Golf courses chip in with some Northbrook history
Local golf courses provide interesting links to Northbrook history. That is especially true right now because of ongoing changes at two historic courses.
The two golf courses in focus are Sportsman's and Green Acres. Like others that have played roles in Village history, both date back to the 1920s and early '30s. However, both also are current newsmakers: Sportsman's, with a new clubhouse and other renovations, just recently received a new name (Heritage Oaks), while Green Acres awaits potential redevelopment as one of the area's largest remaining open tracts of land.
In addition to Heritage Oaks, three other courses currently operate within Northbrook boundaries: Mission Hills, Anetsberger, and Willow Hill. All have figured into the history of the Village with most going back to about the time Shermerville changed its name to Northbrook in 1923.
"Northbrook, Illinois: The Fabric of Our History" begins its description of this area a century ago with the heading: "Playgrounds for the Rich." Though Village population was only 554 in 1920 and 1,193 in 1930, "The 1920s saw a proliferation of golf courses in the Northbrook area. The expanse of farmland surrounding the Village made the acreage valuable for 18-hole or larger courses. Proximity to the well established and affluent North Shore also was a factor."
One of the early Northbrook courses, Mission Hills, was built in the mid-1920s on farmland previously owned by the Ahrens family. It remained a daily-fee course until 1973, when it was developed as Mission Hills Country Club Village.
Illinois Country Club was constructed by George Chamberlin in the mid-1920s. The 18-hole course on the north side of Dundee Road just west of the Skokie slough was a private club catering to Chicago businessmen, many of whom lived along the North Shore. According to "The Fabric of Our History," the complex featured a "lavish clubhouse with a large dining room, locker rooms and pro shop." Illinois Country Club became Green Acres Country Club in the early 1940s.
Chamberlin soon went three miles west and in 1931 opened Sportsman's Golf Club, which started as an 18-hole course and eventually increased to 36. "The clubhouse grew to include a pro shop and restaurant, and in the 1950s bowling alleys and a driving range were added," according to "The Fabric of Our History."
In 1971, a nine-hole portion of Sportsman's was sold for the development of Ancient Tree subdivision. When all of Sportsman's closed in 1977, Northbrook lost its only remaining public course. There were plans to construct a Mission Hills-like development called Northbrook Country Club Village. However, the Northbrook Park District surveyed residents, some private groups including O.P.E.N. (Organization to Preserve the Environment of Northbrook) got involved, and a referendum was held. The Park District eventually purchased about 152 of Sportsman's 215 acres in 1978.
Nine years later, residents approved another referendum to buy Sportsman's East Nine (63 acres at the southwest corner of Dundee and Landwehr roads) from Northfield Township District 225. That property likely would have been the site of a third Glenbrook High School if one was needed.
Why the name change from Sportsman's to Heritage Oaks (now featuring 27 holes) in 2021? Park District officials have referred to "the large number of oak trees under the district's stewardship and the rich heritage of this 90-year-old course."
As golf's popularity grew in the 1920s, another course was built on the north side of Dundee Road just east of Sanders Road. It was started as the University Golf Club, but declining economic conditions during the early stages of the Depression forced its closure. It reopened later in the 1930s as the Northbrook Golf Course and continued to operate until purchased by the developers of Charlemagne subdivision in 1967.
Named after the Middle Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River, Middlebrook Golf Course was established in 1923 on 285 acres on the east side of Waukegan Road extending north from the present Edens Spur almost to Lake-Cook Road. The name was changed to Blackheath in 1933. Eventually the course was sold to developers who created Glenbrook Countryside, a subdivision that remains unincorporated.
In 1947, Anetsberger Brothers, Inc., moved its kitchen equipment operation from Chicago to then-unincorporated Northbrook property east of the railroad tracks between Techny and Illinois roads. The company built a compact nine-hole golf course for its employees to enjoy. In June 1999, the Park District reached agreement with the Anetsberger family to purchase the property including the golf course, and Northbrook residents overwhelmingly approved a $15.5 million referendum for that purpose on March 21, 2000. Like Heritage Oaks, the Park District continues to operate the Anetsberger course.
North of Willow Road, between the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River and a little west of where developments such as Waterway Carwash are today - on property owned by the Society of the Divine Word - Techny Fields once was an 18-hole daily-fee course. Many golfers said it was so flat that, as noted in "The Fabric of Our History," it could have been "an outdoor billiard table." The course gradually was discontinued and the land plowed and planted with crops to feed the cattle housed in the nearby Techny barns.
During the 1990s, development began in the area of the original Techny Fields course. In 1992 the Lake Landfill at the western edge of the Techny property on Willow Road reached capacity and was closed, and in 1995 construction was completed on the 90-acre Willow Hill Golf Course built on the landfill area. Ironically, this course is hilly compared to the old Techny Fields course. Willow Hill's 100-foot-high playing area is one of Cook County's highest points that offers a clear view of the Chicago skyline ... along with some Northbrook history.
• For information about the Northbrook Historical Society, visit northbrookhistory.org.