Not even 24 hours on the job as Lemont’s new mayor, Brian Reeves spent a good part of his first full day playing golf.

Don’t be mistaken — the village’s newly elected official was not taking a vacation day or playing hooky May 12 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont. Reeves, who was sworn into office the previous evening, was christening arguably Illinois’ most famous golf course, No. 4 Dubsdread, following its year-long, $5 million renovation.

“It’s not a bad first day,” Reeves said before teeing off.

But you don’t have to be a mayor or a PGA Tour golfer to play the home of the BMW Championship. Everyone is once again welcome to test their game on Dubsdread after the course reopened to the public Friday, May 15.

Making a championship-caliber golf experience available to the average golfer has long been the Jemsek family’s mission. So far, feedback from the Dubsdread regulars has been positive.

“They really love it,” said Frank Jemsek, the CEO of Cog Hill who will be inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in October.

The course, home to the PGA’s Western Open from 1991-2006, was redesigned for the first time since 1964 by renowned golf course architect Rees Jones.

“I think that working on this classic golf course and really bringing it into the 21st century has been one of the highlights of my career, especially since it’s really for golf,” Jones said. “It’s for the Chicagoland golfers, it’s for the PGA Tour, it’s hopefully to have a U.S. Open someday. But the Jemsek family did this really for the golfers of the land, and that isn’t always the case anymore.”

Dubsdread maintains its basic layout, but players familiar with the course are sure to notice a difference. Major changes create a tougher challenge for professionals, as well as local players.

All 18 greens and tee boxes have been reconstructed, fairways have been reshaped, a pond was added on No. 7, and nearly 100 bunkers were repositioned and sculpted.

Defending BMW champion Camilo Villegas, who won the tournament at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis last September, answered questions during a media gathering May 12. He likes the idea of playing tournaments on a public course.

“Knowing that anybody out there can go and play the golf course where we’re competing on a great championship, it’s awesome,” said Villegas who will return to Lemont Sept. 7-13 for the third leg of the FedExCup series. “It gives them a chance to experience what we experience to test themselves and to have fun with it.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing Cog Hill, and I’m really looking forward to the changes that Rees made to the golf course.”

The main goal of this reconstruction is to eventually bring a U.S. Open Championship to Dubsdread. Olympia Fields Country Club was the home of the 103rd U.S. Open in 2003.

“We are a U.S. Open venue in my mind,” Jones said. “We are capable in every aspect — airports, parking, golf course, fans. We have all the necessities to be a U.S. Open candidate.

“Frank (Jemsek) has sent them a letter. We’ve gotten the support of the community and sent that to the USGA. So I think they know that the Jemsek family is serious.”

The BMW Championship already attracts national, even worldwide attention to Lemont, population 13,100. Droves of visitors will fill the restaurants, shops and hotels in Lemont and surrounding communities the week of Sept. 7 as they follow the best golfers in the world to Cog Hill.

Mayor Reeves can only imagine the crowd a U.S. Open would draw to the Des Plaines Valley.

“It would be fantastic for the Village of Lemont,” Reeves said. “To be on the center stage would be phenomenal.”

Here's a breakdown of the major changes:

Tee it up
Each hole has multiple, square tee pads, strategically placed at varied yardages and angles of play to improve alignment and overall playability.
“We moved a lot of the tees up, especially the most forward tees, and we really did stress that to make it more playable, more fun,” Jones said. “I think the PGA of America is going to have a week this year where they’re going to have everybody play off the forward tees, mow all the rough down and put the pins in the center of the green and just let people shoot their record scores.”

Walking on air
One of the biggest investments of the reconstruction project is virtually invisible. A state-of-the-art aeration and moisture removal system called SubAir was installed underneath the surface of all 18 greens. This system promotes healthier and stronger playing surfaces through moisture management, subsurface aeration and root-zone temperature control.
Small tongues also were added to some already large greens.
“We have to remember these greens are ample in size and I think have a lot of shot options,” said Jones, “so it’ll be a lot of fun for the average golfer.”

Hitting the beach
All 98 sand bunkers on the course have been completely reshaped and most were deepened. Several of the original bunkers were moved back to stay in line with the modern game by challenging the long-hitting PGA players. Greenside bunkers were tucked closer to the greens.
“We took the bunkers farther out so it really helps the average golfer if he doesn’t have to contend with all the bunkers that were there from years past,” Jones said.