IN MEMORIAM
Bert Atwater Getz’s life journey led him down many paths, one of which was to own and develop Merit Club in Libertyville, the club that would host the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2016 LPGA UL International Crown.
A native of Chicago, Mr. Getz joined his father working for the family company, Globe Corporation, after graduating from the University of Michigan. There, he would spend 65 years, including as president from 1974–1999, finding success and enjoyment in banking, ranching, real estate and golf among many other fields of interest.
Mr. Getz founded Merit Club in part to preserve the natural beauty of his 450-acre Stonehenge Farm in Libertyville. The course was designed by noted Chicago area golf course architect Bob Lohmann with an eye toward preserving the property’s scenic terrain, including wetlands, native prairie grasses and mature trees. Mr. Getz, founding President Ed Oldfield (PGA) and golf course superintendent Oscar Miles also had input into the course design. The 320-acre private golf-only club opened o icially in 1992, with 18 holes that measured 6,960 yards. A perpetual conservation easement was placed on the property to maintain its natural beauty.
“I would say Mr. Getz was the most humble and caring man I’ve come across in my professional life,” said club general manager and director of golf Don Pieper, PGA, who has worked at the club for 33 years. “You could see it in the way he treated people. He treated everyone the same. When he had a conversation with you, you always had his undivided attention.”
With Mr. Getz’s unwavering support, Mr. Oldfield helped bring the Women’s Open to Merit Club. Oldfield was an influential instructor of several LPGA Tour stars, including 34-time winner and 1989 U.S. Women’s Open champion Betsy King. Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, friends of the Getzes, attended. Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, of Australia, won her first of two career Women’s Opens that week.
In 2016, Merit Club hosted the second iteration of the LPGA UL International Crown. The United States won the eight-team event.
In recent years, Mr. Getz approved Pieper’s idea for the Merit Club Youth Development Program in which some 20 up-and-coming young male and female players use the club and its outstanding practice facilities to advance their golf careers. Current PGA Tour player Nick Hardy was one of the players who took part.
Mr. Getz died Aug. 31, 2025. He was 88. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Maclean Getz, his two sons, George Fulmer Getz and Bert Atwater Getz Jr., and seven grandchildren. —Barry Cronin
John Baxter was more than a co-founder and the managing partner of Chicago Highlands Club in west suburban West-chester. He was the mayor.
“He lived here. He spent every waking hour at this place,” said Patrick Crow, director of golf, who has worked at the club since it opened in 2010. “It was his passion. He left a great legacy for us.”
A tall former high school football player from Worcester, Massachusetts, Mr. Baxter had an effusive manner and an unmistakable Boston accent. He and his two partners – Tom Healy and Joe Hills - acquired 270 acres from the Archdiocese of Chicago on a treeless former landfill adjacent to Interstate 294 near Oak Brook and hired noted golf course architect Arthur Hills – Joe’s father - to design a modern inland links. The result was a 7,527-yard layout that was recognized by Golf Digest as one of the Top New Courses in 2010. The most memorable hole is the uphill 344-yard par-4 9th, a “volcano” hole from whose green one can scan Chicago’s downtown skyline (See Pg. 36 for a picture of the hole in “Center Cut”).
“It is a super-challenging course and very fun to play,” said Baxter’s longtime friend Mike Munro, a CDGA Director.
Ten years after its founding, Chicago Highlands would host the 2020 Evans Scholars Invitational, a Korn Ferry Tour event conducted by the Western Golf Association.
In order to appeal to families, Mr. Baxter added tennis courts, a swimming pool, an outdoor ice rink, a bowling alley, paddle ball and pickle ball courts, and indoor golf simulators. The club now has 300 members with a waiting list for golf membership.
Mr. Baxter believed in golf when few others did. In 2008, when Baxter was planning the club, golf was in a downturn. The Great Recession paralyzed economic activity. Baxter and his partners proceeded anyway.
“He was trying to grow the game of golf during one of the worst financial crises the country had ever seen,” Munro observed. “People in the golf industry were very skeptical. He took a chance nobody else would take.”
Mr. Baxter died suddenly on July 25 at age 66. He leaves behind his wife, Dawn.
In a letter to members, Healy and Hills wrote, “From the golf course to the clubhouse, John’s impact will be felt in every corner of the club for many years to come.”
Memorials should be directed to the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation. —Barry Cronin
