[John Kavanaugh]

Second, unfortunately Bivens does not yet appear to be on the ball.  The LPGA really should get a quality tournament in Chicago.  And it should not be at some new course in a housing development 90 minutes outside of the city.  Instead they should try to get on one of the great old Chicago courses.

How can you say that Bivens is not on the ball considering the LPGA has gone from nothing to what it is now is such a short time.  I agree that Chicago would be a great venue...the hotter and more humid the better.

[John_Cullum]

would the WGA dissociate from the tour and keep the western open going..with a weaker field.

I think they are crazy not to. Run it the same week as the Open Championship, or something like that. They could get a TV contract with The Golf Channell or USA, it wouldn't even conflict with the TV Times against The Open.

A guy like Garrett Willis or somebody like him who is on the cusp between the PGA Tour and Nationwide would love to have his name on that trophy.

[SL_Solow]

The LPGA has been unable to draw flies in Chicago.  They haven't been able to attract a sponsor and thus no tourney.  I know they have been trying.  Jerry Rich has agreed to holding the 2009 Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest.  Assuming that occurs it will be an opportunity for the LPGA in this market although Rich Harvest is a long way out from the core population.

As far as the Western having moved before, that is unquestionably true.  In its earliest stages it was viewed as a major or near major and rotated throughout the WGA like the US OPen rotates throughout the USGA.  Later it rotated among several Chicago courses, settled at Butler and, after Butler ran afoul of its male only membership rules, settled at Cog Hill.  Similar evolution to Western Am which used to rotate before finding its present home in beautiful Benton Harbor.

The point should be that the Western Open is no more.  Only the affiliation with the Evans Scholars remains, at least so far.

[Wayne_Kozun]

the third biggest city in the country whose tournament has always drawn great crowds....not having a tournament???

That makes as much sense as the second largest city in the country not having an NFL team.  Wait a minute ...

[Wayne_Kozun]

An article from the Chicago Tribune reports that the PGA tour may have agreed to move the BMW Championship (nee Western Open) to San Francisco after 2010.  This would signal the death knell of the century-old Western as we know it, which is already on life support in the wake of the PGA's decision to move the tournament out of Chicago on alternate years (to St. Louis and Indy).

Does anybody out there care?  

There is very clearly a new hierarchy of professional golf tournaments:
Tier 1 - Majors
Tier 2 - Near Majors - TPC, WGC, Tour Champ, Memorial, Bay Hill, big FedExCup events whatever they are
Tier 3 - Other tournaments Tiger plays (most Buick sponsored events), Western, etc.
Tier 4 - Everything else including formerly prestigious tournaments

I would argue that with a few exceptions the Tier 3 and 4 tournaments are going to fave a hard time and fewer people will care about them.

[tlavin]

The irony here is not that golf fans in St. Louis or Indy or Cleveland or San Francisco would not support a tour event; I'm sure they would.  The irony is that the Western Open regularly draws north of 200,000 for the week.  It gets tremendous coverage on local television.  The tournament is a prime-time network coverage and the history of the tournament is really pretty hard to beat.  I'm loathe to climb onto the "homer" soapbox, but there is no reason that Chicago, with its size and its huge crew of golf fans, can't keep the Western.

Except the tour wants to leave, that is.

[Adam Clayman]

If the real Western Golf assn. is hurt by all this, they should just hold the event, sans pros.

[tlavin]

If the real Western Golf assn. is hurt by all this, they should just hold the event, sans pros.

It's interesting, but the WGA has absolutely no notice of the proposed move to San Francisco.  Honestly, I'm not sure if the Evans Scholars Foundation will be hurt by this.  One could argue that exposure of the foundation to other states will encourage more members in the Par Club and encourage more clubs to have good caddie programs.  My fear is that the PGA Tour and BMW will just end the relationship with the charity and funnel the money into their typical charities.  That would be devastating.

[SL_Solow]

Terry;  That is the precise question (among others) I raised in my first post.

[Scott Szabo]

Tiger comes every year and says it is one of his favorites.  

Enough said, whether we like it or not.

[John Kavanaugh]

How does hosting a PGA Tour event raise money for charity?  Is it part of the gate, or pro-am fees or what?  What is it about the PGA that makes one think they should be on the dole for an event.  Why not baseball or football?

[JESII]

If the Western in Chicago always draws great crowds, and Tiger almost always plays, what exactly caused the move? Please don't tell me Finchem just didn't want to be in Chicago. Does anyone have an answer? I am sure it's another follow the money deal, but the dollars would seemingly be available in Chicago as well based on my two leading assumptions.

[SL_Solow]

The tour is set up as a tax exempt entity.  Although raising money for charity was always a "hook" to attract sponsors etc. it also serves to shelter the tour.  Portions of pro am entries and the gate go to charity.  additionally sponsors of the tournament make significant contributions.  Thus while the tour does not make many direct contributions, in fact its operating expenses and the players purses come from the same sources, the tournaments are the platform for the significant charitable contributions that result.  I am not sure what your remark about being "on the dole" refers to in this context.  The tour and its players earn their keep, they merely direct a portion of the revenue to charity for a variety of reasons.  Query if the charities benefitting could raise as much or more without the tour.  As you know the idea spread and numerous charities hold amateur events where the proceeds which exceed the events' costs are contributed to a named charity.  I have run a few of those myself as have several other participants on this board.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I have always felt there are the Open, Masters and US Open in one league. The PGA a step below. Then the TPC, Colonial, Nissan, ATT, Memorial and Western at the next level. I am sure I am leaving out one or two well run events on great courses. Then the rest of the tour events are who is there driven. I frankly put the US Am ahead of most tour events.

[John Kavanaugh]

I don't see Tiger playing this year with his impending spawn.  Z is wanting Dubs to host a major.  The tour is getting out while the getting is good.  You could see the demise of Chicago golf at Medinah.  I don't know what happened but you can just feel it down here in the bowels of the state.

[John Kavanaugh]

The tour is set up as a tax exempt entity.  Although raising money for charity was always a "hook" to attract sponsors etc. it also serves to shelter the tour.  Portions of pro am entries and the gate go to charity.  additionally sponsors of the tournament make significant contributions.  Thus while the tour does not make many direct contributions, in fact its operating expenses and the players purses come from the same sources, the tournaments are the platform for the significant charitable contributions that result.  I am not sure what your remark about being "on the dole" refers to in this context.  The tour and its players earn their keep, they merely direct a portion of the revenue to charity for a variety of reasons.  Query if the charities benefitting could raise as much or more without the tour.  As you know the idea spread and numerous charities hold amateur events where the proceeds which exceed the events' costs are contributed to a named charity.  I have run a few of those myself as have several other participants on this board.

Thanks..I don't mean to be negative but this all sounds like a way for big wigs to have fun at the expense of shareholders while all the time feeling good about their false charity.  It all sounds like a house of cards to me that may explain the impending doom of the tour.  I remain a par club member.

[tlavin]

It is disturbing to think that we might be hearing the death rattle of PGA tour golf in Chicago.  True, the LPGA events have struggled to gain any meaningful attendance and the Nationwide (or whatever it's called this month) Tour event at Glen Club isn't the best attended event, but the Western is always a big hit and most of the best players regularly compete.  This includes Eldrick, Dickelson, Singh, Furyk and the rest of the top-ranked Americans.  It makes me fear that the Tour is looking for a way to part company with the WGA in order to maintain total control over every one of its events.  I've talked to some insiders who assure me that I'm quite mistaken and that the PGA merely wants to "grow" their "brand" in St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and San Francisco, but methinks that they could and should look to other locales to trim back and look to other events that don't have the storied history of the Western.

[SL_Solow]

Barney; I am not sure what you mean when you refer to phony charities.  The charities are all legitimate.  If you think corporations should be barred from making charitable contributions because the directors are spending shareholder dollars for matters not directly related to the business you are entitled to that opinion but that's not how the law works today and many worthy charities benefit.  As far as the motives of those giving, I would refer you to the Code of Maimonides which creates a hierarchy for charitable giving, but suffice it to say giving for a less than "perfect" reason is better than not giving at all.

Finally with respect to the demise of Chicago golf as seen downstate (which always perceives the demise of everything in Chicago) your remark about Tiger not coming misses the boat because the tournament has already been moved from early July by the tour so the impending birth is a non issue.  If Tiger decides to participate in the Fed Ex cup he'll be there. He has stated many times that he likes coming to Chicago very much and he has never missed a Western.  This of course views Tiger's atendance as a measure of the health or importance of a tournament, which might be the subject of a different discussion. The demise of Chicago golf after Medinah?  The event was well attended and a financial success.  Medinah is already scheduled to hold a Ryder Cup and I believe another PGA.  On the amateur level the CDGA holds tournaments every week in season and they are oversubscribed.  The tour has great attendance.  While the area suffers many of the problems felt by the entire industry I suggest the game is healthier here than in a lot of places.

[John Kavanaugh]

Sorry.  I did not mean to imply that the charities are phony.  I also can not explain why I have always been offended by the attitude of charitable giving shoved down our throat by the PGA Tour.  

[Tim_Cronin]

I've written about this more than a bit in my real-life role as a sportswriter in Chicago (though have been on other assignments this week and have yet to catch up with WGA staff), but the entire Western-BMW switcharoo comes down to this:
1. The WGA had real trouble finding a sponsor on its own after Motorola pulled out.
2. Without a sponsor in the WGA fold after Cialis' third year, the Tour looked at the Western and pounced. Presto! BMW Championship (though using the Western's century-plus history, which means in TV-speak Chick Evans won the 1910 BMW Championship, nine years before BMW was founded; someone had Stephen Ames winning the 2004 BMW on a telecast a couple of weeks ago).
3. Finchem wanted to play something at Bellerive to make up for the 2001 American Express WGC, which was slated for Sept. 13-16, 2001, and canceled after Sept. 11's attacks.
4. Finchem didn't think Cog Hill's clubhouse was swank enough for all the BMW swells who would be hanging about during tournament week, so the Midwest rotation idea beyond Bellerive was hatched.
5. And now, with a contract with San Francisco to fulfill, Finchem sees a future Western Open -- if I may be so bold -- as a way to do so. Never mind that in 1956, when the Western Open was played at Presidio during football season, the crowds were small. And when is the Western, as a playoff tournament, played now? During football season.
6. WGA people apparently had no clue of Finchem's post-2012 notion until reporters called.
And that's the short version.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Never mind that in 1956, when the Western Open was played at Presidio during football season, the crowds were small.

SF's 50-year probation for that offense expired last year.  

[James Bennett]

Sorry.  I did not mean to imply that the charities are phony.  I also can not explain why I have always been offended by the attitude of charitable giving shoved down our throat by the PGA Tour.  

John

I expect you are not offended at all by the charitable giving by the PGA Tour (or any other organisation for that matter).  

And I don't think you are alone in being offended by any group promoting themselves at length as 'charitable', especially if you felt that that group didn't recognise the contribution that volunteers made to enable that charitable donation to be made.  The charity should be always be seen as more important than the donor, and the 'donor' should also recognise how the donation was accumulated.

James B

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