Chicago Public Golf

Wow, you can tell golf season is kicking in because Ed Sherman’s Inside Golf has been appearing in the Trib a lot lately. Today, Ed’s topic is NU golfer Dillon Dougherty’s first few rounds at Augusta. You may know the name Dillon Dougherty because he was runner-up at the US Amateur last summer and therefore gets an exemption to the Masters this year. Dougherty also happens to be a senior at Northwestern, so there’s the local connection.

These rounds were played last December, but it probably took Sherman until now to get this column written because he had to report on all of that important news in the local sports media scene this winter.

Ed talks about the butterflies that Dougherty had when he stepped on the first tee at Augusta. There was nobody else on the course, it was just Dougherty and his dad, yet Dougherty felt “nervous just because it was Augusta National.” Can you imagine? Why be nervous? It’s just your dad watching.

Well, this very same thing happened to me about two years ago at a somewhat accessible course for Chicagoans. In the summer of 2004, my wife and I made the pilgimage to Arcadia Bluffs, in Arcadia, MI, to celebrate her birthday. I think it took about four and a half hours to get there. We had wanted to play this course for a while because some friends had told us of its beauty. They were correct; it is a beautiful, secluded piece of land right on Lake Michigan. The pictures on the website are stunning, but wait until you get there. The confluence of the blue water, green fairways, golden fescue, and setting sun are something to behold. In addition, the layout and conditions are absolutely perfect. And finally, you can get on for about half the price of that other Lake Michigan course, Whistling Straits. Although I warn you, prices at Arcadia have been increasing rapidly as of late.

When I stepped on the first tee at Arcadia, my heart was beating out of my chest. Maybe I just didn’t want to let my wife or myself down. I don’t have a good explanation for it. It had to do with the fact that the day was perfect, the course’s beauty had already exceeded all expectations, it was my wife’s birthday, and I had been fantasizing about playing this course for months. All of these things made this round of golf more important and it weighed on me to the point where it was difficult to execute the shot. I was feeling pressure even more acute than hovering over a six-footer to win the match on the last hole of my buddy’s member guest.

So yes, I know what young Dillon Dougherty was feeling when he got psyched out on the first tee at Augusta. I think most of my bodily functions would shut down if I were ever lucky enough to tee it up at The National. You may think I have completely lost perspective. You may say, “John, golf is not that important you crazy bastard. What’s the big deal? Who the hell takes their wife to play golf on her birthday.” Hey, I don’t know how to respond to those accusations. I know that I have a sickness and I am trying to deal with it.

Today I’m driving between clients and I turn on AM 1000. It was about 10:00 AM and Silvy and Carmen are talking about the “Top 100 Hottest Women” in the world or something. One of the men’s magazines had just published the list and they were specifically debating the top 10.

Carmen ripped off the top 10 and it included the usual, Scarlet Johanson, Jessica Simpson, Terry Hatcher…whatever. Then he says, “hey, I disagree, I have two women that should be in the Top 10.” He emphatically proclaims, “the two Natalies!” Hmmm, I’m interested at this point. Carmen gets specific and says, “Natalie Portman and Natalie Gulbis should be in the Top 10.”

Well what do you know, the LPGA, which has not been in Chicago in about two years, gets some free publicity from an unlikely duo that pretty much only talks Bulls, Cubs, Sox, and Bears. Hey, any pub is good pub, huh?

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune would agree. He thinks an LPGA trip to Chicago is in the works. Check out his column in the March 13, 2006 Trib. Note that you may need to sign up to see this link.

Well, maybe we can get the LPGA to come here in the off years when the Western Open leaves Chicago for Indy, St. Louis, or Minneapolis. Those will be dark years if we only have the Nationwide Tour at The Glen Club.

Batavia-based Tour Edge received some national press coverage recently. Check out the February 24, 2006 issue of Golf World and go to page 19. Tour Edge gets about a full page of coverage in the weekly’s Business section.

Let’s first have a little talk about the golf periodicals you read. If you’re a fan of the game, you need to start reading Golf World. It’s a weekly magazine, published by the folks at Golf Digest, that focuses only on golf news, analysis, and statistics. It doesn’t have any advice on hitting longer drives. There are no interviews with Tiger or Annika. And you won’t find any editorials from the likes of Johnny Miller or David Feherty. Golf World just reviews the tournaments from the previous week in all of the tours and keeps you abreast of what’s going on in the business of golf. It’s full of cool stuff like critiques of the previous week’s TV coverage, lists of equipment used by the winners of each tournament, and golf-related quotes from around the globe. I’m a huge fan of the magazine and I get some interesting facts from every issue that I often use to wow the most well-read golf fans.

Alright, back to Tour Edge. The headline is Tour Edge’s Bold Move, by E. Michael Johnson, and it discusses Tour Edge’s recent foray into high-end clubs. There a lot of great tidbits about the company that I was unaware of. Check these out:

• Founder and owner David Glod “started a club-repair business in high school” and was a golf pro at Village Links of Glen Ellyn.
• Tour Edge has “margins of more than 40% on virtually all product,” which is stellar for the industry.
• “Annual sales are around $25 million” and Tour Edge’s “marketshare is in the top seven for woods, hybrids, and putters.”

The main point of Johnson’s story is that their new Exotics line of high end clubs is different from their historical product line. Well, good luck David on the new product lunch!

Let’s get out there and support our local equipment companies. While you are at it, subscribe to Golf World also.

Harborside Starboard #2
par 4
398-380-333-295
Chicago, IL
Architect: Dick Nugent

‘Twas a dark and dank September day a few years ago when I snapped this shot of the dogleg left second hole at Harborside. I’m about 150 yards out, looking down at a green sunk in the netherworld of this former garbage dump about 15 miles south of downtown.

What a great hole. If you let fly with the driver you run the risk of going through the fairway, so be sure to cut it off a little. But watch how much you cut off because then you run the risk of a downhill lie. I like to dial it back a little (I usually play the 380 yard tee), hit maybe a strong three wood, and cut the dogleg off just slightly. A low iron approach from about 150 is what you want.

I think one of the marks of a great course is how many shades of green you can see. I can see about six here. Please adjust the angle of your screen to make sure you have a good view because the light that day was not optimal. Here is the green list:

1. The light and uniform green on the putting surface.
2. The checkerboard-style green of the fairway.
3. The lush green rough.
4. The scaggy, uneven green of the fescue
5. The dark green of the trees and bushes
6. The washed out, hazy green of the industrial landscape

A veritable feast I say, a feast for the eyes.