Kankakee Country Club

Kankakee Country Club traces its origins to 1916, when Tom Bendelow laid out the club's original nine-hole course. Bendelow was among golf's early architects, credited with more than 150 designs, including courses at Medinah, Olympia Fields, Glen Oak, Skokie and North Shore.

In 1963 John Darrah redesigned the layout, expanding it to 18 holes and making use of the property's frontage along the Kankakee River. That work produced the current 17th, a par 5 that runs beside the river and ranks among the course's most scenic and demanding holes. It asks for two well-placed shots to avoid the water on the left and the lagoon and tree-lined fairway on the right.