June 10, 1927 ~11111111111111111111111111111111111~ = . = . WILMETTE LIFE 19 I I. ,. . . "N·~;:·th····~~···~~~~·sh~;:~·~~··.·~·"·G~iif'""'" "'"C'i~b;. . · ' . ::tiiiii;IIIIIIHIIIIIIIIUlllllll lll ..lll.... ll~l a ~1 = = ~ ~1111111111111111111111111111111111;~ ~ lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllfl l l l l lll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l l lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll: lllllllll:lllllllllll l lll l l l l l llllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllll l l l l l l l l l il l l lllllllllllltiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHI~ · ' = = ~11111111111111111111111111111111111~ ~ Illinois G. C. "sitting pretty" in New Clubhouse Sporty Links Give Players a Real T· est Club, Started Only Four Years Ago, but Men1bers No'v Enjoy Fine Home on the Dundee Road This is ·the second of a series of articles dealing with the famous golf clubs of the north !>hore. The story herewith presented tells of the ' progressive spirit which "made" the Illinois Golf cluh. By RAY C. PEARSON tl i 1111 tl!r Dund~:e road. ju:-.t t\\' ll 111ik-. wv-.t of CIL' IICLW. iour :--110\\' ·" ' ,it l· \\·all..; ri:-L' maie:'tira lh· fr (\111 th·· ~r· llllld ttl hl' cappl' d. by a r~dtikd rooi. )t.- t rt·ll1Jikt('d. tl1i" :; trnct ur e. the :, nllll' o i t 11 l' f11 i 11 n is C n I i cl tt h , pre:; c.: n t :-> :t tlv\\' :-.kl\\· place ior the 11orth ~hore. Ti · · Ill"' rluhll()u-,c tli lllinoi:> is donr 1.., t i lL' ~ p a 11 i -.I! ~ t y 1c a 11 d i:; he aut if u.l :t· lcl -.p;lL·inu..;. It ,,·ill he ~nne! for the t'\ ~ ·1 ·I t h,l._t· \rho iPrlll the rn·r itll·rva,iP.' Jll l·~ nrradc nf the higlm·a\· . . \ -, gtdi cluh:- go. Tllinoi:-; i:; yo uth fu l. h ttt thi:; i. morl' than c,ff~et hy it. , il!l'r and ag-grcs:;in·tH?S'->. O nt· t~t:r d :; (IJ!I~- to ~aze on the new ·c luhh m~:-e and 11! e golf cour~r \Yi th it~ finely den-loped i:\irwaYs ancl gree ns to h e cotn-itH·e cl , ·t that. O Course Comes First The members of Illin ois like to talk abo ut \Yhat they haYe accomplished in the short period of four years of ex iste n ce of the club. Perhaps the mo st interesting point they accentuat e when d i-;c uss ing- the progress of the organization. is that they displayed wisdom right in the beginning and spent their monev for the necessities, rather than for the luxury of golf. They eta im some credit for this and are justified. Four vears ago, in 1923, abot1t twenty gnod goifers-practically all were memhrrs of other clubs-conceived the idea of building a new course. They "shoppeel around" and finally discovered the plot of ground on Dundee Road. It wa s rolling, wooded ground, in fact more rolling than is found in many sections around Chicago. It was the ideal spot for a golf course and so they "grabbed it." A. C. Hammond, the . present president of the club~ Robert McCav and Walter Alschlager were three of those who took the initiative in forming the club. Then ~ith the first step, th'at of securing a site, taken, the building of the course became the most serious JJUsiness. The ··pioneers" of Illinois PICTURES: New clubhouse of Illi. no is Golf club ( rop) ; A trap where hopes are shattered (below) ; AI Espinosa, club professional (right) ; Mrs. Dr. C. M. Case. dub champion (below). A Dream Relllized talked it over. And in the end it \Ya:the unanimous opinion that the necessity-the course-came first. The luxury-a beautiful clubhouse-could wait. They'd go ahead and build one of the best courses in the country and in the meantime they'd dream of the clubhouse that was to come. Today Illinois Golf dub has one of the finest courses in the countrv and today, after only four short years, the club has a beautiful clubhouse. It is ly opened for play. Some of the memthe story of a dream realized. Every- bers had played over the course bebody is happy at Illinois. fore that, but it took considerable While the club was organized in 1923 time to reconstruct the land for golf it was not unti11925 that it was formal- . purposes and preparation was not hur- ried. Today the results of the efforts are evident-Illinois is a fine course and here's a tip, it is a· difficult one to negotiate. It is what AI Espinosa, the profes.s ional, calls a sporty course. Espinosa has been with the cluh since it was organized. When it Wab impossible to play he helped to super intend the work of construction and the ideas of sportiness were the brain children of the club's professional. Fairways Sprinkled One of the features is a sprinkling : ; ystem, which waters the fairways as well as the greens. Few dubs, we are informed, have systems which wate·· the fairways. The length of the course is 6,269 yards, rather long, and par is (Continued on page 28)