Olympia Fields Country Club

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.

Olympia Fields Country Club
Clubhouse in 2015
Club information
Location in the United States
Location in Illinois
LocationOlympia Fields, Illinois
Established1915, 106 years ago
TypePrivate
Total holes36
Tournaments hostedU.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)
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

History

The club was founded 106 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. 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.[6][7]

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.[8]

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.[7]

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.

Tournaments hosted

Major championships

Includes amateur and professional major championships

YearTournamentChampionWinning
score		Winner's
share ($)
1925PGA Championship Walter Hagen6 & 5500
1928U.S. Open Johnny Farrell [nb 1]294 (+10)500
1961PGA Championship Jerry Barber [nb 2]277 (–3)11,000
1997U.S. Senior Open Graham Marsh280 (E)232,500
2003U.S. Open Jim Furyk272 (–8)1,080,000
2015U.S. Amateur Bryson DeChambeau7 & 6n/a
2017Women's PGA Championship 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.[8]

YearTournamentWinnerWinning
score		Winner's
share ($)		Notes
1920Western Open Jock Hutchison296[9]
1927Western Open Walter Hagen281[10][11]
1933Western Open Macdonald Smith282500[12][13]
1968Western Open Jack Nicklaus273 (–11)26,000[14][15]
1971Western Open Bruce Crampton279 (–5)30,000[16][17][18]
2020BMW Championship Jon Rahm276 (-4)1,710,000[19]

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
Tournament 6264714614004171874302474453684 44440238916844457621545549635897273
Championship 5604464393923871784302264453503 42939738916843856719641346834656968
Regular 5424304093653471644001974333287 41737537715042055017536948533186605
Forward 5183953913273261563901753723050 40235636713041052314535045531386188
Par Men's 54444343435 4443453443570
Handicap Men's 5719131711153 81410182416126
Regular 4863403273112381363771404122767 34729828212232245313029239526415408
Par Ladies' 54444343536 4443453443571
Handicap 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 4594821825432433755664094403699 50034521241515043036546053034077106
Blue 73.8 / 144 4334201715242103615664094403534 50033120039515043036544053033416875
White 72.0 / 139 3964031525171833375403904003318 47833117038013538234241150331326450
Green 70.0 / 134 3753801394881583105173793713117 44828815034813534230740247028906007
Par 44353454436 54343444/5536/3772/73
Handicap Men's 7317915131115 41216818101426
Green/Gold 3533801254581583104203653342903 44826015034810034227536047027535656
Gold 3532851254581583104203653342808 41026012131810034227536043026165424
Handicap Ladies' 9717315111513 412141018616682

Source:[20][3]

References
  1. "Scorecard: North Course". Olympia Fields Country Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  2. "Olympia Fields Country Club, North". USGA. Course Rating and Slope Database™. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  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. McAllister, Mike (August 23, 2020). "Nine things to know: Olympia Fields". PGA Tour.com. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  7. Chase, Al (June 23, 1946). "Olympia Fields acres expected to be homesites". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. B, part 3.
  8. Husar, John (July 14, 1971). "Western Open just another golf tournament". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  9. Davis, Joe (August 6, 1920). "Hutchinson wins Western title by one stroke". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 10.
  10. Rohm, Harland (September 11, 1927). "Hagen scores 281 to capture Western Open". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  11. "Hagen again wins Western Open championship". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. September 11, 1927. p. 25.
  12. Bartlett, Charles (August 28, 1933). "Mac Smith wins Western Open by 6 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  13. "Western Crown for Mac Smith". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 28, 1933. p. 7.
  14. Husar, John (August 5, 1968). "Nicklaus 273 takes Western Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  15. "Golden Bear ends drought". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 5, 1968. p. 3B.
  16. Husar, John (July 19, 1971). "'Can't Lose' Crampton wins Western". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  17. "Bruce Crampton captures Western Open golf crown". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. July 19, 1971. p. 11.
  18. "Golf: Western Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 19, 1971. p. 5B.
  19. "Rahm wins BMW Championship in thrilling playoff". PGATour.com. Associated Press. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  20. "Scorecard: South Course". Olympia Fields Country Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.

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