David Cannon
Chicago Golf Club
Wheaton, IL•Private
Awards
Panelists Score
Chicago Golf Club
25W253 Warrenville Rd
Wheaton, IL 60189-7304
United States
Overview
Chicago Golf Club opened the country’s first 18-hole course in 1893, built by C.B. Macdonald, the preeminent golf expert in the U.S. at the time. Two years later, Macdonald built the club a different course after the membership moved to a new location in Wheaton, Ill.: “a really first-class 18-hole course of 6,200 yards,” he wrote. Members played that course until 1923 when Seth Raynor, who began his architectural career as Macdonald’s surveyor and engineer, redesigned it using the “ideal hole” concepts his old boss had developed 15 years earlier (he kept Macdonald’s routing, which placed all the O.B. on the left—C.B. sliced the ball). For reasons of history and practicality, no major remodels have occurred since then, allowing the club to merely burnish the architecture by occasionally upgrading worn parts, adjusting grassing lines, and recently, reestablishing a number of lost bunkers that had been filled in over time.
About
Golf Digest Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 Greatest / Best In State Scores
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, IL, is a classic designed by C.B. Macdonald opened in 1895, and redesigned by Seth Raynor in 1923. Layout variety is excellent with hole #2 the Road Hole design, hole #3 the Biarritz design, hole #4 the Cape design, hole #6 the Double Plateau design, hole #7 the Redan design, hole #12 the Punchbowl design, hole #13 the Strath design, and hole #14 the Cape design. There are multiple shot options and strategy from the tee, the fairways, and around the greens. Conditioning is excellent with fast and firm fairways, and greens that hold a well-struck shot and putt true. This is a fun yet quite challenging course for the scratch golfer from the back tees. There are no mid-range tee boxes so you must play either 6750+ yards or drop way down to the 5900 yard tees."
Read More2025
Review
“Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, IL, is a classic designed by C.B. Macdonald opened in 1895, and redesigned by Seth Raynor in 1923. Layout variety is excellent with hole #2 the Road Hole design, hole #3 the Biarritz design, hole #4 the Cape design, hole #6 the Double Plateau design, hole #7 the Redan design, hole #12 the Punchbowl design, hole #13 the Strath design, and hole #14 the Cape design. There are multiple shot options and strategy from the tee, the fairways, and around the greens. Conditioning is excellent with fast and firm fairways, and greens that hold a well-struck shot and putt true. This is a fun yet quite challenging course for the scratch golfer from the back tees. There are no mid-range tee boxes so you must play either 6750+ yards or drop way down to the 5900 yard tees."
Read More2025
Review
“Chicago Golf Club is a real treat to play, a classic Seth Raynor course design with plenty of challenges throughout. Oddly, there is only one tee box for men (and one for women), so it is especially challenging for seniors or mid handicap players. It is the only golf course that I can recall playing with only one set of men's tees. Many of the holes are over 400 yards (total 6571 yards), combine that with some wind and damp conditions, and it can be a long day - but you will still walk off the course with a grin on your face from the experience. 6571 yards is long for a course with only 2 par 5 holes. There are not many trees on the course to worry about, but lakes and ravines come into play, and the false front greens will reject anything less than a good shot. The bunkers are strategically place to turn an almost good shot into a green into a double bogey. The bunkers are deep, and if short sided it is best to play for a bogey. The condition of the course was excellent, but the character of the Seth Raynor design is the real star."
Read More2025
Review
“Chicago Golf Club is a real treat to play, a classic Seth Raynor course design with plenty of challenges throughout. Oddly, there is only one tee box for men (and one for women), so it is especially challenging for seniors or mid handicap players. It is the only golf course that I can recall playing with only one set of men's tees. Many of the holes are over 400 yards (total 6571 yards), combine that with some wind and damp conditions, and it can be a long day - but you will still walk off the course with a grin on your face from the experience. 6571 yards is long for a course with only 2 par 5 holes. There are not many trees on the course to worry about, but lakes and ravines come into play, and the false front greens will reject anything less than a good shot. The bunkers are strategically place to turn an almost good shot into a green into a double bogey. The bunkers are deep, and if short sided it is best to play for a bogey. The condition of the course was excellent, but the character of the Seth Raynor design is the real star."
Read More2025
Review
“Course is in your face as i counted as many as 14 pins that I could see from one hole. The opening 4 holes are no joke and they will test your game with greens that look unassuming but can eat you up!! Hard to say this course might be underrated but it is for sure a sleeper and a real gem!!!"
Read More2025
Review
“One of the great American template courses. A true treat to experience."
Read More2024
Review
“A great template course with many outstanding holes. A wonderful variety of lengths and it forces the player to think through their shots. You cannot be short sided and expect to get up and down. Wonderful green complexes The firmest fairways that I have encountered at a top US golf course. That allows many strategic elements into play as bunkers that seem out of reach can be reached with the bouncing and run out of tee shots. A real treat to play. Don't ever turn down an invite to play the course."
Read More2024
Review
“There are no perfect golf courses, and not flawless experiences in golf, but Chicago Golf Club is about as close as you can get to both. Especially remarkable when you consider it is the first 18-hole course in the US and in the 130 years since it was built, very, very few have surpassed it"
Read More2024
Review
“Chicago Golf Club is one of the best golf courses in the United States. Run, don't walk, if you are given the opportunity to play this course. A fabulous design and routing by Seth Raynor. The course if full of all of Raynor's signature template holes, with many of them being some of the best anywhere. A classic, fun, and excellent course and experience."
Read More2023
Review
“The quintessential Golden Age golf course of the Midwest, worthy of its spot in the upper reaches of the rankings. Perhaps the only layout away from the east coast that harkens to Shinnecock, NGLA, etc."
Read More2022
