Historic Chicago municipal course celebrating 125th anniversary

The Chicago Park District’s Jackson Park Golf Course is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2024. The popular Tom Bendelow-designed municipal course opened on May 11, 1899, and has a history that reads like a golf encyclopedia. Named after former President Andrew Jackson, Jackson Park Golf Course was built on land that hosted the 1893 World’s Fair and is part of the larger Jackson Park, which extends along Lake Michigan on Chicago’s South Side.

When Jackson Park Golf Course opened in 1899, it was the first public golf course west of the Allegheny Mountains and was free to play. The course has been the host venue for the Chicago City Amateur for 119 years, an event won five times by golf legend and Evans Scholarship founder, Charles “Chick” Evans.

Long a beacon for inclusivity, Jackson Park has been the home of numerous African American golfers and leagues, most notably the Bob-O-Links Junior Golf Club for children ages 8 to 17. Bob-O-Links was founded by the Chicago Women’s Golf Club, the oldest African American women’s golf club in the nation, in 1954. The Jackson Park Golf Association was created in 1989 as an anchor for minorities’ long-standing use of the course.

The Chicago Park District continues to keep green fees affordable at Jackson Park, with an 18-hole walking rate of just $36. The course remains a fixture of the Windy City recently hosting the 119th Chicago City Amateur as well as the 51st Junior Amateur Championship and is home to new caddie program, helping local youth discover the life-changing benefits of caddying.

Indigo Sports, a Troon company, manages the eight golf facilities owned by the City of Chicago, including Jackson Park, Columbus Park Golf Course, Diversey Driving Range, Douglass (Anna & Frederick) Park, Marquette Park Golf Course, Robert A. Black Golf Course, South Shore Golf Course and Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course.

“Chicago’s city flag has four stars on it, signifying really important events in the city’s history,” said Matt McIntee, senior vice president for Troon and regional general manager for the Chicago Park District’s golf facilities. “If there were a Chicago golf history flag, Jackson Park would absolutely be one of the major milestones. It’s not just the number of years, it’s the place in peoples’ lives and in our Chicago community that Jackson Park serves.”