North Course*

 

The North Course - formerly the club's No. 4 Course - was designed in 1923 by Musselburgh native Willie Park Jr., two time (1887 and 1889) Open Champion and grandfather of inland golf design. Although Park's work includes more than 100 golf courses worldwide, including timeless masterpieces at Sunningdale and Maidstone, the North Course at Olympia Fields is often regarded as Park's greatest achievement - not just by contemporary critics, but by Park himself, who concluded, "I have examined thousands of places adaptable for the ideal golf course, both in Europe and America, but I have never seen a more natural setting for a championship course. I am satisfied now that your number IV course is the equal of any golf course I have ever seen and I know of none that is superior, either in beauty or natural terrain."

 

The North Course remains steadfastly faithful to Park's original design, with precious few changes over the decades other than deepened bunkers and additional length. Par for the North Course is 70 strokes played over 7,205 yards with a rating of 75.9 and a slope of 147. The North Course is routed over naturally rolling terrain, and makes liberal use of Butterfield Creek, which winds its way through seven holes, including twice on numbers 12 and 14. The North Course had been ranked continually by Golf Digest as one of America's "Top 100 Greatest Courses," and in 2011-12 enjoys the ranking of No. 62 among all golf courses - both classic and modern - in the United States of America. The North Course is also ranked No. 46 on Golfweek's 2011 list of "Best Classic Courses," above Colonial (No. 50), Congressional (No. 59), and Medinah No. 3 (No. 63). The course record is 63, shared by Rickie Fowler and Vijay Singh.