PRESTWICK COUNTRY CLUB WILL HOST this weeks 120th Women’s Western Golf Association’s National Amateur Championship. For more details visit WWGA.org             _____________________________________________________________________

THE GOG BLOG-by RORY SPEARS, Director of Creation and Content. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or on Facebook and LinkedIn. At Prestwick Country Club, home of this weeks WWGA Amateur.

THIS WEEK marks the return of covering golf in the Chicago area, with the return of the Women’s Western Golf Association’s  (WWGA) National Amateur Championship.

I played Prestwick Country Club last week for the first time, and it is a very good and fun golf course.

The ladies will be tested, but can have some fun a long the way. I’ll have more on the WWGA coming up later in our preview story of the championship.

I will be out at Prestwick this week, for some on property coverage.

Jack Nicklaus the one and only #GOAT at the 2019 U.S. Senior Open-photo by Rory Spears.

JACK NICKLAUS hosted his Memorial Tournament this week, from his Muirfield Village Golf Club design in Dublin Ohio. A northwest suburb of Columbus.

Again this year, Muirfield looked like it was set up for the U.S. Open. With high rough around the golf course and a few other things that make a golf course play difficult.

Single digits under par won, thanks to a crazy penalty on new World #1 Jon Rahm. His amazing for chip-in for a 2, on a par 3 from the rough, was ruled a 4-after a 2-shot penalty, because his ball moved in the rough during one of Rahm’s practice swings. It took CBS dropping things into super-slo-mo to really see it move. I’m not sure Rahm could see the ball move if he was staring straight down at the ball in that deep rough. Regardless, the 5-shot win turned into only three after the day was over, but the adjustment in Rahm’s score wasn’t good news for the gamblers who took the under on Rahm’s score for the day. Because the under went to an over, by the time the PGA Tour rules officials were done.

Your on the first hole at the Club at Porto Cima, a Nicklaus design at Lake in the Ozarks in Central Missouri. The course gets better in all the holes ahead.

There are those who say that Muirfield Village is Jack’s best work as a golf architect. But while I like Jack’s work in general, Muirfield Village is not one of my favorites.

Nicklaus has had his critics since he got into the design business. The biggest issue being that he built his courses to play better for left-to-right players, like him.

The old saying is that most Nicklaus courses are so hard, only Jack in his prime can play them. Getting a Nicklaus signature design course built comes with a hefty price tag, so Nicklaus has always made sure he did and or built enough, so those writing the checks got their money’s worth.

My visit to Muirfield Village was about 10 years ago, and I hope somethings have changed since I was there. My visit came during a, 21 courses in 18 day trip. Muirfield Village was not only my worst score, but worst experience.

Things were bad from the start when I had to have my spikes changed from plastics with small spikes, to the ice cream swirl plastics, made for courses with bad greens that rip-up easily. Remember those plastic swirls, the very worst plastic spikes ever made.

I was there late morning on a Tuesday, and the course was soggy and muddy, from a previous Friday night into Saturday morning 1 1/2 inch rain storm. One would think the drainage would be better than it was at the time. I was slipping all over the place, and Muirfield Village is not the place to be spraying the golf ball around. There are too many holes, that simply put, have too much going on at Muirfield Village.

Checking my count, I have played 21 Nicklaus designs, and Pebble Beach after Jack did a great job fixing the 5th hole. My favorite Nicklaus design is one that never gets any credit, and that’s The Club at Porto Cima part of the Four Seasons Lodge in Central Missouri. The USGA, the Korn Ferry Tour and the Symetra Tours need to have some tournaments there. This powerful design is really good, and it’s a public course people. Go there, play it, you will be glad you did. Whatever the green fee is, it’s worth it.

Valhalla is another very good Nicklaus design even though some folks don’t like the 18th green. I loved playing Valhalla the day after Tiger survived the playoff with Bob May in the 2000 PGA Championship. The Ocean Course at Hammock Beach Resort in Florida is wonderful. I have not played the Bear’s Club, but hope to. From the book that is recommended reading called “A Golden Eighteen”, a showcase of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, you will see some incredible clubs, most all would end up on many golfers bucket lists. The Challenge at Manele (Bay) on the small Hawaiian island of Lana’i has some the most incredible views you will ever find on a golf course. Bill Gates got married on one of the tee’s boxes on the back nine, it’s that good. Most courses, even the great ones have one hole that could use some improvement. But I can’t think of one hole at Porto Cima, or Manele Bay I would make changes on. I loved Manele Bay, it was a great place to be one February day, when it was around zero back in Chicago.

Each golf course architect has something they do very well that they bring to most of their designs, in the case of Nicklaus, Jack add’s angled creeks that aren’t very wide, but they bring in the aspect of risk-reward shots. It’s part if his design strategy, that I hope he never changes, but there somethings at Muirfield Village that could be changed.

I must congratulate Ridge Country Club Director of Golf Mark Krizic on his purchase of Fyre Lake Golf Club in the Quad Cities area. Krizic is the kind of owner that club needs to rise to the next level. Krizic, a golf professional buying a course and going from director of golf to golf course owner made me wonder one more thing. How many other golf professionals from around our area might be thinking of doing the same thing.

The Gog Blog returns tomorrow. RS