Chicago Public Golf

I checked out the Wheaton Center for History golf exhibit called the Fairways, Greens & Clubs Exhibit. It was really cool.

The history of golf in this area is rich. The Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, was the first 18 hole golf course in the USA (1892). It was finished slightly earlier in the year than Shinnecock…I think. However, the first golf course in the Chicago area was not The Chicago Golf Club, but some course in Lake Forest, but it was only like seven holes or something so the The Chicago Golf Club gets all the fame because it was 18 holes.

The Chicago Golf Club actually originated in Belmont (now Downer’s Grove) before they moved it to Wheaton. It was only 9 holes in Downer’s Grove though. There is still a little friction between Wheaton and Downer’s about who was first and who is more important. The Downer’s course is now the Downer’s Park District course I think. There are pictures and other memorabilia relating to C.B. Macdonald, the architect. He was very prolific and quite a character. The staff has a lot of good stories about the guy and about other famous golf personalities associated with Wheaton.

This is only a smattering of the information that you can get by spending a few hours in the Fairways, Greens & Clubs exhibit in downtown Wheaton. For $7.50 you get a guided tour through about four rooms full of golf memorabilia. There are four people on the staff at the Center and a couple of them are always on duty. I went there with my wife and mother-in-law and we had the place to ourselves. We spent about two solid hours there and had both staffers at our disposal for questions. I would have liked to have spent more time on the golf side of things, but my wife and mother-in-law were highly interested in the exhibit on the Eastland Disaster, so I relented and pretended like I cared.

I want to spend another couple of hours at this place. I think I am going to plan an outing at Cantigny or Arrowhead and then head to downtown Wheaton for some history and some food. The downtown is full of great restaurants so it works well as a great after-golf option if you are with that special woman (or man, depending on, you know, what you like).

Let me toss a number at you - how ’bout 262? That, according to a CNN/Money poll, is the “count of public golf courses within 30 miles” of Chicago. Big deal you say, Chicago is a big city, that’s probably not that many golf courses.

Hold on there dude, let me throw a few more numbers at you. How about 113 and 120. Those are the number of “golf courses within 30 miles” of New York and Los Angeles respectively. WOW. Let me pinch myself and say that again, WOW. Now you’re floored I’m sure.

In short, if you were to crack out the calculator and add the number of golf courses around New York to the number of golf courses around Los Angeles, you would still not have as many golf courses as Chicago does. Go ahead, follow the link above and put the cities in yourself. Chicago 262, Los Angeles + New York, 233.

But you know what, that’s not even the half of it. That only scratches the surface of how abundant golf in Chicago is. Because with that abundance comes a quality/value combination that will absolutely rock your world. That, my friend, is what we are going to explore.

Because of how much golf there is, we are going to have to concentrate on a subset of golf in the area. For starters, we are going to dig into the top 40 or 50 daily fee courses. When I say daily fee, that means anyone can play them. We will not spend any significant time on private clubs. And the beauty of Chicagoland golf is that just because they are the top courses in the area, doesn’t mean they’re expensive. There will be plenty of sub $40 options that will be comparable to any golf experience you have had in your life.

Unfortunately, Chicago does have a slight weather issue. I sit here on February 5th knowing that I have at least 45 days before I can even think about getting a round in. And even then, the first few months can throw a lot of rough weather at you. That does, however, give us time to concentrate on certain administrative items. So until the weather clears up, we are going to talk about the designers, the golf shops, the equipment, web resources, etc…

Let’s get rolling, come back soon.

Welcome to the Chicago Golfcast. We want to be your number one destination for information on golf in Chicagoland. We will help you figure out which daily fee course to play next, keep you updated on Chicago area golf news, and entertain you with interesting thoughts and analysis.

We want you to think about the game differently than you do now. It is so much more than just a “fun thing you do with some friends occasionally.” We want you to have a passion for the game. We want your weekend plans during the season to revolve around the game of golf. We want it to dominate your thoughts so much that even when you’re sitting in an important meeting at work you find it difficult to focus on the task at hand. We want it to be the activity around which your entertainment plans are based rather than something you squeeze in if you have time.

To further your passion, we are going to talk about ours in hopes that it will rub off. Patrick and I, plus a few of our friends will consistently bring you fun and interesting content related to Chicagoland golf. We’re going to do it in a variety of formats. Primarily, we will host a regular podcast on the subject. This could take place on-site, after a round of golf locally. Or maybe we will just meet at a local bar or golf shop and spend 30 to 45 minutes sorting through important issues related to our passion. Additionally, you will get written reviews of courses we play on this site and we will give you web-based tools to help you sort through the myriad of golf options you have in this great city.

This is a living and breathing project for us and it will evolve as the year progresses…come back soon for more.