Indian Hill’s course emerged from a short, intense burst of work on what had been open prairie. In 1913 the club engaged H.H. Barker; shortly thereafter, the eminent British architect H.S. Colt advised on routing refinements and, per the club’s historical summary, counseled the club to bring in Donald Ross to finalize the bunker design and complete the course. Ross’s on-site role is described as overseeing and “perfecting” the bunker scheme during construction, a division of labor that matches contemporary Chicago practice when multiple Golden-Age architects passed through the same project. By the time the course was in regular play—1914 by club chronology, with building continuing into 1916—Chick Evans was crediting Indian Hill with roughly one hundred bunkers, a dramatic transformation from the “bunkerless prairie” the club first purchased.
Precise, documentable phasing remains a research problem. A 2022 announcement by Clayton, DeVries & Pont (CDP) summarized the early sequence as: Barker and Colt routed the course in 1913; Ross “oversaw construction of the course’s bunkers” in 1914; subsequent work was “completed by William Langford.” The club’s own public history adds that landscape architect O.C. Simmons advised in the early period. A recent long-form analysis of the course’s routing history (2023) similarly frames the work as sequential—Barker, then Colt, then Ross, then Langford—rather than collaborative.
No evidence surfaced in accessible sources of a later Ross “return” to remodel the course. The tenor of the historical summaries suggests the major Ross input occurred during the original build, with Langford handling a subsequent phase. The club’s own materials emphasize that the original routing and most original green complexes remain in place.
Unique Design Characteristics
Two design traits are unusually prominent at Indian Hill. First, the par distribution: five par-3s and four par-5s in a par-71 composition, with back-to-back par-3s at the turn (holes 9 and 10). That sequence remains one of the course’s defining quirks and is consistently reported in public scorecard data and course profiles. Second, the presence of Skokie Ditch, a nineteenth-century drainage channel that crosses and shadows play. While modest in scale, the ditch creates diagonal or perpendicular decision points that affect club selection and angles, particularly in drier summer conditions when running approaches are viable. A modern profile notes that Indian Hill rewards players “who have the nerve to stay closest to the fall-off point,” a practical description of how the ditch and bordering ground influence preferred lines.
Ross’s tangible imprint in 1914–16 was the bunker scheme—both in quantity and in its relationship to lines of charm. Period commentary by Evans documented around one hundred bunkers in the early years. Today the exact count and shapes differ from the teens-era presentation, but bunkers remain essential to play on numerous holes, including the short par-4s where lay-up and placement options are defended by diagonal sand. The green sites—described by the club as “mostly original” in their locations—tend toward modest footprints by modern standards, with fronts that can accept well-flighted or running approaches depending on wind and ground conditions. The routing itself is compact (under 6,500 yards from the longest tees) and walks easily, with short transitions typical of suburban Chicago layouts laid down before the motorized era.
With member-facing hole-by-hole details behind the club’s login, publicly available cards and course summaries identify holes 9 and 10 (the back-to-back par-3s) and the short par-4s bracketing them as the clearest living expressions of the early design intent: short-iron precision under pressure, terrain-dictated angles, and sand dictating line selection. That said, without access to the Ross plan set or original aerials, assigning specific present-day green contours to Ross versus Langford remains speculative and is flagged in the Notes.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s body of work, Indian Hill sits in the Chicago cluster completed during and just after his 1914 visit to Old Elm and other district clubs. Indian Hill is significant precisely because multiple major architects touched the course, apparently in sequence rather than simultaneously. The club’s own synopsis and independent reporting align on the progression from Barker/Colt (routing) to Ross (bunkers/completion) to Langford (follow-on work). A Chicago District Golf Association essay recounts that the course moved, between 1914 and 1916, from open farmland to a heavily bunkered test. That narrative fits the Chicagoland golden-age construction window and suggests that Ross’s on-site adjustments were executed with ready access to labor and sand.
Indian Hill’s broader cultural resonance in Chicago golf is also notable. The club’s caddie program produced a famous alum—the Murray family—and the property is frequently cited in stories about the inspirations behind Caddyshack. While such anecdotes are not architectural evidence, they reinforce Indian Hill’s place in regional golf memory. The club has hosted “various championships over the years,” but its public-facing posture emphasizes member use over a tournament identity, and no national championships emerged in accessible sources.
Current Condition / Integrity
Multiple modern sources describe the routing and most original green complexes as intact. Over more than a century, bunkers and tree lines evolved, as at virtually every Chicago-area classic. In October 2022 the club appointed Clayton, DeVries & Pont to develop a long-term course plan that would be “respectful of the architects who made a contribution,” with the firm’s initial work focused on analysis and historical research. A club leadership profile (2024) likewise stated that a “major restoration” was planned over three to five years, and again emphasized that the original routing and most original greens survive. Outside the ropes, facilities have been thoughtfully modernized, notably the 2007 conversion of the old curling house into The Lodge, a winter dining and family space that also serves the golf operation (cart storage, halfway house) without altering the course’s footprint.
From a playability perspective, the course today measures 6,483 yards / par 71 from the rated back tees, per CDGA data, with multiple other rated tee sets. Public scorecards confirm the back-to-back par-3s at 9 and 10 and the overall par sequence. Photographs in public profiles and flyover snippets show frequent fairway bunkering guiding angles rather than simply guarding green fronts, which is consistent with how bunker schemes were used at Indian Hill from the beginning.
Key uncertainties / disputed points.
• Opening / phasing: Club branding and history place the establishment and opening in 1914, while a CDGA essay cites construction continuing into 1916 with the bunker scheme reaching its mature form; some commercial directories list “1920” as the year built, almost certainly a tertiary artifact. Resolving this requires board minutes, contractor invoices, and period newspaper coverage (1913–16).
• Division of credit: Public sources agree on Barker and Colt for routing and Ross for bunker design/completion, with William Langford completing subsequent work. Precise attributions of individual holes or green forms remain unverified without the original plan set and early aerials.
• Extent of surviving Ross features: The club and outside listings state that the original routing and most original green complexes remain, but the status of the original bunker forms is less clear. CDP’s 2022 commission notes that historical research is ongoing; conclusions should be revisited once that plan is published.
Sources & Notes
Indian Hill Club — “A family tradition since 1914.” Short institutional history noting early designers (Barker; O.C. Simmons), and that H.S. Colt and Donald Ross were called in to perfect the course and bunker designs. Also establishes 1914 origin.
Indian Hill Club — main site & amenities pages. Confirms private status, amenities (The Lodge, pool, paddle campus, skating), member-first posture and comment that the club has hosted championships but resists outside events. https://indianhillclub.org/ (home, About, Amenities, Guests).
Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) — Indian Hill Club course rating page. Public yardage/par by tee; back set 6,483 yards, par 71.
Top100GolfCourses — Indian Hill Club profile. Summary of Ross association, notes yardage just under 6,500, five par-3s vs four par-5s, and mentions Skokie Ditch. Clayton, DeVries & Pont (Golf Course Architecture news). 2022 appointment to prepare a long-term plan; restates sequence: Barker/Colt 1913 routing; Ross bunker construction 1914; later Langford work.
CDGA essay (“The Enduring Genius of Donald Ross”). Chicago-district piece noting that between 1914 and 1916 Indian Hill went from prairie to a course with about 100 bunkers, citing Chick Evans. Indian Hill leadership recruitment PDF (2024). Notes Colt advised hiring Ross to complete the bunker designs and that the original routing and most greens remain, with a major restoration planned over the next 3–5 years.
Winnetka Historical Society — “Indian Hill: History and Legend.” Local history article noting Skokie Ditch’s path across the club grounds and context of the area’s development. Indian Hill Club — OKW Architects project page (2007). Describes the conversion of the curling house into The Lodge (family dining/entertainment), with cart storage and a halfway house function—useful for present-day facilities context. https://www.okwarchitects.com/indian-hill.
GolfClubAtlas (routing essay by John Challenger, 2023). Analysis of the sequential roles of Barker, Colt, Ross and Langford in the course’s early years; also cites 1918 Chicago Tribune notice praising an early Indian Hill hole.
Cultural context — Murray/caddie history and Caddyshack references. Representative local and trade-press mentions documenting the connection without making architectural claims. https://www.golfdom.com/living-the-caddyshack-dream/ ; https://patch.com/illinois/winnetka/ed-murray-actors-brother-inspiration-caddyshack-was-76.