Olympia Fields Country Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Clubhouse in 2015 | |
  Location in the United States  Location in Illinois | |
 Interactive map of Olympia Fields Country Club | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Olympia Fields, Illinois |
| Established | 1915, 111 years ago |
| Type | Private |
| Total holes | 36 |
| Events hosted | U.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) |
| Website | ofcc.info |
| North Course | |
| Designed by | Willie Park Jnr. |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,343 yards (6,714 m)[1] |
| Course rating | 76.6 |
| Slope rating | 150 [2] |
| South Course | |
| Designed by | Tom Bendelow |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,106 yards (6,498 m)[3] |
| Course rating | 75.0 |
| Slope rating | 146 [3] |
Olympia Fields Country Club | |
| Nearest city | Olympia Fields, Illinois |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | Bendelow, Thomas M.; Nimmons, George Croll, et al. |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000082[4] |
| Added to NRHP | February 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.
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]
