Elyria Country Club

Elyria Country Club began in 1905, founded by executives of the Worthington Ball Company to promote their business; legend holds the inaugural foursome teed off with gold-plated golf balls. That original nine served for two decades before the club acquired additional land along the Black River. It called on William Flynn, the celebrated Philadelphia-school architect, to craft a full eighteen on a 161-acre site, and the new layout was inaugurated on July 4, 1926. Built during golf's Golden Age, Flynn's tree-lined design stretches about 6,750 yards from the championship tees, with the river and other water hazards threatening on roughly half the holes. Set in the Lorain County countryside southwest of Cleveland, the course remains a well-preserved example of Flynn's strategic, natural style, still challenging members and guests nearly a century after its debut.