In its first year under new management by Oliphant Golf Management, the oldest golf course in northwestern Illinois, established in 1893, has changed its name from Freeport Country Club and grown busier, even in the face of ample daily-fee competition.
After Ken Lee played The Freeport Club in Freeport, Ill. for the first time this year, the Rockford (Ill.) Register Star reported, he wondered why anyone in the area would ever play anywhere else.
“It’s great,” said Lee, a three-time Winnebago County (Ill.) Amateur champion, told the Register Star. “It’s more than worth the money. Everybody should play it. It’s a cool course with a lot of doglegs.”
The good news for others in the area, the Register Star noted, is that everyone can now play the oldest golf course in northwestern Illinois, which as established in 1893. Formerly known as Freeport Country Club, the club has been renamed and opened to the public under Oliphant Golf Management, which took over operating duties this spring. (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2016/06/08/freeport-ill-club-reopens-focus-public-events/)
“[The club] was called [The Freeport Club] way back in the day, so we went back to the roots of it all,” Head Golf Professional Shawn Hoefle told the Register Star. And under its new name, Hoefle added, The Freeport Club has grown busier since it went public, even though word has been a little slow to get out, just as it was when other private courses in the area, including Rochelle (Ill.) Country Club, Oregon (Ill.) Country Club and Bel-Mar Club & Golf in Belvidere, Ill., went public in recent years.
Additionally, the Register Star noted, the club faces stiff competition from Park Hills Golf Course, Freeport’s 36-hole municipal facility, and the popular Wolf Hollow Golf Course in nearby Lena, Ill.
“The first year is always going to be tough when you go back to public,” Hoefle said. “People always have the perception you are a country club. But the more the word gets around about the conditions we have here and about our lunches— our chef is amazing—I think it will work out.
“The biggest obstacle is that the people of Freeport are loyal to Park Hills,” Hoefle added. “I get that. They have always gone there, and they have treated them good there. We’re not trying to steal their members, but they are more than welcome to come over here and play, too.”
The Freeport Club is shorter than Park Hills West (5,894 yards compared to 6,627), the Register Star noted, with smaller, faster greens and even more hills and tighter fairways. ”It’s a really cool course,” said Michael Jacobs, now a senior on the Augustana College golf team. “It’s shorter but it’s really tight, with a lot of older trees and fast greens. It’s an older-school kind of feel that’s hard to find. Everybody I’ve talked to who has come over to play who has historically played at Park Hills or Wolf Hollow has raved about it.”
“It’s nice to have a golf course that’s now public that is both short and tight,” added Adam Werntz, a former regional golf champion at Freeport High School. “It can help you develop the mental side, and not just the physical side, by making you think about how you approach every single hole. It’s completely different than any other golf course in the vicinity of Freeport.”
Current rates at The Freeport Club, the Registar Star reported, are $40 a round, including cart, or $35 if booked through golfnow.com
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