Chicago Area Golf News

November 4, 2025
First year of renovated Canal Shores course ‘exceeded expectations’

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Jim Brown, Evanston RoundTable

The Evans at Canal Shores golf course had a highly successful 2025, its first full season following a 2024 renovation. The course was recognized by Golfweek Magazine as the No. 22 public-access short course in the U.S. It significantly exceeded its goal of 21,000 rounds, with 24,000 played year-to-date and a projection of 26,000.

The non-profit course also launched a successful new WGA-sponsored caddie program, offering a path to the Evans Scholarship, and saw its First Tee youth program attendance exceed expectations. Despite significant vandalism in August, the grounds crew and volunteers repaired the damage within two days. The course is financially healthy, though still reliant on donations, and is building a new "Patio Grill" set to open next spring.

November 10, 2025
Calumet Country Club Closes Permanently: All Golf Holes, Landscaping, Structures Will Go

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Lauren Traut, Patch

Calumet Country Club is permanently closed. The owner, W&E Ventures, announced it will remove all infrastructure, including landscaping and golf holes, citing public safety and vagrancy concerns. The closure of the historic 1901 Donald Ross-designed course follows years of uncertainty and contentious proposals to redevelop the land for industrial use.

November 12, 2025
Course construction complete at Chicago’s Saddle & Cycle Club
Staff report, Golf Course Industry

Zinkand Golf Design has completed construction on a new short course and practice facility at Chicago’s Saddle & Cycle Club, slated to open in Summer 2026. Located on a compact urban site near Lincoln Park, the facility features an innovative reversible routing, allowing eight par-three holes to be played as two different four-hole loops, maximizing variety and preserving space for simultaneous practice. The project replaced the parcel's previous features with four new greens, 30,000 square feet of putting course, new bunkers, and expanded teeing grounds, creating what the club's general manager described as a creative design that will "set the standard for city clubs."

November 20, 2025
Same Winnetka golf hole vandalized twice in four weeks

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Joe Coughlin, The Record

The Winnetka Park District has closed the third hole of its recently renovated primary course for the season following two acts of vandalism where a vehicle, believed to be an electric bike or scooter, intentionally damaged the green. Police estimate the incidents caused thousands of dollars in damage and are currently investigating, while park officials have stabilized the area and plan to complete full turf restoration in the spring.