Olympia Fields Country Club

Olympia Fields Country Club
Clubhouse in 2015
Olympia Fields Country Club is located in the United States
Olympia Fields Country Club
Location in the United States
Olympia Fields Country Club is located in Illinois
Olympia Fields Country Club
Location in Illinois
Club information
LocationOlympia Fields, Illinois
Established1915, 111 years ago
TypePrivate
Total holes36
TournamentsU.S Open (1928, 2003)
PGA Championship
(1925, 1961)
U.S. Senior Open (1997)
U.S. Amateur (2015)
Women's PGA (2017)
Western Open (5)
BMW Championship (2020, 2023)
Websiteofcc.info
North Course
Designed byWillie Park Jnr.
Par70
Length7,343 yards (6,714 m)[1]
Course rating76.6
Slope rating150 [2]
South Course
Designed byTom Bendelow
Par72
Length7,106 yards (6,498 m)[3]
Course rating75.0
Slope rating146 [3]
Olympia Fields Country Club
Nearest cityOlympia Fields, Illinois
Built1915
ArchitectBendelow, Thomas M.; Nimmons, George Croll, et al.
Architectural styleTudor Revival
NRHP reference No.01000082[4]
Added to NRHPFebruary 9, 2001

Olympia Fields Country Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, about 25 miles (40 km) south of The Loop. It contains two eighteen-hole courses, North and South. The North Course is considered one of the top three courses in the Chicago area, and is generally ranked in the top 50 courses in the United States.[5] The South Course is regularly ranked in the top ten in Illinois. Olympia Fields is one of the few private clubs in the U.S. with multiple courses ranked, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The club was founded 111 years ago in 1915. The first Club President was Amos Alonzo Stagg, the famous college football head coach and athletic director at nearby University of Chicago.[6] The main dining room of the club is named in his honor.[7][8] The North Course was designed by two-time British Open champion Willie Park, Jnr, and was lengthened prior to hosting the U.S. Open in 2003. It features some significant elevation changes, a meandering creek and hundreds of native oak trees. At one time it was one of four courses at the club, but after the club fell into financial difficulties during World War II, it was forced to sell off half of its land. Course No. 4 became the North Course, and the remaining holes from the other three courses were reconfigured to make the South Course. The Club excluded both Jews and Catholics for a period of time. Although in 1958 or so, two Catholic families were admitted.[6][9]

Olympia Fields has hosted four major championships: two U.S. Opens (1928, 2003) and two PGA Championships (1925, 1961). It has also been the site of the U.S. Senior Open (1997) the U.S. Amateur (2015), and the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. In addition, the Western Open on the PGA Tour was played at the club five times.[10]

Olympia Fields is famous for its enormous clubhouse, which was finished in 1925 at a cost of $1.3 million. It is a half-timbered English Tudor-style building with an 80-foot-high (24 m), four-faced clock tower that has become the trademark of the club. The western boundary of the property is bordered by a commuter rail line, Metra Electric District, and its Olympia Fields station is just west of the clubhouse; the line was previously the Illinois Central Railroad.[9]

In March 1992, the club admitted its first Black members becoming one of the first traditional, old-line Chicago-area clubs to do so. The members approved were prominent businessmen Eric Johnson (formerly of Johnson Products Co.) and William Brazley (owner of an architectural firm), both recommended unanimously by the membership committee. This milestone was especially significant as many affluent Black families had already lived in the immediate area including adjacent to the course itself and also due to the fact that the club had previously rejected participation in national tournaments due to imposed minority membership guidelines.[11]

In 2005, the club began a $9.5 million renovation project to improve the practice facilities, revamp some of the bunkers, and make other improvements. The club also has areas for swimming and tennis for members and their guests.[12][8]

Tournaments hosted

Major championships

Includes amateur and professional major championships

YearTournamentChampionWinning
score		Winner's
share ($)
1925PGA ChampionshipUnited States Walter Hagen6 & 5500
1928U.S. OpenUnited States Johnny Farrell [nb 1]294 (+10)500
1961PGA ChampionshipUnited States Jerry Barber [nb 2]277 (–3)11,000
1997U.S. Senior OpenAustralia Graham Marsh280 (E)232,500
2003U.S. OpenUnited States Jim Furyk272 (–8)1,080,000
2015U.S. AmateurUnited States Bryson DeChambeau7 & 6n/a
2017Women's PGA ChampionshipUnited States Danielle Kang271 (–13)525,000
  1. ↑ 36 hole playoff with Bobby Jones
  2. ↑ 18 hole playoff with Don January

Other tournaments

The Western Open was historically an important event in golf, a near-major.[10]

YearTournamentWinnerWinning
score		Winner's
share ($)		Notes
1920Western OpenScotland United States Jock Hutchison296[13]
1927Western OpenUnited States Walter Hagen281[14][15]
1933Western OpenScotlandUnited States Macdonald Smith282500[16][17]
1968Western OpenUnited States Jack Nicklaus273 (–11)26,000[18][19]
1971Western OpenAustralia Bruce Crampton279 (–5)30,000[20][21][22]
2020BMW ChampionshipSpain Jon Rahm276 (–4)1,710,000[23]
2023BMW ChampionshipNorway Viktor Hovland263 (–17)3,600,000[24]

Scorecards

Olympia Fields North Course
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
2023 BMW Championship 6264674614004171874522514723,733 4443963891684506062154555103,6337,366
Black M:76.6 / 150 6264674614004171874522804723,7624443963891684505762154554983,5917,353
Blue M:74.9 / 146 5504404393784011794252064603,478 4293803891684385591964134453,4176,895
White M:73.0 / 141
W:78.7 / 146		 5254264093623591644001894383,272 4103583771504205441753734193,2266,498
Green M:70.4 / 135
W:75.6 / 139		 5183953453273361373901573722,977 3723213671303725231453503912,9715,948
Par Men's 54444343435 4443453443570
SI Men's 5719131711153 81410182416126
Yellow 4863403273112381213101443722,649 3412982821223224531302923582,5985,247
Par Ladies' 54444343536 4443453443571
SI Ladies' 3971113151175 81410186216124

Source:[1][2]

Olympia Fields South Course
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Black 75.0 / 146 4594821825432433755664094403,6995003452124151504303654605303,4077,106
Blue 73.8 / 144 4334201715242103615664094403,534 5003312003951504303654405303,3416,875
White 72.0 / 139 3964031525171833375403904003,318 4783311703801353823424115033,1326,450
Green 70.0 / 134 3753801394881583105173793713,117 4482881503481353423074024702,8906,007
Par 44353454436 54343444/5536/3772/73
SI Men's 7317915131115 41216818101426
Gold 3532851254581583104203653342,808 4102601213181003422753604302,6165,424
SI Ladies' 9717315111513 41214101861682

Source:[25][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Scorecard: North Course". Olympia Fields Country Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Olympia Fields Country Club, North". USGA. Course Rating and Slope Database™. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Olympia Fields Country Club, South". USGA. Course Rating and Slope Database™. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Olympia Fields Country Club (North)". Golf Digest. January 4, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  6. 1 2 McAllister, Mike (August 23, 2020). "Nine things to know: Olympia Fields". PGA Tour.com. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  7. ↑ CDGA (August 21, 2020). "Playground Paradise". Medium. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "The Guide And Index For The Amos Alonzo Stagg Collection" (PDF). 2001. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Chase, Al (June 23, 1946). "Olympia Fields acres expected to be homesites". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. B, part 3.
  10. 1 2 Husar, John (July 14, 1971). "Western Open just another golf tournament". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  11. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/03/26/olympia-fields-admits-first-black-members/
  12. ↑ "Our Club | Olympia Fields Country Club | Private Golf | IL : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming". Internet Archive. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  13. ↑ Davis, Joe (August 6, 1920). "Hutchinson wins Western title by one stroke". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 10.
  14. ↑ Rohm, Harland (September 11, 1927). "Hagen scores 281 to capture Western Open". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  15. ↑ "Hagen again wins Western Open championship". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. Associated Press. September 11, 1927. p. 25.
  16. ↑ Bartlett, Charles (August 28, 1933). "Mac Smith wins Western Open by 6 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  17. ↑ "Western Crown for Mac Smith". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. August 28, 1933. p. 7.
  18. ↑ Husar, John (August 5, 1968). "Nicklaus 273 takes Western Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  19. ↑ "Golden Bear ends drought". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 5, 1968. p. 3B.
  20. ↑ Husar, John (July 19, 1971). "'Can't Lose' Crampton wins Western". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  21. ↑ "Bruce Crampton captures Western Open golf crown". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. July 19, 1971. p. 11.
  22. ↑ "Golf: Western Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. July 19, 1971. p. 5B.
  23. ↑ "Rahm wins BMW Championship in thrilling playoff". PGATour.com. Associated Press. August 30, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  24. ↑ McDonald, Patrick (August 20, 2023). "2023 BMW Championship leaderboard: Viktor Hovland breaks course record, surges past Scottie Scheffler for win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Scorecard: South Course". Olympia Fields Country Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.

41°31′16″N 87°41′13″W / 41.521°N 87.687°W / 41.521; -87.687

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