Rust-Oleum employees fashion a different kind of golf course

The corporate office at Rust-Oleum in Vernon Hills was transformed Friday into a golf course of sorts as employees competed in the company's first Cubicle Classic Mini-Golf tournament.

The unique event raised about $2,300 for local charities and served as a warm up to the company's sponsorship of the Rust-Oleum Championship Tournament, a Web.com tour event to be held June 6-12 at the Ivanhoe Club.

Departments within Rust-Oleum, a maker of consumer and industrial paints and coatings, spent about three weeks building 16 mini-golf holes set up throughout the corporate office. The competition was open to all employees who paid $10 to participate.

The company matched employee contributions to benefit Lake County Haven, Great Lakes Adaptive Sports, Association Partners for Progress, Sports Shed, The First Tee of Greater Chicago, Evans Scholars Foundation and Orchard Village.

The Rust-Oleum Championship field will feature 156 competitors and offer prize money of $600,000. Golf Channel will televise all four competitive rounds in the U.S. June 9-12. The Rust-Oleum Championship had been hosted at Lakewood Country Club in the Cleveland suburbs the last two years.

The Ivanhoe Club, at 28846 Thorngate Drive, opened in 1991 with 18 holes west of Route 60 and north of Route 176 near Mundelein. Nine more holes were in a project overseen by renowned architect Arthur Hills. Ivanhoe is one of a few clubs in the U.S. to earn the Certified Signature Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status.