Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
Designed by Dick Wilson
History
Marty Kelly opened Cog Hill in 1927 with a straightforward ambition: give the working golfers of Chicago’s south suburbs a place to play that didn’t require the credentials or the dues of the private clubs then flourishing across the North Shore. The Kelly family would keep the property in its hands for decades, building a rare thing in American golf — a public facility with the scale and ambition usually reserved for private membership.
The name most associated with Cog Hill’s stature is Dick Wilson, whose design work here helped shape the course that would become known simply as “Course No. 4,” or Dubsdread. Wilson had a reputation for building courses that could test the best players in the country while still functioning as playable, walkable grounds for the public — and Cog Hill gave him room to do exactly that. Joe Lee, Wilson’s longtime associate, contributed to the finishing touches, and later Rees Jones was brought in for renovation work that sharpened the course for tournament play.
That tournament pedigree grew substantial over the years. Cog Hill hosted the Western Open for decades and later became home to the BMW Championship as part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, drawing the PGA Tour’s top field to a municipal-style facility open to any golfer willing to book a tee time. The Kelly family’s stewardship, paired with Wilson’s design and the course’s continued upkeep for championship golf, turned Cog Hill into one of the few public courses in America capable of hosting the sport’s elite while still serving the golfers it was built for in 1927.
Playing Notes
Cog Hill sits on rolling terrain typical of the Palos area, so expect some elevation change and tree-lined corridors rather than wide-open sightlines — bring a game plan for shaping shots around mature timber. Given the limited specifics available on the current layout, the safest approach is to call the pro shop ahead of your round to confirm which nines are open, current green speeds, and cart policy, since conditions and setup can vary through the season. Pack for a full walk if you're able, but check first, as this stretch of Illinois terrain has enough movement that carts are commonly used. Beyond that, treat this like most public-facing Chicago-area layouts: bring extra balls for the tree lines, expect firm-to-fast greens in summer months, and be ready to manage your ball flight more than bomb driver on every hole.