THE PGA TOUR, BMW AND THE WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION LEFT CHICAGO WITHOUT A TOUR 
EVENT IN 2014. (Representatives of the PGA Tour, BMW, join Cherry Hills CC Colorado, club
president John Elway, PGA Tour player and CHCC member David Duval, VP of Tournaments
for the WGA Vince Pellegrino, to announce the relocation the of 2014 BMW Championship)

WHAT'S GOING ON...or in this case isn't going on. What isn't is that, the Chicago
golf fans are getting the shaft again by the folks at the PGA Tour.

Ever since the entire Fed Ex Cup format started, Chicago has been getting the
long putter or an oversized driver stuffed up, Ah well you know where.

The PGA Tour needs to come to forefront and decide whether or not this market,
the second biggest one in the country is important to them or not. The way it
looks now with the BMW Championship driving off to Denver in 2014, one would
have to say that Chicago is not important to the tour at all.

Granted the movement of the BMW to St. Louis in 2008 gave the Jemseks time
to renovate Course #4 Dubsdread at Cog Hill, and next years move to Crooked
Stick near Indianapolis is smart with the 2012 Ryder Cup in town. But up front this
wasn't the plan, things just got shuffled around to make the best of a bad situation.

What's worse is that 2013 BMW is still not in the books with a location, and
Chicago might not be in the plans for that year either. Why you wonder ? Well I do
too, but there are multiple reasons for this to be happening.

Is money a factor. Well Yes and isn't it always. The good folks at the Western Golf
Association (WGA) have been forced to play along with the tour's idea for this event,
or they get left out in the cold. The WGA is not the guilty party here, in fact Vince
Pellegrino the WGA's VP of Tournaments, spoke very proudly that the entire WGA
schedule for this year is in Chicago.

The Western Junior is at Beverly, the Western Amateur is at Northshore and the
BMW is at Cog Hill. A schedule like this is what should be ever year and not just
in 2011.

But the WGA is in the business of puting caddies through college, and puting
anyone through college is not a cheap venture these days. Over 800 caddies
are a getting a free ride after walking fairways all summer, with a golf bag or
two over their shoulders.

The tab for 800 plus college tuitions sounds like a figure you hear when the
national debt gets talked about. When an event like the BMW Championship
shows up somewhere it usually is not, cities rally around it because it becomes
a special event. Like when a town gets a U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder
Cup or Solheim Cup.

So it seems everytime the BMW goes somewhere else, more folks buy tickets
and that means more $$$ for the Evans Scholars. The WGA has quite a few
directors who belong to clubs everywhere, like say Cherry Hills CC near Denver.

Granted they are excited to host an event like the BMW, especially when their
club has Evans Scholars like Cherry Hills does. But hopefully the WGA will
not put Chicago's tournament up every year to the highest bidder, whether
or not that person comes from within their own ranks.

Is the golf course a factor. You bet it is. The players didn't like Cog Hill last
year for a few reasons. But the late Joe Jemsek and currently his son Frank,
have been giving the WGA and PGA Tour a sweetheart deal for years on
using their course.

The Jemseks deserve better, and an answer for 2013 that doesn't seem
to be coming until after this years event. In the meantime best of luck to
green super's Ken Lapp, and new course #4 super Scott Pavalko on having
Dubsdread in mint condition come September. The future of PGA Tour golf
at Cog Hill might depend on it.

Of course if not Cog Hill then where ? Olympia Fields, Medinah, how about
the new Chicago Highlands near Oak Brook where the Western Open was
for years during it's time at Butler National. Unfortunately Butler is not an
option due to it's membership policies, and those don't appear to be changing
anytime soon.

Chicago golf fans your time has come to step up and be heard. The Champions
or Senior PGA Tour left town in 2002 and hasn't been back. Cantigny Golf in
Wheaton are among the courses that have had discussions with the seniors
about coming back to town, it's a great idea but they need a sponsor.

The ladies tour (LPGA) wants to comeback to Chicago too. The people who
run the two new dynamic public courses in Elgin, Bowes Creek and The
Highlands have talked with the LPGA. Again great idea, but they too need
a sponsor.

Hopefully the Chicago area is not as bad of a place to do business as some
people think it is. The State of Illinois, along with Cook, Dupage, and Lake
counties need to support the idea of pro golf making a bigger return to this
market.

If September pro golf in Chicago doesn't work, then can we have what so
many people in this town would love to have back. The Western Open, and
during the 4th of July week too. With the Great Lakes Naval base nearby
there are plenty of military people around to be honored, and having a cross
promotion with the Folds of Honor Foundation would be outstanding.

It would be huge benefit for the tour to play in Chicago, then go right down
Rt.88 to the quad cities for the John Deere Classic. From there the players
take the plane offered by John Deere right to the British Open. It sounds
like a win-win, which is probably why it won't happen.

The Western Open returning to a mid-summer date would bring out the
fans and the money the WGA needs to keep puting caddies in college. 

How about it PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, make the change
so the BMW doesn't keep having to.

THE GOG BLOG SPEAKS OUT..this is the first of a weekly column that
is expected to run on Mondays going forward.

BY...RORY SPEARS...the Gog Blog Guy. On twitter @GogBlogGuy and
at Facebook/Linkedin under Rory Spears.