The Olympic Club

In 1918, the Club assumed operations of the Lakeside Golf Club, including an 18-hole golf course. By 1922, the Club had acquired enough acreage to replace the original golf course with two 18-hole golf courses.

Famed architect Arthur Brown, designer of the San Francisco City Hall, designed the Lakeside clubhouse, which officially opened in 1925. The clubhouse features spectacular dining and banquet facilities, meeting rooms, locker rooms, an exercise center, massage services and a swimming pool. The Golf Shop was completely renovated in spring 2011.

Willie Watson and course superintendent Sam Whiting designed the first Lake and Ocean courses in 1924. Unfortunately, storm damage led Sam Whiting to redesign both courses again in 1927.

The Lake Course remains true to the 1927 design with minimal renovations in the intervening years. Prior to the 1955 U.S. Open, the Club brought the USGA’s official course architect, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., to toughen the Lake Course for competition.

Most recently, the Club completed the Lake Course Greens Replacement project. Conversion from poa annua to bent-grass greens was the primary objective of the project, but the crew also rebuilt and renovated greens. The new 8th hole, the first routing change to the course since 1927, was sculpted into the surrounding hillside with views of the clubhouse. It plays as a 200-yard par 3. Additional alterations were done for the 2012 U.S. Open Championship.