Fairways was designed by one of the luminaries of golf course architecture, Perry Maxwell.

Maxwell was a partner with Alister MacKenzie until MacKenzie’s passing in 1934. They collaborated on Melrose CC, Crystal Downs, The University of Michigan Course among others. Maxwell individually, is known for Southern Hills, Prairie Dunes, and the Old Town Club with redesign assignments at Pine Valley, Augusta National, and Colonial.

He was in the minimalists club of architecture where using the land as it is was as paramount as keeping costs down. He carefully sculptured the greens in generous size with undulation and swales as his trademark. He was also the first to introduce “greens” which were previously browns, or oiled greens utilized in the Great Plains region where most of his work resides.

Fairways Golf Course is one of Maxwell’s more simplistic designs given the topography and environment he had to work with. It’s a little over an hour from the Loop and an hour west of Oakbrook just off I-88 in Rochelle.

The layout is a classic parkland design over generally level terrain and easily walkable. The fairways follow narrow, mature hardwood lined corridors leading to raised greens with 24 sand bunkers mostly green side. There’s a creek running through three holes on the north side and a pond in play on a couple of holes. It’s a drill of the short game with 8 par 3s and a total yardage of 4,649 yards, par of 66, 64.4/104, course/slope ratings.