February 29, 2016 Meeting

We welcomed several visitors today including Dennis Oster from the Des Plaines club and Robert Steinberg from the Palatine Club along with Tom Foss.  John Eilering's wife Delight also attended which made the meeting that much more enjoyable.  (Maybe if Delight could attend without John...)

 

Jeff Langguth was our speaker.  Jeff is the golf pro at teh Mount Prospect Golf Club and he talked about the recently completed redesign of the course.  

 

The course had not seen any significant changes since it was built in 1927.  Most courses are rebuilt every 30 years or so in order to address changes in the game and its players.   Will this course last another 80 years? 

 

More practically, though, there were significant drainage issues that was forcing the club to close an average of 25 days each year.  Those days cost the park district thousands of dollars in lost greens fees.  

 

Plus, they finally have a full-sized driving range!  Course architect Dave Esler may have been eccentric, but his was the only firm that could meet that goal; along with most of the rest of the Park District's wish list.  

 

The total cost of the project is between $7-8 million, but Jeff expects the new layout will build upon the course's long time popularity.  He hopes to see in excess of 40,000 players each year.  

 

It was a long project and a lot of hard work - costing parts of two golf seasons.  But the early results show that this necessary project was a good investment on behalf of the park district for the community.