Olympic Club

First named the "San Francisco Olympic Club", Discrimination lawsuit In 1987, San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne filed suit against the Olympic Club for discrimination against women and (allegedly) against minorities. Renne contended that the Club's lease of City-owned land upon which fell one hole of the Lake Course and two holes of the Ocean Course required them to conform to the City's anti-discrimination policies. Rather than face a protracted legal case with an uncertain outcome, the board voted to accept women as members in 1990. Golf club In 1918, the club took over the Lakeside Golf Club, which had just opened in 1917 but was struggling financially. Lakeside had one 18-hole golf course designed by Wilfrid Reid, but following additional land purchases the club decided to replace it with two courses. These were designed by Willie Watson, a well-known Scottish architect, and the Lake and Ocean courses opened in 1924. The Ocean course was shortly thereafter damaged by landslides, and Sam Whiting (who had constructed the two courses, and would remain as superintendent until 1954) remodeled and rebuilt both courses in 1927. In 1953, the Lake course was modified by Robert Trent Jones in preparation for the 1955 U.S. Open. The Ocean course was altered several times over the years, and following heavy storm damage in 1996 was completely redesigned by Tom Weiskopf and reopened in 2000. The Cliffs Course opened in 1994 with Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf as the course architects. The Olympic Club hosted the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur (won by Sihwan Kim) and the U.S. Amateur in 1958 (won by Charles Coe) and 1981 (won by Nathaniel Crosby, son of Bing Crosby). The Lake and Ocean Courses were used for the 2007 U.S Amateur, won by Colt Knost, who earned a 2 and 1 victory over Michael Thompson. Competition In 1909, Olympian and club member Ralph Rose set a world record shot put throw of . In 1915, the club's amateur basketball team won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Basketball Championship. In 1934, club member Fred Apostoli won the National Amateur Middleweight boxing title. In 1937, the Olympic Club track and field team won the Track and Field National Championships. In 1941, club member Hank Luisetti helped lead the Olympic Club basketball team to win the AAU Basketball Championships again. In 1950, Olympic Club member Arthur Larsen won the U.S. Open of tennis in Forest Hills, New York. The Olympic Club water polo team won the 1959 Water Polo National Championship. Cycling is one of the sports with the longest tradition at the Olympic Club. From 1893 to 1903, the Olympic Club Cycling Team was one of the club's premier teams. Although the sanctioned cycling team disbanded in 1903, many Olympians participated in cycling on an individual basis. The most illustrious of these was Ernest Ohrt. Ohrt capped his cycling career by being named coach of the United States Olympic Games cycling team in 1924. Beginning in the mid-1990s, a revived Olympic Club cycling team supported several cyclists who went on to become professional road cyclists. Former Olympic Club cyclists who later turned professional include Skyler Bishop, Nick Kelez, James Hibbard, Jackson Stewart, Mike Tillman and Zach Walker. In addition to being a springboard for aspiring professional cyclists, the modern cycling team also boasts some of the finest masters-age cyclists in the nation, including Brian McGuire, Hal Johnson, Cynthia Mommsen and Lisa Hunt. Club member Maureen O'Toole won a silver medal in water polo at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. At least five Olympic Club members have won the Dipsea Race, which was founded by OC members: Oliver Millard in 1910 and 1913, Mason Hartwell in 1917, Norman Bright in 1970, Joe King in 1995 and 1996, and Shirley Matson in 1993. In 1992, the Club set up the Winged "O" Foundation, which changed its name to The Olympic Club Foundation in 2002. Its purpose is to fund youth sports programs which primarily target less advantaged youth who live in the Bay Area. Winged-O football and rugby The Olympic Club fielded a football team that played Bay Area colleges such as Stanford, Cal, St. Mary's, and Santa Clara. The team was formed in 1890. That year, the Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing athletes to jump to its ranks with offers of jobs. An investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union ruled that the Olympics' practice was not actually professionalism but only a "semi" form of it, thus inventing the term "semi-pro". Although the Amateur Athletic Union didn't like the idea very much, it decided that clubs could indeed offer employment without losing their amateur status or compromising the athlete. From 1891 through 1934, Olympic club had a 12-30-8 record against Stanford and a 6-49-5 record against Cal. In 1926, Percy Locey played football at the Olympic Club. He was a member of the Olympic's "Winged-O" football eleven that handed the University of California's "Wonder Team" their first loss in five seasons. In 1928, Locey took over as the head football coach at the Olympic Club. Rugby Olympic Club fields a rugby team that participates in the Pacific Rugby Premiership and formerly in USA D1 and in the Rugby Super League. The Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) is the highest level domestic rugby competition in the U.S. Several players from Olympic Club have played for the U.S. national rugby team. In 1913, the Olympic Club's rugby union team played the touring the New Zealand All Blacks, then as now the world top team in that sport. Olympic Club members later provided the core of the U.S. national team that won gold medals in rugby at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, the last occasion the sport was part of the Olympic program. ==City Clubhouse==

The Olympic Club's City Clubhouse is a masonry building on Post Street, two blocks west of Union Square in San Francisco, next door to the Bohemian Club and on the same block as the Marines Memorial Club. A garage (shared by the Marines Memorial Club) and separate entrance are on Sutter Street, on the north side of the block. The current clubhouse was built in 1912, after the first one was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The clubhouse contains a pub, a dining room, meeting rooms, banquet rooms, guestrooms, a fitness center, a cardio solarium, handball and squash courts, circuit training facilities, two basketball courts, two swimming pools, and a rooftop deck. ==The courses==

General course information Bent grass covers the greens. The fairways are a rye and poa annua grass combination. The roughs also have a bit of bluegrass mixed in. Setup for the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship: • The Lake Course played at and par 35-35=70. The Ocean Course, which was used for the first two days of stroke play only, played at and par 35-35=70. • The Lake Course was set for green speeds of approximately on the Stimpmeter. The primary rough was grown to , with a strip of intermediate rough cut to in height. • The Lake Course carried a USGA Course Rating of 74.8 and a USGA Slope Rating of 143. The Ocean Course carried a USGA Course Rating of 74.0 and a USGA Slope Rating of 136. The Lake Course The Lake Course has been recognized by Golf Magazine in its list of the Top 100 Courses in the U.S. It has also been recognized in Golf Week category of "America's 100 Best Classical Courses." In Golf Digest's list of the U.S. 100 Greatest Courses for 2021-2022, the Lake Course was ranked 34. It is almost entirely within the borders of San Francisco. The yardage of the Lake Course is from the new championship tees, with a course rating of 75.7 and a slope rating of 143. From the next set of tees forward, the course measures , and has a course rating of 72.3 and a slope rating of 132. From the next set of tees forward, the course measures , and has a course rating of 70.9 and a slope rating of 129. From the front tees, the course measures , and has a course rating of 68.6 and a slope rating of 122. The Lake Course was lengthened to prepare for the 2007 U.S. Amateur and 2012 U.S. Open by architect Bill Love. Included in the improvements by Bill Love were new tees that have added significant length to the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th, 13th and 16th holes. In addition, drastic changes were made to the par-4 seventh and par-3 eighth holes as part of the greens replacement project. A new two-tiered green at the seventh replaces the old three-level green constructed in the 1970s. This green is located approximately behind the old one. The most dramatic alterations were made at the par-3 8th. Previously just a short uphill pitch, a completely new hole has been built with a teeing area well back and to the right of the original, changing the angle of approach and pushing the length of the hole back to . A new green has also been built at the par-3 15th. The controversial 18th green has also been changed further to reintroduce, in a more playable manner, the slope that was previously removed while at the same time creating more diversity in pin placements for the finishing hole. The new 7th and 8th holes opened for play in May 2009. Scorecard The Ocean Course The Ocean Course has seen many changes over its history including a recent complete redesign and reconstruction in 2012 by architects Bill Love and Brian Kington. The Ocean Course's storied past includes winter El Niño storms in 1983, and 1997 that caused significant damage and required major changes to the course and layout. During the mid-1990s, the club built 4 holes west of Skyline Blvd. along the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Holes of par 4, par 3, par 5, and par 4 had dramatic views, but these holes were severely eroded and fell victim to the 1997 storm. Prior to the recent 2012 renovation project the course had been rebuilt in 1999. The regular yardage for the Ocean Course is from the Black Championship tees with a course rating of 73.6 and a slope rating of 136. From the Blue tees, the course measures and has a course rating of 71.1 and a slope rating of 129. From White tees, the course measures with a course rating of 68.8 and a slope rating of 121. From the Green tees, the course measures with a course rating of 66.5 and a slope rating of 115. In preparation for the 2007 U.S. Amateur, the 14th hole was changed, to allow the 15th hole and driving range to be lengthened. The Ocean Course recently hosted the U.S.G.A. Amateur Four-ball Championships in May 2015. Scorecard The Cliffs Course The 9-hole, par 3 Cliffs Course is the windiest because it is set on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. Though it is short, it is very challenging. Designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, it is the most scenic of all three courses. It measures . ==Major tournaments held at the Olympic Club==

U.S. Open The Olympic Club has hosted five U.S. Opens (1955, 1966, 1987, 1998, 2012); the 54-hole leader failed to win all five times. Jack Fleck won in 1955, defeating Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff after the two were tied at the end of 72 holes on 287. Billy Casper defeated Arnold Palmer in another playoff to win in 1966 and Scott Simpson won in 1987 by one shot over Tom Watson. Lee Janzen won in 1998 with an even-par score of 280. Players complained about the questionable pin position at the 18th hole in the second round; it was set at the top of a ridge, and many balls rolled on far beyond the cup. Kirk Triplett incurred a two-stroke penalty when he used his putter to stop the ball from rolling. Payne Stewart, the runner-up to Janzen, complained as he three-putted the hole. The green was flattened around 2000 as a result, but was given more slope in the recent renovation to the course. The 2012 U.S. Open was won by Webb Simpson when he made four birdies over the last thirteen holes. This U.S. Open was part of three sports championships involving San Francisco that year, along with the Giants' World Series victory and the 49ers' sixth Super Bowl appearance. U.S. Women's Open The Olympic Club has hosted one U.S. Women's Open, in 2021. Ryder Cup In November 2017, it was announced by the PGA of America that The Olympic Club's Lake Course will be the host of the 2028 PGA Championship also the 2033 Ryder Cup. It will be the first Ryder Cup held on the west coast since the 1959 contest in Indian Wells, California and the first for SF Bay Area. The Tour Championship The Olympic Club has hosted the PGA Tour's season-ending event, The Tour Championship, twice, in 1993 and 1994. U.S. Amateur The Olympic Club has hosted four U.S. Amateurs, in 1958, 1981, 2007, and 2025. U.S. Women's Amateur The USGA announced that The Olympic Club will host the 2030 U.S. Women's Amateur. U.S. Junior Amateur The Olympic Club has hosted one U.S. Junior Amateur, in 2004. ==See also==