Deerpath Golf Course to Officially Break Ground on The Lawn, a Free Community Asset for Golfers of All Levels By Brian Weis

Deerpath Golf Course to Officially Break Ground on The Lawn, a Free Community Asset for Golfers of All Levels

Unique public venue will cater to all ages and abilities with the goal of continuing to grow and diversify the game of golf

By Brian Weis

Deerpath Golf Course, in partnership with the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation, the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation, and KemperSports, is proud to be breaking ground today on The Lawn, a community asset with a welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere dedicated to serving golfers from all areas, including the residents of Lake Forest. This free-to-use greenspace will cover more than 30,000 square feet, consisting of a world-class bentgrass putting and chipping experience providing practice options for both novice and avid players alike.

The Lawn, and its designer Todd Quinto, were inspired by the public-access Ladies' Putting Course in St. Andrews, Scotland and renowned putting courses such as The Punchbowl at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, The Gauntlet at Streamsong Resort, and Thistle Due at Pinehurst Resort. The Lawn's impressive footprint will offer an 18-hole putting course and three-hole chipping course, and is surrounded by a 15 foot chipping fairway surface and synthetic practice tee stations. Players of all skill levels will enjoy the green's challenging variety of hills, dales, and swales.

"With the demand for golf continuing to grow, Lake Forest is proud to offer its residents a premier practice facility to encourage players of all skill levels to either start or continue enjoying the game," said Director of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry at The City of Lake Forest, Sally Swarthout. "Combined with the ongoing drainage and facility upgrades, Deerpath Golf Course is proud to be enhancing the first-class golf experience residents have enjoyed for more than 90 years."

Deerpath Golf Course will be one of the only municipally-owned facilities to feature such a world-class amenity, making the course a destination for golfers across the Chicagoland area and beyond. Slated to open in the spring of 2022, The Lawn is designed to cater to all ages and abilities, offering a fun environment for families to gather as well as adult social groups and youth community programs. While the main goal of this space is to bring the community together, The Lawn will also be available to rent for private events.

"The Lawn will be a wonderful addition to Deerpath. Our hope for The Lawn is that it can inspire the local community to either refine their existing skills, or better yet, give them the courage to pick up a club for the first time," said KemperSports CEO Steve Skinner. "Spaces like The Lawn quickly become a gathering place for people of all skill levels and ages to engage with the game of golf. We could not be more proud to bring this asset to the City of Lake Forest, and we are thrilled to see the positive impact it will have."

Initiatives like The Lawn are part of a larger effort by The City of Lake Forest, the Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Foundation, Deerpath Golf Course and local management company KemperSports to help grow and diversify the sport by encouraging people from all backgrounds, ages, and skill levels to engage with the game of golf in their own unique way. The Lawn will complement the existing Deerpath facilities that the city has invested in over recent years, including the updated clubhouse and the course itself.

For more information on The Lawn or the recent enhancements to Deerpath Golf Course, visit deerpathgolf.com.

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Revised: 07/26/2021 - Article Viewed 2,959 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.