Old Elm Club

There are less than two dozen men-only golf clubs in America and, interestingly, four of them exist on the outskirts of the Windy City: Black Sheep (in Sugar Grove), Butler National (at Oak Brook), Bob O'Link (at Highland Park) and here at Old Elm, also in Highland Park.

Designed by Harry Colt, the course was constructed by Ross from plans drawn up by Colt. Colt was paid $100 per day and Ross $20 for their respective endeavours. Old Elm extends in the modern era to a modest 6,440 yards so it’s acquired little in terms of length down the years.

In 2010, the club commissioned J. Drew Rogers to restore Old Elm, which initially centred on a tree clearance programme to widen playing corridors and open up sight lines. Fairways were subsequently widened and greens returned to their original sizes.

“To this day, the greens at Old Elm are the original push-up style surfaces that Ross built in 1913”, comments J. Drew Rogers. “Their evolution, however, rendered them smaller, more circular in shape and with less distinctive relationships to the bunkers and surrounding landforms. We worked to recapture the original oblong shapes and recovered dozens of strategic cupping areas that had otherwise been negated.”

Several cross-bunkers were also recovered during the restoration, and in 2013 the club extended focus to include fairway and greenside bunkering.

“While Ross obediently followed most of Colt’s plans (exceptions being a few of the greens), some of the planned bunkering and features were apparently missed or disregarded by Ross. This, along with past bunker renovations, rendered the bunkers something much different than what Colt drew and described… Ultimately, the bunker work was finished, along with a number of tee additions and the incorporation of short grass extensions around a number of the green surfaces.”

“Old Elm is as classic and authentic as you will find anywhere today - and getting better each and every day. Today, the unpublished back tees stretch out to nearly 6,900 yards.”

Adam Lawrence, editor of Golf Course Architecture, visited Old Elm during the restoration and commented as follows: “The results are dramatic, with the bunkers now more closely resembling something that Mr Colt himself might have done. I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen a course like Old Elm in the US, and in a description that I gave to several people at the recent ASGCA meeting, I referred to the club as the American equivalent of Swinley Forest or Morfontaine.”

According to “Mr Top 100,” Rudo, “the best part of the course is the double green shared by the par five 6th and par three 17th holes. This may be the coolest green I have ever seen (or tied with #16 at North Berwick). This double green has a Biarritz “valley” separating the two halves of the green, and the 17th green is also a Redan!”