Few White Pines Golfers From Bensenville

BENSENVILLE, IL – The White Pines Golf Club in Bensenville offers two 18-hole golf courses. But local residents are a tiny fraction of its users.

Last budget year, just 3.4 percent of the golf club's income came from residents in the Bensenville Park District, according to the agency's numbers.

The district owns the club, which is a few blocks north of Elmhurst's city limit.

The income from Bensenville residents amounted to a little more than $50,000. That compares to nearly $1.6 million from non-residents.

The park district has been considering selling 125 acres of the 260-acre club. Officials say a sale could bring up to $150 million.

That money could pay for a backlog of repairs and upgrades for other parks, including the pool, according to the district.

Before the pandemic, the golf club lost money for six years, reflecting a general trend in the industry. But it saw surpluses once the coronavirus hit.

"With the pandemic, golf was the only activity that people were allowed to play. So the numbers went up," the park district's executive director, Joe Vallez, said in an interview. "Is that sustainable?"

When the golf club is losing money, the district is subsidizing it through its main fund. The biggest beneficiary, he said, is out-of-town residents, Vallez said.

Vallez noted Bensenville is now about 50 percent Hispanic and other people of color. Local children are more interested in soccer than golf, he said.

He said the park district should ask residents whether their families would benefit more from a golf course or other facilities such as a pool, fields or a community center.

Some nearby residents are opposed to selling part of the golf course, saying the change would worsen traffic, noise and flooding.

No decisions have been made.