Bill Murray’s Childhood Golf Course Is Coming Back to Life

Quirky par-60 Canal Shores just outside Chicago is getting a much-needed renovation, without losing its character.

Canal Shores Golf Course in Evanston, Ill., is most known for its unique setting in the middle of a bustling suburb of Chicago, for the trains that chug along right by a few holes and for the fact that the course is where comedian Bill Murray and his brother grew up playing and working long before the Caddyshack days.

Come next summer, and the completion of a $5.9 million renovation four years in the making, the 104-year-old course will be known for more.

Construction during 2023 at Canal Shores :: Madison Williams/SI

So, why now for a renovation after over a century of the course seemingly being fine for golfers?

Well, for starters, Canal Shores desperately needed an irrigation system. Before these renovations, the course didn’t have one. This caused easy flooding with basically no drainage system, which is never ideal for a golf course. If this issue went ignored, it was likely Canal Shores would be near closing instead of amping up for a new look.

But the heart of the renovation lies with youth golf. Canal Shores is branded as a course for “juniors, seniors and poor golfers,” jokes vice president of construction Chris Charnas, himself a novice golfer. Pressure to be a sharp player is something members at Canal Shores don’t harp on at the par-60, 3,600-yard course.

Now, Canal Shores will have a First Tee–Greater Chicago training center for young golfers, officially sponsored by the widespread youth development program. The course will also have a caddie training program with the help of the Western Golf Association, which offers the Evans Scholarship that has provided full college tuition for youth caddies across the country since 1930. The first Evans Scholar was Chick Evans who went to Northwestern University, just right down the street from Canal Shores.

The course will still have the quirky qualities that golfers love, but now with a few upgrades. All of the greens will be bigger, which is more amateur-friendly. Another example is the installation of a new, 30,000-square-foot practice putting green where the original first hole was located.

“We wanted to create a facility in front of the clubhouse where a caddie training center could have a ground central, and then the First Tee and the golf practice could do all their lessons,” course architect Todd Quitno says.

Getting rid of the original first hole to make the giant putting green required Canal Shores to create a new hole. The updated course will actually have 19 holes as the 19th hole will be in use whenever the first hole, located by the putting green, is shut down for youth golf events.

The main draw for the updated course, though, will be the 6th hole, a 75-yard putting hole. This sounds unique by itself, but on top of this, the golfers will get the best view on the course while attempting to make the monster putt. The gorgeous Bahá'í Temple will be in perfect view for the golfers, and at some points of the hole, people may even see part of Lake Michigan.

The Bahá'í Temple is well in view for players at Canal Shores :: Madison Williams/SI

This design was one that Quitno was very excited about.

“Just a quirky, different approach to golf,” Quitno says while describing the 6th. “I think it might end up being one of the hardest holes to par on the course. A 60-yard putt, trying to get that done in three strokes is going to be a challenge.”

With all of these goals in mind, Evanston Wilmette Golf Association, the nonprofit that owns Canal Shores, needed to find a way to cover the nearly $6 million for the renovations. It’s no secret that the golf course has struggled financially in recent years, almost shutting down completely if not for the help of local donors.

For this renovation, the WGA and First Tee groups gifted large sums of money, while local philanthropists donated over a million dollars combined, too.

Finding the funds to get all this done could have been a tough task for a nonprofit course, but not for Canal Shores. This year during renovations, on weekdays, construction trucks could be seen all across the golf course. But on the weekends, golfers could see community members giving a helping hand.

Approximately 150 Evanston locals are listed as volunteers at Canal Shores, and their duties have included being “lumberjacks” to help take down trees. It isn’t all work—these community members know how to have fun, too. They bring their own gear and sometimes even barbecue when they’re done working.

“This is another part of us being in this community,” Charnas says. “We’re not an isolated golf course. Part of what we are and are going to continue to be is this community place. Things like that come along with it. We’re a little bit quirky.”

A tunnel under CTA tracks connects holes at Canal Shores :: Madison Williams/SI

Quirky is a word used to describe Canal Shores by pretty much everyone who has ever played there. Whether it’s because of all the dog walkers you see on the course, or the tunnel you walk or drive through underneath the CTA train to get to the 12th hole, Canal Shores is not like many other golf courses in the country. 

Oh, and the course has no plans to get rid of the snack shack that Bill Murray worked at as a teenager.

The Evanston community feels at home at Canal Shores. Earlier this summer, a red telephone booth was planted off the tee box on the 11th hole. While it could seem like an eyesore for a professional golfer, its meaning perfectly sums up why the location is perfect for Canal Shores. The telephone booth area is a place for mourning and peace, as it was installed for families who lost loved ones to have a tranquil place to grieve. A local woman brought the Japanese tradition to Evanston after losing her own son.

Quirks like these make Canal Shores special. While some community members were worried about the course losing its “charm” with the renovations, Canal Shores is set on making sure that magic doesn’t disappear.

A tranquil spot off the 11th tee.  :: Madison Williams/SI

“We’ve had some people say ‘Well, you’re taking away the charm by making all these greens bigger. Part of the charm of the place is all these little greens.’ And somebody is like ‘You’re going to take away the character of the place.’ I’m like ‘The character of the place is the people. They’re the characters in this drama,’” Charnas says. “The place is just grass and ground, and the people are what make it cool and quirky.”

So next summer, golfers will have a chance to experience both the new and old Canal Shores for themselves.