Wheaton, Illinois
Chicago Golf Club is a living monument to the origins of American championship golf. With world-shaping architectural DNA and twelve USGA championships behind its gates, the course serves up a cerebral, minimalist challenge that’s only accessible to a fortunate few.
C.B. Macdonald founds Chicago Golf Club at Belmont with a 9-hole course.
Macdonald creates the first 18-hole course in the United States at Belmont.
Club buys land in Wheaton; Macdonald lays out new championship course.
Hosts first U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur held west of New York.
Current Jarvis Hunt–designed clubhouse completed.
Seth Raynor executes a major redesign, cementing template hole legacy.
Hosts inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open, its 12th USGA event.
In 1897, Chicago Golf Club proved it could host world-class events with the U.S. Open and Amateur, breaking golf’s Northeast stronghold and signaling the arrival of national championship courses. This milestone solidified the club as the gold standard of strategic design in America.
Macdonald, an autocratic genius, shaped Chicago GC in his own vision, then recruited Seth Raynor—his engineer-protégé—to modernize it with the boldest template holes in the land. Their collaboration turned the course into a living museum of classic golf architecture.
Chicago Golf Club was the first in America to employ bentgrass for its putting surfaces, a move that revolutionized greenkeeping nationwide. The club’s turf choices set a new agronomic standard now seen across the U.S.
The original Chicago GC course at Downers Grove still celebrates its role as America’s first 18-hole track, while the Wheaton layout marks the first championship-caliber design. Both remain central pillars in golf’s American story.
Despite world-ranking, Chicago Golf Club is one of the most private, least-trafficked top courses in the game. Here, the ghosts of history linger, and every round feels like an invitation to step back in time.
Chicago Golf Club embodies the origins of strategic, template-based design in the United States. Macdonald’s vision, influenced by his time at St Andrews, imported British and Scottish architectural concepts—distinctive 'template holes', high-skill shot demands, and a fierce devotion to ground-game play—while Raynor’s 1923 redesign modernized these ideas and amplified their impact. The routing cleverly uses subtle, rolling Illinois farmland to maximize wind, angles and width, letting the ground game and fearless contouring (especially on the greens) shine. The course is minimalist and handsomely understated, letting angles, bold templates, and firm conditions speak louder than any ornamentation.
Macdonald and Raynor together form one of the game's most influential architectural lineages—the original and his engineer turning strategy into an art form.
Often ranked as a top-10 U.S. course
Classic Macdonald template holes
Another preserved template landmark
Caribbean masterpiece by Macdonald and Raynor
Noted for architectural purity and history
Modeled after St Andrews’ Road hole, this brute demands accuracy from tee to green. The fairway is protected by strategic bunkering; the green angles sharply behind a deep trap, with trouble lurking behind.
Find fairway with the drive, then play a controlled approach towards the fat side—never chase back pins past the green’s notorious spine.
Miss the fairway or approach and you’ll risk bunkers, a perilous back drop-off, and a three-putt or worse.
Brisk, firm, and fast surfaces with rolling, wind-exposed fairways and some of the most contoured greens in the country.
Efficient and unhurried—expect four hours or less with minimal traffic.
Understated, history-soaked classicism; atmosphere is quietly reverent rather than showy.
Traditional: collared shirts, tailored trousers or shorts; no denim; jacket recommended indoors.
Top public 27 holes in the western suburbs—exceptional conditioning, tournament pedigree and variety.
Play elements of Macdonald’s original 18-hole course—the genuine birthplace of American 18-hole golf.
Modern championship test, former PGA Tour host—famed for toughness and exclusivity.
Home of the BMW Championship, one of America’s great public tracks.
Historic Ryder Cup host with legendary, challenging layouts.
Naperville or western Chicago suburbs for access to both public and private classics.
Template greens with tiers and swales demand expert distance control—work on long putts before arrival.
Firm conditions reward bump-and-run creativity; expect tight lies around greens and fairways.
Plan every shot; reckless aggression is punished and patience is a virtue from start to finish.
Study Macdonald/Raynor designs and their classic strategic questions—you’ll score better with foreknowledge.
Chicago Golf Club was one of five founding clubs of the USGA in 1894.
It was the first in the U.S. to feature bent grass greens.
Site of both America’s first 18-hole course (Belmont/Downers Grove) and first championship 18-hole layout (Wheaton).
The club has hosted a remarkable 12 USGA championships, most recently the 2018 inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
The course features an unbroken tradition of Macdonald/Raynor template holes—from Biarritz and Redan to Road and Leven.
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