Riverside Golf Club

Riverside was founded in 1893 by William A. Havemeyer and twenty-two partners, which makes it one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States and one of the pioneering clubs of the west. They leased a parcel at First Avenue and 26th Street and laid nine holes entirely on the west bank of the Des Plaines River.

By 1901 the course measured 3,217 yards and was rated to a bogey of 43, which is a useful reminder of what golf was before the rubber-cored ball. In 1919 the club brought in William Langford to redesign what existed and build out onto new land: that is the eighteen played today, a par 71 of about 6,750 yards.

What it asks of you

Langford is the reason to pay attention. He built greens raised on distinct plateaux with steep, squared shoulders, and bunkers cut hard into them, so a ball that lands on the wrong shelf does not stay: it runs off into a collection area and leaves a recovery that has to be played uphill onto a surface tilting away.

That makes the approach, not the drive, the decisive shot. At 6,750 yards the course is not long by modern standards, and a player who takes less club off the tee to leave a full wedge will score better than one who chases distance and ends up between clubs.

The river is the other constant. It runs along the property and floods, and the club has had to live with that for well over a century, which is part of why the course has been rebuilt and adjusted more than once.

What players say about it

This is a private club, so the public record comes from guest accounts, regional golf coverage and specialist reviews. The points below summarise what recurs. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• The age and continuity of the club are what visitors mention first: 1893 is early even by Chicago standards.
• Langford’s greens are treated by architecture writers as the point of the course, and as a good example of his style.
• Conditioning is reported as consistently good.
• The club is described as unpretentious for one of this vintage.

What comes up against

• Access is closed: private club, play by invitation.
• The Des Plaines floods, and the course has been closed by water more than once.
• At 6,750 yards it gives a long hitter little resistance from the tee.
• The volume of public material is small, so any summary, including this one, rests on a narrow base.

Getting there and when to go

The club is in North Riverside, about twenty-five minutes west of the Chicago Loop, near the junction of First Avenue and the Eisenhower.

The season runs roughly from April to October. June and September give the best conditions; spring can be wet on a river site. Play is by invitation of a member.

Green fees

Guest conditions are set by the club. See the club’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, the club’s published history and encyclopaedic entries for the founding, the original nine and the Langford redesign, and public course records for par and length. The opinion section summarises public reviews and guest accounts read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.