Shoreacres

Overview: Shoreacres is an architectural treasure and one of the most revered private enclaves in American golf. Located in Lake Bluff, Illinois, the course is a masterclass in the "MacRaynor" style of design, where Seth Raynor adapted classic strategic templates to a dramatic, ravine-laced landscape. It is a place of intense geometric beauty and strategic depth, defined by its massive, sharply contoured greens and its bold use of the natural topography. The course is famous for its intimate, throwback atmosphere and its lack of modern artifice, offering a playing experience that feels like a quiet conversation with the greatest minds of the Golden Age.

History: Founded in 1916 as a summer colony social club, Shoreacres commissioned Seth Raynor to create a course that would utilize the spectacular bluffs and ravines overlooking Lake Michigan. Since its opening in 1921, the course has been meticulously preserved, with a major restoration by Tom Doak in the early 2000s focused on reclaiming the scale and clarity of Raynor’s original vision. It remains a fixture at the top of world rankings, celebrated not for its length or difficulty, but for the purity of its design and the incredible sequence of holes that dance across the glacial ravines of the North Shore.

Did You Know? Shoreacres features an extraordinary set of Raynor’s signature template holes, including the Biarritz, the Redan, and the Road Hole. The most famous stretch on the course occurs between holes 10 and 15, where the routing interacts repeatedly with the deep, natural ravines, requiring heroic carries and precise angles into the greens. The club also maintains a strong tradition of walking only, with caddies required, ensuring that the tranquil, historic character of the property is never disrupted by modern convenience.