Once you consider cities with top-tier golf programs, Scottsdale or Orlando may be the primary that come to thoughts. However Chicago? It typically will get missed – and it’s time to provide it the eye it deserves. Amidst the Windy Metropolis’s city sprawl lie golf programs wealthy in custom and noteworthy structure, together with venues which have hosted main championships. So, in case you haven’t but thought-about Chicago as a first-rate {golfing} vacation spot, we ask that you just rethink. Listed here are 5 of the very best Chicago golf programs that you’ll want to take a look at.
Greatest Chicago Golf Programs
1. Medinah Nation Membership: Course Three
If “Medinah” sounds acquainted, it’s in all probability due to the dramatic 2012 Ryder Cup, famously often known as the “Miracle at Medinah.” And in case you have been cheering for Staff USA, effectively, let’s simply say the reminiscences may be a bit bittersweet.
However Medinah Nation Membership is way over only a match venue. Based in the course of the Roaring Twenties, the membership rapidly made a reputation for itself. Course No. 3, which opened in 1928, was initially designed with the women of Medinah in thoughts. Through the years, it’s reworked right into a formidable check of golf, due to a sequence of renovations by prime architects like Roger Packard, Roger Rulewich, Rees Jones, and the Australian agency OCM Golf.
Wanting forward, Medinah No. 3 is gearing as much as host the sixteenth version of the Presidents Cup in 2026, promising extra thrilling moments and including to its wealthy legacy.
2. Chicago Golf Membership
They are saying much less is extra, and nowhere does that ring more true than at Chicago Golf Membership. This course continues the custom of city-named programs being totally distinctive, however not by flashy options or extra. It’s the understated class and that intangible buzz within the air that make it really feel actually particular.
Based in 1892, Chicago Golf Membership is the oldest 18-hole course in North America. Initially designed by the legendary Charles Blair Macdonald, it was skillfully reworked in 1922 by one other iconic architect, Seth Raynor. The result’s a course that seamlessly blends historic attraction with timeless design.
This unique membership stays extremely personal, however those that have had the privilege to play it rave about its good routing. In a nod, whether or not intentional or not, to Chicago’s Windy Metropolis nickname, the wind by no means dominates in a single path for quite a lot of holes at a time.
3. Shoreacres Golf
Talking of Seth Raynor, subsequent on our record is a design of his personal. And it’s top-of-the-line Chicago golf programs. Nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, which surprisingly by no means comes into play, Raynor’s design skillfully navigates the pure undulations and ravines of the terrain.
The tight, tree-lined fairways demand precision, and whereas the course might play a bit shorter for at present’s long-hitters, the actual check lies on the greens. Regardless of their measurement, these greens are agency and quick, so ensure your placing and wedge expertise are as much as par.
4. Olympia Fields Nation Membership: North Course
Olympia Fields’ North Course is famend effectively past Chicago’s metropolis limits, persistently incomes a spot on Golf Digest’s record of the nation’s prime programs. Initially named Course No. 4, it was designed in 1923 by Willie Park Jr., a two-time Open Champion.
Park’s spectacular portfolio consists of over 100 programs worldwide, together with celebrated layouts like Sunningdale and Maidstone. Nevertheless, the North Course is usually hailed as his crowning achievement, a sentiment shared by each critics and Park himself.
Now, this parkland format isn’t any stroll within the park. Difficult bunkering and a thick tough be sure that each single par is earned. Watch out for the Butterfield Creek, too, that comes into play on seven completely different holes, typically greater than as soon as.
5. Butler Nationwide Golf Membership
When George Fazio and his nephew Tom got down to design Butler Nationwide, their mission was clear: create a format that may problem even the very best gamers. They definitely succeeded.
Butler Nationwide is a non-public membership recognized for its formidable problem. Tree-lined fairways require accuracy off the tee, whereas a number of water hazards add to the problem. The greens are intricately contoured, guaranteeing that each a part of your recreation should be on level. Course administration is essential right here – execute your pictures effectively and make sensible misses, and also you’ll discover success. Miss your pictures or make poor choices, and you might be drawing some squares in your scorecard.
Nevertheless it’s not all robust going! The course’s problem is matched by its distinctive conditioning. From tee to inexperienced and past, every part at Butler Nationwide is maintained in immaculate form.
As you intend your journey to the very best Chicago golf programs, do not forget that the journey begins effectively earlier than you allow residence. It begins with Ship Sticks. Ship your golf golf equipment and baggage forward of time and arrive at your vacation spot to seek out your baggage already there. In any case, each nice golf journey begins with easy, hassle-free journey. Uncover the distinction at present.
