TOUR EDGE GOLF Marketing VP Jon Claffey with the Tour Edge driving Iron during Golfers on Golf Radio Am 820 WCPT this past Saturday, more at TourEdge.com. THE SCHAUMBURG GOLF Club now has all 27 holes open from renovation. For more information and tee times see SchaumburgGolf.com or call the shop at (847)-885-9000. _____________________________________________________________________
***BREAKING NEWS-ROYAL MONTREAL TO HOST 2024 PRESIDENTS CUP***
THE GOG BLOG-by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. In the studio at WCPT Am 820
IT’S A MAJOR than came across as a minor. Congrats to the winner, a very classy 23 year old Collin Morikawa, but there was issues with the PGA.com website, ESPN trying to charge money during the week to watch. Who thought up that idea.Then ESPN still didn’t realize by Midnight during Sportscenter after the rain delayed White Sox-Indians game, that Morikawa won the PGA, and Tiger did not. What a mess ESPN is when it comes to golf coverage.
Then there is CBS-TV, the late finish times didn’t do wonders for anyone. The fans the players, or the kids on the east coast that had to go bed before the leaders hit the 18th green at TPC Harding Park.
Apparently CBS didn’t learn it’s lesson from the NBC televised U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach, about what late start times on the West Coast mean. It’s never fun when it’s dinner time in Chicago or the East Coast, and the leaders are first teeing off. Seriously who thought this up. The proper finish times on the West Coast should be 4 PM, with a 6 Pm CST or 7 Pm EST final putt. Unless a weather delay forces an issue.
What nobody at CBS has learned, is that when the West Coast is putting out at 7 Pm, the leaders get penalized every round. Temperatures drop over 10 degrees from the 1st tee to the 18th green, the leaders go from short sleeves to all-weather long sleeve apparel. Shadows that make it hard to putt are a big problem for the players. Everyone deserves better, and CBS should know better.
WHAT CBS did very well was move the coverage around during the final round, not making it all about 1 or 2 players. Having six players tied for the lead helps, but what we saw in coverage, mixing it up and seeing all the players is what golf coverage SHOULD BE. The final round was one of the best televised rounds in golf I have seen in a long time, I was glued to the broadcast.
THE PGA OF AMERICA’s website needs some improvement. There was no marking of the expected cut line, that you get on PGATour.com on Thursday and Friday, there was no way to determine who the club pro’s playing in the championship were. They needed a designation (CP) next to their name. Maybe next year PGA.com will make some needed improvements.
A TIP OF THE CAP to those who renovated TPC Harding Park. The place was a dumpy course, lacking grass on the tee boxes and the putting green, when I was there years ago. It looked so bad, I didn’t end up playing there that day, and went somewhere else. The renovated edition looks really nice, and a return visit is called for. By the PGA and me.
PHIL on TV-Phil Mickelson’s TV time earned rave reviews, and there is some thought in getting him into the TV-booth at the some point, when he quits playing, or cuts back his schedule. I wonder how quick networks will hire current players, after Davis Love III did a quick bail out, to return to playing on both tours this year.
FALSE TIGER HOPES started the week, but didn’t last long. Tiger was barely top 30, after Round 1, and he kept sliding backwards every round and was never a threat. Putting seemed to be his biggest issue, but it seems like there are just too many younger players that have more going for them these days than Tiger does. Winning again for Tiger will be very difficult, unless there is a short and weaker field than in normal PGA Tour events.
Mike Scully
FORMER MEDINAH COUNTRY CLUB Director of Golf Mike Scully is on the move again. Scully who left Medinah after the Ryder Cup in 2012, and headed to Desert Mountain in Scottsdale Arizona, saw that run come to an end in 2018.
From there Scully headed east to Reynolds at Lake Oconee, about an hour east of Atlanta Georgia.
Over the weekend came news that Scully is now Director of Golf Operations at the Cherry Creek Country Club, outside of Denver in Colorado. Congratulations to Mike on his new opportunity at Cherry Creek, that has a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course.
A CONGRATULATIONS to the Illinois PGA and the White Eagle Golf Club in Naperville for the way they pulled off the 2020 Illinois Open. Special thanks to the players including champion Bryce Emory of Aurora, for conducting interviews at safe distances with media members, but still doing them face-to-face. The entire virtual world in the sports media is a joke, using Zoom video is not a good option and should be eliminated whenever possible, with Covid or no Covid still lurking in our world.
The membership at White Eagle did a great job and was very supportive of the championship and the safety protocols that were put in place. White Eagle will hopefully host the Illinois Open again, along with Stonebridge Country Club that was originally planned to be the second course this year.
GREAT NEWS has been how busy golf courses seem to be everywhere. With several other summer options off the board this year, golf has been a way for people to get outside, get some fresh-air and exercise. Rounds have been way-up for most courses for three straight months. Let’s hope it continues. More good news is the amount of people spending money on new or improved clubs. Get fitted, get better, go enjoy your golf game.
For the first time in three weeks, I have no golf tournament to cover so I’m looking forward to seeing everyone out on the links. I have new clubs to break-in and plan to do just that. Go Play everyone. The Gog Blog is back all week. RS