Olympia Fields Country Club

History

The club was founded 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. The Club excluded both Jews and Catholics for a period of time. Although in 1958 or so, two Catholic families were admitted.

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 ft, 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 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.

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.

Tournaments hosted

Major championships

Includes amateur and professional major championships

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

Other tournaments

The Western Open was historically an important event in golf, a near-major.

Scorecards

Source: Source:

References

References

1. "Scorecard: North Course". Olympia Fields Country Club.
2. "Olympia Fields Country Club, North". USGA.
3. http://www.golfnow.com/course-directory/illinois-golf-courses/olympia-fields-golf-courses/olympia-fields-country-club---south-course {{Bare URL inline. (August 2024)
4. "Olympia Fields Country Club, South". USGA.
5. {{NRISref. 2007a
6. (January 4, 2017). "Olympia Fields Country Club (North)". Golf Digest.
7. McAllister, Mike. (August 23, 2020). "Nine things to know: Olympia Fields". PGA Tour.com.
8. CDGA. (2020-08-21). "Playground Paradise".
9. (2001). "The Guide And Index For The Amos Alonzo Stagg Collection".
10. Chase, Al. (June 23, 1946). "Olympia Fields acres expected to be homesites". Chicago Daily Tribune.
11. Husar, John. (July 14, 1971). "Western Open just another golf tournament". Chicago Tribune.
12. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/03/26/olympia-fields-admits-first-black-members/
13. "Our Club {{!}} Olympia Fields Country Club {{!}} Private Golf {{!}} IL : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming".
14. Davis, Joe. (August 6, 1920). "Hutchinson wins Western title by one stroke". Chicago Daily Tribune.
15. Rohm, Harland. (September 11, 1927). "Hagen scores 281 to capture Western Open". Chicago Sunday Tribune.
16. (September 11, 1927). "Hagen again wins Western Open championship". St. Petersburg Times.
17. Bartlett, Charles. (August 28, 1933). "Mac Smith wins Western Open by 6 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune.
18. (August 28, 1933). "Western Crown for Mac Smith". Spokesman-Review.
19. Husar, John. (August 5, 1968). "Nicklaus 273 takes Western Open". Chicago Tribune.
20. (August 5, 1968). "Golden Bear ends drought". Eugene Register-Guard.
21. Husar, John. (July 19, 1971). "'Can't Lose' Crampton wins Western". Chicago Tribune.
22. (July 19, 1971). "Bruce Crampton captures Western Open golf crown". Spokesman-Review.
23. (July 19, 1971). "Golf: Western Open". Eugene Register-Guard.
24. "Scorecard: South Course". Olympia Fields Country Club.