By Phil Kosin in Chicago events, Great thoughts, LPGA Tour, Solheim Cup on May 21 2008
 Most veteran golf observers were not very surprised when Annika Sorenstam announced her retirement will come at the end of this season. Six years ago, back in 2002, she spoke of wanting to leave the game while she’s on top and that she’s always wanted to start a family. Good for her.
My first instinct was to consider the local impact. I wondered how the departure of arguably the most powerful presence in the history of women’s golf might affect next year’s Solheim Cup Match at Rich Harvest Farms in far west suburban Sugar Grove. Solicited for comment, the folks in the tournament office referred our call to the communications office of the LPGA Tour. Those LPGA people for now are taking the half-full, half-empty glass position that while Annika has not said she’d be playing the Solheim, she has not said she wouldn’t play, either. To me that sounds like so much wishful thinking. Other athletes have retired and found they couldn’t live without the adrenaline rush of competition. But for now I’ll take Annika at her word that she’ll be quitting in December. Who knows? She may be many months pregnant come August, 2009.
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By Phil Kosin in Tiger Woods on May 17 2008
Mike Kern of the Philadelphia Daily News joined us on the Chicagoland Golf Radio Show this morning and told listeners Hank Haney says Tiger Woods is coming along well with his post-knee surgery rehab — so well Tiger may be back in time for the Memorial, which is in two weeks (May 29-June 1) and two weeks before the U.S. Open.
Woods underwent surgery on April 15, two days after he finished second in the Masters. It’s the third time the knee has been scoped. The U.S. Open gets under way June 12, at a course — Torrey Pines, near San Diego - where he has won a jabillion times.
Haney believes Tiger will try to play in the Memorial, where he also has enjoyed all kinds of success, 2 weeks before that. The only thing Haney knows for sure is, he won’t compete again until he believes he’s ready.
Kern went on to write: Read More…
By Phil Kosin in Chicagoland Golf Radio Show on May 16 2008
 May 17
Gary Hallberg, PGA Tour pro
Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News
Michael Miller, Illinois PGA exec dir
Emily Fletcher, new Northwestern head women’s golf coach
Call-in number: 312-644-6767
By Phil Kosin in LPGA Tour, Solheim Cup on May 14 2008
Just for fun I looked up the Euro roster for the last Solheim Cup, which the U.S. won 16-12 at Halmstad Golfklubb, Sweden.
The team included Annika Sorenstam, Sophie Gustafson, Maria Hjorth and Linda Wessberg from Sweden; Suzann Pettersen of Norway, Gwladys Nocera of France, Bettina Hauert of Germany, Catriona Matthew of Scotland, Dane Iben Tinning and the English trio of Trish Johnson, Laura Davies and Becky Brewerton.
Who will rise to the role of team leader now that Annika has announced her departure from the game?
By Phil Kosin in LPGA Tour, Solheim Cup on May 14 2008
Will any of us ever forget where we were when we heard the news superstar Annika Sorenstam was retiring at the top of her game, at age 37?
My first thoughts were “Good for her, she’s always talked about wanting to start a family.”
And in today’s world of professional golf — at least at the very top, where Sorenstam has ruled for years — it’s hard to step away from the game, especially when you’re still extremely competitive and everyone in the world is throwing money at you to continue. So none of us can be faulted for wondering “Why?”.
Sorenstam’s last official event will come in December, the Dubai Ladies Masters.
But then my thoughts quickly turned to how this shocking announcement will affect the Chicagoland area, how it will impact next year’s August 17-23 Solheim Cup Match at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Which is going to be one of the bigger golf events in Chicago history.
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By Phil Kosin in Kosin being Kosin, PGA Tour, The Players on May 12 2008
 One of the first orders of business as soon as the PGA Tour hierarchy gets back to work should be to deep-six the current sudden-death playoff format for The Players Championship.
Warning: my personal bias toward the style of golf architecture embraced by the Stadium Course perpetrator designer is about to bubble over.
As it is usually set up, the course is fun to play for the legion of hackers who travel there from all points just so they could tell their friends played it once. The course beats the crap out of them, which puts them in a dreamy stupor that manifests itself in a wild buying binge of expensive, logoed stuff in the golf shop, to wear on their home course back home to trigger “Hey! YOU played the Stadium Course at Sawgrass?” That’s how golfers get their money’s worth — it is also one of the great mysteries in golf, the weird sort of camaraderie shared among golfers when everyone else in your foursome is being carried off on their shield, too. Read More…
By Phil Kosin in Great thoughts, PGA Tour, The Players on May 9 2008
Earlier in the week I reiterated my annual opinion at the TPC at Sawgrass is too contrived, too tricked-up and has too many sharp edges to be considered a serious venue worthy of anything above the glorified PGA Tour event known as The Players Championship.
Plain and simple, this field isn’t very attractive. Or entertaining, so far.
As I looked over the list of 74 players who made the cut (with what, 45 players at either 2-over or 3-over?) I suddenly realized that none of the winners of the last eight majors will be playing on the weekend. I’ll repeat that: none of the winners of the last eight majors will be playing on the weekend.
Tiger Woods had three of those eight and is on the shelf after knee surgery. Trevor Immelman, whose Masters win was the only cut he made in his last four events, withdrew Thursday after looking “winded and exhausted” on Wednesday. The winners of the other four of the last eight majors — Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, Padraig Harrington, and Geoff Ogilvy — all missed the cut by a mile. Harrington was in the best form of the bunch, missing the cut by three. Read More…
By Phil Kosin in Golf history, Golf is a Circus on May 8 2008
An interesting online golf quiz to test your knowledge – beware, while most questions are fairly easy there are a couple that may trip you up. you. Can you score a perfect 13-under on the first try?
Golf test
Thanks to friend Paul Brian for forwarding the link.
By Phil Kosin in Chicagoland Golf Radio Show on May 8 2008
May 10
Nationwide Tour player Madalitso Muthiya, first Zambian, first black African to play in U.S. Open
Dave Berkowitz, nationally-prominent golf collector and dealer
TBA
Call-in number: 312-644-6767
By Phil Kosin in Of Courses, PGA Tour, The Players on May 6 2008
 First of all, let me say moving The Players Championship from March to May on the PGA Tour schedule was a brilliant move. Previously, the month of May was a comparative “dud” with eight or nine weeks between the Masters and U.S. Open.
Because the PGA Tour has marketed this event as the one “belonging to its members”, it typically draws a very strong field – also featuring international stars. The pressure on the players to attend is subtle, but firm.
Huge purses notwithstanding.
And thanks to a sharp-edged, quirky golf course (I’m trying to be nice here), loved by spectators but despised quietly by many players, The Players provides plenty of drama and entertainment. Perhaps too much, at the expense of the most highly-skilled in the field.
For many years, the Ponte Vedra Beach boys have been trying to induce the golf media into portraying this as one of golf’s major championships, a quest which has gotten no further than being an annual topic for interesting discussion.
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By Phil Kosin in There Oughta be a Law on May 5 2008
Just thought I’d jump in to clear up yesterday’s outage of the Worm Castings blog and The News Hole.
We started getting e-mails early Sunday morning from some of the regulars who were letting us know they were getting a “server error” message when they tried to sign on. Unaffected was the home-base Chicagolandgolf.com website.
Of course the first thing I did was figure it was something I did wrong — don’t we all do that? — so I carefully checked and re-checked the operating files for both sub-sites. Nothing was amiss.
So I got on the help line and according to the company from which we lease server space, it was a global outage due to upgrading software on the server. Was told it would only last an hour or two, said a man somewhere in the Philippines. (That is where the support lines ring between midnight and 7 a.m. nightly and on weekends.)
I’d hate to hang by my thumbs for that hour or two. According to our traffic-monitoring software, both sub-sites went down about 3 a.m. and weren’t restored to operational status until about 5 p.m.
So even though it wasn’t our fault, we apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience and your patronage.
By Phil Kosin in Local golf on April 29 2008
May 3
Todd Sones, Top 50 Teacher, founder Cotour Putter Co.
Scott Cassin, tournament director Bank of America Open
Andy Silis, National Sales Rep, Tour Edge Golf
Call-in number: 312-644-6767
By Phil Kosin in Chicagoland Golf Radio Show on April 28 2008
To answer some requests, to get in touch with Emil Esposito, golf professional and author of video “Making Golf Fun, Not Work” and all-around good guy, call 847-764-4653. Emil teaches out of Glen Club in Glenview.
By Phil Kosin in Golf is a Circus on April 28 2008
The above is a new product that proves beyond argument that everyone manufacturing a product — any product — hopes to tap into the veritable “gold mine” that is the golf industry. If our valiant “industry leaders” can count construction and sales of homes in golf course residential projects as revenue generated by the game of golf, well, what about the sale of hearing aids to golfers? I find it fascinating the hearing aid — dimpled like a golf ball, not “pebbled” — is shown on the company’s website as being struck off a tee by a driver. Interesting marketing wrinkle, there. At least they don’t promise wearers will hit it longer and straighter.
Here’s what the company claims (the hed over this nugget is also from the company’s new-product release):
Forget the titanium golf clubs — for the 28.7 million golfers in the U.S. who enjoy challenge and chat on the greens, a sleek and stylish new hearing device may provide just the “boost” some need to stay in the game.
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By Phil Kosin in Golf architecture, Golf history on April 27 2008
Golf columnist  Joe Logan of the Philadelphia Inquirer offers this fascinating story about a local group of Philly golfers — With a little help from a few friends – banding together to propose restoration plans for Cobbs Creek, a 1916 muni that represents the only other 18-hole design by Hugh Wilson, who also designed Merion.
Nine days ago, in a 10th-floor conference room in the offices of the Fairmount Park Commission, a handful of golfers calling themselves “Friends of Cobbs Creek” sat down to pitch an idea for the future of the city-owned golf course.
“We’d like to restore Cobbs Creek,” Mike Cirba, the leader of the group, told Barry Bessler, chief of staff for the park commission and the city’s point man on all matters pertaining to the six city-owned courses.
And…
Although Philadelphia was late among big cities to build a public golf course for its residents, when it opened in 1916, Cobbs Creek was immediately hailed as the finest daily fee golf course in the country. And over the years, as Merion Golf Club in Ardmore became revered and hosted four U.S. Opens, Cobbs Creek’s reputation grew by association. It was, after all, the only other 18-hole course credited to Merion’s great designer, Hugh Wilson.
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