Thunderhawk Golf Club

ThunderHawk Golf Club is the flagship daily-fee course of the Lake County Forest Preserve District, a park system with roots tracing to landscape pioneer Frederick Law Olmsted. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the layout on 243 acres of former farmland in Beach Park, weaving the routing through remnant groves of oak and hickory and committing to preserve the natural terrain. Opened in 1999, the project was as much environmental restoration as golf construction: crews planted more than 1,000 trees, created some 15 acres of wetlands, and restored roughly 57 acres of native prairie. That stewardship earned ThunderHawk certification as an Audubon Signature Sanctuary, a distinction reflecting its conservation ethic. Playing to a par of 72 at around 7,031 yards through woodland, heathland, and parkland settings, the course has drawn recognition from Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, and Golfweek as one of the best public and municipal courses in Illinois.