Cog Hill "Bashing" Is Actually Thoughtful Criticism

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When I heard Phil Mickelson and a few other players continuing to criticize the Cog Hill redo today on the eve of the BMW Championship, the "bashing" word came up a few times. But when you read the actual comments, they are well-reasoned criticisms, or in the case of Steve Stricker, sympathetic.

"They need to get their money back, I guess," said Stricker.

Furthermore, when you consider they are coming from PGA Tour professionals who will likely pay a small fine for sharing their honest assessment, then you have to suspect that these are coming from a place of having been exposed to more good design of late, of wanting to see good things happen architecturally and not out of self-interest.

From Doug Ferguson's report:

Phil Mickelson, not a fan of anything Jones designs, said the shape of the course wasn't the issue.

He attributed the criticism of Cog Hill to the man in charge of revamping it.

"I know we all wish it had turned out differently," Mickelson said. "But there was a lot of other guys to choose from that probably could do the job, and maybe if they just start over, it could turn into something special.

"But tee to green and the property, it's got really great potential," he added. "I'd love to see Gil Hanse or a Crenshaw-Coore or Kyle Phillips or David Kidd — or guys that really know what they're doing — come in and create something special here because I think that's what the family and this facility deserves."

And this from Steve Elling's story, which also features comments from Jim Furyk and Luke Donald.

"When I ask a player like yourself or anybody, 'What's your favorite golf course and on that course what's your favorite hole,' most of the time it's a par 3 under 150 yards, a lot of times it's a drivable par 4 and occasionally it'll be a reachable par 5," Mickelson said. "And this really doesn't have any of those.

"There's really no shotmaking here that's required. It doesn't really test our ability to maneuver the ball because the fronts of the greens are blocked, and the only shot is to hit a high flop shot that stops. But being able to maneuver it doesn't really matter. That's basic stuff. Chipping areas, shot value around the greens, penalties for certain misses, all that stuff wasn't really well thought-out."

I know how Phil feels having pointed this out about the Jones redos in the past. This isn't even addressing the finish work and overall disregard for naturalness that I believe ultimately bothers players more than anything.

Elling also had this from Luke Donald, a cheerleader for Chicago golf by virtue of his days at Northwestern:

"From an architectural standpoint, I'm not a huge fan of Rees Jones, either," Donald said. "I'm not a big fan of the deep bunkers and the ridges in the greens. There's a few holes where there isn't a great deal of strategy.

"I guess the Jemseks have done a great deal to try to improve the course in an effort to try to get a U.S. Open here, and I feel bad that it's come under quite a lot of criticism."

The future of the BMW/Western Open came up in these discussions and most stories have written off Cog Hill's chances. Teddy Greenstein noted the likely replacements in the Chicago area, which aren't exactly architectural masterpieces either.

The 2014 event will go to historic Cherry Hills in Denver, but the 2013 tournament remains up for grabs.

If it remains in Chicago — a giant if — courses under consideration include Conway Farms, the Glen Club, the Merit Club, Kemper Lakes and Olympia Fields. Conway is considered the favorite.

But Jeff Rude says not so fast to Phil's suggestion that this is it at Cog Hill.

“That’s his total speculation,” said John Kaczkowski, president and chief executive officer of the Western Golf Association. “Nothing has been decided for 2013. Cog Hill will be considered along with other courses in Chicago. There’s been widespread speculation (about leaving Cog), but the facts are we will sit down after this tournament and see how it did in terms of golf course, ticket and hospitality sales and attendance.”

The BMW will move to Crooked Stick next year because the Ryder Cup is at Medinah, currently in bad condition, in another Chicago suburb next September. It will return to an undetermined venue in Chicago in 2013, then move to Cherry Hills in Denver in 2014. After that, the WGA, which oversees the Evans Scholars Foundation that is funded in part from BMW proceeds and benefits deserving caddies, hopes to hold the event in the Chicago area on a “semi-permanent or permanent basis,” Kaczkowski said.

One scenario that likely can be ruled out: the tour visiting Harding Park in 2013 with the BMW as they are contractually obligated to do. Ron Kroichick reports on the possible options in San Francisco.