With thousands of golf balls trapped under snow, city closes year-round driving range

Warmer weather will free the balls from their icy confinement at the Diversey Driving Range along the lakefront in Lincoln Park.

SHARE With thousands of golf balls trapped under snow, city closes year-round driving range
Diversey Driving Range sign

Diversey Driving Range

Chicago Park District via Facebook

Rough.

The city’s premier golf driving range, normally open to golfers year-round, has closed temporarily as thousands of golf balls remain stranded under 13 inches of snow that’s rendered useless the machines normally tasked with retrieving them.

The Diversey Driving Range, situated along the lakefront in Lincoln Park, closed Friday after running out of balls, Park District spokeswoman Michele Lemons said.

Balls had even been transferred to Diversey from the city’s two other seasonal driving ranges before the city’s supply was exhausted.

“The combination of deep snow cover and cold temps currently makes it impossible to retrieve balls from the field,” Lemons said.

“I’m told the current situation has not occurred in, at least, the past six years,” she said.

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