Wing Park Golf Course facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Wing Park Golf Course
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 Location in Illinois
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| Location | 1000 Wing St., Elgin, Illinois |
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| Area | 52 acres (210,000 m2) |
| Built | 1908 |
| NRHP reference No. | 09000027 |
| Added to NRHP | February 18, 2009 |
The Wing Park Golf Course in Elgin, Illinois, is a really special place. It's known as the "oldest and best preserved nine-hole municipal golf course in Illinois." This means it's a public golf course with nine holes that has been kept in great condition for a long time.
The course was built when golf was becoming very popular around the Chicago area in the early 1900s. It got its name from William H. Wing, who generously gave the land for a park in 1902. Later, when a new electric company was built nearby, the city of Elgin decided to turn part of the park into a golf course.
A famous golf course designer named Tom Bendelow created the layout for Wing Park. He designed over 600 golf courses in his career! The Wing Park Golf Course first opened on September 5, 1908. It has been open for golfers ever since. In 1912, the Wing Park Golf Club was started to help manage the course. Because of its history, the course was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Contents
The History of Golf in America
How Golf Came to the U.S.
Golf is a sport that came to America from Scotland in the 1890s. At first, it was mostly a sport for very wealthy people. Rich individuals, like William Kissam Vanderbilt, even built their own private golf courses.
One important person was Charles B. Macdonald. He was a stockbroker who learned golf while studying in Scotland. Macdonald built the first golf course in the Chicago area. It was called the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest and opened in 1892.
The First Public Golf Courses
Just one year later, Macdonald built the Chicago Golf Club. This was the very first 18-hole golf course in the entire country! It was a huge success and led to many new courses being built. By 1900, Chicago and its nearby towns had twenty-six golf courses.
Soon, golf wasn't just for the rich. It became a sport for everyone. In 1895, New York City opened the nation's first public golf course at Van Cortlandt Park. Chicago followed this trend in 1899. They opened the Jackson Park Golf Club for the public to enjoy.
Elgin's Growth and the Idea for a Park
Elgin Becomes a Busy Town
Elgin was founded in the 1830s. It grew into an important manufacturing town after the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad arrived in 1850. Big companies like the Elgin National Watch Company and Gail Borden Condensed Milk factories brought many jobs. This made the local population grow a lot.
As the 1900s began, people started working fewer hours. This meant they had more free time for fun activities. The first golf course in Elgin was the nine-hole Elgin Country Club. It was a private course designed by Tom Bendelow in 1901. Bendelow was a big supporter of public golf courses. He even taught how to design them at colleges.
William Wing's Gift to the City
Wing Park is named after William H. Wing. His family moved to Elgin in 1846. William Wing became a successful lawyer. In 1902, he donated 121.5 acres of his land to Elgin. He wanted it to be used as a public park for everyone.
The park officially opened on August 2, 1903. It had both open farmland and natural woods. For a few years, the park didn't change much. But in 1907, the Elgin and Belvidere Electric Company expanded its lines nearby. This led to plans for building the Wing Park Golf Course.
Building the Wing Park Golf Course
Designing the Course Quickly
Elgin hired Tom Bendelow to design the new golf course. He was incredibly fast! Bendelow planned out the entire Wing Park course in just one day. The course was then built in only two months. It cost $1,250 to build, which was a lot of money back then.
The course was designed to be simple and fun for new golfers. It had parallel fairways (the grassy areas where you hit the ball). It also had small greens (where the hole is). Bendelow used the natural hills and valleys of the land in his design.
Opening Day and Early Success
When Wing Park Golf Course opened on September 5, 1908, it was a big deal. Elgin became the smallest city in the country to have its own public golf course.
The Wing Park Golf Club was officially started on September 14, 1912. It had 88 founding members. They bought land across from the course entrance and built a clubhouse the next year. The clubhouse was a cozy American Craftsman style house with a porch facing the course. The club sold 200 more memberships for $25 each.
Growing Popularity and Challenges
By 1921, Wing Park was so popular that Elgin had to make a rule. People who didn't live in Elgin couldn't play on weekends. But non-residents still came to play. So, in the mid-1920s, Elgin added a fee. Residents paid fifty cents, and non-residents paid a dollar. This helped make sure local people could play.
In 1926, there were plans to buy more land and make Wing Park an 18-hole course. However, these plans stopped because of the Great Depression. This was a time when many people lost their jobs and money.
A Historic Course Today
Wing Park Golf Course was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 18, 2009. It was even featured as the "Highlighted Property of the Week" by the National Park Service that month.
Today, Wing Park is the second-oldest golf course still in use in Illinois. Only Jackson Park is older. What makes Wing Park extra special is that it's the oldest course to still have its original layout.
Wing Park Golf Course Holes
In the early days, each hole on the golf course had its own unique name.
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