Chicago Golf Club is a private

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...

club in the central United States, located in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, a suburb west of Chicago. The oldest 18-hole course in North America, it was one of the five founding clubs of the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

(USGA) in 1894. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. The club has hosted several prominent events, including multiple U.S. Opens and

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur sports, amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and United Kingdom, Great Britain and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup M ...

s, and was founded by renowned course designer and

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

member

Charles B. Macdonald Charles Blair Macdonald (November 14, 1855 – April 21, 1939) was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the f ...

. In July 2018, the club hosted the inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open, created as the 14th USGA national championship.

History

Known as the ''Father of Golf'' in Chicago, Macdonald went to

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

in Scotland at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, where he learned to play the game. He brought back a set of

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, and in early 1888, on the Lake Forest estate of a friend, C.B. Farwell, and his son-in-law,

Hobart Chatfield-Taylor Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor (March 24, 1865 - January 17, 1945) was an American writer, novelist, and biographer. He was considered a top authority on Molière. Early life He was born in Chicago to Henry Hobart Taylor and Adelaide Chatfie ...

, laid out seven informal golf holes on an interesting piece of lakefront property known as "Bluff's Edge". His group of friends were fascinated by the new game and demanded a course be built on a dedicated site. In late spring of 1892, Macdonald passed around a hat with his friends, who contributed $10 each for a total of two or three hundred dollars. Macdonald spent that money in laying out a nine-hole course, about west of Chicago's Union Station, on the stock farm of A. Haddow Smith at Belmont, located one block north of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

line. This was to become the first golf course built west of the

Alleghenies The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less develo ...

, and second to Shinnecock Hills in Long Island,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

, which opened 12 holes in 1891. With contacts in Scotland, Macdonald next cabled the

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

and ordered six sets of clubs. As soon as they arrived, his newfound associates were soon bitten by the golf bug. The first American woman to win an Olympic event,

Margaret Abbott Margaret Ives Abbott (June 15, 1878 – June 10, 1955) was an American amateur golfer. She was the first American woman to win an Olympic event: the women's golf tournament at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), I ...

, was a member at the Chicago Golf Club in the 1890s. In the spring of 1893, Macdonald wrote in his c. 1925 book ''Scotland's Gift – Golf'', that he increased the number of holes at Belmont to 18, creating the first 18-hole golf course in North America. On July 18, 1893, the charter was granted for the ''Chicago Golf Club''. The club became so popular that, in 1894, the members bought a piece of property to build an improved 18-hole course. They purchased a parcel of the Patrick farm in Wheaton, for a complete sum totaling $28,000, which became "a first class 18-hole course of 6,500 yards." The site was chosen because of its vast rolling hills covered with native grasses, which reminded Macdonald of Scotland. Macdonald designed the links-style layout himself; since he was a chronic slicer, he routed the holes so that both nines would play in a

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite s ...

fashion so that he would stay out of trouble. Once the private land adjacent to the course became developed, a new rule was needed for errant golf balls leaving the premises. The

Rule of Golf for "Out Of Bounds" (27-1) had its origin at Chicago Golf Club. Ossian Cole Simonds was commissioned to design the landscape architecture for the course at the Wheaton property in 1894. O.C. Simonds went on to do the landscape architecture for many famous Chicago properties including Lincoln Park, the Morton Arboretum and other golf courses including the Glen View Golf Club in 1897. The Chicago clubhouse was designed by renowned Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt. Around 1902, the

Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, S ...

constructed an electrified third-rail railroad between the far western terminus of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad at 52nd Avenue (now Laramie Avenue) in Chicago, and the Fox River towns of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

and Elgin. The branch line splitting to Aurora from downtown Wheaton traveled just past the main entrance to Chicago Golf Club, where was built a splendid brick station. A large majority of the club members commuted from downtown Chicago, and on weekends and special occasions a luxuriously appointed wood-paneled club car with a well-stocked bar and linen tablecloth dinner service was employed to ferry golfers out to the Chicago Golf Club. At the club's station was a siding, where the club car was parked until it was needed for the evening return trip. Macdonald also brought the Foulis brothers to Chicago from St Andrews, Scotland, to help grow the new game. The Foulis' father, James Foulis Sr., worked as a foreman in the clubmaking shop of the legendary

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died ...

—which was located across the street from the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust und ...

. Macdonald invited Robert Foulis to be the first club professional at Chicago Golf, but, as he was already under contract at a separate club, he passed the offer to his brother, James Foulis, who became the golf professional at Chicago Golf in 1895; he had worked for both Old Tom Morris and clubmaker Robert Forgan. In 1905, Jim was succeeded by his brother David Foulis, who stayed at the Wheaton course until 1916. In addition to their skills as golf professionals, clubmakers and players, they were responsible for many innovations to the game of golf. They were first to apply the bramble (reverse-dimple) pattern on the cover of Coburn Haskell's new rubber-cored wound golf ball, and in response to the demands of the new ball developed the " mashie-niblick", the modern 7-iron, which fell between the traditional mashie (5-iron) and

niblick Early golf clubs were all made of wood. They were hand-crafted, often by the players themselves, and had no standard shape or form. As the sport of golf developed, a standard set of clubs began to take shape, with different clubs being fashioned t ...

(9-iron). Jim and Dave also designed many golf courses, most of which still exist today. While at Chicago Golf, Dave brought the metal hole-liner to the U.S. from Scotland and improved the design to hold the flagstick upright, even in the wind. Another brother, John, was a ballmaker and bookkeeper at the club until his death in 1907. After the Chicago Golf Club vacated the Belmont location, Herbert J. Tweedie, a one-time member of the

, formed the Belmont Golf Club, of which the charter was granted in 1899. By that time, however, the course was back to nine holes. The original site has remained a golf course through the years, passing through several owners, and now is owned and operated as a public facility by the

Downers Grove Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I ...

Park District. Chicago Golf Club is ranked the fifth-most exclusive in the world. There are only 120 members and it will never exceed this amount, the only way to get in is by invitation from a member. Current members include

Cleveland Golf Cleveland Golf is owned by SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., specializing in golf equipment. Based in Huntington Beach, California, Cleveland Golf began as a company known for producing replicas of classic go ...

founder Roger Cleveland, former

ServiceMaster ServiceMaster Brands is an American privately held company owned by Roark Capital Group that provides residential and commercial services. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, after moving there in 2020 from Memphis, Tennessee. Br ...

chief executive Jonathan P. Ward, actor Chris O'Donnell, former

vice chairman Charles Stair and former

Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...

chairman H. Laurence Fuller. Two-time Masters champion

Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed ''Gentle Ben''. Professiona ...

is a non-resident member, and recently deceased members include radio great

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

and International Harvester scion Brooks McCormick. Club President Bob King (1990–1991) led the process which allowed African Americans and women to be admitted as members of the club. Despite being in close proximity to multiple all-male clubs, Chicago Golf Club began admitting female members in 2001 with the admission of Judith Whinfrey. Chicago Golf Club admitted its first African-American member, Charles Thurston, in 1993. ''(History collected from Chicagoland Golf magazine, April 1992, by Phil Kosin)''

Course

USGA Championships

1897 U.S. Open and Amateur

The 1897 Open was the first tournament hosted at Charles Blair MacDonald's club as well as the first championship west of the Appalachia. Macdonald ended up losing the championship on his home turf in the semifinals to W. Rosstier Betts. The actual open championship was played over 36 holes in one day between the semifinals and finals of the Amateur championship and was won by Scotsman Joe Lloyd with a score of 162. Local club professional James Foulis finished in third place two shots behind Lloyd. Eventual Amateur champion H.J. Wigham finished as the low amateur in a tie for eighth.

1900 U.S. Open

The 1900 Open was the sole USGA Championship won by Englishman

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

, who is regarded by many to be one of the greatest players of all time. Vardon competed in the championship after finishing a 90 match tour of the United States and Canada. He won the Open by two strokes over Englishman J.H. Taylor

1911 U.S. Open

The 1911 Open was the first of back to back championships won by John McDermott. This came following a defeat in a playoff in the 1910 U.S. Open in his hometown of Philadelphia. McDermott was the first American to win the Championship, and to this day is the youngest ever to win the U.S. Open at 19 years of age. McDermott won in a playoff over Mike Brady and Chicago Golf Club member George Simpson. He would go on to successfully defend his title the following year.

1928 Walker Cup

The 1928 Walker Cup was the first championship played across the newly designed

Seth Raynor Seth Jagger Raynor (May 7, 1874 – January 23, 1926) was an American golf course architect and engineer. He designed approximately 85 golf courses in about 13 years, his first in 1914, at age 40. His mentor was Charles Blair Macdonald, the crea ...

course at Chicago Golf Club. The American team crushed their GB&I foes 11 to 1. The team is widely regarded as one of the greatest Walker Cup teams of all time, having a combined 6 U.S. Open and 12 U.S. Amateur Championships among the eight of them. The team featured superstars such as Bobby Jones,

Francis Ouimet Francis DeSales Ouimet () (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton electe ...

, and

Chick Evans Charles E. "Chick" Evans Jr. (July 18, 1890 – November 6, 1979) was an American amateur golfer of the 1910s and 1920s. Evans, who won the 1910 Western Open, became the first amateur to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in one year, a f ...

2005 Walker Cup

2018 U.S. Senior Women's Open

The 2018 Senior Women's Open was the inaugural edition of the championship. It was won by 1987 U.S. Women's Open champion

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

, who went on to complete a "women's senior slam" by, three months later, winning the

Senior LPGA Championship The Senior LPGA Championship is a women's professional golf tournament on the Legends Tour. It began in 2017 and the first event was played at The Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana. The minimum age is 45. Despite the 2015 announcement by ...

Tournament results

Notable events at Chicago Golf Club:

U.S. Open

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

Joe Lloyd Joseph Lloyd (1864–19??) was an English professional golfer who won the third U.S. Open at the Chicago Golf Club in 1897. Early life Lloyd grew up playing at Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake. He was an expert at making and repairing clu ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * ...

John McDermott

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August o ...

*1897

H. J. Whigham Henry James Whigham (24 December 1869 – 17 March 1954) was a Scottish writer and amateur golfer. He won the U.S. Amateur golf tournament in 1896 and 1897. Following his first win in the U.S. Amateur, he wrote a golf instruction book. In 1896 he ...

*1905 Chandler Egan *1909 Robert A. Gardner *1912

Jerome Travers Jerome Dunstan "Jerry" Travers (May 19, 1887 – March 29, 1951) was one of the leading amateur golfers of the early 20th century. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1907, 1908, 1912 and 1913, the New Jersey Amateur three times, and the Metropolitan Amateu ...

U.S. Women's Amateur The U.S. Women's Amateur is the leading golf tournament in the United States for female amateur golfers. It is played annually and is one of the 13 United States national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association (USGA). F ...

*1903 Bessie Anthony

U.S. Senior Amateur The United States Senior Men's Amateur Golf Championship is a national tournament for amateur golf competitors at least 55 years of age. It is operated by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The tournament starts with 36 holes of stroke pla ...

*1979 William C. Campbell

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur sports, amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and United Kingdom, Great Britain and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup M ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

United States 11, Great Britain & Ireland 1 *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

United States 12½, Great Britain & Ireland 11½

Western Junior The Western Junior is the oldest national junior golf tournament in the United States. It was founded in 1914 and is organized by the Western Golf Association. It is played at a different course each year, primarily in the midwest. From 1914 to ...

*1992 John Curley

U.S. Women's Senior Open

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

Detailed look at Chicago and Mid-Ocean coursesOriginal Chicago Golf Club
{{U.S. Open golf venues 1892 establishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in Wheaton, Illinois Golf clubs and courses in Illinois Golf clubs and courses designed by Charles B. Macdonald National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Sports venues completed in 1892 Sports venues in DuPage County, Illinois Tourist attractions in DuPage County, Illinois Walker Cup venues