ERIN HILLS READIES FOR 2017 US OPEN

DSC04426 On the first at Oak Meadows DSDSC02604 Tom Lehman trophy pic 2 DSDSC03378 Brett barcel on the 16th biarritz DS The clock is ticking, the final days of Oak Meadows are happening this week. Public play for this historic course ends on July 6th, so book your tee time now for the holiday weekend, visit Dupagegolf.com. Defending Champion Tom Lehman heads up a stellar field at the Encompass Championship the week of July 7-12 at the North Shore Country Club. Newly crowned U.S. Sr. Open Champion Jeff Maggert is in the field. For tickets and more information see Encompasschampionship.com. Mt. Prospect professional Brett Barcel stands on the Biarritz Style Par 3, 16th hole. Mt. Prospect is expected to reopen on August 1st. Stay clicked in here for details on opening day.                              _____________________________________________________________________

DSC02562 Erin Hills welcome and me DS

The Gog Blog by Rory Spears, Editor & Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin & Twitter @GogBlogGuy.

The 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay is in the books, and Jordan Spieth has two majors in a row. Can he make it three at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, after he takes care of business at the John Deere Classic, we will see.

But as the 2015 U.S. Open is behind us, the 2016 U.S. Open is on the clock, and that’s the folks at the Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. With Oakmont getting ready to return to the spotlight, brand new U.S. Open site Erin Hills has now realized they are in the on-deck circle. It seemed like such a long time ago that Erin Hills was getting into it’s U.S. Amateur preparation, and that championship has passed and the bigger prize starts to come into focus.

This past week Erin Hills had what’s called a Two-Year Out media event that included the latest information on what the course is doing to be ready for the championship. One of the first things that was noticed was a replica U.S. Open Trophy standing by the replica U.S. Amateur Trophy in the pro shop. The pro shop is now loaded up with 2017 U.S. Open shirts, caps, towels and a few other items.

The course changes are done, they included a some new tee boxes to give USGA Executive Director Mike Davis who sets up the U.S. Open a little more flexibility. Tree removal seems to be complete. While Erin Hills has eight-times the amount of trees that Chambers Bay has, and that means 8 trees since Chambers Bay has 1. There isn’t much chain-sawing left for course superintendent Zach Reineking and his staff to do.

Rich Tock the club’s former GM who has taken on more of a marketing role in recent years, says that Erin Hills will add yet another cottage this fall. Demand for Erin Hills cottages continues to be very high, and they are already sold out for many peak demand nights this year.

Click here to hear an interview with Zach Reineking Erin Hills Superintendent, about Erin Hills and his week work the grounds at Chambers Bay.

As part of the event, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker spoke to the media about the business side of a U.S. Open in Wisconsin.

For more information on Erin Hills please visit Erinhills.com or call (866)-772-4769 for details on playing a U.S. Open Course you can play.

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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.