Pardon Their Dust
Tags: Construction, Golf, Chicago, Renovations, Cdga

Pardon Their Dust

Numerous CDGA member clubs are in the midst of clubhouse constructions to offer a year-round experience CDGA Dec 10, 2021·5 min read

By Len Ziehm

This article appeared in the November 2021 edition of Chicago District Golfer.

While golf course renovations are commonplace annually, this year, the most noteworthy construction projects were related to clubhouses. Two facilities — The Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison and Heritage Oaks Golf Club in Northbrook — opened brand new clubhouses. A third — Fox Run Golf Links in Elk Grove Village — will unveil its new one any day now.

Two other facilities — Settler’s Hill Golf Course in Geneva and Heritage Bluffs Golf Club in Channahon — are well underway with clubhouse developments. Theirs are scheduled to open in 2022.

Meanwhile, Glencoe Golf Club in Glencoe, which marked its 100-year anniversary in 2021, has re-newed efforts to build a new clubhouse.

All of the clubhouses share a similar feature: they’re year-round, climate-controlled facilities that feature a sports bar atmosphere, upscale/casual dining, indoor golf instruction and entertainment for the area’s cold months.

Here’s how these massive clubhouse projects look as this year winds down:

The Preserve at Oak Meadows

While serving as executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Ed Stevenson guided the course renovation and new clubhouse construction at The Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison.

The Preserve’s clubhouse was the first to open, in early August, and it also took the longest to complete. The course, which began in 1923 as Elmhurst Country Club, was without a clubhouse since lightning destroyed the massive red-brick Tudor edifice in 2009.

Building a new clubhouse wasn’t as high on the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s priority list as getting the golf course up to par. It had long been beset by flooding issues. They were solved as part of a $16 million renovation, but it took three more years for the new $12.6 million clubhouse to be up and running.

The new one, measuring 18,000 square feet, was designed by Dan Wohlfeil, who previously had created a much bigger clubhouse for Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville. Nineteen architects submitted proposals before Wohlfeil was selected.

Ed Stevenson was a focal point throughout the lengthy course and clubhouse projects. Long the director of golf at The Preserve, Stevenson also served as executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County during critical times when the work was going on.

The new clubhouse looks much different than the older, more stately one. Construction began on Sept. 17 of 2019. Wohlfeil’s version offers the Greenway Tap, a most pleasant sports bar, locker rooms, an event space, great views of the golf course and a new pro shop. The former stand-alone pro shop building immediately adjacent to the first tee will be converted into a base for indoor golf instruction.

Heritage Oaks Golf Club

(formerly Sportsman’s Country Club)

The new $6 million, 10,000-square-foot clubhouse at Heritage Oaks Golf Club in Northbrook features a sports bar atmosphere, a restaurant with indoor seating for 80 and an outdoor terrace overlooking the newly-renovated 27-hole golf facility formerly known as Sportsman’s Country Club.

The Northbrook Park District completely revamped what had been Sportsman’s Country Club. When it opened in 1931 as Sky Harbor Golf Club, it was a 54-hole facility. Now, it has 27 holes featuring the “Classic 18” and the “Legacy 9,” as well as a large driving range adjacent to Dundee Road.

The name change to Heritage Oaks Golf Club was in keeping with the complete upheaval involved in the construction process.

“It was almost like opening a brand-new facility,” said general manager Greg Baron. “The Sportsman’s name didn’t suggest we were a very inclusive facility, but 30 to 40 percent of our play is women, and we’ve never been a country club. We’re a golf club.’’

Unlike The Preserve at Oak Meadows, the course and clubhouse creations were handled simultaneously, and the facility was closed for the entire 2020 season and the majority of 2021.

Libertyville golf course architect Rick Jacobson supervised work on the 18-hole Classic 18 and the Legacy 9, and he completely renovated the practice range. RATIO Architects of Indianapolis handled the clubhouse. It was a $12.75 million project, with the clubhouse costing $6 million. All facets opened together in late August.

The 10,000-square-foot clubhouse includes the full-service Acorn Grill, a bar that seats 20 and an area set aside for two golf simulators. The restaurant can seat 80 inside and 48 more on the terrace. There’s a window wall that opens to the outside. In the Sportsman’s days there was no bar. “It was just a glorified walk-up window,” said Baron.

Fox Run Golf Links

The new $8.5 million clubhouse at Fox Run Golf Links in Elk Grove Village will be a 12-month facility with a sports bar, kitchen and several big screen TVs and will incorporate the club’s maintenance facility. It is scheduled to open in November or December of this year.

The 18-hole course in Elk Grove Village wasn’t touched while an $8.5 million clubhouse was under construction. General manager Tom Klaas anticipates completion will come in late November or early December. Williams Architects of Itasca designed the new building.

“We designed away from the traditional pro shop,” said Klaas. “Our planning started with the maintenance building, which was built in 1984 and was the oldest on (Elk Grove Village) Park District property.’’

Eventually, the decision was made to combine the maintenance facility with a new clubhouse. The old one was demolished after Labor Day in 2020.

“We’ll be a 12-month facility now,” said Klaas. “We wanted to keep our players engaged in the winter. We’ll have a sports bar open all winter with a kitchen and lots of TVs. We’ll also have three Full Swing screen simulators and we do have our slots room, too.”

Still to Come

New clubhouse construction was barely underway at Settler’s Hill in west suburban Geneva and Heritage Bluffs in far south suburban Channahon as the 2021 season was fading away.

Settler’s Hill was closed all season for course renovation work, but that all was dictated by plans for a new clubhouse. The old course had no practice range and neither of the nines returned to the existing clubhouse. That’ll be corrected with the building of a new, more centrally-located clubhouse. The old one will remain as a banquet facility. The target date for completion is mid-July 2022.

Heritage Bluffs, owned by the Channahon Park District, is a well-established, well-received course that opened in 1993. The Park District board approved a design for a new clubhouse in January, with the most notable feature being an indoor-outdoor bar area. Construction began in June and the old clubhouse was demolished in July. The new clubhouse is slated to open in 2022. ●

Len Ziehm, golf columnist for the Daily Herald, has reported on the Chicago golf scene for a variety of publications and websites since 1968. He was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2019.