Public

Columbus Park Course

Columbus Park Golf Course

Chicago, IL, USA
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About this course

Columbus Park Golf Course occupies a historic site on Chicago's West Side, designed by Tom Bendelow in the early twentieth century as part of the city's ambitious parks movement. Bendelow, a prolific architect who shaped hundreds of municipal courses across America during golf's first expansion era, created Columbus Park as an accessible public facility within the broader Columbus Park complex designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen. The course reflects the practical, straightforward design philosophy Bendelow employed for municipal projects, providing playable golf on relatively compact urban acreage. The layout navigates gently rolling parkland terrain characteristic of Chicago's western neighborhoods, with mature trees framing many holes and defining playing corridors. As a municipal course serving a diverse urban population, Columbus Park has functioned for decades as an entry point to the game for Chicago residents, offering affordable golf within city limits. The design emphasizes functionality over dramatic features, with straightforward holes that accommodate players of varying skill levels. Columbus Park represents an important piece of Chicago's public golf infrastructure and stands as one of the surviving examples of Bendelow's municipal work in a major American city. The course continues to serve its original mission of providing accessible golf to the community, maintaining its role in the city's network of public courses that have introduced generations of Chicagoans to the game.

Quick facts

Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Access
Public
Year built
1910
Holes
9
Designer
Tom Bendelow
Par
35
Length
2,787 yards
Difficulty
35.1/112
Course Vaults score
6.3

Getting there

# Getting There

Columbus Park Golf Course sits on the South Side of Chicago, accessible via Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) - just eight miles west and a swift fifteen-minute drive through the city's residential neighborhoods - or via the larger O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to the northwest, a journey of roughly forty minutes depending on traffic patterns. The approach winds through the authentic fabric of Chicago's South Side, past tree-lined streets and modest brick homes that speak to the city's working character, before arriving at the park's entrance along Kedzie Avenue. For those familiar with Chicago's geography, Columbus Park represents one of the city's crown jewels of public golf, a Donald Ross design that emerges from the urban landscape with surprising grace and seclusion, its mature oaks and manicured fairways offering a serene counterpoint to the metropolitan pulse just beyond its borders.

FAQ

Common questions about Columbus Park

Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.

Columbus Park has a Course Vaults score of 6.3 out of 10 based on 11 logged golfers.

Columbus Park was designed by Tom Bendelow.

Yes. Columbus Park is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.

Par at Columbus Park is 35.

Columbus Park plays 2,787 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.

The slope rating at Columbus Park is 112.

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