RESORT
REVIEW
Indian Lakes Resort
gets new lease on life
By Dave Berner,
Senior Writer
BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. (July 15, 2003) -- You know how it feels. You buy some new clothes, you lose some weight, you get a new car, move into a new home, or you buy a new set of clubs - and what happens? You undergo a bit of a miracle transformation. You feel, well, renewed. It's invigorating. It's a brand new day and you're buoyed and ready to take on the world.
|
Indian Lakes, admittedly, had seen some better days. The resort had become tired and uninspiring and its two 18-hole courses, although quite playable, had not been maintained with much pride over the years. But today, Indian Lakes is beginning a wonderful new chapter in its life and it starts with the opening of the newly renovated Blackhawk Trace Golf Course, formerly the resort's West Course.
The Golf
Blackhawk
Trace represents a solid transformation. The previous 18-hole
course had enormous, outdated, saucer-like bunkers. The greens
were in marginal shape and the bluegrass fairways hadn't been
in top condition for years. Robert Bruce Harris designed the original
36 holes in the 1960s, and although the courses' routing was decent,
the holes themselves were far from memorable.
Architect Rick Jacobsen has changed all that. Inspired by the work of Alistair McKenzie, Jacobsen developed new bunker complexes that feature fescue accents, sand flashing high, and fingers of turf. There are new tee boxes, all in the British-style rectangular shape. The greens have been reshaped and are now bent grass and the original bluegrass on the tees and in the fairways has also been replaced with bent.
"We want to bring the highest standards of conditioning and challenge to the two 18-hole course," says Jacobsen. "We're trying to create memorable holes."
You won't have any problem remembering the opening hole. If you had played the old West Course at Indian Lakes, you will notice immediately the new life the renovations have brought to this layout. The new fairway shaping and framing bunkers give the new No. 1 a very inviting feel.
The
most significant changes were made to the 13th hole. This one-time,
straightaway par-3 was boring. It had very little character to
it at all. Now, there are huge waste-style bunkers along the left
side creating a visually stunning design and a new challenge to
anyone looking to set their ball softly on this green.
"The first nine holes opened last year at Indian Lakes and the second opened this summer," says new director of golf, Thomas Denklau. But he and others note there's no question the course needs more time to mature. "There are some bare spots on the second-nine fairways and around the greens," says Denklau. But the superintendent's crew believes it can nurture the new turf along and improve it day by day.
Par at Blackhawk Trace is 72 and it can measure out as long as 6,966 yards.
The
$6 million dollar renovation to the courses is only half done.
The work on the second 18-holes is beginning soon and completion
is expected in 2004 or early 2005. The second project will include
much of the same goals, but the bunkering and shaping will be
a bit different.
"We plan to use some Donald Ross-style design for the bunkering and shaping of the course," says Jacobsen. Look for sod-faced bunkers and bailout areas. This will make for two distinctly different golf course designs once the renovations are complete.
However, playing all 36 holes at Indian Lakes today gives the golfer a unique look at what once was, and what now is and will be.
The Bad Pants Open
Indian Lakes Resort is certainly making news with its new renovations, but it has been receiving its share of ink in golf publications and newspapers all over America for over seven years as the host of the infamous "Bad Pants Open".
The event is a free-for-all fashion disaster. Every participant has to wear the most hideous pair of golf pants he can find and take part in a competitive round of golf without laughing.
The Bad Pants Open is an ode, a salute, to golf's old reputation of being the game with the worst dressed participants. People come from all over the country to take part in the event and, of course, they carry along with them some seriously nasty looking trousers - lime green, plaid, canary yellow knickers, and sky blue bell bottoms. Pants that should never had been made let alone purposely purchased to wear on a golf course somewhere.
This may be the only competition where the pants a golfer wears is more important than the score he shoots.
The Resort
The
owner of Indian Lakes, First Hospitality Group, believes it is
in the process of turning the resort into an upscale, state-of-the
art golf complex. And that job not only involves the renovations
to the golf courses, but also a huge re-do of the resort itself.
The resort's 314 rooms have all been upgraded. The dining facilities, the lounges and the meeting and banquet rooms are brand spanking new. Plus, the new atrium and lobby at Indian Lakes is quite impressive. A beautiful, open entry into the resort's new era.
One of the major new additions at Indian Lakes is Spa Vargas. This is a new full-service spa that features massages, manicures, and facials, all in a calming and comforting environment.
Food is also a new focus at Indian Lakes. Chicago-based Levy Restaurants is managing the resort's food and beverage operations. That may not seem such an important detail to many, unless you know Levy's legacy in Chicago. Levy Restaurants operates some of the most popular spots in town - Sporangia, Mia Torre, and Bistro 110.
|
||||||||||
Blackhawk Trace
Conditions: 4
Value: 4
Service: 4.2
Design: 4.5
Directions
From Chicago: West on I-290 to Lake Street Exit. Follow Lake west to Bloomingdale Road and make left. Right onto Schick Road.
From O'Hare: I-190 East to I-294 South. Merge to I-290 toward Rockford. Exit at Lake Street. Go west to Bloomingdale Road and turn south. Right onto Schick Road.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
