8 minute read
Park People: Tracy Raoul
Tracy Raoul
WRITTEN BY Sharon Barrett
Tracy Raoul lays out her golf shirts –one blue, one purple, one red, one gray, puts the red one back. There’s no way Philip will wear red. Her husband never wears red. She chooses the blue, and calls to her sons, home from college, “Blue today?” The selection of the color they’ll wear to the golf course is always the first thing the Raoul family does on golf day. It might not matter to anyone else on the Jackson Park Golf Course, but for this foursome, it’s a ritual. Team colors, Raoul colors. This is a family with a deep love for the game. Golf is their ‘thing.’
Ahmad yells, “Ok,” and Abdel seconds it. As soon as Philip weighs in, Tracy will call their daughter, Akila, who lives nearby, to get her vote. They’ll figure out how to divide up to play with five once they get to the practice putting green.
The shirts go on, the clubs come out, and the family piles into the car for the seven-minute drive to Jackson Park. It’s usually Jackson Park or South Shore Golf Course on these Sundays. The Raoul children grew up playing golf there, learning the rules of the game, perfecting their swings. They’re good golfers now, better than most. At 22, Abdel’s handicap is 2. Ahmad, 19, is at 1.8. (they shoot in the 70s, close to par). The two are already making their mark on the game, on their college golf teams, and the junior circuit. They’ve played the notable courses, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst. Earlier this year, Ahmad played the Wells Fargo Pro-Am at Quail Hollow.
“We’ve been all over the country with them,” Tracy says. But the course they’re heading to today will always be home to them. It’s where they fell in love with the game, and golf has been good to them. They’re both riding on scholarships in golf and academics, Abdel at Prairie View A&M, where he’s studying Mechanical Engineering, Ahmad at Winston Salem, where he’s working toward a degree in Computer Science. Together, they’ve won enough awards, including the prestigious Ted Rhodes Scholarship and First Tee College Scholarship, to decorate their rooms back home. “My husband and I instilled values in our children. We set the foundation,” Tracy says. “But golf gave them drive, perseverance. Through golf, they began to socialize more, to express themselves, and build self-confidence. They learned how to network. Golf is a character builder. It gives you skills you carry through life. They lead fulfilling lives around golf.”
Jackson Park is buzzing this Sunday, as Chicago parks always are on weekends. There’s a baseball game underway, children on the playground, walkers on their way to the Japanese Garden. A few out-of-towners circle the Statue of the Republic, the 24’ gilded bronze ‘Golden Lady,’ often mistaken for the 65’ original that towered over the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. The Museum of Science and Industry, the only remaining building from the Exposition, is to the north. The Tom Bendelow-designed Jackson Park Golf Course, where the Raouls are playing today, is to the south.
As golf courses go, Jackson Park, the only 18-hole course in the Chicago Park District portfolio, is a pretty one. Those into reviewing courses online say the greens are well-groomed, the view of Lake Michigan is lovely, and though it has some holes that can be challenging, the course needs updating.
The family hits the putting green, scorecards come out. Today the stakes will either be the fewest putts or the most fairways. The winner will choose dinner. The two brothers may have a side bet. They can’t help but compete, but Akila won’t join them. She’s here for family time. She played golf in high school, the only girl on the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools’ Golf Boys team. She still plays for fun when she can get to the course. She’s been busy. This spring, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology from Loyola University.
Abdel tees off. Ahmad follows. While Tracy waits her turn at the tee, her mind wanders. She looks out on the golf course and sees the vision she’s been holding on to for six years.
It was in 2017 when she became as much a golf advocate as golf mom. NBC Sports golf analyst Mark Rolfing, a former Chicagoan, was working on a plan to revitalize the Jackson Park Golf Course.
“When I looked at the park, I saw a golf course that should have been packed with golfers. School was out. Where were all the children?” Rolfing remembers the day the idea came to him. Why not give the course new life, merge the Jackson Park and South Shore courses into one 7,341-yard, 18-hole championship-caliber course?
He started the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance (CPGA), met with the mayor and Chicago Park District superintendent, and partnered with the Western Golf Association. Tiger Wood’s TGR Design firm signed on to design the new course.
“When I got involved, the project was taking root,” Tracy explains. She’s now on the board of CPGA. “It was a perfect time to revitalize the communities of Woodlawn and South Shore through golf.
“We had to look at what a championship course could do for the community and the children. There would be a caddie program to introduce them to the sport, and jobs for people in the community. It’s not just the game of golf. It’s the golf industry with an $84 billion price tag.”
The Chicago Park District did its due diligence, holding town meetings under the South Lakefront Framework Plan to ask the community what it wanted the park to be. There were several suggestions, pickle-ball courts, a new soccer field, a picnic grove, a dog park... The revitalized golf course was on the agenda. It was clear the two courses, both over 100 years old, needed modernization. They laid out the TGR plan.
Some in the community had concerns. There were more meetings. The proposed golf course went through a redesign, became a topic for newspaper editorials, and gave everyone for and against it a few new gray hairs. The project stalled.
Tracy Raoul did not. She kept moving forward with other projects. As President and Chair of the Jackson Park Golf Association (JPGA), she started a scholarship program for high school seniors who either golfed or caddied. To date, eight scholarships have been awarded. And through her tenure as president, board member, or member of several other associations, leagues, and clubs, she kept the interest in golf alive.
“This is really personal for me,” she says, “I want to see more African Americans excel in this game.”
The Raoul Sunday game goes on until the sun begins to hint at setting, and the winner claims the dinner spot. There’s much to talk about over jerk chicken, rice, and macaroni, Abdel’s favorite meal. He had an internship with Callaway Golf this summer. He wants to work in the industry. Ahmad will be playing more amateur golf tournaments. His dream is to earn a spot on the PGA tour. Akila was handed her Ph.D. in a ceremony on May 9th. Tracy and Philip had a caddie clinic with Illinois PGA professional Juan Espejo to finish up this spring. Tracy has a documentary on the history of African-American golf to complete. And on July 10th, she celebrated the JPGA/Illinois Junior Golf Association tournament. “What makes this tournament so extraordinary is that this is the first time it will be held in Jackson Park and South Shore,” Tracy explains. Jackson Park will host other tournaments as it does every year.
The Raoul family will, no doubt, find a way to get together for at least one family golf day this season, and Tracy will look out on the course with the same patient dream.
“My vision is this,” Tracy says, “the Obama Presidential Center will bring in visitors from all over the world. Those visitors could bring their clubs and play the new course. It would be such positive exposure for the community. People should see the greatness of the city.
“I go back to the children. I’ve seen what golf can do for them. Once they connect with a golf ball, they get that feeling that they can do this. It becomes an addiction. They want to hit more balls. Out of ten, they may only hit four shots that soar, but those four shots change them. I’ve seen the look on their faces when it hits them, “I can do this.”
CHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION
We like to say it’s the people who make the parks. Our goal at the Chicago Parks Foundation is to bring community ideas to action. Chicago is full of “Park People” who are doing important work to advance park programming, inclusivity, and community connection. We are lucky to get to work with them.
