THE GOG BLOG SPEAKS OUT-MEDIA DAY RETURNS

DUPAGE GOLF with the new clubhouse at the Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison opening soon. But all three courses are now open for 2021. So visit Dupagegolf.com      _____________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or connect on LinkedIn or Instagram. On Pinehurst No.6, and yes it’s the first media day of the year.

I START THE WEEK with a media day. So yes they are back. Because last year there were none due to the pandemic.

So give the Western Golf Association (WGA) credit for getting media days back on the calendar. But what’s even better is that it’s a real media day too.

This is not some half-a$$ virtual thing, and that virtual media days, and virtual anything start to fade away. So let’s start today by zooming back into the normal, or something that seems like what we should have been doing all along. Because for me it’s the first of four golf media events for 2021, that are being done the right way, the correct way, in person and on location. So who benefits from this, everyone does. It’s just a great feeling to pick up the microphone, and close up the lap top to do the job.

LATE BREAKING NEWS *** Sadly I must report the passing of IPGA Professional Bill Abrams today. Details as to what happened are still unclear. But there is more sad news, former WGA President Roger Mohr passed away last Friday at the age of 90. For many years Mohr owned one of the nicest homes alongside of his longtime club, Knollwood of Lake Forest.

TODAYS MEDIA DAY is for the Evans Scholars Invitational the ESI. The first news is that the championship which returns the last week of this month, is also back at the Glen Club in Glen View.

ONE TOPIC that should be interesting today, is that the ESI which is part of the Korn Ferry Tour, will be addressing last weeks news that the KF Tour will have to raise purses up to $1 Million Dollars by 2023. Currently the ESI purse has been about half that figure it’s first two years. But many of the tours tournaments have been in the $500 to $600K range, not just the ESI.

ALTWELL CBD PRODUCTS-working their way into golf.

SO ARE YOU TAKING CBD Products?

Because last year I received samples from several different companies, at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show.

So I tested the gummies, the pills, the tincture, and the roll-on’s.

Some products and or brands worked better than others. My reviews were posted about a year ago on this site. But recently a local PR firm asked me to try CBD by another long time firm called Altwell Products. So I will test out the product and see how they work. Full reviews are coming down the road. So stay clicked in to this site to learn more.

TEAM USA hangs on to the Walker Cup played over the weekend at the famed Seminole Golf Club in Florida. There were reports of several players getting very sick with some sort of stomach virus. I won’t get more descriptive. But you can guess what some of the players went through. Hopefully TEAM USA has equal success this September at the Ryder Cup.

RORY WINS AGAIN always good when Rory McIlroy wins on the PGA Tour, it’s great for golf. Win #19 and it’s shows he is getting ready for the Kiawah and the PGA, where he won 9 years ago. How about a repeat.

AND HOW ABOUT THE purposed big money tours to lure big names away from the PGA Tour, just stop already. The commish has put his foot down about what will happen to any player who jumps ship, and it’s possible that person is expelled from the PGA Tour for good.

GREG NORMAN had this kind of idea years ago that didn’t happen. But later on, the PGA Tour created a version of Norman’s plan. They are the WGC Golf events. But while those events have big purses, they don’t always offer the best places to play. So seeing what those events offer on several occasions, if I was a PGA Tour player, I’d be using them as my week to take-a-week off.

GET WELL WISHES to Webb Simpson, my fantasy golfer pick of last week. Who showed for his first round tee time at Wells Fargo-in his home town of Charlotte NC last Thursday and didn’t make it past the range. A stiff neck forced Simpson to W/D.

WITH THAT it’s off to the Glen Club and the return of real media days. I’ll recap right here in the next day or two. So stay clicked in. RS

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About Rory Spears

Rory spent over 8 years growing up working at Rob Roy Golf Club in Prospect Hts.IL, then two years at Chevy Chase in Wheeling. He has covered golf in Chicago since 1986. Rory was one of the initial members of WSCR all-sports radio Chicago and covered golf there for 5 seasons, before moving on to work for ESPN/Sportsticker and ESPN Radio. In addition to hosting Golfers on Golf Radio on WCPT AM820 Chicago, he writes for both the Chicago District (CDGA) Magazine, and formerly Chicagoland Golf. Rory has played over 525 courses in 39 states, and rates golf courses. He does golf course management and communications consulting, within the golf industry.