THE GOG BLOG SPEAKS OUT-MR. 58 JIM FURYK

JohnDeereClassicHorzTMDSC04504 the Deere pic 1 DS  THE JOHN DEERE CLASSIC at TPC Deere Run this week, see Johndeereclassic.com. ______________________________________________________________________

DSC00666 Rory in Studio DS

THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS. Editor and Director of Content. Follow Rory on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter @gogblogguy. Spraying to all fairways.

HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN, a special congratulations to Jim Furyk the new record holder on the PGA Tour with a 58.

It was something we all knew would happen, we just didn’t know when, and who would do it first . I know I didn’t think it would be done by the guy who shot 59 in 2013 at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms.

Furyk should be nicknamed “Mr. Low” because he is the only player to go Sub-60 twice on tour. His round at the Travelers at the TPC River Highlands course was just amazing golf. I don’t think he will stand alone at 58 for as long as Mr. 59 Al Geiberger did at that number. But what Geiberger did on that day in Memphis, on a wet course and with the clubs he had at the time, was still pretty special.

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Jim Furyk’s actual scorecard from his 59 at Conway Farms during the BMW Championship.

It’s too bad Furyk is not playing at the John Deere Classic this week, after Paul Goydo’s shot 59 there and Steve Stricker a 60, anything can and usually does happen at the TPC Deere Run. It would surprise me to see Furyk go really low at Deere Run someday, if he ever decides to compete there.

Right after Furyk carded his 58, social media was abuzz about the historical round, on a sleepy hot Sunday morning with the Olympic Games going on in RIO. The world was talking about golf in Hartford, what a wonderful thing.

THE WASHINGTON POST which has become only a shell of what it used to be, put out something this week it tried to promote as journalism. It wasn’t. In one of the worst stories to appear in print, was a total piece of garbage by Drew Harwell who knows nothing about golf or the industry.

Harwell penned something called, Golf is back in the Olympics, too bad nobody plays it anymore. Really Drew, quit embarrassing yourself and the media industry before you write something like that. All the numbers in various golf categories dispute the crap you wrote.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE put out a story this week about a possible renovation of the Jackson Park Golf Course that would sit alongside of a proposed Barack Obama Presidential Library. While the golf course renovation would be a great idea, the story quoted an economics lecturer at the University of Chicago named Allen Sanderson.

While Mr. Sanderson might know economics, he doesn’t know sports. Sanderson actually said when referencing the golf course possible renovation, he compared golf to tennis and called tennis more appealing because you can play it in less than hour, while golf takes over five hours.

I know people who actually still play tennis, and they play for more than hour, and I know many people who play golf and it never takes them over five hours. Hellooo! Mr. Sanderson, try visiting Arlington Lakes where a three-hole golf loop can be played in 30 minutes. Many golfers are playing 18 hole rounds on weekdays or early on weekends in three hours or less. There is some real economics for you.

THAT JACKSON PARK RENOVATION would be something great for golf and for Chicago. So it’s no surprise that when the Tribune called the Mayor’s office for reaction, they declined comment and passed the Tribune writers off to the Park District.

IF THERE IS GOING to be a golf project in Chicago tied into the president, the renovation should be done by architect Greg Martin, since Martin is the President of the American Society of Golf Course Architect’s (ASGCA). The president working with the president sounds like a plan, draw it up now.

SPEAKING OF MARTIN, he and his team are really creating something that is going to be popular when Oak Meadows, or what ever the new name becomes does reopen. Stay clicked in here to follow the progress, but the new destination in Chicago area will be along Salt Creek in Addison.

THE JOHN DEERE CLASSIC is this week, and by early signs it should be another great one. It would not surprise me to see Zach Johnson win his second JDC title this week, and this time not in a playoff.

Chicago golfers and golf fans, it’s well worth it to go see the only PGA Tour stop in Illinois this year, this week in the Quad Cities area. Johndeereclassic.com for tickets and more information. University of Iowa alums your day is Thursday and University of Illinois alums your day is Friday, come out and support the players from your schools.

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Dyaln Meyer with the Western Amateur trophy at Knollwood.

HOW ABOUT DYLAN MEYER, U of I golf team members continue to step up and win tournaments.

First it was Nick Hardy at the Illinois State Amateur, now Dylan Meyer at the Western Amateur. What a win by Meyer over World #2 amateur Sam Horsfield who fell victim to Meyer and several lipped out putts at Knollwood.

If your weren’t at Knollwood on Saturday your missed a true exhibition in short game play by Meyer, who says he really has embraced that part of his game this summer. Meyer who at 140 pounds says he knows he is not Dustin Johnson, he is Zach Johnson and will “short game” a course to death.

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The Par 3, 12th at Knollwood.

For those of you who were at knollwood this past week and saw greens that were not in the condition you would expect them to be in for the Western Amateur Championship, well there is good reason for that.

Tomorrow the gassing of the greens at Knollwood will begin. The Poa will go and a new strain will be brought in for even better putting surfaces. There are two options on the table, and one possibility is the 007 grass that is now in at Conway Farms.

ARCHITECT KEITH FOSTER known for his work in the Chicago area at places like Knollwood, Highlands of Elgin, and Shepherd’s Crook has his hands full with a real big clean-up and restoration project in West Virginia. Foster has been contracted by the Greenbrier Resort to repair (from the flood damage) and restore the famed Old White course designed by C.B. McDonald and used for the resorts PGA Tour event.

As both the PGA Tour and the resort are ready to take Old White to a new level, not only for the tour players but for resort guests and members alike. Kudo’s to Greenbrier owner Jim Justice and the head professional at Old White Jamie Hamilton on picking the right guy to restore this classic gem in golf course history.

CHICAGOLAND GOLF ERROR.. due to editorial changes in my story for this months Chicagoland Golf, there became an error in the story. The new 11 hole Tom Doak Par 3 course scheduled to start construction this fall, will be built at Bandon Dunes not Mike Keiser’s Sand Valley as written in the story. There will be a correction in next month’s issue.

THE GOG BLOG returns on Tuesday. 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.