Beverly Country Club
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| Beverly Country Club | |
This is Hole #2 (Par 5, 582 yards). Click the picture to see more holes. |
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| Club Information | |
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| Location: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| Established: | 1908 |
| Type: | Private |
| Total holes: | 18 |
| Tournaments hosted: | USGA Senior Amateur Championship (1931); Western Open Championship (1910, 1963, 1967, 1970); Western Amateur Championship (1930); Women’s Western Open Championships (1957, 1960, 1965); and Chicago Victory National Open Championship (1943) |
| Website: | Beverly Country Club |
| Designed by: | Donald J. Ross |
| Par: | 71 |
| Length: | 7016 yards |
| Course Rating: | 72.1 (unofficial) |
| Course Record: | 64 - Tom Weiskopf (1967) |
Beverly Country Club, located in the American city of Chicago, Illinois, is one of Chicago's historical cornerstones. The club was founded in 1908 and initially designed by George O'Neil, also the club's first professional golfer. Shortly after, well-known golf course architect Tom Bendelow helped fortify the layout. In 1918, the legendary architect Donald J. Ross created and executed a master plan to renovate the course. Since, the Beverly Country Club has been a mainstay in American golfing circles. In 2002, the Members of The Beverly Country Club adopted a plan to completely restore and rejuvenate the golf course. Under guidance of golf course architect and restorer Ron Prichard, the course has recaptured the design concepts which Ross himself included in his original work at The Beverly.
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[edit] Architectural History
Beverly’s mark on American golf was firmly made when club officials decided to ask legendary architect Donald J. Ross to create a master plan to renovate the course and bring it back to major championship standards. Over the course of nearly a decade, the entire Ross plan was adopted. In a fitting touch of déjà vu, a dedicated group of Beverly members recently led the club through a restoration of the golf course that reclaimed many of the Donald J. Ross features that had been lost over the decades.
The genius of Ross’s work lies in the routing of the golf course, in which no two consecutive holes run in the same direction, despite the fact that the course is laid out within a perfect rectangle that is hemmed in and bisected by three arterial streets and a railroad line. Ross made excellent use of the dominant geological feature of property: a prominent ridge that runs from behind the fifth green eastward through the promontory above the second fairway.
Five holes on the front nine are designed around this ridge, which had been part of the southern shore of prehistoric Lake Chicago, a forgotten body of water that deposited sand dunes along Beverly’s back nine. Students of Ross’s design “school” will recognize his mark throughout the course, particularly in the tee and green complexes.
With its golf course stretching beyond 7,000 yards, Beverly is now honored as being one of Golfweek’s Top 100 Classic Golf courses in the United States.
[edit] Tournament History
Over the years, Beverly has been the host of four Western Open championships (1910, 1963, 1967 and 1970); one USGA Amateur Championship (1931); one Western Amateur Championship (1930); three Women’s Western Open championships (1937, 1960 and 1965); and the 1943 Chicago Victory National Open Championship, a wartime substitute for the National Open.
[edit] Future Tournaments
Continuing its storied tradition, Beverly Country Club is designated to be the host of a number of events in the coming years. In 2009, they will be hosting the United States Golf Association (USGA) Senior Amateur Championship. In 2010, they are scheduled to be the host of the Illinois State Amateur Championship. And in 2011, the Beverly Country Club will be the host of the Western Golf Association Junior Championship, making them one of only a few clubs which will have then hosted the full complement of all three Western Golf Association Golf Championships.
[edit] Famous Tournament Champions
- 1910 Western Open Championship won by Chick Evans
- In 1925, Virginia Van Wie captured one of her first championships at Beverly
- 1931 US Amateur won by Francis Ouimet
- 1963 Western Open Championship won by Jack Nicklaus
- 1967 Western Open Championship won by Arnold Palmer
- Patty Berg and Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias have each held the women's course record which is still held by Susie Maxwell
[edit] A Proud Caddie Tradition
The Beverly Country Club has a long, proud relationship with the Western Golf and the Western Golf Association, a charitable trust which provides full-tuition scholarships renewable for up to four years to deserving caddies. The program started in 1930 and was originally endowed with the donated golf winnings of Chick Evans, all of whos golf winnings went toward the scholarships as a way of preserving his amateur status. Today the Evans Scholarship Program is supported by tens of thousands of contributors across the country, one of the largest of which is the Beverly Country Club. With nearly 300 of the total 8,500 Evans Scholar alumni, the Beverly Country Club also boasts the record for the largest number of Evans Scholar alumni of any club in America.
[edit] Holes
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