The Olympic Club

The Olympic Club has a rich history not only in golf but in all sports. It is in fact the oldest athletic club in the United States started in 1860 and has produced many great athletes and Olympians. Headquartered in San Fransisco, CA, the Olympic Club has a three golf courses on the property with nearly as much history as the club itself. The three courses include the Lake course, the Ocean course, and the Cliffs course which is a par three course located along the Pacific Ocean cliffs. The course that I will be talking about in today is the Lake course.

The course today is not the original course on the property. The original course, Lakeside Golf Course designed by Wilfrid Reid, was built in 1917 but because of some financial struggles was bought by the Olympic Club in 1918. After acquiring the course the club purchased additional property and built two courses, the Ocean and Lake courses, through the help of designers Willie Watson and Sam Whiting. The courses were finally finished in 1924. They have remained basically unchanged except for simple modifications that were made by Robert Trent Jones.

Although all the Olympic Club courses are highly reputable, the Lake course has a competitive history unmatched by many built in its time. The course has hosted many national championships including the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, three U.S. Amateur Championships (including the 2007 U.S. Am), and four U.S. Open Championships the next of which will be in the year 2012.

The Lake course is a very unique layout and design. Although its length is slightly under 6900 yards from the championship tees, it packs a punch. The course itself sits mostly on a hill with many of the holes running along the hill not up and down it. This makes driving the golf ball very difficult by forcing you to hit shots that work into the hill to keep the ball from rolling through the fairways. The greens are relatively small and very undulating. The course is probably most know for its 18th hole. Being fairly shot, it doesn't pose to much of a threat but come tournament time the atmosphere created by the amphitheater-like hill and the blind second shot into a green guarded by the famed "IOU" bunkers is second to none.

I had the great opportunity to play the Lake course in that 2004 U.S. Amateur Championship and can say from experience that the golfing experience found at the Olympic Club is one of the best. As you walk out to the course in the morning a blanket of San Fransisco Bay fog often covers the lower reaches of the golf course. Couple the fog with the winding Cyprus trees and you really feel as though you are in another world. The Olympic Club is bathed in a history of championships and Olympians and the Lake course is no exception.

Information used to write this article was found at Wikipedia.org