Ledgestone TD Nate Heinold is happy to announce that Northwood Black will be added to the course schedule for the 2021 Ledgestone event. This announcement is the 5th in our series of announcements titled the Twelve Days of Ledgestone. Sometime by early summer 2021, Northwood Park will officially have two courses available for play, including the original Northwood Course and Northwood Black. Northwood Black is an extension of the work that was started in 2017 to prepare the property for the 2019 Pro Worlds event. Northwood Black will include holes 7 and 11 through 15 of the Gold course, nine new holes north of Gold holes 2 and 3, two additional holes south of Gold hole 13, and one additional hole (hole 18) that will be sandwiched between current Gold hole 16 and current Gold hole 10. The plan will be to have some short tees on the Black course in addition to the long tees.
“This project has been in the works for years, and we still aren’t done. Most of the remaining clearing is on the two holes south of current Gold hole 13,” said Heinold. The course, when complete, will measure nearly 11,000’ and will be much more wooded than the Gold course. Several new bridges are being constructed, and the Gold Mach X Baskets are ready to be installed. “This project certainly wouldn’t have happened without the support of Greg Nettles, who built and designed the original course. Additionally, Joel Dickerson with the Morton Park District has been instrumental in supporting this project from day one. And finally, the project wouldn’t have gone anywhere without the tireless work of Kip Taufer, who is in charge of the construction and design for the course. This project has truly been an all encompassing group effort,” said Heinold.
Additionally the park district recently tore down the pavilion and bathroom facility near hole 1 and those are being rebuilt as we speak. The new pavilion and bathroom facility will be an enormous upgrade compared to the previous facility. For tournament purposes, the Black Course will start near the pavilion at hole 1, while the original course will start on hole 8 of the original course. Players will be parking at the Cemetery lot for rounds played on the Original course. “It’s long been a goal of Greg Nettles and the Park District to get the original course back in the ground. Having this project completed next year will allow us to showcase one of the hardest championship courses in the world (the Black course) as well as its tamer little brother, the original course. We are really excited to be able to offer two phenomenal courses to the 2021 Ledgestone players at this park,” stated Heinold.
What can players expect from the Black course? “Even though the course will be in the woods most of the time, the fairways are actually pretty wide and fair. Good shots will be rewarded and luck won’t be a huge factor. Players won’t see many trees in the fairways,” said Taufer. As of now the design will include three par 3’s, eight par 4’s and one par 5. Even though the majority of the design and clearing have been completed, a few holes will provide flexibility to be run as par 4’s or a par 5, depending on how far the teeing area is stretched back. Find out which players will play Northwood Black when the course schedule is released tomorrow with our next announcement!
The 11th Annual Discraft Ledgestone Insurance Open will take place August 5th to the 8th in Central Illinois. Registration will take place exclusively at Disc Golf Scene and will open in early 2021. Registration for AM players and age protected professionals will take place at dgscene.com/ledgestoneam and registration for the DGPT event will take place at dgscene.com/ledgestone21.
