Upset Clarendon Hills Residents Blame Golf Club For Flooding

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills residents blame the Hinsdale Golf Club for recent flooding. And they want the village to do something about it.

Residents along Middaugh Road and nearby streets were particularly hard hit by water that residents said came from the golf course. The neighborhood is to the club's east.

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Patch left two messages for comment with the club Thursday.

Residents upset over flooding showed up at this week's Village Board meeting. They said the removal of trees and changes to the course's topography worsened drainage.

By contrast, village officials refrained from pointing the finger at the golf club. But they said they have been in contact with the club's engineers.

The village also plans to conduct a drainage study, as it did in 2013 and 2018. Residents said that wasn't good enough.

The heated comments from residents resemble those over the years in Darien, La Grange and Western Springs.

During public comments at Monday's meeting, Walnut Street resident Bevin Gniadecki said the flooding in her neighborhood resulted from "negligent" redesign, construction and maintenance at Hinsdale Golf Club.

"And the message we are receiving from the village is sit back and wait," she told the board. "The village seems to be prioritizing a private, invitation-only golf club in which most of us will never step in, but maybe you do. Maybe some of you are members of the golf club or go to the golf club. Perhaps that is why. But it is to the detriment of the rest of us residents."

Middaugh Road resident Sheila Rao said brown sediment and toxic pesticides from the golf course overwhelmed her property, rendering their produce inedible.

She suggested the golf club add deeper retention ponds and replace dozens of removed trees.

"We have the right as residents and taxpayers not to have our properties used as overflow for the entire village," Rao said.

Another Middaugh Road resident, Anthony Turano, also criticized the club.

"Hinsdale Golf Club has purposely avoided utilizing stormwater and erosion control methods typically required during construction by misleading the village and sheer disingenuousness in its application for permits," he said.

Residents also criticized Rosemont-based Christopher Burke Engineering for its previous studies. They said the village should not use the firm again.

But village trustees stood behind the firm, which many nearby towns use.

"They have done good work for us in the past, despite reservations on this particular issue," Trustee John Weicher said, adding the village must be diligent in analyzing and responding to Burke's studies.

Brendan McLaughlin, the village's public works director, described the flooding as regional in nature. The water comes from the train tracks, goes through Prospect Park, moves across the golf course, and then out to Route 83 and into Hinsdale, he said.

"To say it's a golf course issue, that can or can't be debated," he said. "It's definitely water from throughout the region going through there."

The Village Board voted to spend $25,000 on hiring Burke to study stormwater north of Chicago Avenue, which includes the Middaugh Road area.

The firm is also being asked to review its own studies from 2013 and 2018 and determine which recommendations were followed and whether they were effective.

The Hinsdale Golf Club is a nonprofit organization that owns 133 acres. The club features an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, pool and a restaurant.

In 2024, the club made $9 million, which was $1 million over expenses, according to its tax forms. Its top executive made more than $250,000.

Clarendon Hills is not alone in dealing with flooding that is blamed on a golf course. La Grange has had its struggles as well.