As most readers of this magazine are aware, the unofficial beginning of the golf season in these parts is the staging of the Chicago Golf Show®, this year for the 40th time. Once again, the CDGA is the presenting sponsor of the Show in its continuing efforts to reach out to golfers from all backgrounds. Even if you’re not the type who likes to save $350 on a brand-new, high-quality driver from a reputable manufacturer/brand – which you can do at the Show – you’ll surely appreciate the love-of-the-game vibe that permeates the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Feb. 28-March 2, when thousands of golfers take to the show floor.
February also happens to be the month when the PGA Tour starts getting serious after having spent most of January chasing around posh resort courses in Hawaii and California. Meanwhile, LIV Golf enters its fourth season with a new TV contract with Fox Sports, which has so many networks you might have to use AI to figure out where to watch.
But before we launch headlong into the 2025 golf season, let’s take a few nostalgic minutes to look back on golf’s “Silly Season,” which takes place every year after the so-called “real” golf is over. This year’s classics included the “Cardigan Classic,” a match between Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and hip-hop music producer/writer DJ Khaled in which the prize was a red cardigan sweater. (Quick, alert the tournament director at the Arnold Palmer Invitational!) Fallon prevailed on the final hole, but the big winner was the show producer who decided to limit the competition to four holes.
The Crypto.com Showdown at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas predictably paid out its $10 million purse in cryptocurrency, the tournament’s promotional gold. PGA Tour stars Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy took on LIV Golf luminaries Bryson DeChambeau and his erstwhile rival Brooks Koepka in various match play formats supposedly fraught with Tour vs. LIV animosity. Not so much. Scottie and Rory trounced the LIV lads in this snoozefest, which did little to help the average golf fan understand how to buy a bag of groceries with a pocketful of crypto.
Things improved in December at the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, where guy/gal teams revealed once again why the PGA Tour and LPGA have to play together more often. The entertaining interactions of the male-female teammates were more memorable than the victory by Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit – two quality players – and that’s why we need more of it.
The best off-season event by far was the PNC Championship, where only a few years ago a precocious young Charlie Woods unveiled his accomplished golf game and uncanny reflections of his legendary father. Adorable little Charlie has grown up to be a formidable teenage player who helped his high school team win a state championship in Florida. Charlie and pops took Bernhard Langer, 67, and his youngest son, Jason, to a playoff, where Bernhard anchored the victory by sinking a 15-foot eagle putt at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club in Orlando.
Next year’s Silly Season is going back to the future with the revival of the popular Skins Game, the first iteration of which came in 1983 when Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson battled it out for cash and trash talk at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Arizona. Though the original event died 17 years ago, that didn’t dissuade Chad Mumm, producer of the “Full Swing” series on Netflix, to revive it. More Tour players than ever – especially the younger generation – understand the importance of connecting with fans outside of the regular tournament competition process. The Skins Game is perfect for that. They just need a Senior division.
The ultimate Silly Season production is the new TGL simulator golf league featuring top pros, including Tiger Woods. But this new venue for our male golf heroes isn’t so silly anymore. It’s now part of the for-profit side of the PGA Tour, the purpose of which is to create off-shoot financial opportunities from the core business to enhance the value of star players – and the venture capital investors who helped create and finance the league. So far, it’s early. Purists are out. Others are willing to give TGL a chance, and why not? I mean, it’s on Tuesday nights.
Another great issue for you this month. Check out the Golf Show story about Andy Kitchen’s Maple Hill Golf and how he gives the deals he does. Local writer and broadcaster Lauren Withrow makes her debut in this magazine with a look at an organization that helps women get into golf. The Chicago Golf Gals are having a blast with the game regardless of what they shoot. Ed Sherman, the outstanding former golf writer at the Chicago Tribune, has an unlikely story about a Highland Park man who stumbled upon the L.A.B. putter and has nurtured its growth. Matt Harness, one of our valued correspondents, has a story about Lauren Niemiera, a female golf instructor by day and a women’s college basketball referee by night (and sometimes day).
