[Sean_Tully]

Here is a routing map of a NLE course designed by L&M that could be one of the first courses built over an old dump/landfill. Very tight property and some interesting holes 2-7 that were later lost to a high school. Bummer. Interesting in that there is a mention of L&M having designed, built, and operated the course in 1924, well ahead of the depression when it was speculated that they were trying to make ends meet by managing golf course operations at some golf courses. This may be more specific to Mid-City as Langford and Moreau had their office nearby. This was noted by Dan Moore in a thread he started back in 2007.


Love to see an early aerial, Dan Moore posted one that dates to 1938, but the HS is already built by then. Some on the ground photos would be even better.



Tully

[Bill Seitz]

Wow, 2-7 looks like a really awesome routing, without knowing exactly what the property looked like.

I toured the original nine Langford holes at Marquette Country Club last weekend with their superintendent, Craig Moore, and it really rekindled my interest in their work.  Their green complexes seem very distinct to me.  Craig is slowly trying to restore the greens to the actual size of the green pads, as the actual putting surfaces have shrunk pretty sharply through the years.  He's been able to restore some old pin positions which were lost over time, to the extent that there are actually some sprinkler heads within the mowing lines of the green.  Craig really seems to have a passion for the restoration, which was great to see.  Unfortunately I didn't actually get any golf in on the Heritage course, but that's because I couldn't pull myself off of Greywalls.  

[Sean_Tully]

Those 2-7 holes really stand out compared to the rest of the course. The used the corners to work in all of the par 3 holes holes  and making the most of the rest of the site.

Marquette is pretty cool, I walked the course after playing at Lawsonia the day prior. Recapturing the original green size, removing the modern bunkers and getting back the old bunkers will really make for a fun and interesting course. Not up there with Lawsonia, not much is, but it would be a whole lot better with more L&M!! Good to hear that they are taking strides to restore some of the original features.

Tully

[Ed Oden]

Sean, thanks for posting!  That is a very cool plan.  I will make it a point to add it to my compilation of maps thread.

One thing that jumped out at me is that L&M essentially designed 8 parallel holes (1, 9, 10, 18, 11, 16, 13 and 14).  But they broke them up within the routing so that you don't feel like you are just continually going back and forth.  Ross did the same thing at my home club (Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte) where we similarly have 8 holes that run largely parallel but are spliced in at various places in the layout to avoid redundancy.  

Best wishes,

Ed

[RJ_Daley]

I would love to see the elevation contouring of this Mid=City course.  One thing at this L&M unlike Lawsonia is that this Mid-City has a variety of left and right doglegs.  I would like to see if this Mid-City has FW contouring and slopes/ridges that encouraged L&M to have this diversity of left and right turning points.  From looking at the area in today's aerial, it is hard to imagine this area had much or any contour:

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.947649,-87.67695&spn=0.011906,0.022874&t=h&z=15

[Bill Seitz]

Yeah, RJ, looks like 2-7 is where Lane Tech sits today. I live pretty close to there and have driven by abou a million times. It's close to the north branch of the Chicago River, but by today's standards, there's not much to the topography there.

[Tim_Cronin]

This area is essentially dead flat. Langford rerouted the course twice, in 1931 and around 1950 as the Illinois Brick Co. took parts of it back. Langford and Moreau had a long-term lease. Much of it had been a brick quarry that was filled in. It closed around 1952.

Yes, Lane Tech is on the 2-7 portion south of Addison St. Right up against the old Riverview amusement park, by the way.

The rest is businesses and homes today. Notably, WGN-TV's campus is on the 18th and 11th fairways, more or less.

Great find!

[Sean_Tully]

Would love to see some photos of the bunkers, there sure seems to be alot and somewhat different in appearance than Lawsonia. This routing predates the finished course, so some changes could have taken place. Has anyone seen any photos of the original course? Any of the locals check into this at the local historical society?

Tully

[Adam Clayman]

Sean, Jackson Park G.C was built on landfill from the debris created from dismantling the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

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