Lake Forest, IL

Onwentsia Club

Onwentsia traces its beginnings to seven holes laid out on Senator Charles Farwell’s estate in 1892. Hobart Chatfield-Taylor routed play between trees and flowerbeds, using buried tomato cans as cups.¹

Location: Lake Forest, IL
Course: 18 holes · par 71
Club website: Visit website

From a lawn course to Onwentsia

The growing group moved to nine holes on Leander McCormick’s farm in 1894, then sought a permanent home. In 1895, Onwentsia was organized on the 175-acre Henry Ives Cobb farm.¹

The course

Follow each course for its scorecard, design history, and sources.

CourseOnwentsia Club18 holes · par 71 · View course record

Championships

View all 6 past editions

Results and dates 6 editions

U.S. Amateur

1899
H.M. Harriman
July 3–8, 1899

U.S. Girls' Junior

1951
Arlene Brooks
August 13–17, 1951

U.S. Open

1906
Alex Smith
June 28–29, 1906

U.S. Senior Amateur

1973
William Hyndman III
September 17–22, 1973

U.S. Women's Amateur

1915
U.S. Women’s Amateur
Florence Vanderbeck
September 6–11, 1915

Western Amateur

1900
William Waller
September 27–29, 1900

Continue through the archive

Follow the course and the people behind it.

ArchitectC.B. MacdonaldCo design · Onwentsia Club

ArchitectHenry WhighamCo design · Onwentsia Club

ArchitectHerbert TweedieCo design · Onwentsia Club

ArchitectJim FoulisCo design · Onwentsia Club

View all 5 architects

ArchitectRobert FoulisCo design · Onwentsia Club

Clubs in IL

Sources and editorial notes10 references

Sources for this story

History Onwentsia Club
History and course description.
Consulted 2026-09-21

Record sources9 references

Club mark source
Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum: Onwentsia Club
USGA: 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur record book, page 7 Offline: archived primary source /Users/cwhitelam/Documents/AGA Research Archive/shared/usga-championship-records-20261024/26SeniorAm.pdf; SHA-256 db447a8079c9a707c54710acb92d7da567e788bc38b4b449c065d542155ab300. Exact result row: 1973 (Sept. 17-22) William Hyndman III d. Harry Welch , 3 and 2; Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, Ill.; Medalists — 147, Sam Friedman, William Hyndman III ; Entries: 633 Use the championship final, not the qualifying medalist. Match-play outcomes are not stroke totals. Current routing, scorecard and par are not asserted. The primary result identifies this exact Club and place; the retained named physical Course is its sole Course identity. This links Course identity only, without asserting an unchanged historical routing or scorecard.
USGA: 2026 U.S. Girls Junior record book, page 7 Offline: archived primary source /Users/cwhitelam/Documents/AGA Research Archive/shared/usga-championship-records-20261024/26GirlsJunior.pdf; SHA-256 311526e6f45012af71b823745da59f40499591f1efae990bafaa12566d8bfc15. Exact result row: 1951 (Aug. 13-17) Arlene Brooks d. Barbara McIntire , 1 up; Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, Ill.; Medalist — 76, Barbara McIntire ; Entries: 32 Use the championship final, not the qualifying medalist. Match-play outcomes are not stroke totals. Current routing, scorecard and par are not asserted. The primary result identifies this exact Club and place; the retained named physical Course is its sole Course identity. This links Course identity only, without asserting an unchanged historical routing or scorecard.
USGA: 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Record Book Printed/PDF page 7, 1915 result row. Retrospective completed-championship result and date range.
2026 USGA Championships Media Guide - U.S. Open The official 2026 USGA Championship Record Book directly enumerates the completed 1906 Championship, champion, explicit date span, and site in Championship Results: 1895 to 2025. The recorded champion and site preserve the higher-resolution register text. The current official U.S. Open Champions table independently confirms the year, champion, and site.
USGA championship host record Dated USGA host wording Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, Ill. is explicitly reconciled to Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, IL. The dated register identifies the Club. A continuing physical Course identity is not inferred from a single stored Course or an unqualified venue name. Host and competition dates: www.usga.org
Western Golf Association: 2025 Western Amateur Records and Statistics Guide WGA completed championship result; detailed guide PDF page104 and venue/summary table.
USGA: 2024 U.S. Amateur Record Book Printed/PDF page 8, 1899 result row. H.M. Harriman d. Findlay S. Douglas, 3 and 2. Match margins and extra-hole lengths are not stroke totals. Actual dates from the retrospective result table.