![]() He has been a caddie, caddie master, greenkeeper, salesman, professional, cook and bottle washer! He came back to Cog Hill, where he had also caddied, and mastered every job connected with a golf operation. He became a professional at seventeen, tried the tour and didn’t like it despite a game that kept him below par. He began his golf career as a caddie at the long gone Laramie golf course in Chicago for 50 cents a round. Born in Summit, IL on Christmas Eve in 1913, he grew up in Argo, IL, 20 miles southwest of Chicago. He pioneered high standards for public courses. The history of modern golf parallels the life of Joe Jemsek. Despite the twelve years the depression persisted, the golf course prospered and the people who had money continued to make their way to Cog Hill. David McIntosh and Bert Coghill worked together to design and build the original #2 course, which opened in the fall of 1929-just in time for the Black Thursday (October 24, 1929) crash of the stock market and the Great Depression. The course was busy from the very beginning, and soon they bought 160 acres on the east side of Parker Road from the Reed Family. In those days a round trip ticket between Lemont and Joliet cost only 25 cents. ![]() Another key to their success was the Chicago & Joliet Electric streetcar system that ran between Argo and Joliet, giving their customers easy access to the course. Reservations for golf were taken at the Boston Store, which, at that time, was one of the city’s leading department stores. It was billed as having the “last word in juvenile amusement devices.” A maid was in attendance to insure the care and comfort of the children while their parents enjoyed a game of golf – child care 1930’s style.Ĭog Hill also had a Chicago link in those days. Outside the clubhouse, the owners touted another unique feature – the children’s playground. In the European tradition, the clubhouse had 14 guest rooms for “weekend vacations or more extended periods.” A women’s locker room was located on the main floor just inside the clubhouse and the men’s was downstairs and contained a small bar. ![]() ![]() A small bar-ticket counter straddled the entrance foyer and connected the dining room and lounge area. The adjoining lounge or sitting room also had a large fireplace and was complete with a grand piano. The building housed a great dining room with a 24-foot ceiling, massive wood beams, and an impressive stone fireplace. To complement the course, the Coghills constructed a large, beautiful clubhouse. It opened on the 4th of July weekend in 1927. The back-breaking work produced the original Cog Hill #1. Men filled a scoop with two handles to move dirt and the horse would pull the scoop to an elevation they created and the men then molded and sculpted the dirt into a green. In 1926-27, a golf course was built by manual labor and horse-drawn equipment. Next, they hired David McIntosh, who owned Oak Hills, to build them a golf course.īuilding and maintaining a golf course today is a scientific operation. They found the McLaughlin farm East of town and bought it with money they borrowed from Orland State Bank. This land reminded the Coghills of land around their birthplace. The change in elevation between the floor of the valley and the hills of Cog Hill are a striking contrast to the plains of Illinois. ![]() The hills and valleys of Lemont were carved out by the Wisconsin glacier during the last ice age. The Village of Lemont is located on a bluff that overlooks the Des Plaines River Valley. Their search brought them 28 miles Southwest of Chicago to Lemont. They decided “we’re plungers” and began looking for a site to build a golf course. None of them had played golf, but they thought the game looked like fun, was easy, and they had a good time. In the early twenties, they went to a golf outing sponsored by the electrical union at Oak Hills Country Club in Palos Heights. Most of their work was residential, rewiring homes that formerly were only gas. They expanded and moved across the street to 5441. By the time they got to Chicago, they considered themselves electricians, joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Local 134) and began the Coliseum Electrical Company at 5422 South Halsted Street, in 1920. The story begins with three brothers, John W., Martin J., and Bert Coghill who lived on a farm in Monticello, Indiana, and were hired by Western Union to string wire from their hometown to Chicago in the early part of this century. ![]()
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