LIV Golf going to Bolingbrook? Only after other courses said no.

You're not alone if you raised an eyebrow at the announcement of LIV Golf heading to Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Bolingbrook Golf Club, a semi-private golf course some 30 miles outside of Chicago, will play host to LIV Golf’s Individual Championship in September. This is the third year that LIV has come to Illinois since its launch as a pro golf tour, having visited the super-private Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL in previous years. Local sentiment about the Bolingbrook announcement has been mixed (I live roughly 10 minutes from the course and have played it multiple times), much of which around the question, “Why the heck are they going to Bolingbrook?”

The Chicagoland golf season is one of the strongest in the country despite the fact that we can only play seven, maybe eight months of the year. Golf fans know of courses like Medinah, Olympia Fields, Conway Farms, Chicago Golf Club, Skokie, Butler National, Cog Hill and others that are routinely rated in the top courses in the country. Lesser-heralded courses like Mistwood, Cantigny, Thunderhawk, The Highlands and many more boast “local legend” status and constant praise among Chicagoland residents and visitors alike.

So why in the world did LIV Golf decide on Bolingbrook Golf Club? The answer might lie in the details around how tour and course negotiations take place.

I have learned that Bolingbrook was not the first choice for LIV Golf and that at least two other courses — including Cog Hill and the Highlands of Elgin — were also in the mix. According to one source with knowledge in these negotiations and what pro golf tours commonly offer, any sentiment that a heavily-funded pro golf tour like LIV Golf can choose any course they want is not realistic. It has to make sense for all parties involved from a financial aspect, but also in the eyes of public perception.

In terms of financials, it is common for a pro golf tour to offer some degree of upfront payment to the course to host a tournament. This amount is meant to offset any loss of revenue the course would have otherwise earned from tee times, food and beverage purchases, and other customer spending. Courses and tournaments also usually agree on a revenue share percentage from ticket, food and merchandise sales from the tournament week. A pro tour might also throw in a hefty donation to a local charity that they will treat as a tax write-off later.

The LIV negotiations included some degree of these items, but “nowhere near enough to warrant closing down the courses, rearranging tee times and rescheduling banquet bookings.” In one instance, the dollar amount on the table from LIV was only enough for the course to break even, and that’s only if ticket, food, and merch sales would be sufficient. According to a source, the percentage of revenue share was never even brought up by LIV.

In terms of public perception, there’s also a huge gamble courses have to consider before signing on the dotted line with LIV: will this hurt the probability of future events from the PGA TOUR or PGA of America? If the answer to that is an affirmative, courses like Medinah, Olympia Fields, and Conway Farms are all an immediate “no thanks.”

While news headlines and social media accounts continue to suggest a merger or agreement is on the horizon between the PGA TOUR and LIV Golf, the truth of the matter is that the gulf between both sides remains wide. Long gone is the insinuation of a handshake agreement between the two Tours to no longer poach players. That ship sailed off into the deep end when Jon Rahm signed with LIV late last year. Both tours are very much in competition with one another, and despite what LIV CEO Greg Norman might say publicly, LIV Golf still carries a ton of baggage along with their name.

The choice golf courses have at this stage in the life of LIV is simple: do you want to risk getting on the bad side of the two longest-standing professional golf associations, or are you willing to welcome the New Guy onto your property and hope for the best?

In the case of a sub-$100 golf course like Bolingbrook Golf Club, theirs was an easy decision to welcome LIV. They’ll never have this much attention paid to their facility than they will in September. Whether that will pay off in the long run remains unknown.