Golfers still hitting homes instead of fairway in Gurnee

Players still have a lot to learn about hole No. 2 at Gurnee's Bittersweet Golf Club.

Five years after No. 2's layout was tweaked in an effort to prevent errant shots from pounding nearby homes, the hits just keep on coming.

Resident Steve Geotsalitis said he figured some golf balls to land on his property after he moved into his Dada Drive house in June.

But Geotsalitis said he's counted 92 shots hitting his house and causing damage in a little more than two months. He presented photographs of the damage to Gurnee village board members this week in an effort to find a solution.

"I expected the house was going to get hit," Geotsalitis said, "but this is over the top."

Known as "The Snake," the par-5, 531-yard second hole's fairway pond was partially filled in after resident complaints surfaced five years ago. The idea was golfers wouldn't be prone to drastically aim away from the hazard and shoot toward the houses.

Bittersweet co-owner Alan Richards said he'll meet with village officials and the affected residents in another attempt to improve the hole No. 2 situation. He said he was unaware the golfers' poor aim became an issue again until some residents visited the Gurnee village board this week.

"We tried to eliminate as much of the water as the Army Corps of Engineers would allow," Richards said.

Read more about the homeowners' problems near the Bittersweet Golf Club in Thursday's Daily Herald.