Cantigny Golf

Cantigny Golf occupies part of the 500-acre former estate of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the Chicago Tribune editor and publisher whose Wheaton grounds also hold formal gardens, a military museum, and parkland. Architect Roger Packard laid out the original 27 holes, which opened for public play in 1989 and were quickly named Golf Digest's Best New Public Course in America. The three nines, Woodside, Lakeside, and Hillside, wind through mature woodlands, wetlands, and water, offering flexible eighteen-hole combinations plus a shorter youth course. Operated as part of the McCormick Foundation's civic mission, Cantigny pairs championship-caliber conditioning with an unusually rich sense of place. A multi-year renovation has since updated the layout, but the estate setting and Packard's strategic routing remain the enduring draw for Chicago-area golfers.