Top 10 Oldest Golf Courses in Chicagoland

No public course in the Chicago area can match Belmont's place in American golf history. Back in 1892, architect Charles Blair MacDonald carved out 9 holes on this Downers Grove property under the name Chicago Golf Club. A second nine followed in 1893, giving the country its very first 18-hole course. The club also helped establish the USGA as one of its five founding members.

The property has gone through several name changes over its long life, including decades as Downers Grove Golf Club before reverting to the Belmont name in 2023. Today it operates as a 9-hole layout, but six of those holes reportedly trace back to MacDonald's original routing -- the club calls them "The Original Six." A winding creek threatens tee shots on the opening stretch, and water factors into seven of the nine holes overall. The facility rounds out with a full driving range and a golf academy open to all ages.

When Jackson Park welcomed its first golfers on May 11, 1899, it made history as the first public course west of the Allegheny Mountains. It launched with 9 holes, expanding to a full 18 by the following year. The Chicago Tribune covered opening day in detail, even publishing a diagram of the first three tee shots -- along with a tally of broken clubs and bruised shins.

The course now plays to 5,508 yards, making it a manageable 18 holes for most skill levels. Don't let the modest 65.7 course rating fool you, though -- the 13 holes south of Marquette Drive feature tight corridors that punish wayward drives. Its clubhouse honors Cecil A. Partee, a barrier-breaking Illinois politician who championed improvements to the facility throughout his career. Playing here today, you're walking the same ground where Chicagoans first discovered public golf over 125 years ago.

Homewood is something of a historical hotbed for Chicagoland golf, and Calumet Country Club is a big reason why. Founded in 1901 -- the same year as its neighbor Ravisloe just down the road -- Calumet has quietly anchored the south suburban golf scene for well over a century. The club has weathered two world wars, the Great Depression, and every shift in the golf industry since the sport was still in its early days in America.

Unfortunately, Calumet Country Club faces extinction after owner W&E Ventures announced its permanent closure in November 2025 to pursue industrial redevelopment. In response, the "Calumet Collaborative," a coalition of golf organizations and residents, is fighting to block rezoning efforts, aiming to save the historic Donald Ross course from becoming a logistics park.

Ravisloe's journey to becoming a public course is one of the more unlikely stories in Chicago golf. For most of its existence it was a private club, but the 2008 recession brought financial ruin, and the property went up for sale. Veterinary surgeon Dr. Claude Gendreau purchased it and opened the gates to the public in 2009, giving everyday golfers access to a layout touched by one of golf architecture's all-time greats.

Donald Ross didn't draw up the original 1901 design, but he overhauled the course between 1916 and 1920, embedding his trademark strategic bunkering and deceptive green complexes. The result earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, and Golfweek currently ranks it 9th among Illinois public courses. Off the course, the striking Spanish Revival clubhouse -- topped by an 80-foot tower -- hosts weddings and events, while the on-site restaurant Rossy's Roost dishes out upscale American fare.

Few golf properties in Chicago have had as colorful a second act as South Shore. It started in 1906 as an exclusive private club on 65 acres along Lake Michigan, catering to the city's upper class for decades. But by the early 1970s, declining membership forced a vote to dissolve. The Chicago Park District stepped in with a $9.7 million purchase in 1974, preserving both the course and its grand clubhouse for public use.

That clubhouse, built in 1915, became the South Shore Cultural Center and has since played host to some notable moments -- it stood in as the "Palace Hotel Ballroom" in The Blues Brothers, and Barack and Michelle Obama held their 1992 wedding reception there. It became an official Chicago landmark in 2004. The 9-hole course itself plays to 2,720 yards and offers something most Chicago courses can't: genuine views of Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline on multiple holes.

Among Illinois' oldest continuously operating municipal courses, Wing Park holds a special place. Tom Bendelow -- the prolific architect who shaped hundreds of American courses -- designed this 52-acre, 9-hole layout within the 121-acre Wing Park, land that had been donated to the city by William H. Wing in 1902. The total construction cost? A mere $1,250. At the time, the goal was to make golf accessible to the working-class public, including women and players of all ages, at a time when the game was largely reserved for wealthy country club members.

That commitment to accessibility earned the course a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Remarkably, the original configuration of tees, fairways, and greens survives intact. This is a real 9-hole test at par 36, complete with two par 5s (the longest stretching 571 yards) and Bendelow's trademark tiny greens. A new clubhouse with golf simulators, an expanded shop, and a whiskey bar has been proposed -- a modern upgrade for a course that has barely changed in over a century.

Tucked into Chicago's Austin neighborhood, Columbus Park Golf Course sits right on the Oak Park border and has been welcoming golfers since 1910. The surrounding park is worth exploring on its own -- the historic Columbus Park Refectory building sits nearby, and across the street you'll find a garden area with a lagoon and waterfalls that make for a nice post-round stroll.

The golf itself is straightforward and affordable. Wide-open fairways, almost no trees, and mostly straight holes make this an ideal spot for newcomers to pick up the game without losing a sleeve of balls. That said, every green is guarded by sizeable bunkers, so there is some strategy required on approach shots. Conditioning can be inconsistent, but the greens tend to get the most attention and hold up reasonably well. It's a no-frills, come-as-you-are kind of place, and for a lot of golfers, that's exactly the point.

Edgebrook's roots trace to March 13, 1910, when the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper reported the formation of Edgebrook Country Club. The Cook County Forest Preserve took ownership in 1919, and the course has operated as an affordable public option ever since. It's one of the older Forest Preserve tracks in the system and has introduced generations of Chicagoans to the game.

Playing to just 4,567 yards at par 66 with no par 5s, Edgebrook won't humble a low handicapper, but it delivers more variety than you might expect from a short course. The terrain rolls more than most city layouts, highlighted by a blind uphill shot on the par-3 5th and elevated tee boxes on the 10th and 16th. The north branch of the Chicago River winds through the grounds, adding some visual appeal. Bring reasonable expectations and you'll find a relaxed, welcoming place to spend an afternoon.

This West Ridge neighborhood course has one of the more dramatic survival stories on the list. It started life in 1910 as Edgewater Golf Club, an 18-hole layout. Decades later, when the club ran into money trouble in the 1960s, developers circled with plans for a shopping center. Neighbors rallied in opposition, sparking a lengthy battle through the courts and zoning boards that lasted years.

The state ultimately bought the land in 1970 for $8 million -- a record at the time -- and it was eventually reborn as a 9-hole public course designed by Ken Killian and Dick Nugent, opening in 1980. The Chicago Park District runs it today. It's named for Robert Alfred Black, a doctor and longtime Chief Engineer of the Park District. The compact layout spans just 2,361 yards, with tight fairways and zero water hazards. It's flat, walkable, and about as no-fuss as a golf course gets.

Back in 1912, the newly formed Chicago Heights Country Club hired Tom Bendelow to lay out a 9-hole course on sixty acres at the edge of town. A $3,000 clubhouse went up alongside it, and the club quickly became the social centerpiece for the local well-to-do, with annual dues of $35. The Chicago Inter Ocean covered the project as it got underway, noting plans for construction to begin immediately.

Private membership sustained the club for most of the 20th century, but by 2000, declining numbers forced a sale. The Chicago Heights Park District took over, and today it's one of two municipal 9-hole courses they operate. Bendelow's compact, small-green design philosophy is still evident in the layout. Mature trees line the narrow, parallel fairways, demanding accuracy over power. And in a detail you won't find anywhere else in Chicagoland golf -- the clubhouse basement once doubled as a boxing ring and training gym.