Chicago Golf Club (Wheaton, Illinois)

Golf Course Review by: Billy Satterfield

Rankings: 1st

The Takeaway: One of America’s golfing treasures, Chicago Golf Club features some of the purest versions of Macdonald’s famous template holes you’ll ever find. While the terrain is less than inspiring, the architecture and "pure golf" vibe of the club makes up for it. Grade A

Quick Facts

Designer: C.B. Macdonald in 1894

Cost: Private

Phone Number: (630) 668-2000

Directions: Get here! - 25W253 Warrenville Rd, Wheaton, Illinois 60189 – UNITED STATES

Photos: See additional photos of Chicago Golf Club

What to Expect: Chicago Golf Club is one of the most revered clubs in the world, let alone in the United States where it became the first 18 hole course in America and is one of the five original founding clubs of the USGA (Newport CC, Shinnecok Hills, The Country Club in Brookline, MA, and Saint Andrew's in NY being the others). A small membership that is the epitome of "historic old school" is what you'll find here with members who know the game, respect the game, and honor its history. There isn't a country club feel at CGC, it is akin to San Francisco Golf Club where it is all about golf. Players walk, take a caddie, and soak in some of the best template holes that C.B. Macdonald ever created, including a set of par threes that only Camargo can rival as the best the Good Doctor ever carved out of the ground. Speaking of the ground, the terrain at CGC is mostly flat with subtle changes throughout the property along the same lines as Kingston Heath and Garden City Golf Club. Despite the flatness, there is no lapse of interest given the brilliance of the architecture, bunker placements, and shaping throughout the putting surfaces. The course length is modest by today's standards tipping out under 6900 yards, but no one at the club is concerned with that; in fact, many members choose to play the middle tees to most closely replicate the experience Macdonald had when he designed the course. The historic club is no stranger to hosting high profile events having welcomed the world's best players for the U.S. Open in 1897, 1900, and 1911 while more recently hosting the Women's U.S. Open in 2018. Chicago Golf Club has also hosted the Walker Cup in 1928 and again in 2005 but has hosted more amateur tournaments than anything else with the U.S. Amateur in 1897, 1905, 1909, and 1912 as well as the Women's U.S. Amateur in 1903 and U.S. Senior Amateur in 1979. Ultimately, an invitation to Chicago Golf Club is an opportunity to be cherished and an experience never to be forgotten.