Midlothian

Midlothian Country Club was formed in 1898 and the course was laid out for the members by Herbert J. Tweedie. The club soon took golfing center stage, hosting the US Women’s Amateur in 1907 and the US Open in 1914, won by Walter Hagen.

Midlothian also staged the prestigious Western Open three times, in 1901, 1969 and 1973, along with several editions of the Women’s Western Open and Women’s Western Amateur. When the Chicago Victory National Open was held here in 1948, it was claimed by Bobby Locke with a winning margin of sixteen shots (a record he still shares with three others).

Unfortunately, following a 1970s renovation, not too many of the original strategic hazards remained, but in 2014 the club commissioned Ray Hearn to develop a master plan to return the course to its original design intent.

There had been overplanting of trees down the years so a number of these were removed. Greens were pushed out to their original dimensions and bunkers (which Donald Ross worked on prior to the 1914 US Open) were reworked, keeping the spirit and shape of the sand hazards that had been installed a hundred years previously.