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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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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. 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 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 United States Walter Hagen 6 & 5 500
1928 U.S. Open United States Johnny Farrell 294 (+10) 500
1961 PGA Championship United States Jerry Barber 277 (–3) 11,000
1997 U.S. Senior Open Australia Graham Marsh 280 (E) 232,500
2003 U.S. Open United States Jim Furyk 272 (–8) 1,080,000
2015 U.S. Amateur United States Bryson DeChambeau 7 & 6 n/a
2017 Women's PGA Championship United States Danielle Kang 271 (–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.

Year Tournament Winner Winning
score		 Winner's
share ($)		 Notes
1920 Western Open Scotland United States Jock Hutchison 296
1927 Western Open United States Walter Hagen 281
1933 Western Open ScotlandUnited States Macdonald Smith 282 500
1968 Western Open United States Jack Nicklaus 273 (–11) 26,000
1971 Western Open Australia Bruce Crampton 279 (–5) 30,000
2020 BMW Championship Spain Jon Rahm 276 (-4) 1,710,000
2023 BMW Championship Norway Viktor Hovland 263 (-17) 3,600,000

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
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:

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
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:

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. ^ McDonald, Patrick (20 August 2023). "2023 BMW Championship leaderboard: Viktor Hovland breaks course record, surges past Scottie Scheffler for win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  21. ^ "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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