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The best courses in the Chicago area
Often overlooked in the debate about our country’s best regions for golf is the Chicago area, and that’s unfair. Many of the best Golden Age architects—from C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor to Donald Ross and Tom Bendelow—delivered timeless designs around the city. Seven Chicago-area courses (defined as being within an hour of the city) earn a ranking inside our ranking of America’s 100 Greatest or Second 100 Greatest courses, but the depth of fantastic golf extends beyond the top-ranked venues.
Chicago's private club scene runs deep—when we ranked the best regions for golf, Chicago landed at third on our list based on the breadth of very, very good golf. Chicago's golf courses don't get enough respect, and we’re here to shine a proper spotlight on all the great golf to be found around the Windy City.
Below you'll find the Best Courses in the Chicago area, based on the rankings by our 1,900 course panelists who evaluate courses based on six scoring criteria for our annual America's 100 Greatest and Best in State rankings.
We urge you to click through to each individual course page for bonus photography, drone footage and reviews from our course panelists. Plus, you can now leave your own ratings on the courses you’ve played … to make your case why your favorite should be ranked higher.
The Best Golf Courses in the Chicago area:
![1. Chicago Golf Club](jpg/1620064823533.jpg)
![2. Shoreacres Golf Club](jpg/1573414459871.jpg)
![3. Butler National Golf Club](jpg/1573237915039.jpg)
![4. Medinah Country Club: No. 3](jpg/1620053632690.jpg)
Medinah No. 3 is Exhibit A for the notion that great golf courses aren’t created, but evolve. A major tournament site since 1949, it has undergone a succession of remodelings and has improved with every session. Its par-3 17th is the most prominent example. It was shifted to a new location in 1986, to precede a whole new 18th hole. (The original 17th is now the 13th.) Ten years later, the 17th green was moved away from a lakefront to a spot atop a hill, but after Tiger Woods’ first (of two) PGA Championship victories on the course, the green was moved back down to water’s edge, where it remains today. Time will tell if that trend continues: after falling from No. 11 in the rankings in 2007 to its 2023-'24 position of 93, the No. 3 course will undergo a major revamping once again by the Australian firm of Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead in 2023 in preparation for the 2026 Presidents Cup.
![5. Olympia Fields Country Club: North](jpg/1573414562417.jpg)
![6. Rich Harvest Farms](jpg/1651151204424.jpg)
![7. Old Elm Club](jpg/1681781695088.jpg)
![8. Skokie Country Club](jpg/1573225587666.jpg)
![9. Conway Farms Golf Club](jpg/1688229491901.jpg)
![10. Beverly Country Club](png/1652210514302.png)
![11. Olympia Fields Country Club: South](jpg/1649448282037.jpg)
![12. Black Sheep Golf Club: 1st/2nd Nines](png/1652210514464.png)
![13. Cog Hill Golf & Country Club: # 4 - Dubsdread](jpg/1652559914022.jpg)
![14. Medinah Country Club: No. 1](jpg/1652491392607.jpg)
![16. Bob O'Link Golf Club](png/1652210514118.png)
![17. Chicago Highlands Club](jpg/1649425315110.jpg)
![25. The Glen Club](jpg/1652810306547.jpg)
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