Old Elm Club

Overview: Old Elm Club in Highland Park is a compact, intensely strategic course associated with Harry Colt and Donald Ross. Built across gently rolling North Shore ground, the layout relies on close-set holes, mature trees, shaped greens and subtle changes in angle rather than on sheer length. At par 72, the layout extends to 6,712 yards in the directory data, but the course's difficulty comes from the quality of each decision: a small change in position can open or close the next approach. Old Elm has the quiet, natural character of a classic private course whose architecture reveals itself gradually.

History: Harry Colt laid out Old Elm in 1913 during one of his rare visits to North America, and Donald Ross later added significant refinements. The two architects' association is unusual and gives the course a layered identity: Colt's strategic framework and Ross's detailed work sit within the same compact property. The club has preserved that classical character through careful stewardship rather than repeatedly replacing the routing with a wholly modern design.

Did You Know? Old Elm is one of the few American courses where Harry Colt and Donald Ross both had a direct hand in the design. Their collaboration links a North Shore course to two of the most influential names in early twentieth-century architecture.