LIBERTYVILLE, Illinois (February 20, 2006) – Nationally prominent golf course architect Rick Jacobson always seems to be busy with a variety of projects. As he celebrates his 15-year anniversary in business, this year is no exception.
From the grand opening of an original new course to the renovation of bunkers in preparation for a prestigious national tournament, Jacobson will crisscross the country on behalf of golf course owners, greens committees, real estate developers, and club managers seeking to improve playing conditions for their members, customers and tournament players.
Here is a glimpse of some of what Jacobson will be up to this year:
The Grand Opening of the new Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a few miles north of the Illinois border. Although Jacobson is responsible for many original designs around the country, The Club at Strawberry Creek will be his first original design in the Chicago metropolitan area. The course is scheduled to open this spring.
Jacobson will begin construction on Bowes Creek GC, an 18-hole course in Elgin, Ill., which is the focal point of an upscale golf course community being developed by Toll Brothers.
Jacobson will complete the first phase of The Wilds GC, a 27-hole golf facility that will be the centerpiece of a new upscale residential community in Greenwood, Missouri in suburban Kansas City. The first nine holes of the course are scheduled to open this fall.
The first nine holes of Jacobson’s renovation of Sportsman’s CC, a municipally-owned facility in Northbrook, Ill., are expected to reopen this spring as work begins on the second nine. Renovating the course in the spirit of the original Donald Ross-style design, Jacobson has reshaped and relocated bunkers in a manner that revives the spirit of Ross while adapting the 1920s-era course to the increased distance many golfers enjoy as a result of improved club and ball technology.
Anets GC, a nine-hole course also operated by the Northbrook Park District and redesigned by Jacobson, is expected to reopen this summer as a family-friendly Par 3 course.
Jacobson will implement a master plan renovation/restoration approved by the membership of The Oak Park Country Club, an historic private club in River Grove, Ill. originally designed by Donald Ross.
Jacobson will produce a master plan to renovate Richland CC in Nashville, an 18-hole private club course originally built in 1988 by Jack Nicklaus.
Jacobson will continue bunker renovation work at Cantigny GC in Wheaton, Ill., this year’s site of the prestigious Western Junior Amateur conducted by the Western Golf Association and the site of the 2007 U.S. Public Links Championship run by the U.S. Golf Association.
It’s no wonder Jacobson is so busy: his philosophy is to create golf courses that are challenging for the low-handicap player, playable for the average golfer, and aesthetically pleasing for everybody. Over the years, Jacobson has executed his philosophy to the delight and satisfaction of legions of golfers.
A protégé of Jack Nicklaus, Jacobson founded Jacobson Golf Course Design, Inc. in 1991 as a full-service golf design firm specializing in new course designs as well as master plan renovations and additions to existing facilities.
Jacobson’s first original 18-hole project in North America – Augustine Golf Club in Stafford, Virginia – has been ranked among the nation’s Top 100 Public Golf Courses by Golf Magazine and was ranked among the best new upscale courses in 1996 by Golf Digest Magazine.
In recent years, Jacobson has opened a number of successful original designs, including Vista Links in Buena Vista, Virginia (2004); Makefield Highlands GC in suburban Philadelphia (2004), and Patriot Hills GC in Stony Point, NY (2003), rated among the Top 10 New Courses in the U.S. by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine.
In 2004, Golf Magazine named Jacobson’s Spirit Hollow GC in Burlington, Iowa one its "Thrifty Fifty" – i.e. one of the nation’s top 50 courses costing less than $50 to play. Golf Digest currently ranks Spirit Hollow among the Top 10 courses in the state of Iowa. Golfweek ranks it fourth best public-access course in Iowa.
Golf Magazine ranked Jacobson’s Bull Run Country Club in Haymarket, Virginia – located approximately 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. – the top new public course in Virginia in 1999. Jacobson’s Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Delaware opened to rave reviews and the 27-hole complex was honored by Golf Inc. Magazine as Development of the Year for 2002.
Jacobson’s course renovation work is nationally renowned. He renovated Pete Dye’s Des Moines G&CC for the 1999 U.S. Senior Open and has renovated a number of the Chicago area’s classic private courses, including North Shore and Bob O’ Link country clubs. Bob O’Link is a Donald Ross original and North Shore is a Colt/Alison creation.
Golf Inc. Magazine recognized Jacobson’s complete renovation of the Blackhawk Trace course at Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Ill. as one of the top public course renovations in 2004. The same publication named Jacobson’s renovation of North Shore second among the private club renovations. In 2005, he completed an extensive renovation of Sunset Ridge CC in Northfield, Ill.
Contact:
Barry Cronin
Cronin Communications, Inc.
847-698-1801
bcronin@cronincommunications.com
