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Ravisloe Renovation Restores Spirit Of Donald Ross To Hidden Gem Of Chicago Golf Contact Barry Cronin HOMEWOOD, Ill. (August 1, 2003) - Ravisloe Country Club, one of the hidden gems of Chicago golf, has reemerged onto the Chicago golf scene with a vengeance this summer thanks to the completion of phase one of a $1 million course renovation project aimed at restoring the 1901 layout to the original spirit of its Donald Ross design. Ravisloe will ease back into championship mode by hosting the Illinois PGA's annual Pro-Club Champion event on Oct. 2. But the club's greens committee chairman Josh Krengel said that's only the beginning. "As a result of all the positive feedback we have been getting as a result of the renovation/restoration, I anticipate that in the not-too-distant future Ravisloe will be hosting its share of prestigious events conducted by the Chicago District Golf Association, the United States Golf Association and others," Krengel said. Noted Chicago golf course architect David Esler, designer of the acclaimed Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove, headed both the design and construction sides of the renovation project with the goal of making Ravisloe more challenging by bringing it back to its Rossian roots. "Ravisloe had the most extraordinary set of bunkers Donald Ross ever designed and we tried to restore them in a way that captured the eccentricity of his vision," Esler said. "Not only is Ravisloe one of the best member golf courses in the Chicago area, it would be a perfect venue for a USGA Senior Amateur or a Women's Amateur." The par 71 course measures 6,302 yards (3,061 yards on the par 35 front nine; 3,241 on the par 36 back nine) ^ an ideal length for a member course. Long hitters will be challenged by strategic bunkering that requires players to think twice before they "grip it and rip it." In addition to designing the renovation, Esler helped build it through Vintage Golf Construction LLC, in which he is a principal. Esler's "handmade" quality bunker work included the restoration of long narrow bunkers, tiny pot bunkers, the relocation of some bunkers to more strategic places, and the use of mounds, moguls and generous doses of fescue grass to inject the Ross character back into the course. "We wanted to make it appear as if it were built with a horse and wagon, Esler said. "We were trying to build in some of the oddities and eccentricities you don,t see very often in modern golf course construction." Though it is located in south suburban Homewood about 25 miles from The Loop, nearly half of Ravisloe's members are city dwellers who typically drive 30-45 minute drive to the club. |