Shepherd's Crook Golf Course

Overview: Shepherd's Crook Golf Course is a public 18-hole Keith Foster design in Zion, Illinois. The Chicago District Golf Association record lists par 71 and 6,741 yards from the silver tees. Foster shaped the course as a links-style return to classic golf, using bentgrass playing surfaces, open corridors, shaped bunkers and strategic lines that make the ground game part of the challenge. Several tee positions change the scale of the holes without removing their underlying character. The course is approachable in its public setting, yet the best scoring comes from understanding where the fairway widens, which side of a green is safe and when a direct line brings the largest hazard into play.

History: Shepherd's Crook opened in August 1999 as a Zion Park District-owned and operated course. Keith Foster designed it around the idea of returning to the roots of golf architecture, drawing on principles associated with the Golden Age of the 1920s and 1930s while adapting them to the open Illinois landscape. The official course booklet describes a layout that looks back to classic golf and credits Foster with routing the holes naturally across the terrain. Its identity has remained consistent: a municipal course with traditional design language, bentgrass throughout the main playing surfaces and enough strategic variety to reward repeat play.

Did You Know? Shepherd's Crook was deliberately designed to echo the strategic spirit of older Irish links, with the course booklet naming Ballybunion and Waterville as reference points. The result is not a replica, but a Midwestern interpretation of classic links ideas.