Winnetka Golf Club unveiling should happen within months

With extensive renovations nearing completion and its reopening expected within the next few months, the Winnetka Golf Club is getting a new logo to go with its new look.

The Winnetka Park Board reviewed and approved that new logo at its regular meeting on Thursday, May 23.

The design was a collaborative effort between Winnetka Park District staff and KemperSports, which has managed the golf club since November 2022.

The logo’s approval is the latest step toward the reopening of the more than 100-year-old golf club, which has been closed since 2022 due to the ongoing Winnetka Stormwater Project. During the closure, the golf club — which includes an 18-hole, par 71 track and a nine-hole, par 27 track – has been undergoing renovations.

B.R. Koehnemann, director of corporate communications for KemperSports, said about 20 logo designs were initially reviewed. They were narrowed down to eight, before the one approved on Thursday.

He added that there are two versions of the logo: a full version that includes a leaf and “Winnetka Park District” and “1917,” and a smaller version that is only the leaf.

Koehnemann said the leaf was hand-drawn and designed after a hackberry tree, which can be found within the golf courses.

“And then (there’s) also representation of the history of the Winnetka Golf Club,” he said. “(We wanted to) make sure that everyone remembers that this is a historic golf course built in 1917 and continues to thrive today.”

Park District Executive Director Shannon Nazzal added that the colors in the logo have significance behind them.

“The red color in the logo is the same color as the current Winnetka Golf Club logo, so we’re keeping with that tradition,” she said. “And then the blue color in the logo is the same blue that’s in the park district logo, so we’re kind of keeping that all together, wrapping it up in a nice little package, so there’s a meaning as well with that.”

Renovations nearing completion

In addition to approving the new logo, park commissioners received an update on course renovations.

KemperSports Director of Agronomy Andrew Garner said the club’s grounds are to the point where routine maintenance is being done.

“We’re moving really fast out there now,” he said.

Construction punch list items are expected to be done within the next 30 days, and Garner said the club is now fully staffed, with staff training currently underway.

He added that there is “good grass coverage” on the fairways, estimating that about 60 percent of the holes are where they should be while the remaining 40 percent are “really good.”

“We just need to keep fertilizing them and keep pushing them,” Garner said. “With the weather the way it is now and temperatures up, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

He also said drainage is working as it was intended.

“I haven’t had a rain event in recent weeks, months that we haven’t been able to drive on the fairways, even later that day,” he said.

Vince Juarez, KemperSports’ vice president of operations, said he and Nazzal are currently working on the reopening plans.

“We’ll be ready to unveil that here hopefully in the next 30 days,” he said. “We’re really watching the progress of the golf course. It looks beautiful.”

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