Olympia Fields Country Club is a golf club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago, about 25 miles south of The Loop. It is a private club with two eighteen-hole courses, the North and the 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.
The club was founded in 1915. The North Course was designed by twice British Open champion Willie Park, Jnr, and was lengthened prior to hosting the 2003 U.S. Open. 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. The remaining holes from the other three courses were reconfigured to make the South Course. Olympia Fields has hosted four major championships in total, two U.S. Opens, 1928 and 2003, and two PGA Championships, 1925 and 1961. Other events held at Olympia Fields include five Western Opens, and the 1997 U.S. Senior Open.
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 club is served by a rail line, which has a station close by. 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 is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more about Olympia Fields Country Club: Major Tournaments Hosted
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—“Jennie June” Croly 1829–1901, U.S. founder of the woman’s club movement, journalist, author, editor. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly and Mirror of Fashions, p. 204 (August 1866)