Golf Course Information

Description

Evanston Golf Club has a rich history on the North Shore of Chicago. The club was founded in the spring of 1898 in north Evanston at the Kings Daughter Golf Club on Ridge Avenue at the cross section of Lincoln Street and East Railroad Avenue. Over the following ninteen years, the club moved three times, first in 1899 to its own 9-hole course in southwest Evanston on the corner of Dodge and Greenleaf, then a second 9-hole course was built in 1903 on the corner of Sheridan and Ridge near Wilmette, and finally its current location was established in 1917. The current 18-hole golf course was laid out by the preeminent golf course architect of his time, Donald Ross. Evanston Golf Club has the distinction of being one of the projects where Ross was personally on site for the design and construction of the golf course. Ross employed over 10,000 people between the years of 1910 and 1930 and completed the construction of over 400 courses during that time. He was personally on site to oversee the design and construction of less than half of the projects completed during those years. We are very proud to have a Donald Ross signature layout.

In addition to the world class golf course that was established in 1917, the club also boasts a spectacular Tudor-style clubhouse designed by Walter Ahlschlager. Ahlschlager was a leading architect of his time and the designer of a number of architecturally significant buildings across the country including the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago (formerly the Medina Athletic Club), the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, and the Beacon and Roxy Theatres in New York City. Ahlschlager was also a member and four-time club champion at Evanston Golf Club.

Through the years, Evanston Golf Club has been lucky enough to have had two Illinois PGA Hall of Fame members as our head golf professionals beginning with John Revolta, the 1935 PGA Championship winner, who worked at the club from 1935 until 1965. Following John Revolta, Hal Miller, a protégé of Revoltas, worked at the club from 1965 until 2002. Continuing that legacy, our current head professional, Eric Barnes, is a protégé of Millers who spent seven years as an assistant at Evanston Golf Club before becoming the head professional in 2006.

The club has hosted many premiere golf contests including the 1962 USGA Senior Amateur, won by Merrill L. Carlsmith. Carlsmith was a two-time USGA Senior Amateur Champion and a prominent attorney from Hilo, Hawaii where he was instrumental in helping the state receive statehood in 1959.

Over the years, Evanston Golf Club has undergone a number of changes both to the clubhouse and the golf course. In 2006, in an effort to recapture its original 1917 grandeur, Evanston Golf Club undertook a comprehensive renovation of the classic Ahlschlager-designed clubhouse and a restoration of the Donald Ross-designed golf course. The golf course work was lead by prominent Donald Ross aficionado Ron Prichard.

The membership of Evanston Golf Club is very proud of the results of the renovation and restoration, but in look, feel, and spirit, some things have still not changed over the past century. Most of all, the camaraderie first shared by our nine founding members is still prevalent today.

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