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Since buying the Calumet Country Club in 2020, developer Walt Brown Jr. has whiffed on several tries to transform the south suburban golf course into a commercial complex. But now, amid interest from a potential purchaser, Brown is trying a new approach.<\/p>\n
With Chicago\u2019s golf<\/a> season winding down, he announced that his course is closed \u2014 not just for 2025, but for good. <\/p>\n Brown, CEO of Diversified Partners, said he has ordered the removal of golf-related features from the 127-acre course, which is more than a century old. <\/p>\n He specified that all landscaping, golf holes and any structures, including the clubhouse, will be removed. Brown said through a publicist, \u201cWeather will be the defining issue, but it\u2019s gone going forward. No more golf operations will take place.\u201d<\/p>\n He said clearing the property \u201cserves as an important safety measure to avoid vagrancy and prevent additional security risks, in order to safeguard the surrounding community.\u201d<\/p>\n The course is in Hazel Crest at 2136 175th St. Last month, Kyle Schott, vice president of real estate development at Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies, appeared before the village board to say it has a contract to purchase the property, perhaps to build warehouses. <\/p>\n Brown declined to comment on any deal, and Schott didn\u2019t answer phone and email inquiries.<\/p>\n The 18-hole course runs west of Dixie Highway, between I-80 and 175th Street. With a layout by the esteemed Donald Ross, Calumet has a place in the game\u2019s history. It hosted the 1924 Western Open and other tournaments that drew premier players long ago.<\/p>\n But other courses and fluctuations in golf\u2019s popularity overshadowed Calumet, traditionally a private club. After Brown got it for $3.3 million, he opened the course to the public to make money while development plans were pending. He proposed an industrial park in 2020, which he said was more workable than alternatives urged on him, such as medical offices and homes. But rising interest rates, pandemic disruptions and competition from other industrial sites worked against him.<\/p>\n He also found himself in a protracted battle with citizens who, while perhaps indifferent to golf, wanted the open space preserved. <\/p>\n Neighbors formed South Suburbs for Greenspace to mobilize people opposed to truck traffic, noise and pollution that a warehouse hub could produce. Some people displayed \u201cTruck, No!\u201d signs on their front yards.<\/p>\n Signs saying \u201cTruck, No!\u201d were posted in 2021 on the front yards of homes located across the Calumet Country Club. Residents had opposed a zoning for trucks in the area.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times file<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Brown pulled off a legal mulligan. He got the country club severed from Homewood, its original community, after the village board nixed his plans. He had it annexed to Hazel Crest, where he thought the reception for any rezoning might be better. He also tried a revised plan that encircled warehouses with unspecified \u201ctown center\u201d activities<\/a>, but it went nowhere.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Brown has let more than $860,000 in delinquent property taxes accumulate for the site since 2023, Cook County records show.<\/p>\n Liz Varmecky, co-founder of the Greenspace group, said Hazel Crest officials have asked tough questions anytime the golf course redevelopment has come up. \u201cThe village of Hazel Crest is at a much different place than it was five years ago with this project,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As for the closure of the golf course, Varmecky said, \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a bluff.\u201d<\/p>\n Dante Sawyer, village manager in Hazel Crest, said the town will solicit outside proposals for a marketing study of the property. He said the study could be completed by early next year.<\/p>\n Asked about Brown citing security concerns, Sawyer said, \u201cWe are unable to comment on the private owner\u2019s experience with the property, but the Village is not aware of any unique or specific public safety challenges related to the golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n The Calumet Country Club dates from 1901 and moved to its present site in 1917, according to golf-related histories. While it was a draw for generations of pros and club members, recent users have complained on social media that the grounds exhibit decay.<\/p>\n Walter Lis, writing at Chicago Golf Report, said, \u201cYears of neglect have taken their toll. Once-pristine bunkers have been reclaimed by grass.\u201d But he added that \u201cthe bones are still there. The contouring, the routing, the shot values \u2014 all whispering of an era when craftsmanship and creativity defined course design.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n