Wheaton, IL

Chicago Golf Club

Chicago Golf Club began at Belmont in 1892 with nine holes laid out by Charles Blair Macdonald. An eighteen-hole course followed in 1893, and the Club joined four others in founding the United States Golf Association in 1894. It moved to Wheaton for the 1895 season.

Course: 18 holes · par 70 · Opened 1895
Original architect: C.B. Macdonald

The course

Chicago Golf Club18 holes · par 70 · Opened 1895

Course design

C.B. MacdonaldOriginal design · Chicago Golf Club

Seth RaynorRedesign · Chicago Golf Club · 1921–1923

From Belmont to Wheaton

Wheaton became a recurring stage for American championship golf. The Club hosted three U.S. Opens between 1897 and 1911, four U.S. Amateurs between 1897 and 1912, and the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2018.

Laura Davies won that 2018 inaugural championship by ten strokes. Three months later she also won the Senior LPGA Championship, taking both of the senior women’s major titles in the same year.

Championships

Results and dates 14 editions

U.S. Amateur

1897
H.J. Whigham
September 14–18, 1897
1905
H. Chandler Egan
August 8–12, 1905
1909
Robert A. Gardner
September 6–11, 1909
1912
Jerome D. Travers
September 2–7, 1912

U.S. Open

1897
Joe Lloyd
September 17, 1897
1900
Harry Vardon
October 4–5, 1900
1911
John J. McDermott
June 23–26, 1911

Walker Cup

1928
United States (Walker Cup)
August 30–31, 1928
2005
United States (Walker Cup)
August 13–14, 2005

Western Amateur

1902
H. Chandler Egan
September 10–13, 1902
1907
H. Chandler Egan
August 6–10, 1907

U.S. Senior Amateur

1979
William C. Campbell
September 17–22, 1979

U.S. Senior Women's Open

2018
Laura Davies

U.S. Women's Amateur

1903
U.S. Women’s Amateur
Bessie Anthony
September 29–October 3, 1903

In the archive

Clubs in IL

Sources and editorial notes13 references

Sources for this story

History Chicago Golf Club Foundation
Key Events: founding, move to Wheaton, championships, Raynor redesign.
Consulted 2026-09-17
Passages:Introduction From Belmont to Wheaton, paragraph 2
Davies wins the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open by ten strokes LPGA
Readable official recap title establishes the ten-stroke margin; no unretained detailed scorecard total is used.
Consulted 2026-11-06
Passages:From Belmont to Wheaton, paragraph 3
USGA and LPGA announce the senior major championship schedule USGA and LPGA
Retrospective paragraphs: inaugural 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago; Senior LPGA began in 2017; Davies won both in 2018 three months apart. Announced 2021 dates are not used.
Consulted 2026-11-06
Passages:From Belmont to Wheaton, paragraph 3

Record sources10 references

golfcoursegurus
Illinois historic register announcement
USGA and LPGA: Senior Major Championship Schedule The joint USGA/LPGA retrospective identifies the inaugural 2018 edition at Chicago Golf Club and winner Laura Davies. Precise dates and unretained scorecard totals remain unfilled.
R&A official Walker Cup match history The primary match-history entry records these dates: 2005 (Aug. 13-14): USA 12½, GB&I 11½; Chicago G.C., Wheaton, Ill. ( Final Results ) Dates corroborated against the retained official USGA 2026 Record Book. No participant, score or historical routing changes are selected.
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. The 1979 results row identifies Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton and the Campbell-Oehmig final. The Chicago Golf Club Foundation history independently states that its events after 1894 occurred at the present Wheaton site, distinguishing Belmont. No opening year or unchanged-routing claim is inferred.
USGA: 2024 U.S. Amateur Record Book Printed/PDF page 8, 1912 result row. Jerome D. Travers d. Charles Evans Jr., 7 and 6. Match margins and extra-hole lengths are not stroke totals. Actual dates from the retrospective result table.
Chicago Golf Club Foundation: History The Club Foundation places this championship at the Wheaton course.
2026 USGA Championships Media Guide - U.S. Open The official 2026 USGA Championship Record Book directly enumerates the completed 1911 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.
Western Golf Association: 2025 Western Amateur Records and Statistics Guide WGA completed championship result; detailed guide PDF page112 and venue/summary table.
USGA: 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Record Book Printed/PDF page 7, 1903 result row. Retrospective completed-championship result and date range.