The 20 Oldest US Golf Courses Still Open (Pre-1900)

American golf traces to the 1880s. These 20 courses, all from before 1900 and still in play, shaped the game on this continent.

The 20 oldest US golf courses still open

1. 1860 — Olympic Club Lake Course (San Francisco, CA) — designed by Sam Whiting, Gil Hanse
2. 1860 — Ocean Course at Olympic Club (San Francisco, CA) — designed by Willie Watson, Tom Weiskopf
3. 1878 — Rockaway Hunting Club (Lawrence, NY) — designed by Devereux Emmet
4. 1881 — Columbian Country Club of Dallas (Carrollton, TX) — designed by Ralph Plummer
5. 1881 — Meadow Brook Club (Village of Old Westbury, NY) — designed by Dick Wilson
6. 1882 — Main Course at Brookline Country Club (Brookline, MA) — designed by Willie Campbell
7. 1882 — Primrose Course at Brookline Country Club (Brookline, MA) — designed by Willie Campbell
8. 1882 — Pittsburgh Field Club (Pittsburgh, PA) — designed by Alex Findlay
9. 1882 — Forest Lake Club (Hawley, PA)
10. 1884 — Edgewood Club of Tivoli (Town of Red Hook, NY)
11. 1884 — Oakhurst Links (White Sulpher Springs, WV) — designed by Russell Montague
12. 1885 — Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course (Bronx, NY) — designed by Tom Bendelow
13. 1885 — Brooklawn Country Club (Fairfield, CT)
14. 1885 — Tuxedo Club (Tuxedo Park, NY) — designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
15. 1886 — Washington County Golf & Country Club (Washington, PA)
16. 1886 — Dorset Field Club (Dorset, VT)
17. 1887 — Foxburg Country Club (Foxburg, PA)
18. 1887 — Quogue Field Club (Quogue, NY) — designed by James Hepburn & R. B. Wilson
19. 1887 — Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links (Edgartown, MA)
20. 1887 — Onteora Club (Tannersville, NY)

Why Olympic Club Lake Course matters

Olympic Club Lake Course (San Francisco, CA) opened in 1860 and is still playable today. That's more than 130 years of continuous golf on the same ground.

Courses from this era are typically walk-only, feature small and firm greens, and put a premium on strategy over power. Many are parkland routings that wind through mature trees planted when the course was built — trees that make the design harder every decade.

Want to play one? Every course on this list links to its Stymie page with directions and contact info.