The word is out, and the word is that the 2013 BMW Championship will return to Chicago but not at the customary Cog Hill in Lemont, but at Conway Farms in Lake Forrest.  From the Chicago Tribune: “Conway Farms was selected as a Chicago-area site after the PGA Tour and WGA also strongly considered the Glen Club, an upscale public course in Glenview.  But Conway Farms is the better test — a Tom Fazio-designed course that had the 2009 Western Amateur and adheres to principles of walking, fast play (a two-minute search for lost balls) and using caddies. The club has tightened fairways, moved bunkers and mowed run-off areas to prepare for the 2012 USGA Mid-Amateur Championship. And members are so motivated to have the 2013 BMW, they will cut down trees — and eventually plant new ones — to create space for hospitality.”

It has also been rumored that if everything in 2013 goes well, the 2015 BMW will be back at Conway Farms.  This year the Chicago golfing public only has one choice of major golf this year, and happily it is the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club.  The Chicago Golf Guy loves going to PGA Tour events, and I am looking forward to having another chance at Conway Farms.  Hopefully all goes well and we can keep a major golf tournament in Chicago.

My only beef with a private club getting the only PGA Tour event in Chicago, is the fact that the common man doesn’t have a chance to see the pros play the same course he does.  The best part about the Western Open and the BMW was the fact that I could play a PGA quality course, and really see how far DJ hits it.