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.

Olympia Fields Country Club

Clubhouse in 2015
Club information
Location in the United States Show map of the United States Location in Illinois Show map of Illinois
Location	Olympia Fields, Illinois
Established	1915, 105 years ago
Type	Private
Total holes	36
Tournaments 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)
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
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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

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 105 years ago in 1915. The first Club President was Amos Alonzo Stagg, the famous football coach and athletic director at nearby University of Chicago. 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]

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) and the U.S. Amateur (2015); the Women's PGA Championship is scheduled for mid-2017. In addition, the Western Open on the PGA Tour was played at the club five times.[7]

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.[6]

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

Year	Tournament	Champion	Winning score	Winner's share ($)
1925	PGA Championship	Walter Hagen	6 & 5	500
1928	U.S. Open	Johnny Farrell [nb 1]	294 (+10)	500
1961	PGA Championship	Jerry Barber [nb 2]	277 (–3)	11,000
1997	U.S. Senior Open	Graham Marsh	280 (E)	232,500
2003	U.S. Open	Jim Furyk	272 (–8)	1,080,000
2015	U.S. Amateur	Bryson Dechambeau	7 & 6	n/a
2017	Women's PGA Championship	Danielle Kang	271 (–13)	525,000

• Bolded years are major championships on the PGA Tour.
• The PGA Championship was match play until 1958

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.[7]

Year	Tournament	Winner	Winning score	Winner's share ($)	Notes
1920	Western Open	Jock Hutchison	296		[8]
1927	Western Open	Walter Hagen	281		[9][10]
1933	Western Open	Macdonald Smith	282	500	[11][12]
1968	Western Open	Jack Nicklaus	273 (–11)	26,000	[13]
1971	Western Open	Bruce Crampton	279 (–5)	30,000	[14]

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		626	471	461	400	417	187	430	247	445	3684	444	402	389	168	444	576	215	455	496	3589	7273
Championship		560	446	439	392	387	178	430	226	445	3503	429	397	389	168	438	567	196	413	468	3465	6968
Regular		542	430	409	365	347	164	400	197	433	3287	417	375	377	150	420	550	175	369	485	3318	6605
Forward		518	395	391	327	326	156	390	175	372	3050	402	356	367	130	410	523	145	350	455	3138	6188
Par	Men's	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	35	4	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	35	70
Handicap	Men's	5	7	1	9	13	17	11	15	3		8	14	10	18	2	4	16	12	6
Regular		486	340	327	311	238	136	377	140	412	2767	347	298	282	122	322	453	130	292	395	2641	5408
Par	Ladies'	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	36	4	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	35	71
Handicap	Ladies'	3	9	7	11	13	15	1	17	5		8	14	10	18	6	2	16	12	4

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	459	482	182	543	243	375	566	409	440	3699	500	345	212	415	150	430	365	460	530	3407	7106
Blue	73.8 / 144	433	420	171	524	210	361	566	409	440	3534	500	331	200	395	150	430	365	440	530	3341	6875
White	72.0 / 139	396	403	152	517	183	337	540	390	400	3318	478	331	170	380	135	382	342	411	503	3132	6450
Green	70.0 / 134	375	380	139	488	158	310	517	379	371	3117	448	288	150	348	135	342	307	402	470	2890	6007
Par		4	4	3	5	3	4	5	4	4	36	5	4	3	4	3	4	4	4/5	5	36/37	72/73
Handicap	Men's	7	3	17	9	15	13	1	11	5		4	12	16	8	18	10	14	2	6
Green/Gold		353	380	125	458	158	310	420	365	334	2903	448	260	150	348	100	342	275	360	470	2753	5656
Gold		353	285	125	458	158	310	420	365	334	2808	410	260	121	318	100	342	275	360	430	2616	5424
Handicap	Ladies'	9	7	17	3	15	11	1	5	13		4	12	14	10	18	6	166	8	2

Source:[15][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. Chase, Al (June 23, 1946). "Olympia Fields acres expected to be homesites". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. B, part 3.
7. Husar, John (July 14, 1971). "Western Open just another golf tournament". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
8. Davis, Joe (August 6, 1920). "Hutchinson wins Western title by one stroke". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 10.
9. Rohm, Harland (September 11, 1927). "Hagen scores 281 to capture Western Open". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
10. "Hagen again wins Western Open championship". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. September 11, 1927. p. 25.
11. Bartlett, Charles (August 28, 1933). "Mac Smith wins Western Open by 6 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
12. "Western Crown for Mac Smith". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 28, 1933. p. 7.
13. Husar, John (August 5, 1968). "Nicklaus 273 takes Western Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
14. Husar, John (July 19, 1971). "'Can't Lose' Crampton wins Western". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
15. "Scorecard: South Course". Olympia Fields Country Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.

External links

• Official website