Barton Hills

Founded in 1917, Barton Hills Country Club had its Donald Ross-designed course in play within five years of its formation. William Diddel, Bill Newcomb and Arthur Hills have all remodelled the layout down the years but it took until 2012 before Ron Pritchard restored the layout to its dazzling best.

The main thrust of the restoration was to encourage the propagation of native grasses around the layout, promote firm and fast playing conditions on and around the greens, and add new tees to both shorten and lengthen the course for the benefit of players of different playing abilities.

Highlight holes include the 493-yard 3rd, a long and very tough par four rated stroke index 1 on the scorecard, back-to-back par fives (one long and one short) around the turn at the 9th and 10th, and the 428-yard 18th, where three deep cross bunkers provide plenty of visual intimidation for players standing on the tee.

Barton Hills has hosted a couple of prestigious ladies’ tournaments in recent years: the 98th edition of the US Women’s Amateur in 1998, when Grace Park won the event with a 7&6 victory over Jenny Chuasiriporn, and the 22nd edition of the US Women’s Mid-Amateur in 2008, which was won by Joan Higgins, defeating Lynn Simmons 1 up.