Remember when Se Ri Pak nearly hit it into the water alongside the 18th green on the 90th hole of the 1998 U.S. Open?
Remember how she waded in, chopped out, kept the playoff alive and won two holes later?
Remember when Nancy Lopez, Jane Geddes and Meg Mallon waved white towels in surrender on Friday as they all missed the cut?
Sure you do.
And all this week, you'll be watching a new generation of players battle Blackwolf Run up in Kohler. New memories will be made, new legends born.
Want to make your own memories? Want to flirt with the water alongside the historic 18th green?
You can – if you sign up to win U.S. Women's Open tickets here at OnMilwaukee.com. Do that, and you're going to be entered to win a tee time with me on Monday, July 9 – one day following play.*
You know what you're getting into – one of the toughest golf courses in the country that has prepped for a U.S. Open. Thick rough. Lightning fast greens. And that water on the 18th hole. Too much fun to even think about.
Or, send me an email directly and tell me why you want to play the course.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you and a guest to play the original, championship-routing of the 1998 and 2012 U.S. Women's Opens – a routing you cannot play if you book a regular tee time at Blackwolf Run.
You'll be playing with me, and I'll do my best to keep you entertained with stories from a decade in sports writing – and I promise not to write your scores down in pen.
If you have a bucket list, put this on it – and then enter now – so you can cross it off.
See you Monday.
*Provided there is no playoff. Certain terms and conditions apply.
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
