Joliet Park District reopens Inwood Golf Course

The Joliet Park District reopened Inwood Golf Course on Wednesday morning following the governor's announcement that golf courses would be exempted from the stay-at-home order.

The golf course reopened at 9:30 a.m. with certain limits: no carts, no clubhouse and social distancing required.

But golfers came out.

"There's a lot of people," park district Executive Director Brad Staab said Wednesday afternoon. "Everybody's been cooped up, and they want to get out."

Inwood Golf Course is the only Joliet Park District operation open to the public after a decision to close down all facilities and activities until the end of March. The decision was made a week ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order, which was issued Friday.

Pritzker on Tuesday night exempted golf courses from the order put in place to prevent spread of the coronavirus. .

Staab said park officials will watch weather forecasts before deciding whether to open either or both of the park district's other two golf courses: Wedgewood and Woodruff.

"If the weather warms up, we'll look at the other two," he said.

Wednesday was a partly sunny day with the temperature rising into the 50s. But Staab noted that rain was in the forecast for the next few days.