- 89th percentileCost, nationwide
- 3Documented amenities
- 1892Founded
Chicago Golf Club is a private country club in Wheaton, Illinois. It is operated by Member-owned club.
It has 1 documented golf course, with amenities including practice facility, caddie program and lodging.
The initiation fee runs around $150,000, with recurring dues documented below. Documented membership types include golf memberships.
Culture research describes it as golf-first, traditional and competitive.
The reported documented minimum first-year membership cost for Invitation Full Golf membership is $168,500. That is above the Illinois median of $10,999.98. Nationwide, it is above the median of $32,285.
Location & Directions
Membership & Golf Access Cost
It is above the Illinois median of $10,999.98 and higher than about 100% of 30 comparable Clubs there.
Available information estimates the initiation fee for Invitation Full Golf membership at approximately $150,000.
Available information estimates the annual membership dues for Invitation Full Golf membership at approximately $18,500. That is approximately $1,541.67 per month before other fees.
Initiation fee
$150,000
Membership dues
$18,500
These published costs may only apply to a specific membership category, access type or year. Fees, dues, passes, green fees, assessments and availability can change, so confirm current terms with the Club before you commit.
Membership
Here's what's documented about how to join Chicago Golf Club, including the membership types on offer and what applying involves.
- Membership types
- Invitation Full Golf Membership
- Golf membership
- Yes
Amenities & Facilities
Reported amenities at Chicago Golf Club include practice facility, caddie program and lodging.
- Available amenities
Golf
Golf at Chicago Golf Club includes 1 documented course.
Course overview
- Courses
- 1
- Course details
- Chicago Golf Club18 holes | par 70
Course design
- Architects
- Charles B. Macdonald
- Seth Raynor
Policies
Documented policies for Chicago Golf Club cover guest access, dress requirements and tee times. Rules may change by event or season, so confirm before you visit.
- Guest policy
- The Club is private; visitors may play only when hosted by a member.
- Dress code
- Golf: men wear collared shirts with sleeves and Bermuda-length shorts if shorts are worn; women wear collared shirts, and jeans are not permitted on the course or in the clubhouse.
- Tee-time policy
- Advance tee-time notice is required for guest play.
Club Culture & Public Commentary
This section shows what published articles and reviews say about the social atmosphere at this Club, so you can get a sense of the culture before you apply. It only appears when we found real evidence to back it up.
This documented Culture trait is shared by about 16% of 125 researched Illinois Club records.
- Golf-first
- Traditional
- Competitive
Culture context
A traditional, competitive and intensely golf-first club defined by foundational American golf history.
Club History
How long Chicago Golf Club has been around and what's shaped it, based on published sources. A well-documented history can be a sign of stability, but it doesn't tell you about today's management or member experience.
Chicago Golf Club was founded in 1892.
The club opened the country's first 18-hole golf course in 1893.
After moving to Wheaton, the club opened its new 18-hole course in 1895.
Seth Raynor redesigned the course in 1923 using C.B. Macdonald's ideal-hole concepts.
Additional Club Details
Chicago Golf Club is operated by Member-owned club.
- Ownership or operator
- Member-owned club
Additional statistics
Additional Statistics
Every state and national benchmark we have enough research behind to show for Chicago Golf Club: price, age, golf, access and amenities, compared against other Clubs in Illinois and nationwide. A few of the most decision-relevant ones are already called out next to their facts earlier on this page; this section has the complete picture, using only facts we have enough research behind to compare fairly.
Membership market position
First-year membership cost comparison
The reported documented minimum first-year membership cost for Invitation Full Golf membership is $168,500. It is above the Illinois median of $10,999.98 and is higher than approximately 100% of 30 compatible peer records. It is above the nationwide median of $32,285 and is higher than approximately 89% of 1025 compatible peer records.
Find Clubs within this first-year budgetClub age context
Founded in 1892
That represents about 134 years of documented history. The Club predates approximately 98% of 129 other Illinois Club records with a usable founding year and 98% of 3523 compatible records nationwide. The documented median founding years are 1922 in Illinois and 1960 nationwide.
Club culture
Competitive
This documented Culture trait is shared by 16% of 125 researched Illinois Club records and 14.3% of 3402 researched records nationwide.
Find Clubs with this culture traitBlank or unresearched fields are excluded, the number of Clubs compared varies by fact, and this Club is never counted in its own comparison group. These are benchmarks from our own directory, not market-wide estimates, so treat them as directional rather than exact.
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Information updated
Sources & Verification
These are the sources behind the facts above. Check them yourself before making a decision, since some information may have changed since it was published.
- brobible.com Pricing SourceSupports: Membership & access pricing
- www.chicagogolfclubfdn.org Research SourceSupports: Club history
- www.golfdigest.com Research SourceSupports: Club history
View 3 more sources
- www.usga.org Research SourceSupports: Club history
- img.bluegolf.org Research SourceSupports: General research
- www.golfclubatlas.com Research SourceSupports: General research
What people discuss
Independent course opinion is elite. Golf Digest ranks Chicago Golf Club among the top courses in the United States and gives it a 4.9/5 panel score, while 18Birdies also reports a 4.8/5 aggregate score with perfect condition marks in its smaller public-review sample. The consistent themes are exceptional firmness and conditioning, demanding strategic template holes, and one of the most historically significant golf experiences in the country.
This is what people commonly say about this Club in public reviews and articles, not a member survey or a rating from us. Weigh it alongside the facts above, not in place of them.