Winnetka partners with KemperSports for renovation, management

The Winnetka Park District Board of Commissioners selected KemperSports to manage Winnetka Golf Club and to oversee an extensive course renovation to the club’s public nine-hole and 18-hole courses.

The course renovation project, already underway, is being designed by Libertyville-based golf course architect Rick Jacobson. Renovations include releveling and resurfacing greens, tees and fairways, remodeling fairway and select greenside bunkers and overall improved drainage at both courses to better handle heavy storm events.

Construction to Winnetka’s nine-hole, par-3 course started in August, while renovations to its 6,500-yard, 18-hole course started after the course closed to the public November 1. While both courses will be closed next year and set to reopen in summer 2024, Winnetka’s clubhouse, driving range and player development programming will remain open and available throughout the project.

Once course work is complete, KemperSports will manage the club. Winnetka will also join the company’s Frequent Fairways Chicagoland program, which provides local players with rewards for playing KemperSports public courses in and around the city.

“The Winnetka Golf Club has been a special part of the Winnetka community for more than a century, and we are proud to help Rick Jacobsen lead the restoration of such a prized local asset right here in our backyard,” KemperSports CEO Steve Skinner said. “The golf course has great bones, and this renovation will take it to the next level.”

“As an industry leader based here in Chicago, KemperSports brings a unique combination of proven national experience paired with unrivaled local understanding and focus supported by success stories of community facilities just like Winnetka, especially across the Chicagoland area,” Park District executive director John Peterson said. “We look forward to working with its first-class team to make Winnetka Golf Club the thriving community asset we know it can be, and welcoming golfers of all ages and skill levels during and after the renovation.”

Winnetka Park District commissioner Mickey Archambault added: “We are extremely excited to partner with KemperSports to help the Park District successfully complete this extensive renovation and ensure a bright future at Winnetka Golf Club for the benefit of Village residents and visitors.”

Winnetka marks the 12th facility in the greater Chicago area under KemperSports’ oversight, joining other community facilities such as Deerpath Golf Course in Lake Forest, Canal Shores in Evanston, Harborside International in Chicago, and The Glen Club in Glenview.