1962 Jackson Park Crime Wave

By Dick Rovig, JPMGC Historian

This event occurred on what in 1962, was the fourth hole at Jackson Park, now No. 13. At that time there was no fence along NE 145th, making it easy to access and leave the teeing area.  As I recall, the tee was a rubber mat resting on either a concrete slab or wooden platform as were all other Jackson Park teeing areas.  The tee was much closer the street than it is now.

 

Three dedicated golfers were interrupted at the fourth tee Jackson Park Municipal Golf Course yesterday by two men who fired four shots and robbed them of $55.

The golfers continued their game while police searched for the robbers.

The victims were Ole Brandal, Tage Ahlquist and Robert Kipp. The tree were resting on a bench at the fourth tee at about 2o’clock when the two robbers popped out of the bushes. One, about 25, was armed with a .22-caliber rifle and the other, about 19, with a .22 pistol.

Ahlquist said the older robber fired a shot into the dirt with a rifle. He said, “this is a holdup,” Ahlquist related.

“I said you’re kidding.” He said, “I’m not kidding”.

The man with rifle fired a bullet into the bench and two more shots into the ground near the golfers’ feet to show he wasn’t kidding.

The younger of the two men took $50 from Kipp and $5 from Ahlquist.

Brandal had $7 in a money clip in a hip pocket which wasn’t taken when he whowed the robbers an empty wallet.

The robbers fled on toward NE 145th St.

Ahlquist and Brandal continued playing while Kipp went to the clubhouse to phone police. He later rejoined the game.

“It didn’t shake my game at all,” Ahlquist said of the robbery. He shot a 93 and Kipp a 46 on the back nine, the only nine he completed. The scores were  ”about average” for the two.

But Brandahl shot an 82, which he described as “the best round of golf I ever had on that course.”

“The holdup sharpened my senses,” he said.

A month after the robbery, two 19-year-youths admitted to the crime. Robbery charges were filed in Justice Court. Bail was set at $5,000.

Historian Note: I could find no more information about the further outcome of the case. I’d like to say I had seen the bullet hole in the bench after the incident, but truthfully, I can’t remember. D.R.