Olympia Fields Country Club
History
The club was founded 109 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. 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.
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.
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.
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 | ![]() |
6 & 5 | 500 |
1928 | U.S. Open | ![]() |
294 (+10) | 500 |
1961 | PGA Championship | ![]() |
277 (–3) | 11,000 |
1997 | U.S. Senior Open | ![]() |
280 (E) | 232,500 |
2003 | U.S. Open | ![]() |
272 (–8) | 1,080,000 |
2015 | U.S. Amateur | ![]() |
7 & 6 | n/a |
2017 | Women's PGA Championship | ![]() |
271 (–13) | 525,000 |
- Bolded years are major championships on the PGA Tour.
- The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
- ^ 36 hole playoff with Bobby Jones
- ^ 18 hole playoff with Don January
Other tournaments
The Western Open was historically an important event in golf, a near-major.
Year | Tournament | Winner | Winning score |
Winner's share ($) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1920 | Western Open | ![]() ![]() |
296 | ||
1927 | Western Open | ![]() |
281 | ||
1933 | Western Open | ![]() ![]() |
282 | 500 | |
1968 | Western Open | ![]() |
273 (–11) | 26,000 | |
1971 | Western Open | ![]() |
279 (–5) | 30,000 | |
2020 | BMW Championship | ![]() |
276 (-4) | 1,710,000 | |
2023 | BMW Championship | ![]() |
263 (-17) | 3,600,000 |
Scorecards
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 |
SI | 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 |
SI | Ladies' | 3 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 4 |
Source:
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 | |
SI | 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 | |
SI | Ladies' | 9 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 166 | 8 | 2 |
Source: