BY: RORY SPEARS ASSISTANT EDITOR & SR. WRITER. On the steps of the Mt. Prospect clubhouse.

The heavy lifting is done at the Mt. Prospect Golf Course, and the course has been put to bed for the upcoming winter. You could say just in time as well.

The course is done even though there will be a small punch list of knick-knacks to do in the spring. The biggest thing on the list will be to grown grass, and the part of the job falls into the lap of Mother Nature. Mom brought us an early winter and hopefully on the back on end, she can drive up and chip in with a nice spring.

The final holes to be completed were the 1st, the 8th and the 9th. They are shaped and seeded, unfortunately they were only seeded a day or three before the freezing cold temperatures hit.

THE NEW 1ST HOLE, BUT STILL A PAR 5.

Those holes will take some time to grow in come spring and summer. The late seeding on the final three holes will keep the course from opening in May.

“May is out of the question,” says architect Dave Esler in regards to an opening date for the course in 2015.

But Esler is hoping for late June, if the spring is not as bad as it was this year. A full tour of the golf course in late October showed that the holes that were done first, and were seeded in the middle of summer looked almost ready to play on.

A staff worker cuts the green on the Par 4, 2nd hole.

The golf staff will decide when the course opens next summer. The plan is to open the course when it’s ready to open, not because the calendar says it should.

When the course does open what will the golfers find. Esler has taken an old golf course, and created a classic look that is similar to a few of the great courses designed by the who’s-who of the great historical architects, whose courses have withstood the test of time.

Those classic courses are places like Shoreacres, Chicago Golf and the National Golf Links. Those courses are ones that many golfers will never get to play. Golfers who visit Mt. Prospect, will get a feel for what those course can be like. A Baritz style green (the par 3, 16th), greens with a Punchbowl design, the classic-look squared off tee boxes, raised greens, more elevation change, and bunkers with classic style features, including grass mounds in some of them.

Director of Golf Brett Barcel looks at the Par 3, 16th hole with the rollercoaster styled green.

There will be two new holes for golfers to play on the back nine of the golf course. The par 3, 10th hole, and the par 3, 12th hole. The 10th is a short par 3, playing around 135-140 yards. The 12th hole will be closer to 200 yards. With the 16th hole playing a par 3, there will be three par 3’s on the backside.

There will be three par 5’s on the golf course, but the new par for the course will be 70 instead of 71. The length of the golf course will be just a little longer than the old course. But golfers will find a little more room to work their shots around the golf course with the removal of a few hundred trees.

The new par 4, 18th hole has water off the tee on the right side.

Golfers will enjoy the fact that the old short driving range is gone, and a new 350 yard range is in place. The new putting green is much large than small green the club previously had.

Barcel is excited about the range being double-sided. On the back side of the range, is another hitting area and short game area. It’s a perfect place for lessons and practice. The high school teams that use Mt. Prospect, while have plenty of room for practice.

Architect Dave Esler talks about the plan to restore the Mt. Prospect Golf Course, and what the expectations are when all is said and done. As for now, the golf course is ready settle down for a long winter’s sleep, hopefully is will be ready to grow again in early 2015.

A look at the Glenview Park District renovation is next here at the Gog Blog, stay clicked in.