Security, traffic, parking: What to know about the KPMG at Kemper Lakes
Kildeer officials and police have spent nearly three years preparing for this week's KPMG Women's PGA Championship at the Kemper Lakes Golf Club.
They've developed strategies for site security, traffic management, weather emergencies and more — and they feel ready.
“If anything happens, we are prepared to respond,” Police Chief Steve Balinski said.
Kemper Lakes has hosted many professional golf tournaments, including the 1989 PGA Championship and several PGA Grand Slams. But the women's championship, to run Tuesday through July 1, will be the highest-profile event at Kemper Lakes since the club was fully annexed into Kildeer in 2005.
Village officials began informally planning for the tournament after the PGA announced in 2015 that Kemper Lakes would host. The strategizing really kicked into gear this year, however.
Balinski and Chief Village Officer Michael Talbett met with the club owner, the general manager and members to determine how best to handle public safety, transportation and other issues.
Kildeer's building department even got involved, creating permitting and inspection procedures to accommodate a fast construction schedule for the site, Talbett said.
The most intensive planning has concerned public safety. Balinski and his team had two objectives from the start: getting people safely to and from the tournament, and securing Kemper Lakes.
Developing a parking plan was a key task. Rather than allowing parking at Kemper Lakes or on nearby residential streets in Kildeer or neighboring Hawthorn Woods, officials decided all spectators must park at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake and ride free buses to the club.
Ensuring traffic on the roughly 9-mile route between the fairgrounds and Kemper Lakes runs smoothly is a tall order for Kildeer's eight full-time and six part-time officers. So, the Lake County sheriff's office, Hawthorn Woods police and Lake Zurich police will assist with traffic control, staffing 12 intersections along the way.
Between 20 and 25 Community Emergency Response Team volunteers will help, too. Balinski called their assistance “invaluable.”
As for security at Kemper Lakes, Kildeer police will oversee a task force that again includes the sheriff's office and officers from Hawthorn Woods and Lake Zurich.
Although bee stings, heat exhaustion and public intoxication are the most common emergency calls at golf tournaments, Balinski said officers “have to plan for the uncommon.”
Daily bomb sweeps of every structure will be conducted, he said, and police will look for potentially dangerous fans.
“We want to make sure everybody who attends the event feels safe and is protected,” Balinski said.
Because parts of Kemper Lakes are in the Long Grove, Lake Zurich and Countryside fire protection districts, those agencies teamed to develop response procedures for fire or medical emergencies and to ensure effective communication.
Fire and police crews also are prepared for weather-related evacuations, mass disturbances and other incidents requiring bigger responses.
“We are planning for the worst but we expect the best,” Balinski said.
A cost estimate for Kildeer's tournament-related police assignments was not available. The Kildeer Police Department and the other agencies will bill the PGA for the manpower spent on the event, Talbett said.
• Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this story.