North Shore Country Club

Overview: North Shore Country Club in Glenview is a classical parkland course whose current routing was created by the Colt, MacKenzie and Alison firm on a large former farm site. Hugh Alison personally laid out the course, and the directory record lists par 72 and 6,920 yards. Tree-lined fairways, mature greens and the area's naturally draining gravel soil give the course a traditional Chicago character. North Shore is strategically demanding without relying on theatrical hazards: its interest comes from the quality of the angles and the firmness of the underlying land.

History: North Shore began with a nine-hole course on Sheridan Road in 1900, then moved to Kenilworth before relocating to Glenview in 1924. The new course and clubhouse were commissioned from Colt, MacKenzie and Alison, with Hugh Alison laying out the golf and George Brown designing the clubhouse. North Shore hosted the Western Open in 1928 and the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1939, establishing its place in the history of Chicago championship golf.

Did You Know? The Glenview property was chosen partly because it sat on a deep gravel bed that provided unusually good drainage for turf. That hidden geological feature helped the club maintain a reliable course on land that once served as farmland.