"Cog Hill hasn't done a good job of courting/keeping happy the WGA or the USGA. They seem to want big events, but they're not going about it the right way."
What exactly did the Jemseks do that you feel wasn't the "right" way? Let's see, over Frank's objections, they closed his biggest moneymaking course for a year to do renovations, hired Rees Jones (the reputed "Open Doctor" who was the USGA's boy, at least for a while), spent over $5 million dollars of his own money paying for the changes, and now, hired a new superintendent who came with the PGA Tour's blessing. It sure is easy to tell other people how to run their business, but it seems to me that the goal of the Jemsek family, from Joe on down, to provide for the public golfer has clearly and unequivocally been done the "right" way.
And as for the WGA, as a Director Mr. Lavin can speak to this with more authority than I can, but my recollection is that the folks at Butler National took $500k off the top for hosting the Western Open, while Joe Jemsek and then his family don't get a penny for their hosting duties. That's a lot of scholarship cash for some deserving kids that goes directly into the WGA's coffers. Plus, the Jemseks bought up acres upon acres of surrounding fields so that Western Open patrons had a place close by to park. Moving the event periodically has been part of the WGA's plan for several years now. You go to an unfamiliar place and the locals knock themselves out buying tents and tickets -- they made a ton of cash at Bellerive. That's the focus of the WGA, but if you think that the folks in Golf, Illinois don't very much appreciate the Jemseks and Cog Hill as a venue for their event, you are sadly mistaken.
Was the course in lously condition for the BMW last year? No question. But the new guy worked at Muirfield Village, so let's just see how bringing some new blood into the Super's position affects the course.