18 C H I C A G O D I S T R I C T G O L F E R

The Chicago

District’s

“embarrassment

of riches” keeps

growing with

every renovated,

reconstructed and

new member

golf course.

By Len Ziehm

Makray Memorial GC debuts this June on Barrington acreage previously occupied by Thunderbird GC.

M AY / J U N E 2004 19

he golf course building boom may haveslowed in most regions of the country,but not in the Chicago District. At leastnot entirely. The District continues tohave an embarrassment of riches, as far as

golf courses are concerned—and the existing coursesare getting better.

While the number of totally new courses is decliningin this area, the transformation of older ones has steppedup considerably. Recent renovations now arriving atcompletion have resulted in dramatically enhanced lay-outs or the birth of “virtually new” courses on top of oldones. That’s the latest trend, at least in Chicago.

Moreover, since piecemeal improvements disruptplay and golfers slow down construction work,Chicago golf decision-makers are increasingly opting

to shut down courses for a few months and get all thework done without contending with golfers.

Last year generated three notable examples of that.Medinah Country Club changed 17 of the 18 holes onits famed Course No. 3 in preparation for the 2006PGA Championship. On the public side, Woodstock-based architect Bob Lohmann so completely revisedthe historic Chevy Chase course in Wheeling that itmerited a new name, The Legends of Chevy Chase.Another area architect, Rick Jacobson of Libertyville,took apart one of the two 18-holers at Indian LakesResort in Bloomingdale and created a more modernlayout now dubbed Blackhawk Trace.

Those courses all opened last season, and that trendwill continue this year. One such project in particularstands out.

T

GREAT EIGHT

WHAT’SNEW

T he CDGA enthusiastically welcomes

eight new member clubs in 2004.

Additions to the fold include the

Tournament Players Club at Deere Run, the

Quad Cities home course of the PGA Tour’s

John Deere Classic; Springfield’s The Rail, a

Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design that hosts the

LPGA Tour every Labor Day weekend; and

Point O’Woods, the Benton Harbor, Mich. site

of the Western Amateur Championship.

Highland Springs Golf ClubRock Island, Ill.309-732-7265

Hilldale Golf ClubHoffman Estates, Ill.847-310-1100www.hilldalegolf.com

Oak Hills Country ClubPalos Heights, Ill.708-448-5544

Point O’Woods Golf & Country ClubBenton Harbor, Mich.269-944-1433www.pointowoods.com

Poplar Creek Country ClubHoffman Estates, Ill.847-884-0219www.poplarcreekcc.com

The Rail Golf CourseSpringfield, Ill.217-525-0365www.railgolf.com

Tournament Players Club at Deere Run Silvis, Ill.309-796-6000www.tpcatdeererun.com

University Golf ClubUniversity Park, Ill.708-747-0306

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The Rail Golf Course, Springfield

THE DEBUT OF MAKRAY MEMORIALThe Makray Memorial Golf Club will open in Barringtonsometime this June. Any resemblance to Thunderbird, the 18-holer that previously occupied that property, will be purelycoincidental.

Paul Makray wasn’t a high-profile figure in the Chicago golfcommunity, but he was passionate about the game. After build-ing a successful plastic-manufacturing plant in Norridge,Makray in 1962 purchased what was then Hillcrest AcresCountry Club. It, along with the homes that surrounded thelayout, had been built by Harry Howe. Howe opened the orig-inal course in 1953.

When Makray took over, the course’s name was changed toThunderbird, and the sporty layout had functioned as a relax-ing place for informal public play ever since. Makray familymembers have been active in its operation throughout, andnow they’ve turned the place into a memorial for the man whointroduced them to its charms.

Thunderbird closed on June 17, 2002 to allow architect HarryVignocchi the chance to ply his art. He’ll unveil a course that meas-ures 7,015 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 71. Otheramenities include a short-game practice area and a new drivingrange and learning center, which will feature a teeing area of 60,000square feet. The range is to measure 360 yards long and 110 yardswide. The back of the teeing area will feature a synthetic surfacethat will allow practice when the grass area isn’t available.

During construction, the moving of more than 2 millioncubic yards of dirt took place. Hence, this course won’t resem-ble any other in the Chicago area, and its trademarks will bebig greens and deep bunkers. By the time construction of anew clubhouse is complete, the cost of the venture is project-ed to be between $15 and $20 million.

Makray Memorial, of course, isn’t the only emerging star inthe constellation of courses that comprise the CDGA. Otherdramatic developments are playing out this season.

REMEMBERING DONALD ROSSPhiladelphia-based Ron Prichard has become the architecturalexpert on courses designed by the renowned Donald Ross.

The Scottish-born Ross was among the first great architectsof American courses, and he was very active in the Chicagoarea. While his designs have withstood the tests of time,they’ve also required restoration and updating—and Prichardhas been the main man to do that.

Two years ago he restored the historic layout of SkokieCountry Club, host of the 1922 U.S. Open. His work thereencouraged other private clubs with Ross courses to bring himin to reclaim classic Ross design elements. Prichard has workedhis magic on Lake Shore and Beverly, and his endeavors on oneof the area’s oldest courses—Exmoor in Highland Park—should be unveiled around May 1. The Exmoor project was sixyears in the planning stages.

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M AY / J U N E 2004 21

“He put some bunkers back in, took some trees out,expanded some greens and widened some fairways to getback to the original design,” Exmoor head professional RonRomack explains.

Prichard also lengthened the Exmoor layout, which wasbuilt in 1896 and remodeled by Ross in 1914. The building ofeight new tees expands the course by about 300 yards. It’llnow measure about 7,100 yards from the tips.

A BUNKER STORY A Chicago District architect and past president of the AmericanSociety of Golf Course Architects, Marengo-based BobLohmann is the author of still another high-profile renovation,at venerable Midlothian Country Club.

Extensive bunker work was one hallmark of this project.Lohmann’s plan involved refurbishing all of Midlothian’s 82bunkers in the classic steep-faced, flat-bottomed style favoredby membership. He also engineered the relocation of dozens offairway bunkers that had been rendered meaningless hazardsby decades of tree growth and equipment advances. Now, fair-way bunkers have been reestablished away from the tree linesand closer to the fairway corridors in landing zones more con-sistent with today’s increased driving lengths.

An 1898 H.G. Tweedie design, Midlothian debuts its newbunkers and redesigned finishing hole this spring.

(Above) Newly refurbished hole no. 12 at Highland Park’sExmoor CC, where architect Ron Prichard restored elementsof the Donald Ross remodeling executed in 1914.

(Opposite) Libertyville-based architect Rick Jacobson transformed Indian Lakes Resort’s former West course into the new Blackhawk Trace layout.

WHAT’SNEW

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22 C H I C A G O D I S T R I C T G O L F E R

WELCOME BACKVillage Links of Glen Ellyn, perennially one of Chicago’sbusiest public layouts since its opening in 1967, will beavailable for play again on June 23. It’s been renovatedby Garrett Gill and Paul Miller, and Gill’s involvement isespecially meaningful since his late father, David Gill,did the original design for The Links.

The revamped layout will play 200 yards longer fromthe back tees and 200 shorter from the front.

“The new course will be noticeably different in severalrespects,” remarks general manager Matt Pekarek. “Thegreens complexes will be the part most improved from thedesign standpoint. The greens will be much more variedin shape, and they’ll be more interesting with theirmounds and depressions. They’ll be about 20 percent bigger in size and they’ll be deeper. The biggest differencein playing the course will come in the short game.’’

While The Links will be slow in opening, it’ll be goingfull tilt once the first tee shot is struck. Just five days afterseeing its first rounds, the renovated course will host thegeneral qualifying round for the Western Open. TheLinks has hosted that qualifier since 1980 with theexception of 1986, when it hosted the Illinois Openinstead, and last year, when construction forced a moveto Bolingbrook Golf Club.

M AY / J U N E 2004 23

GOING PRIVATEFor 25 years, Kemper Lakes Golf Club has been recognized asone of the finest pure golf facilities in the country. Kemper Lakeshas played host to some of the greatest players in the world as thesite of dozens of elite golf events, including the 1989 PGAChampionship won by Payne Stewart, six Senior PGA Tourevents and most recently, the inaugural LaSalle Bank Open.

In an unprecedented move for the Chicago area, Kemper Lakesis in the process of converting from a nationally ranked public golfcourse into a fully private golf club. Never before in the District hasa golf course as acclaimed as Kemper Lakes made such a switch.

Currently ranked #27 on Golf Digest’s list of “America’s 100Greatest Public Golf Courses,” Kemper Lakes will limit golfmembership to 300. Within the first few months of its mem-bership offering, Kemper Lakes had already issued its first 75founding memberships.

The course remains open to the public during its transition toa private club, so District golfers longing to take a shot at thislegendary layout might consider teeing it up this season.

COMING IN 2005At some point during this golf season, we’ll hear more aboutspectacular plans for 2005, including two new courses underconstruction this year that should open the following season.

Cherry Hills, a public course that opened in Flossmoor in the1920s, has been taken over by the Homewood-Flossmoor ParkDistrict. Now closed for construction, it will open in 2005 asCoyote Run, an upscale public layout designed by Batavia-basedarchitect Greg Martin.

Work began last September with the moving of some earth and

Kemper Lakes GC remains open for public play during itstransition to private club. Here, the approach and green ofno. 11, a 534-yard par 5; the 12th fairway is visible at right.

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trees and the digging of ponds. Seeding is planned for August. What’s perhaps most intriguing about this one is that golf

course superintendent Dave Ward left Olympia Fields—incur-ring a pay cut, no less—to take a similar job with the publicfacility that is five or six blocks from where he grew up.Superintendents don’t generally leave high-profile clubs, espe-cially an Olympia Fields, site of last year’s U.S. Open. But Wardcraved a new challenge.

“It was probably time for a change,” Ward comments. “Afterthe (1997) U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Open, I was burnedout. Those were wonderful experiences, but I didn’t have toomuch of a life the last 10 years.”

Cherry Hills had been closed for two years prior to theinception of the rebuilding effort. Greg Meyer, director of theHomewood-Flossmoor Park District, says the facility was pur-chased for $8 million and the renovation will cost another $3.5million. The new course will have bentgrass fairways, tees andgreens and five lakes.

KemperSports Management is also launching an excitingnew project, Hawthorn Woods Country Club in north suburban Hawthorn Woods. It will have an Arnold PalmerSignature-designed course, a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse,state-of-the-art fitness center, swimming pool, tenniscourts, fine dining and other world-class amenities. The private facility will be part of a 60-home development on674 acres of wooded landscape.

NINE AT A TIMEArchitect Jacobson is halfway through the renovation at 36-holeIndian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale. His Blackhawk Trace course,which had been Indian Lakes’ West layout, opened last fall and willhost a new event May 6-9 when the National Golf AssociationHooters Tour will make its Chicago debut there. It’s the third-largestmen’s tour in the country, behind the PGA and Nationwide circuits.

Now Jacobson will begin work on the East course. He plansto incorporate Donald Ross-style bunkers in that one. As wasthe case on the West, Jacobson will work on nine holes at a timeso that the resort will always have 27 holes available for play.

While doing that, he’ll take a similar approach to renovatingthe 18-hole course at Sportsman’s Country Club for theNorthbrook Park District. With Sportsman’s nine-hole coursein the mix, some configuration of 18 holes will be open for playat all times during the project, which should conclude in timefor the 2007 season. The biggest task on Sportsman’s original18 will be renovating the bunkers, which were designed in1930 by Edward B. Dearie, an associate of Ross and notedgreenkeeper at several Chicago clubs.

Not only that, but Jacobson was also retained by SunsetRidge Country Club in Northfield to create and implement arenovation plan. It will begin this summer, and the course willbe closed until the spring of 2005.

Len Ziehm covers the local golf scene for the Chicago Sun-Times.

WHAT’SNEW

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