Sunset Country Club

Overview: Sunset Country Club occupies wooded, rolling ground above the Meramec River valley in Sunset Hills. Robert and James Foulis shaped the original course through the hills and trees, creating an inland parkland layout with elevated views toward the Ozark foothills. Later work by Michael Hurdzan and Roger Null altered selected holes while retaining the traditional framework. The course’s identity comes from the combination of natural slopes, mature woodland, flowing creeks and the long history of a St. Louis club built around the landscape.

History: Adolphus Busch began assembling the property in 1910 and formed Sunset Hill Country Club in May 1911. After more land was acquired, Jesse Carleton helped persuade the Busch family to engage the Foulis brothers. Robert, Jim and David Foulis brought Scottish golf knowledge and different specialties to the project, and the 18-hole course was fully completed in spring 1917. The club survived the Great Depression, reorganized as Sunset Country Club in 1938 and was purchased outright from Anheuser-Busch in 1945. Michael Hurdzan and Roger Null later guided hole renovations, with further work now planned for the 2025–27 period.

Did You Know? Ben Hogan once called the fifth hole one of his top 18 holes in golf, a remarkable endorsement for an inland Missouri course. The 15th hole also carries a local historical mystery: a man-made cave near the green has been linked, without firm proof, to the old Sunset Inn, horse watering, a tunnel or Prohibition-era storage. Those stories sit alongside a course whose current renovation is intended to preserve its long-established character.