Olympia Fields Country Club facts for kids
Clubhouse in 2015
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| Club information | |
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| Location | Olympia Fields, Illinois |
| Established | 1915, 110 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) BMW Championship (2020) |
| Website | ofcc.info |
| North Course | |
| Designed by | Willie Park Jnr. |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,343 yards (6,714 m) |
| Course rating | 76.6 |
| Slope rating | 150 |
| South Course | |
| Designed by | Tom Bendelow |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,106 yards (6,498 m) |
| Course rating | 75.0 |
| Slope rating | 146 |
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Olympia Fields Country Club
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| Nearest city | Olympia Fields, Illinois |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | Bendelow, Thomas M.; Nimmons, George Croll, et al. |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000082 |
| Added to NRHP | February 9, 2001 |
Olympia Fields Country Club is a private golf club located in Illinois, a state in the central United States. It's in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a town near Chicago, about 25 miles south of the city center. The club has two big golf courses, each with eighteen holes. They are called the North Course and the South Course.
The North Course is known as one of the best golf courses in the Chicago area. It is often ranked among the top 50 courses in the entire United States. The South Course is also highly rated, usually in the top ten courses in Illinois. Olympia Fields is special because it's one of the few private clubs in the U.S. that has more than one highly-ranked course. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's an important historical site.
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History of Olympia Fields Country Club
The Olympia Fields Country Club was started in 1915. The very first president of the club was Amos Alonzo Stagg. He was a famous college football coach and athletic director at the nearby University of Chicago. The main dining room at the club is named after him to honor his contributions.
The North Course was designed by Willie Park, Jnr, who won the British Open golf tournament twice. Before the 2003 U.S. Open was held here, the course was made longer. It has interesting ups and downs in the land, a winding creek, and hundreds of old oak trees.
At one time, the club had four golf courses. But during World War II, the club faced money problems. They had to sell off half of their land. Course No. 4 became the North Course. The remaining holes from the other three courses were then put together to create the South Course.
Olympia Fields is also famous for its huge clubhouse. It was finished in 1925 and cost $1.3 million to build. The clubhouse looks like an old English Tudor-style building. It has a tall, 80-foot clock tower with four faces, which is now the club's main symbol. A train line, the Metra Electric District, runs along the western edge of the club's property. The Olympia Fields station is right next to the clubhouse.
In 2005, the club started a big project to improve its facilities. They spent $9.5 million to make the practice areas better, fix some of the sand traps (bunkers), and make other upgrades.
Tournaments Hosted at Olympia Fields
Olympia Fields has been the host of many important golf tournaments over the years.
Major Golf Championships
This section lists major golf championships, including both amateur and professional events, that have been held at Olympia Fields.
| Year | Tournament | Champion | Winning score |
Winner's share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | PGA Championship |  Walter Hagen |
6 & 5 | 500 |
| 1928 | U.S. Open | Johnny Farrell |
294 (+10) | 500 |
| 1961 | PGA Championship | Jerry Barber |
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 mean these were major championships on the PGA Tour.
- The PGA Championship was played using a "match play" format until 1958. In match play, golfers compete hole by hole, not by total score.
Other Important Tournaments
The Western Open was once a very important golf event, almost as big as a major championship.
| Year | Tournament | Winner | Winning score |
Winner's share ($) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Western Open |  Jock Hutchison |
296 | ||
| 1927 | Western Open | Walter Hagen |
281 | ||
| 1933 | Western Open | Macdonald Smith |
282 | 500 | |
| 1968 | Western Open | Jack Nicklaus |
273 (–11) | 26,000 | |
| 1971 | Western Open | Bruce Crampton |
279 (–5) | 30,000 | |
| 2020 | BMW Championship |  Jon Rahm |
276 (-4) | 1,710,000 |
