The University of Michigan has its own golf course. A sprawling, lush design by one of golf’s all-time greatest architects, Alister MacKenzie, featuring lush fairways and clear-blue fountain-dotted lakes. Minnesota. has a thickly-forested Lee Bolstad design; OSU’s “Scarlet”. “Scarlet” course (also a MacKenzie design) was ranked third among college courses by Travel + Leisure Golf Magazine. These courses are meticulously kept, classically beautiful, and largely exclusive to university students and faculty.
Northwestern has Frank Govern Memorial Golf Course.
Frank Govern Memorial is not a classically beautiful golf links. It is a ratty, thin snake of urban grass slithering its way between the cross-streets of north Evanston and south Wilmette, along the city sanitation canal. There are virtually no yardage markers, the greens are rough and unpredictable, bunkers are more often than not an afterthought, and the El runs directly through much of the course (and, frequently, right through players’ backswings). On football days, the 17th and 18th fairways are even used for parking.
Yet this punchy urchin of an urban course packs more raw personality than a dozen fancy TPC layouts. You don’t play an isolated shelter from the city — you play the city itself, with rough often indistinguishable from backyards and zooming cars visible from nearly every green. Going hole to hole involves crossing five cross-streets between Linden and Lincoln.
Players golf two cities in one round: seven holes are in Wilmette, 11 in Evanston. Power lines toy with your approach on the 3rd, and taking the turn from the 9th to the 10th will involve a haunting stroll under the El through a tunnel of peeling paint. The 7th and 14th are both bold par-3s across the canal, watery grave to thousands of mishit shots. (At the 7th, a pleasant little perpetually-open food shack offers hot dogs and club-selection advice.)
And for sheer unique grandeur, there’s nothing like the 4th and 5th holes, almost certainly the only golf in the world played in the shadow of a gigantic Bahá’í temple. The number 9 is sacred to the Bahá’í—and with the imposing tower looming over you, it might also end up on your scorecard.
That’s the other thing about Frank Govern: it’s not to be taken too lightly. Short even for an executive course at 3900 yards (from the back tees) and par 60, Frank Govern offers plenty of ways to wreak havoc on your round. Three par-3s run over 200 yards. Water (the canal) is in play on nearly every hole. The fairways are narrow, and thick forest punishes balls that wander even slightly off-course, with stray branches threatening to deflect even a perfect shot. And even when you reach the greens, they are postage-stamp-sized and often rock-hard; good luck trying to stick an approach.
All this makes Frank Govern Memorial a perfect destination for any Wildcat, whether practiced, casual, or aspiring in the art of golf. Every student knows of the course’s existence — it’s impossible to have walked to a football game and not—but it remains unexplored by most. It’s an easy walk away from anywhere on campus, and the clubhouse is even directly across from the Central Purple Line station. Playing a round should be on the Northwestern “bucket list” of any student with even a passing interest in the game.
Where did this bizarrely-located course come from? The land is actually owned by the Water Reclamation Department—hence the proximity to the canal. Founded as Peter N. Jans Golf Course in 1918, it was recently renamed after the devoted Frank Govern, who managed the course for 30 years (his son Terry has succeeded him). Greens fees and donations cover all the course costs. The layout is largely the same today, save for a few changes: for instance, the former 17th hole is now Leahy Park on Lincoln. A recent attempt to better divide the two nines by changing two par-3s into a par-4 and vice versa didn’t go over well with the clientele; the result being a random green and ruined signpost that currently lie in the middle of the 16th fairway.
And the quirkiness doesn’t stop there. Tom Hotchkiss, the course starter, recalls one man who noticed the links while taking his wife to an operation at Evanston Hospital. He played the front nine during the surgery, visited his wife in the recovery room, and then ditched her to finish his round. Another man hanging out at the 7th-hole food shack offers to cure a golfer’s swing for a fee and brags of his own prowess before landing a ball smack in the middle of the canal.
No, Frank Govern is not a classically beautiful golf course. What it is, is an experience you simply won’t find with velvet clubhouses, caddies, and roped-off galleries. It’s a mongrel. But it’s our mongrel, and a lovable one at that. And as the days warm up and reading week approaches, if you find a free afternoon to forget books and tests and just wander over and whack through 18 holes—or even 9—you won’t have cause to regret it. It’s one more great thing to say you’ve done here at Northwestern.
The environment is perfect for newbies, too — no experience necessary. Kids, first-timers, and seniors are more than welcome. Rental clubs are available. The shed-like clubhouse on Central always has a friendly face, a tub of recycled balls, and a CRT TV showing something either golf-y or newsy. $5 gets you your pick from a tub of lost irons, and $25 will buy a used driver. The weekly twilight rate is only $13 for a full round.
Oh, and, they won’t care how bad you might suck. This is golf for everyone, here.