The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

May 12, 1928 WINNETKA TALK 31 Rolling Green Country Club Finds Road to Success TEAMWORK BUILDING UP FINE HOME FOR GOLFERS Business Methods Applied and Members Enjoy the Game Without Fear of Assessments. By RAY C. PEARSON UT west, directly west of Kenil- worth on Rand road, there is a golf club which started as a small organization and has grown into a big one in three years, just because those interested in the venture wanted golf and among other things wanted to demonstrate that business men with pep and energy could operate a private club at a reasonable cost. z We want to explain that in the beginning those busi- ness men who got together and organized this club three years ago made it their pur- pose to stick tenaciously to a principle that this club would be operated on a modest business basis which would give to its members all the enjoyment that is found at any club, sans high dues and the joykilling assessment taps. Self Supporting Club This club is the Rolling Green Country club and out there the members will tell you that they're "sitting pretty" and pelting the little dred and sixty acres on what is claimed to be the highest peak in Cook coun- ty, for $500 an acre. At the end of the first year of operation.a profit was turned. That profit was represented by eighty-five dollars. But while eighty five dollars is only chicken feed at golf clubs the fact that there WAS, a profit was sufficient to cause elation among the members. 1 Something in Real Profits Now leap along. In 1926 the operat- ing profit amounted to $3,400. In 1927 it jumped to a trifle over $5,000. It is interesting in this connection that even the dining room which at many clubs is a liability, showed a profit at the end of the season. pill around the course with- out a care. One doesn't have to wait for his "ship to come in" before he can be a member of Rolling Green. Instead of swinging upward, as so happens at many pri- vate golf clubs, the dues, it is promised, are to take a downward dip to the low figure of one hundred and twenty dollars a year when the membership roster is filled. It is stated that when that time arrives the club will be out of debt and also have a surplus. But listen to this which Sayme: concerns the dreader "golf "Don't .you know club bugaboo." The club, about us?" we are told, in its three vears of existence has never Sure we do. Just a levied a membership assess- ment." That stands as a tribute to moderate priced golf are We are furnished some Editor's may not have used these exact words, but after the writer of a series of stories telling about the golf clubs of the north shore had finished his task last fall there came to him a few notes from members of the Rolling Green Country club little tardy but here we Rolling Green. Note--They with the story of "Fore!" figures which are interest- ing. The club was organized in 1924 when it purchased the land, a total of one hun- The pie- tures: at the top the Roll- ing Green clubhouse, a long ling "homey" structure; below to the is ramb- right shown the dining room and at the bottom to the left ap- pears the lounge. Therefore the big point the Rolling Green members like to stress is that such success has made it possible to escape the assessment taps. 'President MacAdams was asked how this achievement was accomplished. "First," he replied, "there never has been any promotion costs of any kind; secondly, the enthusiasm and team- work of the members has resulted in the saving of many dollars. Members have contributed generously of their talents, Our attorney donates his services and our engineer members have assisted greatly in the service of constructing our program. Costs have been kept down at every turn just as good business men do in seeing that they get their money's worth." But here is something else which hasn't anything: to do with golf, It has been mentioned that the club bought the land for $500 an acre. The land, we are informed, is today valued at three times that price. But one member 'emphasizes this: "We didn't buy because we were in the market for a real estate invest- ment; we bought because we wanted our own kind of a golf club." Well Worth a Big Grin But while he said it there was a grin, for the satisfaction of the member is certainly not lessened by such an increase in his equity, as represented by land. Rolling Green has some features that some other clubs do not boast. There are two courses, twenty-seven holes in all. The eighteen hole course is the men's course and there is a separate nine hole course for the women. The men's course is 6,300 yards long. There are plenty of natur- al and artificial hazards. It has a lake, a blind green and all the variety that the skill of the modern course archi- tect could develop. The course was not well wooded, but this is being remedied by the planting of hundreds of trees. Clubhouse is "Homey" The men's course occupies one hun- dred and thirteen acres while the remainder makes up the women's shorter course. The women enjoy a "sporty" course. It is well wooded and has two. natural water hazards, one the bullrushes, home of the musk- rats and water fowl, and a graveyard for golf balls. The clubhouse was built for golfers. It is one of those low rambling struc- tures that folks call "homey." It has a distinctive lounge and a sizeable solarium, several card rooms, a sun roof, doubledecked locker rooms in one end of the building for the men and at the other end for the women, and a tiled swimming pool. until 8 o'clock Saturday evenings. 2nd MORTGAGE LOANS We make loans for repairs, improvements, construction, refinancing or purchase of improved residential property. in convenient monthly installments in 1, 2, or 3 years. sentative will be pleased to give complete information. WILSHORE BOND & MORTGAGE CO. 1150 Wilmette Ave., Village Theatre Bldg. These loans can be repaid Our repre-~ Office open Phone Wil, 2181