Barrington Hills Country Club

Overview: Barrington Hills Country Club is a private George O'Neil design in the rolling countryside of Barrington Hills, Illinois. The club's official scorecard lists the black tees at 7,245 yards and par 71. The course has an unusually open setting for the Chicago area, with meadows, mature trees, kettle ponds and broad views creating the feeling of golf in the country. Its strategy is based on width and angle rather than constant confinement: players can choose different lines from the tee, but the large, severely undulating greens make the approach and first putt decisive. The walk between holes and the changing scale of the property are central parts of its character.

History: The club was founded in 1921 after Harry Stilson Hart and a group of Barrington families assembled more than 200 acres for a country club outside Chicago. George O'Neil designed the course, and the property retained its rural setting as the surrounding region developed. A farmhouse served as an early clubhouse before later buildings were created, including a replacement after a 1930 fire. The official course material describes Barrington Hills as a classic O'Neil design and emphasizes its rolling ground, six tee positions and large greens. The club also hosted a U.S. Open qualifier in 2019, extending its long competitive history into the modern era.

Did You Know? The official scorecard gives every hole a name, including Away, Pocket, Devil, Ridge, Blind and Nasty. Those names are a small piece of the course's personality and make the 18-hole routing easier to remember than a list of numbers alone.