Old Elm—Highland Park, IL

Old Elm is what I would call a hidden gem.  It is not ranked by any of the three major golf rating entities, yet the

course is a true joy to play golf on.  The course was built in 1913 with an H.S. Colt routing and Donald Ross

construction.  Not too shabby a cast of characters to be associated with a golf course.

The course is currently under-going a renovation project that is projected to last 4 years.  They are only 2 years

deep into the project and the place is totally amazing!!  However, I was told to come back in 2 more years and I’d

be even more awed by the renovation work.  In fact, a lot of that work can be seen at this website.

There are quite a few things that jumped out at me regarding Old Elm.  The thing that smacks you right in the

face instantly is the immaculate maintenance of the facility.  I don’t mean flowers and waterfalls and non-sense

like that…I mean true great golf producing maintenance practices.  Here is a picture of one of the fairways, which

is perfectly manicured and produces wonderfully fast and firm golf turf.

Old Elm 2.jpg

The greens are also perfect.  The place is just a joy to play golf at.

And among the other great things at Old Elm is the routing.  The holes fit together like a hand and glove and the

walk is quite simply wonderful.  

If I lived in Chicago, I’d hope to be a member at Old Elm.