that point on all of you have helped it grow. It has been fun along the way upgrading the content, adding audio, pictures, podcast’s and more. New columns, features, and different styles of reporting to keep things fresh.

Your large response has made it more challenging every day to keep outing doing myself with more golf news, from more courses and from around the Chicago area and out of state. In May we broke our all-time amount of hits for a month, when we reached almost 36,000. The numbers for June are at the same pace. I am hoping everyone will stay with us for the rest of 2014, and help us break the year long record of 214,488 set in 2012. It would be great to hit over 250,000 for 2014.

To the golf courses, businesses, golf domes and more who advertise here on this site we say thank you. All of us at Golfers on Golf Radio and Golfersongolf.com hope to keep improving our brand name within golf, the upgraded website is one way to do it.

Since this move is happening on the fly, I am learning all in the in’s and out’s of making the new page come together. So I ask that you will show the same patience with me that you do with your golf swing and your golf game. Maybe even pace of play when it’s slow at your favorite golf course. I hope to be back cranking out the copy and features as quickly as I did in the old format, keep an eye out for changes to style they will start popping up as soon as I can get comfortable with them. It took me 32 years to make my first hole-in-one, I promise things will happen faster than that.

To start with, Golfers on Golf Radio is live tomorrow for remote No.2 at the Shepherd’s Crook Golf Club on Green Bay Road in Zion from 9-10 AM. Join us live at the show and tee it up afterwards. There is a lot to say so come and listen in. Ed Stevenson, Bill Berger and myself will be live. Mike Munro is helping the golf industry by teeing it up in an outing, but he returns live in July.

Shepherd’s Crook Gm Larry Myers join us and we are working on another guest or two that will add a birdie or eagle to the program. Stay tuned in and clicked in. WSBC AM 1240 and WCFJ AM 1470 for those of you in the south burbs, NW Indiana or SW Michigan.

As always, if you miss us live you get a mulligan. The Sunday’s show from Shepherds Crook will be posted on the site right here. Check us out. In the meantime, welcome to yet another new course. There will be more than 18 holes for you to enjoy in the months ahead. Now go play, the weather is great.

Thanks for reading, RORY SPEARS

Golfers on Golf, June 22 Radio Broadcast

Golfers on Golf is talk radio created by golfers for golfers, and is broadcast live on WSBC 1240AM in Chicago. This week’s show includes:

  • PGA Professional Tim O’Neal checks in LIVE from North Shore Country Club, site of the Encompass Championship.  Tim provides an update on the Champions Tour event, and discusses his chapter in the book 18 Ways to Play a Better 18 Holes.
  • Conversation with Steve Buterbaugh, Vice-Chairman of the 2015 US Women’s Open which will be hosted at Lancaster Country Club, Lancaster Pa.
  • The guys chat with Ron Cassidy, General Manager of the Glenview Park District Golf Club about course renovations scheduled to begin on July 7th.

Golfers on Golf, June 15th Radio Broadcast

Golfers on Golf is talk radio created by golfers for golfers, and is broadcast live on WSBC 1240AM in Chicago. This week’s show includes:

  • The guys talk about the US Open, the final day at Mt. Prospect before closing for renovation, and the upcoming Encompass Championship.
  • Alex Podlogar, the Social media Manager at the Pinehurst Resort
    checks in to discuss innovative features on Pinehurst.com during 2 weeks of US Opens.
  • A live interview with Matt Allen, GM of 2015 US Open site Chambers Bay in
    University Place in Wash.

Golfers on Golf, June 8th Radio Broadcast

Golfers on Golf is talk radio created by golfers for golfers, and is broadcast live on WSBC 1240AM in Chicago. This week’s show includes:

  • The guys talk about golf news, including Jordan Spieth’s upcoming attempt to defend his title at the John Deere Classic.
  • Conversation with Brad Klein, a Senior Writer for Golfweek and an authority on golf course architecture, about the upcoming Men’s and Women’s US Opens to be contested on back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst #2.
  • Tom Pashley, the incoming President and COO of Pinehurst Resort checks in live to discuss preparations for hosting consecutive USGA championships.