This is the week that professional golfers come to Milwaukee for the U.S. Bank Championship, formerly known as the Greater Milwaukee Open.

Let's hope it's the last time we see them.

Unlike most pro golf tournaments, there are probably no private jets parked at Mitchell International Airport. Many of the pros here this year flew commercial, some drove cars, others came in campers and probably a few even hitchhiked.

You see, this golf tournament is what it has always been: a bottom-tier tournament with has beens, never weres, maybe somedays, local heroes and golfers who are known only to their mothers.

And it has reached the limit of its shelf life. It's time to kick it into the gutter for good and move on with something much more exciting.

Now, before you get your shorts into a bundle, understand that I love golf. I log more time on The Golf Channel than any other television channel. I play, well enough so that my handicap flirts with single digits. I LOVE GOLF!

But I am sick and tired of this tournament.

I want to make it clear that I don't blame anyone for this situation. The people who run the tournament, the volunteers, Milwaukee County, the staff at Brown Deer Park and everyone associated with it have done a wonderful job. The problem is the date of the tournament. It has recently been played right around the British Open, either a week before or after. Next year, it will be played the same week.

What this means is that none of the big-name golfers ever come to Milwaukee. This year there are only four players in the tournament who have won this year. Their names are Holmes, Couch, Wetterich and Herron. Not exactly Woods, Mickelson, Els and Goosen.

Ten years ago Tiger Woods turned pro at this tournament in a Nike executed plan that started a most remarkable career. He hasn't even given a moment's though to coming back here. Milwaukee isn't on the radar screen of any golfer we want to see.

The guys who are here are good golfers. But, when one of the biggest stories about the field is the participation of 56-year-old Andy North, the Madison golfer who won two U.S. Opens, you know you've got a problem.

The question of what to do about this tournament is a devilish one. The PGA Tour will probably be happy for a few years to let Milwaukee limp along as a place for players who don't make it into the British Open to play. But we're going to get dropped someday. Like the BC Open that will be dropped next year after more than three decades of loyalty to the PGA Tour.

What we ought to do right now, before they tell us "goodbye," is sign up with the LPGA and stage what could be one of the biggest tournaments on that tour.

With Michelle Wie, the next Tiger Woods, and such stars as Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis, the LPGA Tour is full of exciting personalities. They've got players who don't like other players and make no bones about it. They're a lot cuter than the men. The women would love Brown Deer, a course that would set up wonderfully for them. The game the women play bears a lot more resemblance to my game than does the game the men pros play. I can learn something watching them play.

And the $4 million purse that the tournament now has could be cut by $2 million and still be in the top three purses on the ladies' tour. Players would flock to play for that kind of money and Milwaukee would be the center of the golf world with a great ladies tournament.

The fastest growing segment of people who play golf is women. And among that group the fastest growing segment is young women. It's a wonderful game for women and with full handicaps, they can play on an even keel with boyfriends, husbands or clients.

Milwaukee could take a big step if the powers that be started working with the LPGA now. But, I have grave doubts about this happening. It's not our style.

Our style is to keep doing what we've always done until somebody tells us we're done, and then we begin to scramble to do something else and hope that it works out.

31 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 8, 2006 at 9:46 a.m. (report)

johnny said: fantastic idea! begal for governor!

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 4, 2006 at 12:36 a.m. (report)

Barry Sharpe said: And ditto for the Canadian Open, a national championship now looking for a major sponsor willing to come up with millions for a minor field of good golferswho can't draw flies.

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 3, 2006 at 5:39 p.m. (report)

girl said: Nice sexist comments on women's sports. Yes people will pay to watch 'girls' play golf... and basketball and other sports. It's a huge niche with a very loyal and supportive fan base and anyone who doesn't realize that has their proverbial ball in a sand trap.

Posted by OMCreader on Aug. 3, 2006 at 2:45 p.m. (report)

Mike said: I am a avid golfer who has lived in Milwaukee for 10 years and have never even thought of attending the GMO or US Bank Championship. If the ladies come my wife and I would definitely go.

Posted by OMCreader on July 31, 2006 at 2:50 p.m. (report)

Amy said: As usual, Begel is both provocative and innovative. And it would be great to see this kind of imagination brought to this tournament!