Chicago

Founded in 1892, Chicago Golf Club was initially located at Belmont. In 1894 it moved to its present location at Wheaton and it became the first 18-hole course in America, designed by the daddy of American golf course architecture, Charles Blair Macdonald. Chicago Golf Club has a number of firsts to write home about. In 1897 it was the first club outside the Northeast to host the US Open and it was also the first club to employ bent grass greens. Chicago Golf Club was also one of the five founder members of the American Golf Association, which was subsequently renamed the USGA. The other four charter members were: Newport Country Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, St. Andrew's Golf Club (Yonkers, N.Y.), and The Country Club.