“How did you get involved in this, anyway?” It’s a question that I am frequently asked. It’s not a sexy answer, but the truth is that I got curious about what was happening at Canal Shores, and so I showed up. Then I put my hand up and volunteered. Giving back to the game and my community was tremendously satisfying, and I kept doing it. The rest has unfolded organically.
As our Journey Along the Shores continues, I will post periodic updates. As always, we are grateful for the support, encouragement and contributions of golf geeks everywhere.
MOST RECENT UPDATE FROM THE SHORES
PART 29 – THE ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS
A confession must be made. Most years, come February, a profound level of fatigue sets in and I begin to dread heading out for yet another day of battling overgrowth. This off-season was entirely different, as two new groups—a golf society and a merry band of neighbors—showed up to not only recharge my batteries with their enthusiasm, but to give our players incredible new views of Lake Michigan and the historic El train bridge. Read more…
MORE FROM THE JOURNEY ALONG THE SHORES
PART 28 – OPENING BANKS
“What are you doing down there?” That is a frequently asked question that floats down from the ridges and bridges as we undertake work on the canal banks. The short and pithy answer is “weeding”. As is the case with many aspects of the journey along the shores, the full answer is a bit more involved, touching on golf, ecology, community and aesthetics. Retrovation work on the banks provides and instructive example of the broader effort to maximize the potential of our community golf course. Read more…
PART 27 – COMPLICATED, BUT PERFECT
An idea about inclusiveness and enjoyment of the game of golf was born in our community this summer. That idea was transformed into a reality at Canal Shores by an unlikely team of high school students, a former social worker, a blogger, a community leader, golf instructors, parents and 18 brave kids who had never set foot on a golf course before. Read more…
PART 26 – A WEE CHANGE
As we continue to tinker with Canal Shores, we understand the Good Doctor’s conditioned expectations. Each change we make to improve the course yields mostly praise, but also the predictable batch of complaints. The creation of the Wee Burn short of the 17th green is no exception, providing an interesting look into player perceptions and reactions to change. Read more…
PART 25 – THE WRAP-AROUND
Much like the modern PGA Tour, the work season at Canal Shores never ends. Long after players have hung up their clubs in Chicagoland, our staff and volunteers keep plugging away on course improvements, deterred only by blizzards, bitter cold or torrential rains. Progress continues all the way through to spring cleanup. Read more…
PART 24 – EVENT-FULL SEASONS
With each passing year, Canal Shores gets busier. The course is seeing more play and it would seem that the Evanston-Wilmette community has gotten markedly golfier. That is terrific progress from my geeky perspective. However, the activity at Canal Shores does not begin and end with golf, which is one of the many ways that our community course delivers value. Read more…
PART 23 – THE YEAR CANAL SHORES BECAME A GOLF COURSE
Prior to this year, Canal Shores was a place where it was great fun to play golf, but it wasn’t much of a golf course. It was a novelty that captured our hearts. This year, Canal Shores became a golf course. Read more…
PART 22 – REVERSE JANS RECAP
Canal Shores is about coming together, having fun through laid back competition, and caring for a special community asset. That is the spirit in which the Honourable Company of Reverse Jans Golfers convened for its third annual gathering and golf outing in December of last year. Read more…
PART 21 – BURN BABY BURN
There’s a new boss at Canal Shores – a Burn Boss, that is – and his name is Steve Neumann. Being a geeky man after my own heart, he fulfilled an ambition of becoming an officially certified Burn Boss by participating in training with the Forest Preserve District. Perhaps the coolest title I have heard to date. Read more…
PART 20 – SPRING PROJECT
We realize that the combination of these two issues is leaving a poor impression on visiting players. The closing stretch is where a course should impress. In the case of Canal Shores, it disappoints. Therefore, we have decided to make our spring project for 2018 a Closing Stretch Makeover. Read more…
PART 19 – ALL ABOUT THE TREES
Over the past several years, countless hours have been spent in the field and in meetings to assess the state of our tree population, and to chart a course forward toward making that population larger and significantly healthier. Our findings will not be a surprise to anyone who has taken the time to look closely at the ecological picture at Canal Shores. In many places, the property is a disaster area, and it has been for many years. Read more…
PART 18 – ANNUAL VOLUNTEER RECAP
‘Tis the season for giving thanks. My geeky heart is filled with gratitude for all of our volunteers who come out and give their time and labor to polish up this community golf gem of ours. Our primary focus in 2017 was on the south end of the property – the Metra Loop. We continue to bootstrap pilot projects to attempt to give our players and the community a sense of the potential for Canal Shores. Read more…
PART 17 – 14TH HOLE BUNKER REBUILD
While the planning process continues to unfold, we are on the lookout for little ways to make the course more interesting and fun. The golf geeks were itching for a creative bunker project to finish off the year, and we found one on the 14th. With help from our volunteers and support from local Superintendents, we knocked the project out in two days. Read more…
PART 16 – SUPER CHANGES
There is only one constant in life – change. Life at Canal Shores is no different. The course continues to evolve, as do our plans for its future. This season, those plans changed when we learned that our team was not going to be the same. Tom Tully, our Superintendent, decided to relocate to Colorado. He will be missed. After a brief moment of panic, the search for Tom’s replacement began. Our Board President Chris Carey and Grounds Chair Steve Neumann shoulder the work, and scored us a winner – Tony Frandria. Read more…
PART 15b – METRA CORNER UPDATE
After all of the improvements that we have made to the 15th hole, it is really shining right now. I took a quick walk this morning to grab final photos of the bunkers in the bright summer sunshine to complete this update on our work on #15. Read more…
PART 15a – METRA CORNER MAKEOVER
Our attention has now shifted to the south end of the property, or what we call the “Metra Corner”. This is the area that includes the 15th and 16th holes, which interact with the canal and the commuter train tracks. It is also a point of major foot traffic, with commuters and school kids passing through the course in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Read more…
PART 14b – MORE VOLUNTEER POWER
What a difference a year makes. In my previous JATS post, I shared about the efforts of a group of our volunteers – the NSCDS Boys. They, along with dozens of other volunteers, contributed hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to the successful completion of our makeover of the 12th green complex. Read more…
PART 14a – THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERS
I want to highlight the contributions of four students from North Shore Country Day School. NSCDS has a senior service requirement. CJ, Sam, Dillon, and AJ came to us and asked if they could do their service hours at Canal Shores. It just so happened that we were hoping to add a native plant and habitat area behind the 12th green. Read more…
PART 13 – 4 COURSE CONCEPT REVISITED
Our Lead Architect David Zinkand has completed his Preliminary Design of the new Canal Shores (below), bringing to life the 4 Course Concept that we have been discussing. It has certainly come a long way since the idea’s inception. Read more…
PART 12 – GOOD GEEKY FUN
Yesterday was one of the best golf days I have ever had. With a little nudge from some of the members of GolfClubAtlas, Pat Goss and I put together a day for good, geeky golf fun. It began with an outing for the Honourable Company of Reverse Jans Golfers, and ended with a Gathering of golf enthusiasts to share food, drinks, and the spirit of this great game. Read more…
PART 11 – BLUE SKY FINDINGS
Over the summer, the initiative to transform Canal Shores along the lines I outlined in my previous posts (4 Course Concept & Inspiration for the New Canal Shores) gained significant momentum. That gain is primarily attributable to my good fortune in connecting with Pat Goss. Read more…
PART 10 – OFF-SEASON PROJECTS
We will be continuing the process of “reclaiming the ridge” that we started on hole #3 earlier this year. In that pilot project, we learned several lessons about how best to fight invasive tree species like buckthorn, while improving playability for golfers. Read more…
PART 9 – INSPIRATION FOR THE NEW CANAL SHORES
In recent Journey Along the Shores posts, I have been focused on what we are doing to improve the course now. With Autumn quickly approaching, stay tuned for news on the next batch of improvement projects. Let’s take a break from the present, and revisit the subject of the future of Canal Shores. Read more…
PART 8 – MORE TREE MANAGEMENT
There is a tremendous amount of work left to be done on clean-up and clearing of invasive tree species, like buckthorn. Removal is only part of the process though. Each cleared area needs to be enhanced with new vegetation and trees. Read more…
PART 7 – PILOT PROJECTS
These are exciting times at Canal Shores. Momentum is building, as talented and committed people continue to lend their support. The beginnings of a new Master Plan for the facility are taking shape. It is still too early to share details here, but stay tuned. Read more…
PART 6 – 4 COURSE CONCEPT
Cutting down trees, hacking out brush, and hauling debris for hours on end gives a man plenty of time to think. During one of these cleanup sessions recently, many of the thoughts that had been swirling around in my head crystalized into a new vision for what might be done with the golf portion of the Canal Shores property. Read more…
PART 5 – TREE MANAGEMENT
Our tree management program has begun in earnest at Canal Shores. Our strategy, which is built up on the Wide Open Spaces principle, is two-phased: Remove overgrowth and invasive species; Highlight remaining specimen trees. Read more…
PART 4 – FIRST STEPS
The Canal Shores Grounds Committee spent the winter sharing ideas, from the blue sky big picture all the way down to the nitty gritty details. Spring has sprung, and it is time to get into action. While our long-term Master Plan is in the skunkworks stage, we decided that we still want to move forward with making the cost-effective improvements that we can. Read more…
PART 3 – PRINCIPLES FOR GREATNESS
The Community that surrounds and utilizes Canal Shores wants the property to remain multi-use. It would be unacceptable to the stakeholders if the Canal Shores property was used solely for golf. Even for a golf nut like me, reverting the property to a single-use golf facility would make it much less interesting and valuable than it is, or can be. Read more…
PART 2 – THE LAND
Canal Shores is not just a golf course. It is a 35 acre multi-use green space on the banks of the North Shore Channel of the Chicago River. It spans Wilmette and Evanston, and several streets cut across it. It is surrounded primarily by residential property, but it winds through the neighborhoods in a unique fashion. Canal Shores is much more an integrated part of its neighborhood than a typical golf course in a residential property. Read more…
PART 1 – JOURNEY ALONG THE SHORES
A few years back, the golf course was on the verge of closing. It was deeply in debt, and was barely playable due to lack of maintenance. A group of concerned members of the Evanston-Wilmette community intervened, poured their energy into the course for two years, and turned it around. With respect to finances and facilities, Canal Shores is poised to enter a new phase. Read more…
Copyright 2017 – Jason Way, GeekedOnGolf
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