The First Review- Old Elm Club

Old Elm in Highland Park, Illinois is one of the most storied clubs in a Chicagoland golf scene loaded with golf clubs of great distinction. But despite having 18 holes routed by H.S. Colt and constructed under the supervision of the legendary architect Donald Ross, the club is known in the North Shore simply for its all-male membership, a dubious distinction shared by other Chicago-area greats Bob O' Link (also in Highland Park), Black Sheep, and Butler National. In fact, these four clubs represent a full one-sixth of the estimated 24 clubs nationwide that remain off limits for those of the female gender.

Politics and gender relations aside, Old Elm is a course that needs to be seen by more of the true golfing world. Its 6465 yards of pure design genius receive less play than virtually any golf course in the world. With just 40 members reportedly on the club's roster (almost all "old money" names such as the Marshall Fields family), the opportunity to find yourself a coveted guest spot is highly limited. Given that many of those members play primarily at other clubs (read "co-gender"), it is no surprise that even on a Saturday morning the course is largely empty.

Thanks to an outing at Shoreacres (the orignal plan for our Monday jaunt) and another at Onwentsia, I found myself on the doorsteps of Old Elm late on a Monday afternoon a few weeks back. The club I have caddied at for the last decade, Ravinia Green (nothing to write about), was closed for an outing so myself and a few fellow caddies decided to try working our way onto another area club for a twilight round.

After a while spent searching for someone, with or without authority (the tales of emptiness are certainly true on Monday afternoon), we finally found the Monday starter and were told to wait for a group to make the turn but that after they did, we could get going on the back nine.

From the first ball struck on the 10th tee to the final shot into the 2nd green (before a massive thunderstorm cut the period of nirvana short), Old Elm was everything I have come to expect and love from a Ross-constructed gem.

The 10th gets the backside going with a bang. Despite being listed as a par-5 on the scorecard, it plays as a long par-4 in the modern game at just under 480 yards. With the tee shot seemingly forced toward the trees on the right-hand side by a set of bunkers on the left side of the fairway, Ross immediately plays tricks on the mind and challenges players to risk a bunkery fate in order to avoid being blocked out without a angle from the right. Up at the green there is the first of several push-up surfaces, leaving no doubt whose hand was responsible for this gem of a golf course.

After making the 10-foot walk over to the 11th tee, players once again find their knowledge of the course and skill in execution put to the test. Fairway bunkers on the right side force tee shots toward the left-hand side, again preventing those afraid to test the bunkers from having a clean look over the cross bunkers and onto the relatively flat green. One of the longer two-shotters on the course, the 11th requires a well played mid-to-long iron approach into a green that runs from front to back, guarded by a fairly benign sandy patch on the right side. 

The 12th is a quintessential Ross short par-4

But it is holes such as the 12th that make Donald Ross' designs stand the test of time. Playing just under 320 yards from the medal tees, the short par-4 occupies one of the flattest spots on the course and lacks much of the natural undulation that aids the rest of the layout. Yet the placement of the bunkering (challenging players to hug the OB line down the left) and the two oaks on the right side (preventing the "bomb and recover" approach available far too often at modern courses) put a player's ability to devise and execute on a strategy to the test. 

The pushed-up nature and angle of the green prevent run-up shots played with anything less than perfect control, sending misplayed shots off to the right and back down the front side with unexpected speed. One of the favorite mantras of Ross was that a course should be made to allow for "an easy bogey but a tough par". I cannot think of a better example of this than the 12th at Old Elm.

Fast forward to the 15th and you find yet another brilliant short two-shotter. Again under the 330 yard mark, the 15th tests strategy and execution on both drive and approach. With the left-hand bunker eliminating any hope of a successful tee shot played with the driver (something I found out the hard way), placement is at a premium. An oak tree guarding the right side of the putting surface makes any shot played from the right side of the fairway difficult to get close, forcing tee shots to challenge the fairway bunker in order to open up the totality of the green for an approach. 

The 15th is yet another par-4 that thoroughly tests strategy

 

After a solid par-5 back up the hill toward the clubhouse, players are faced with one of the best one-shotters in the Chicago area. The recently-restored 17th is more a product of Colt than Ross, designed in the "redan" style with a series of mounds creating a cascade down from the high side on the right of the green to a swale on the lower left than separates the putting surface from that of the adjacent 6th. 

Balls left short of the green leave the player with a nearly impossible pitch to the back left pin location, with balls seemingly unwilling to stop dead on their way down the massive slope toward the backside swale.

The 18th makes great use of the natural undulations and in quintessential Ross style, employs 2 unique cross bunkers to impede the view of players on both tee shot on approach at the long par-4. Once the drive and long iron approach have been navigated, the green is one of the more tame surfaces on the course, allowing players to give it a go for a closing birdie or par save. 

The 1st gets players out in a smooth fashion. The short three-shotter features a wide landing area and offers one of the best opportunities to put up a red number on the scorecard, something Ross tended to like to offer early in a player's round. 

As for the rest of the front nine, mother nature apparently had other plans. As much as I was disappointed not to see the rest of Old Elm, I just hope it gives me reason enough to make my way back sometime in the near future. Given that I dont even know the name of a single member, that ambition is pretty daring. Then again, Mondays are indeed there for a reason.