Flossmoor Country Club
Flossmoor, Ill.
7,136 yards, par 72
flossmoorcc.org

Eighty years ago, Flossmoor Country Club in Chicago's south suburbs was one of golf's "it" courses. Jock Hutchinson won the 1920 PGA Championship here. Max Marston captured the 1923 U.S. Amateur here, beating Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet along the way.

Five years later, Jones posted seven consecutive 3s, setting a Flossmoor course-record 67 that stood for 56 years. By the 1990s, however, Flossmoor had lost its mojo.

Enter Holland, Michigan-based architect Raymond Hearn, whose inspired renovation has put the storied club back on the map. Over a three-year period, Hearn, superintendent Bob Lively and a spirited membership hacked away at overgrown trees, gutted the boring oval bunkers in favor of Riviera-style sand sprawls, expanded green collars and created a new par-3 13th.

The result is a layout that retains the old signature elements but is laced with enhancements that make it relevant, rugged fun from start to finish.