Cog Hill Improves Playing Conditions, Fan Experience for 2011 BMW Championship

If the 70 PGA Tour players in this year’s BMW Championship complain again this year, it won’t be about the greens.

Western Golf Association Director of Tournaments Vince Pellegrino says the course is in great condition and the greens are rolling nicely and a little faster this year. And thanks to a new superintendent and more favorable weather, Cog Hill Golf Club President Katherine Jemsek says the course is in better shape than it has been in at least a year.

“[The greens] are very different from last year,” she said. “Last year, we were struggling and I think this year we are on top of our game.”

At last year’s tournament, numerous players panned the course, complaining about the condition of the greens and the difficulty of the course. Tiger Woods said his putting was affected by the condition of the greens after last year’s hot weather and heavy rains. The course design was also criticized by some players, most vocally Phil Mickelson. The tournament is held on Cog Hill’s course number four, Dubsdread, which was renovated in 2008 by Rees Jones.

This spring, Cog Hill hired a new superintendent, Scott Pavalko, who has a great deal of experience grooming courses like Dubsdread. He previously worked at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio, which has a similar style with the same type of grass and steep banks off the bunkers.

“He has been instrumental in helping us with the agronomics of the green,” Jemsek says of Pavalko. In comparing the similarities of Muirfield and Dubsdread, she joked, “He’s had more experience in our new course than we have.”

A Week in the Spotlight

The tournament will kick off with Pro-Am events Monday and Wednesday, before playing host to the main event. Fans can see the action from 9:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, the second round will tee off at 7:30 a.m. and run through 2:30 p.m., when the course will begin showing the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game on televisions throughout the facility as part of its college football viewing party. The final round will begin at 7:30 a.m. Sunday and run through about 5 p.m. Single-day tickets are $55 at the gate. Children younger than 16 are admitted free.

Jemsek says ticket sales are an important way to show support for the event and help keep it returning to Lemont. Though Pellegrino says WGA has not done an economic impact study for the event in Lemont, the same study for next year’s tournament in Indiana showed that the event would bring as much as $30 million to the economy there. While Pellegrino admits that many players stay in the Oak Brook area and patronize the hotels and businesses along Route 83, he says Lemont businesses benefit as well.

“Not many communities our size can say they get to host or be a part of a national sporting event such as the BMW Championship,” Lemont Village Administrator Ben Wehmeier said. “Overall, it’s a positive in terms of what it brings to this area, so we hope they have continued success in bringing events such as this to Lemont.”

History in Lemont

Cog Hill played host to the predecessor to the BMW Championship, the Western Open, from 1991 to its final event in 2006. The club then hosted the BMW Championship in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The 2012 tournament will be held at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, and is slated for Colorado’s Cherry Hills Country Club in 2014. The 2013 tournament location has yet to be decided.

Pellegrino says that decision will be made after assessing how things go during this year’s tournament.

“We’re going to be looking at the attendance, how the players like the golf course, the conditioning, and just overall what our goals are for the future of the championship,” he said.

Pellegrino is pleased with the condition of the course this year and said Cog Hill has addressed last year’s feedback as much as possible.

“Everything’s been done that you can do without redesigning the golf course,” he said.

Cog Hill has other advantages, from both and operational and fan-experience standpoint.

“The facilities are tremendous for everything we want to do operationally,” Pellegrino said, citing the ease of parking in particular.

The fact that Cog Hill is a public course also makes it an attractive location, and one that can perhaps give golfers a greater appreciation for the talent of the pros.

“I think that’s the neat feature about playing this tournament at Cog Hill—at a public facility—that fans can see some of the same shots that they hit and how the pros play the same holes,” Pellegrino explained.

A Fan-Friendly Event

In addition to the enhancements to the players’ experience, Cog Hill and BMW have worked to make the event more fan- and family-friendly.

For the first time, fans will be allowed to bring their cell phones onto the course. They still can’t take photos or videos, and must silence their ringer. But the PGA is allowing phone calls to be made in designated areas and texting throughout the facility.

“I think that’s a real big fan enhancement that people do not have to be away from their business or be out of touch while they’re out at the golf tournament,” Pellegrino said.

Officials are also trying to make the fan experience more family-friendly. This year, children younger than 16 will be admitted free. BMW is also sponsoring several interactive fan experiences such as a hole-in-one contest and putting competition, which are available to adults and children. 

In the Name of Charity

The BMW Championship is expected to raise about $2 million for the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation. At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the course will also play host to as many as 2,000 participants in the inaugural Walk the Course Against Domestic Violence-Chicagoland event, which will raise money for domestic violence prevention on behalf of the Avon Foundation for Women and the PGA TOUR Wives Association.

Pellegrino praises the owners’ support of the Western Golf Association and Cog Hill’s history with the tournament.

“The Jemsek family and Cog Hill have supported the tournament for more than 20 years and it’s certainly a great place to host the event,” Pellegrino said.

“I think it’s an honor for Cog Hill to be able to host the BMW Championship,” Jemsek said. “We have always been big promoters of education in the Jemsek family and that’s why this charity fits so well with our beliefs.”

Whether fans are interested in supporting a good cause, seeing their favorite professional golfers, or just getting out and enjoying a high-profile event, everyone involved with the tournament is hoping for strong support and high attendance throughout the tournament.

“It’s a fun event that not many local communities get to say they have and it’s right in our back door,” Wehmeier encouraged.

At least for now.