This week the PGA Tour returns to Cog Hill Golf and Country Club’s Dubsdread Course in Lemont, Ill., for the BMW Championship, the third event of the 2009 FedExCup Playoffs. GCSAA Class A Golf Course Superintendent Ken Lapp reopened the course this spring after a $5.2 million renovation was completed. The project was led by Rees Jones and began after Cog Hill hosted the 2007 BMW Championship.
Changes include the reconstructing of all greens and tee complexes, reshaping of the fairways, a new risk-reward pond on No. 7, significant tree management, the repositioning and sculpting of all 98 bunkers, a new irrigation system, additional drainage, and Sub-Air aeration and moisture removal systems were installed on all 19 greens (including the practice green).
A 46-year GCSAA member, Lapp has been at Cog Hill since 1973 and this will be the 18th PGA Tour event he has hosted, in addition to the 1997 U.S. Amateur and three U.S. Public Links Championships. Lapp credits excellent weather last summer when the new grass was planted and sod laid, with the existing pristine conditions.
Grass type: | |
Weather: On-and-off showers, with highs in the mid to upper 70s. | |
Yardage: 7,616 yards, par 72 | |
Fun fact: Cog Hill is the only course to host a U.S. Amateur (1997) and a U.S. Amateur Public Links (1970, 1989). |