The Course Preview ⛳
Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course)
Greens: Bentgrass/Poa Mix
The BMW Championship was last hosted at Olympia Fields in 2020 but, before that year, it had not been featured on the PGA Tour since the 2003 U.S. Open, so course history ranges from slim to none for every golfer in this week’s field. This is a long Par 70 that extends over 7,300 yards and features four Par 3s, two Par 5s, and twelve Par 4s. One of the two Par 5s resides on the opening hole and is a 624-yard monster. A couple of the Par 3s will be no joke either. The Par 3-eighth hole is listed at over 250 yards and may even play closer to 280. Golfers will also take on eight Par 4 holes that will play near, or well over, 450 yards. That includes the finishing 18th hole, a mammoth Par 4 that will extend over 500 yards.
The tree-lined fairways at Olympia Fields are narrow and difficult to hit. Many golfers will struggle to attain even a 50% fairway hit percentage. Surrounding the fairways will be some penalizing rough that should be cut between three and four inches. There are 91 bunkers scattered throughout the property and water will come into play on eight of the 18 holes. The bentgrass/poa mixed green complexes are small, averaging just over 5,200 square feet, and they’ll possess plenty of undulation, back-to-front slope, and will be guarded by greenside bunkers. To further add onto this course’s challenging layout is the fact that it sits about 30 miles south of Chicago… ya know, the Windy City. We’ll dive into the forecast in the section below, but rest assured that golfers will be contending with some windy conditions this week, especially in Thursday’s opening round. When the BMW Championship was played here in 2020, only five golfers finished the week under par as Jon Rahm beat Dustin Johnson in a playoff after both finished with a 72-hole tournament score of 4-under. So, a single-digit winning score under par is certainly a likelihood this go-'round.
So that brings us to outlining the type of golfers that should have success at a difficult track like Olympia Fields. Players who can shorten this course with distance, while also being fairly accurate, will gain a big leg up on the competition. Iron play is crucial like it is any other week but the main approach distances golfers will be challenged with will come from the 175-200 and 200+ yard ranges. The ability to go low, or grind out pars, on the twelve Par 4s will be a necessity as will be avoiding the crooked numbers. So go ahead and add Par 4 scoring and bogey avoidance to the list of key metrics to target. This should be a battle and a true test for the world’s best golfers so buckle in and best of luck in your DFS and betting ventures!