In the recent editorial that favored upgrading the Jackson Park golf course rather than replacing it, I was pleased to see its historical status cited. 1899 was the first decade during which golf was played in more than a handful of places in the United States. Few courses from that era survive, and those that have often little resemble what they were at the start. This historical aspect should be promoted, not erased.
The Wikipedia article about Jackson Park cites Col. B.J.D. Irwin, a local golfer and retired surgeon, for advocating free play at Jackson Park to make golf available to people of modest means at a time when almost all golf was played at private clubs. This important historical precedent should be honored.
