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Golf Illinois
Rolling hills, rich farmlands, the Mississippi River, the Windy City and birthplace to Abraham Lincoln, Illinois also hosts some outrageously good golf courses. From A to Z (well, Antioch to Zion,) Illinois is for golfers. All-told, three hundred and ninety six Cities list at least one golf course to their name. Many of those will have at least a few each.
Just how many courses can there be? Let’s put it this way: In the immediate Chicago area (20 miles from the center of Chicago) counting public courses alone, there are sixty 18-hole courses and twenty-four 9-hole courses. This does not include any of the nearby suburbs. 84 golf courses in a city? Now let’s add the 25 surrounding towns that also have at least one public course each. Though no accurate count is available, it’s reasonable to say that Illinois may have over a thousand golf courses, most of them public.
Needless to say, Chicago is first in line in the top ten of the state. The 9 runners up are: Springfield, offering up 12 public courses in addition to the private Illini Country Club; Rockford, which boasts at least 21 courses, most of which are public or municipal; Peoria, which has 22, including the multiple-award-winning Weaver Ridge, a Mike Hertz design with a course rating of 73.1 and a slope rating of 136 on Bent grass; Bloomington’s 13 courses; Alton’s seventeen 9-hole and twenty-one 18-hole courses; ten courses in Decatur; Highland Park’s hundred courses, including at least ten award winners; Mundelein and finally Naperville, each having too many to count, several of them likewise award-winners. It’s truly staggering to think of so many beautiful courses in one state – a count that rivals California and Florida!
What makes golfing in Illinois even better is the proximity to quality. While some may shy away from a relatively urban city like Chicago, it’s a great opportunity to play 9 holes (if you haven’t the time for a full 18 course meal) and then enjoy a great dinner, listen to some blues, and head back to that cushy hotel room all in the same evening. The food in the greater Chicago area is nearly impossible to beat! Pizza made the way God intended it to be, Italian Beef sandwiches, hot dogs that snap when you bite into them (just don’t even think about putting catsup on one - Chicagoans frown on such things)… or sample any of the several hundred ethnic menus. Whatever your taste or budget, Chicago has you covered!
Getting in is easy enough. Chicago is a hub city with two airports. The well-known O’Hare (designated ORD which is short for orchard, what the area was before the airport was put in,) and Midway (on the south side, nearer downtown) airports provide easy access to the Windy City. From there you can rent a car, hop a commuter flight, or even take a train on to many destinations. The options are open seemingly endless. You could play a course every day for 3 years before you out of first-time experiences.
Come see what the excitement’s all about. Come to Illinois for the golfing. Stay because you love it. You know you do, we know you will!
