« Sabbatini, Marino move to the front | Main | It's a traffic jam on Dubsdread »
Thursday
Sep102009

Jemsek chases the five-ring circus

Writing from Lemont, Ill.
Thursday, September 10, 2009

Frank Jemsek always thinks long-term.

That's how the boss of Cog Hill Golf & Country Club looks at the potential of the Olympics in Chicago, of golf in said Olympics, and said golf potentially being played at his four-course complex.

And that outlook, like much about Jemsek, goes back to his father Joe's outlook on life. It was Joe, of course, who ordered Dubsdread built in the early 1960s. It opened in 1964, a tournament-tough course open to the public that finally hosted the Western Open for the first time 27 years later.

"My dad told me about the World's Fair, when it was held in Chicago," Jemsek recalled of the 1933-34 Century of Progress. "He told me how, when it was over, it still helped the economy for a number of years.

"I'm really hoping for the Olympics, and to host the golf. If (golfers) come to Chicago to play the Olympic golf course, they can get on Cog Hill. If it's played at a country club, they'd have to know a member to get on."

Jemsek knows the quest to host the Olympics might not succeed – Olympia Fields Country Club is very interested, and has at least one member with a connection to Chicago Olympic chairman Pat Ryan – but Jemsek has someone important in his corner: Tiger Woods.

"I've been telling everybody who would listen that we want to host," Jemsek said. "We can get 20,000 or 30,000 more people on this golf course than other courses can hold."

That was proven on several occasions on Dubsdread, notably the final rounds of 1997, when thousands marched along with Woods down the final fairway. The gallery was announced as 49,462 that day, but might have been much higher. People were still coming in at 3 p.m. In 2001, when Scott Hoch outdueled Davis Love III down the stretch, there were 51,322 on hand.

Dubsdread wins – barely

The 69-player course average of 71.449 strokes was less than a half-stroke over the par of 71, and a little more than a stroke harder than the 70.338 the 66-player field recorded in the first round two years ago.

There were 28 players under par and 10 more at level 71, so the 38 at par or better was a bit more than half the field. In 2007, when the field was playing lift, clean and place, 38 players were under par in the first round, and six at par 71.

"The green contours and the tongues where you can put the flag makes the golf course," said Rees Jones, who refurbished the Dick Wilson-Joe Lee design.

The players noticed.

"A lot of the fingers run away from you," Tiger Woods said. "You've got to pick your spots on where to go for it. Like on 11. The front pin used to be an easy pin. Dump it on the right, and it's an easy up-and-down. Now if you dump it on the right, that's a deep bunker there. You have almost no shot to get it close. You've got to try to miss it a little bit left or long, like I did.

"That's the thing you have to get used to. The misses are not where they used to be."

The par-4 fifth hole was hardest, at 4.275 strokes, while the par-5 15th, as is traditional, was the pushover, at 4.507 strokes. Remodeling or not, some things never change.

Attendance up from 2007

The people came to Cog Hill early and stayed late, a combination that helped fill the coffers of the Western Golf Association, and made the first round of the 106th Western Open appear to be the big deal it was.

The WGA didn't release an estimate for Thursday's opening round of the BMW Championship, but the gallery appeared to be nearly double the size of the sparse turnout for the first round at Cog Hill two years ago. The independent estimate of 18,500 was far better than the approximate house of 10,000 for the first lap of the 2007 affair.

That's still down by a large amount from the 30,000-plus crowds that would pour into Cog Hill on the first day when the Western was played during the Fourth of July weekend. But after 2007, anything close to 20,000 was an improvement. (Last year, when the championship was played at Bellerive Country Club near St. Louis, the first round was pushed back to Friday because of a flood.)

Around Dubsdread

The field was reduced to 68 players after the round, Bob Estes withdrawing because of a hip injury, no doubt aggravated by a 6-over-par 77. Only J.B. Holmes and Tim Clark, at 7-over 78, scored higher. … Phil Mickelson drew a large gallery, but wasn't able to put on a show, scoring even par 71. Chicago favorite Luke Donald managed a 1-under 70, while Elmhurst's Mark Wilson is at 2-under 69. … Friday's tee times again start at 10:30 a.m., with players going off the first and 10th tees, to keep Golf Channel (on the air from 2-5 p.m.) happy. … Co-leader Rory Sabbatini and Anthony Kim start at 12:09 p.m. from No. 10, while co-leader Steve Marino, Stewart Cink and Mike Weir are off the 10th tee at 10:41 a.m. Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and Heath Slocum are on No. 1 at 12:09 p.m.

– Tim Cronin

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>