Olympia Fields Country Club, Olympia Fields, IL

Olympia Fields is a historic, championship-level course just outside of Chicago. The original course (founded in 1915) had 72-holes. Two courses were eventually sold off, and now the South and North courses remain.

The South course was designed by Tom Bendelow, who was nicknamed “The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf.” He designed over 600 courses in his lifetime. Two-time Open winner and course designer Willie Park Jr. designed the North course, which recently hosted the 2020 BMW Championship.

About 10 years ago, the South course was rehabilitated by Steve Smyers. The focus was on improving drainage and bunker construction. Members tend to favor the North course for its Championship-level status, but the South course still has plenty to offer.

Olympia Fields South is an undulating course with a number of elevation changes. Heavy treelines, false fronts, sand bunkers and a creek are some of the main hazards you can expect on this course. Watch out for bunkers that tend to be clustered together in pairs as well. You’ll also encounter a number of blind dogleg shots.

The front nine are longer and more challenging than the back nine. There are three tee boxes. The shortest hole is #3 at 82 yards (from the men’s gold tee), and the round wraps up with the longest hole which is #18 at 477 yards. Greens are very fast. Maintenance is impeccable.

The signature hole is #17 - expect a tight fairway and a blind shot (doglegs right) at 374 yards long. Holes #9 (338 yards), #11 (290 yards) are also blind shots that dogleg to the right. You’ll encounter the creek running through and along a number of holes on the course, including #4, #9, #12, #14 and #18.

This is a world-class course and an important part of American Golf History. Play with a caddie for the best experience. The clubhouse can’t be missed, with a clock tower and cathedral-like construction. Food and service are both outstanding.

The South course at Olympia Fields should now be ranked in the top 100 golf courses in America. This course is difficult with great elevation, fast greens, and many tight tree lines fairways. Overall I like it even better than the highly praised North course but slightly behind Medinah #3