Tiger Woods and his golf-course design firm, TGR Design, had been working, well before Woods' Memorial Day DUI arrest and his subsequent move into rehab for prescription addiction, on a Chicago golf course design that could reinvigorate the Second City's already good public golf scene.
That design, which will use the combined properties of the Chicago Park District's Jackson Park and South Shore courses, is unveiled June 21 for the first time. The Chicago Tribune reported on having seen the plans, and the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, which is charged with promoting the course design politically, also unveiled the overhead design.
The proposed par-70 course would play with six tee boxes, from a max length of 7,354 yards to a minimum length of 2,989 yards with family tees. The course will have wider fairways and playing areas than the 27 holes which currently occupy the two tracts of land. After nine holes on the Jackson Park portion of the property, golfers will take a tunnel through to the South Shore portion of the course.
On the South Shore property, which is currently a nine-hole course, five holes will be built, including two par 3s on the edge of Lake Michigan. The fairways and greens, which are tremendously small by modern standards, even for professional-caliber golfers, will be enlarged dramatically. However, the course doesn't come without challenging holes, including a 543-yard par-4 13th hole which allows players to cut off yardage with a great drive.
Throughout the course, there will be views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline.
In addition to the 18-hole course, a proposed six-hole family course will offer holes less than 85 yards in length.
The course is expected to open, if all goes to plan, in 2020, and has aims of attracting the BMW Championship or a major championship further in the future.
