BUNKER RENOVATION AT GEORGE DUNNE AIMS AT RETURN TO GLORY

Let's step in the way back machine and set the dial to 1982.  As a kid growing up in Oak Lawn who was bitten by the golf bug as a teenager, I was a frequent visitor to all the local courses of the time.  Silver Lake & Hickory Hills were nearby, as were the now long departed Evergreen and Westgate.  The old 18 at Oak Hills is now a very nice 9-hole layout thru townhomes.  If we got ambitious, a drive east over to Glenwoodie, south down to Deer Creek or west to Lemont to the Cog courses and Big Run would be a welcome change.  Although all nice courses, none except for Dubsdread would likely rank in the highest level of Chicagoland public golf.

So when the news dropped that a true championship course was planned for Oak Forest, one that could someday hold pro tournaments and test the very best golfers and was less than 10 miles away?  My friends and I were stoked.  Once Forest Preserve National opened, unless you had an in at the Cook County FP, scoring a tee time took some true effort and was like finding the golden ticket in a Willie Wonka bar. A typical weekend night during golf season was a few beers at Reilly's Daughter with my buddies, then over to the course to queue up along Central Avenue with the other south side golf addicts, get a few hours of sleep in the car before the gate opened at dawn, and hope you could grab a spot for later that day.

It was worth all the trouble.  The course was everything promised and more.  Architects Dick Nugent and Ken Killian, fresh off their highly acclaimed work at Kemper Lakes, hit another home run.  The design similarities between the two were unmistakable: each over 7,000 yards of challenge, pristine parkland layouts across rolling terrain with harrowing carries over water and enough sand hazards to seemingly cover Oak Street Beach.  A trip to north suburban Kildeer to play Kemper was a once-a-year treat, but Forest Preserve National was our southside treasure, and in my slightly biased view, every bit as good.

Over the years the 2 courses went off on divergent paths.  Kemper Lakes has held a number of professional tournaments, including the PGA Championship in 1989, and remained open to the public until transitioning to a private club in 2007.  Forest Preserve was renamed George Dunne National in 1995 to honor the longtime Cook County Board President and remained the flagship of the Forest Preserve courses, but ongoing cycles of disrepair and band aid fixes tarnished the shine and reputation of the course.  In the good times, it was selected to hold US Open Local Qualifiers, a significant honor, but hosting the bigger tournaments never materialized.

My golf footprint has expanded wide beyond the south side over the years but I always try to get to George Dunne every season, and it's sure a lot easier finding a tee time than it was in the '80's!  The course layout has remained almost exactly the same, a testament to the quality of the original design.  The 4th hole is still a daunting dogleg left par 4 with a menacing tee shot over a pond. The par 5 sixth has one of the most intimidating approaches you'll find over traps to a green tucked in the woods.  The 8th might tempt bombers to go for the green and carry the pond tight to the putting surface.  Bite off as much of the hazard as you dare on the par 5 11th to have a go in getting home in two over yet another water carry.  The 16th, with the removal of the sprawling waste bunker the most significant change to date, offers the last best chance for birdie, a welcome breather before

the devilish finish.  The 17th is a beauty of a par 3 with the wide, angled green a tricky target, and the big finish, tipping out at 454 yards, is simply one of the best par 4 closing holes in Chicagoland.  And the ones I didn't mention are all just as good.

Though the tees, fairways and greens have been maintained well over the past few years, the condition of the sand traps has shown a steady decline.  On my last round at George Dunne this past August, the starter instructed us to "just take the ball out if you hit into a trap", a clear indication that they finally hit rock bottom.  But he also dropped another nugget: "there are plans to renovate the bunkers in 2026."  I've heard that story a few times over the years, but before I land on my back like Charlie Brown when Lucy moves the football, my skeptical inner voice said "I'll believe it when I see it." 

Fast forward to February and a stop at the Cook County FPD booth at the Chicago Golf Show.  I saw it with my own two eyes, a detailed plan and commitment for funds allocated to perform the long overdue bunker work.  A catalyst for this was the extension of the course management contract with Troon Golf through 2034, a needed stabilizer to undergo a costly renovation.

I drove out to George Dunne on a chilly Friday afternoon in March in the hope of finding out more details of the work.  I was greeted at the course by the Assistant General Manager, and he was more than happy to answer my inquiries and took me on the course to see the progress completed at the 6th hole, while work at the 9th green was near completion and the 8th had just started.  The project is spearheaded by local architect Dave Esler, who is best known in the Southland for his stellar Donald Ross style revision at Ravisloe.  

The plan includes updating every sand trap (about 60 by my count) with Capillary Concrete bunkers.  This liner system has been implemented at many top courses across the world, including 2023 Ryder Cup venue Marco Simone and Pebble Beach.  Closer to home, TPC Deere Run also features the system. 

To paraphrase the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Capillary Concrete "is a patented drainage and hydration control material used for bunker construction and is the only building material that can move water both up and down to precisely regulate the moisture content of any adjacent material, such as sand or soil."  In more layman terms, this state-of-the-art system provides ideal drainage control to maintain perfect bunker conditions in any weather while significantly reducing maintenance costs.  The sand will be pro caliber, so the days of rock-hard, unplayable traps at George Dunne should be a thing of the past for years to come.

Besides installation of the capillary liners, many bunkers will see a reduction in size and altered shape, with some having a shallower depth to improve playability and pace of play.  A few may be removed entirely, replaced by low maintenance but still penal grass bunkers.  The work is being completed one or two holes at a time so the plan is to keep the course open with most of the holes in play, with the greenside traps hopefully finished by June.  Currently the fairway bunkers will be handled by the in-house maintenance crew, though this situation is fluid and may change based on the overall progress, but expectations are that the project will come to a close in 2026.

It's safe to say that I'm just as excited as I was 44 years ago to see these changes, George Dunne deserves the best conditions possible to return to its past glory and reach its full potential.  Could it become the Bethpage Black of Chicagoland and host a US Open and the Ryder Cup?  It never hurts to dream big.