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History

The origins of Conway Farms Golf Club trace back to three Lake Forest families whose love for golf was exceeded only by their foresight. Their vision for a first rank golf club began with the purchase in 1956 of a farm straddling a stretch of old Conway Road, thus giving rise to the name Conway Farms. Conway Farms Golf Club is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the game, encouraging walking, fast play and the strong support of amateur golf. 

Conway Farms Golf Club opened for play on August 3, 1991. The Tom Fazio award-winning course sits on 209 acres in Lake Forest, Illinois, and is designed around Scottish links golf traditions. Today, all of us enjoy a well-established Club and mature housing development, with cozy cul de sacs and tree-lined streets, and it's hard to remember what was here before. The answer is nothing - no connecting roadway linking Route 60 with Everett Road, no houses, ponds, or tree-lined streets. There were just cornfields and other crops, and trails for horses to pick their way through and the occasional hunters searching for birds. But there was also a long-nurtured dream.

August 3, 1991, Conway Farms opened its doors.  A ribbon was stretched between two trees and cut by one of the Founders,  Margaret Hart.  Then a bagpiper led fifty new members for the first time onto the course.  Speeches were made, the land was blessed, and sand imported from Scotland was poured - signifying the unity with the birthplace of golf.

1991 "Under Construction" photos
Hole 4
From left; Gus Hart, Bob Stuart and Tom Fazio
Hole 16
Hole 12
Hole 11
Hole 14
Hole 1
Hole 15
1 Green
Hole 6
Hole 6 Under Construction
Hole 12
Hole 13
As you glance over to the upper left of this frame, you can see the original farms and silos. Conway Farms was originally going to be called "Twin Silos". The silos are now gone and replace with homes.
Hole 9
Hole 8
Hole 4
Hole 13
The creek on hole 18
Hole 15
The tee box on hole 5
Hole 18
Hole 15
The creek along 18 looking back towards 10
Looking down 9 fairway with 8 green on the left
From left; Tom Fazio, Todd Sones, Dennis Wise, Gus Hart, Wolfgang Mueller, Bob Padula
Hole 14
Hole 3
Hole 5
Hole 17
Bunkers on 15
Hole 16
Hole 1
Hole 15
Hole 12
Hole 10
Founding Governors - Left to Right: Lewis Steadman, John Andersen, L. Peter Smith, Alexander D. Stuart, Chrissy Cherry, Francis Morley, David Amory, Janice Menke, Robert T.E. Lansing
Hole 8
18 Green Across the Pond
Tom Fazio explaining hitting out of the sod wall bunker on 15.
Gus Hart and Bob Stuart talking to Tom Fazio on 18.
Construction of hole 17
Hole 4
3 Green
Founding Governors overlooking the newly constructed sod wall bunker on hole 8
Hole 16
Founders and 1991 members gather in the golf shop ( the old farmhouse) to hear the club's status.