Mark Rolfing began his quest with a rather depressing premise: "The core of Chicago golf is rotten. It's not an apple you can polish."
In some ways, Chicago is America's greatest golfing destination with a bevy of historic and enticing options outside the city limits. And yet in other ways, it's an underachieving wasteland.
Think about it: We have PGA tournament-caliber courses to the north (Conway Farms), west (Medinah) and south (Olympia Fields), but nothing within 25 miles of the downtown. And while Chicago hosts an every-other-year PGA Tour event during football season, Wisconsin lands Ryder Cups and the 2017 U.S. Open.
Chicago Park District courses are an insane value for residents, but there's a reason for that.
Few golfers on the North Side know that South Shore, with its sparkling lakefront views and Frisbee-sized greens, even exists. Instead they flock to nine-hole Sydney R. Marovitz, which on weekends can be a three-hour slog.
And consider the Marovitz name. It's a marketer's nightmare. Who knows who Sydney Marovitz was? What does the name tell you about its location? Nothing.
What if, Rolfing wondered, Lake Michigan were part of the name? Or, considering Wrigley Field's proximity, the Chicago Cubs?
The two-deck Diversey Driving range is well located, but what if you could replace it with Topgolf, a 12-month-a-year indoor/outdoor operation that is part golf range/sports bar/ high-tech bowling?
And yet for all of Rolfing's ideas to rejuvenate the game he loves in the city he worships, the NBC/Golf Channel analyst knew he had to raise the curtain with a show-stopper _ combining Jackson Park and South Shore into a world-class facility.
