2009 Events - Chicago Golf Season

The Masters is behind us and, although the economy may be as down as Tiger is after his trip to Augusta, the itch to get out on our local golf links is alive and well in all of us.

It will be an interesting year for local golf - Dubsdread will once again host a PGA TOUR even, The Solheim Cup will visit our area for the first time ever and a private club will open and another will open to the public.

The first notable event was the opening of Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood to the public on April 1. Ravisloe, opened in 1901, is one of the oldest courses in the Chicagoland area.

The changing area and economy took its toll on membership at Ravisloe and now the public has a great opportunity to play a gem on the southside, thanks to new owner Claude Gendreau.

Ravisloe is a member of the Donald Ross Society, since Ross did make his mark on this 6,321 yard par 70 18-hole layout.

A 2003 renovation of the course by area architect David Esler has updated the course and it will for sure become one of the finest public courses we have in our area.

Green fees are $85 on the weekend to ride and $65 on a weekday riding. While being a southsider, I have never had the opportunity to play Ravisloe and am looking forward to my first opportunity this season.

Construction is well on its way on a new area private course that will open in the trying economy. Chicago Highlands in Westchester is north of 31st Street and just east of I-294 on land owned and leased to the club by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The clubs website www.chicagohighlands.com boasts that it is 'the first family country club to be built in the near western suburbs of Chicago in over 80 years!'.

That is an interesting statement and makes me wonder why. What Chicago Highlands will offer its membership - family access - is something not available at another private course just west of Chicago Highlands. Butler National Golf Club gave up hosting the Western Open after the 1990 tournament due to the PGA TOUR's change in policy regarding open membership opportunities at clubs that host PGA TOUR events.

Arthur Hills is the architect for Chicago Highlands and I can say the club made an excellent choice. I have played a number of Hills designs in Michigan and I think he is one of the finest golf course architects ever. But enough about a course most of us will never have the opportunity to tee it up on.

The Solheim Cup, the women's version of the Ryder Cup, will be played from August 17 - 23 at Rich Harvest Farms in far west suburban Sugar Grove. This will be a great opportunity for area golf fanatics to see one of the finest golf facilities in the world that you may never play! Rich Harvest Farms is a very private golf facility owned by Jerry Rich. It was basically started as his own 'backyard' golf course and now sits on the Golf Digest Top 100 Golf Courses in the U.S. list.

This course is a tough test and, while not as brutal as Medinah Country Club, is probably the second toughest course in the Chicagoland area. I can't wait to cover the Solheim and to take my eight-year old daughter to see what women can do on a golf course and to see the enthusiasm that I witness in 2007 at rooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana in 2005. Then comes the BMW Championship at Cog Hill Country Club in Lemont from September 7 - September 13.

The original Dick Wilson-Joe Lee Dubsdread design that opened in 1964 has been renovated by Rees Jones, starting in 2007 and now owner of Cog Hill, Frank Jemsek and his family, can boast of having a golf course fitting of a U.S. Open.

Cog Hill boasts of having 18 new greens, redesigned and repositioned sand bunkers, a risk-reward pond on the dogleg par 4 7th hole as well as additional tee options and a 500-yard par four finishing hole that has the green moved even closer to the pond off the left of the green. I have not seen any of the renovations at Dubs, but will keep you posted when I get the chance to see the renovations.

And while we will all be focusing on the BMW at Cog Hill, Beverly Country Club, on Chicago's Southside, will be hosting the US Senior Amateur tournament from September 12 - 17.

This Chicago area golf season will be an interesting one, but it's still the same game we have all played for many years - we just may not be able to play it as much as we used to.