The Bourne Golf Club
A Club in the Country

Press Release  ·  October 27, 2026

The Bourne Golf Club Listed for Sale, Carrying Out Founder Dick Wehrli’s Plan

Course will stay open while it is marketed and plans to open for the 2027 season

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MARSEILLES, Ill. (October 27, 2026): The Richard F. Wehrli Estate and Trust announced today that The Bourne Golf Club in Marseilles has been listed for sale. The sale carries out a plan Dick Wehrli made in the last several years of his life. The course will stay open while it is on the market and plans to open for the 2027 season in the spring, as usual.

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“This was Dick’s plan,” said Scott Wehrli, executor and trustee. “He decided to sell The Bourne, and he never meant for our family to keep it long term. As trustee, I’m carrying out his wishes.”

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A Builder’s Own Course

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Dick Wehrli knew golf courses. His company, Naperville Excavating, built Orchard Valley and Bolingbrook Golf Course. The Bourne was his own.

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The land already had a story before Dick got there. For years it was a test farm for International Harvester. IH ran its farm equipment through its paces here and used the land to shoot photos and films. It also trained its salesmen here. That classroom building is now the clubhouse.

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Dick and his partners bought the land in 1985, the same year IH sold off its farm equipment business. He didn’t buy it to develop it. He bought it to get away from development and spend some time hunting and fishing.

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Then he saw a golf course. He had some old equipment shipped down and spent five years running it with friends, mostly on weekends. Ken Killian, the architect behind Kemper Lakes, helped lay out the original nine. Dick did the rest. One day he was clearing brush with a Bobcat and found a natural waterfall. He decided right there to put a tee on one side and a green on the other. That became the 11th hole.

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The course was supposed to be private. The early players knew it was special and finally talked Dick into opening it to the public. The first nine opened in 1990, and the second nine followed. Dick also built 11 cabins for his friends. For a time, there was also a grass airstrip so one of his brothers could fly in.

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Renegade Golf in the Country

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Bourne is Scottish for creek. The one here carved a ravine through the property that was once part of the Fox River. There isn’t a sand trap anywhere. No two fairways run side by side. Some tees sit 100 feet or more above the fairway. The 14th and 15th look like Scotland.

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Golf writers noticed. In 1993, Chicagoland Golf put The Bourne on its cover as “Renegade golf in the country.” In 2004, the editor came back and wrote that he’d never seen anything like it in Illinois. By then, only one player had ever broken par. In 2010, Haute Living named The Bourne one of the five hottest courses in the Chicago area, alongside Butler National and Chicago Golf Club.

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“Dick liked that,” Scott Wehrli said. “But he liked it even more when you lost a few balls and a scratch golfer walked off humbled.”

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Some holes have an extra tee behind the men’s tees. Dick set those aside for attorneys, accountants, bankers and real estate brokers. He said they could use the extra yardage.

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“Dick was proud of what he built here,” Scott Wehrli said. “He hoped the right owner would take The Bourne to the next level. So do we. Thank you to everyone who has played here and worked here over the years. We look forward to The Bourne’s next chapter.”

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Sale Inquiries

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Inquiries about the sale should be directed to:

Keith Cubba

Senior Vice President | National Director, Golf Group | Colliers

keith.cubba@colliers.com

Mobile: +1 702 375 0809

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About The Bourne Golf Club

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The Bourne Golf Club is an 18-hole public course at 2359 N. 35th Road in Marseilles, Illinois. Designed and built by Dick Wehrli, the course opened in 1990 and plays to a par of 72 at 6,355 yards. For tee times, call (815) 496-2301.

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Media Contact: John Zediker, 630-548-6573