Lakewood Country Club

Lakewood Country Club sits in Westlake, a suburb west of Cleveland along the southern shore of Lake Erie. The course was designed by A.W. Tillinghast and opened in the 1920s during his prolific period of work in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Tillinghast's design philosophy emphasized strategic bunkering, natural contours, and holes that rewarded thoughtful play over sheer distance. The property features rolling terrain typical of the glaciated landscape of northern Ohio, with mature tree-lined fairways and elevation changes that add variety to the routing. Stephen Kay, a respected restoration architect who has worked extensively on Tillinghast courses, was brought in to restore and refine elements of the original design. Kay's work typically focuses on recapturing the strategic intent and visual clarity of Golden Age architecture, often involving bunker restoration, green complex work, and clearing sightlines that had been obscured over decades of tree growth and maintenance practices. The club serves as a traditional private country club for the western Cleveland suburbs, offering golf and social amenities to its membership. The course reflects the character of many Tillinghast designs from this era: a parkland setting with strategic interest built into the ground rather than relying on artificial hazards, and greens that reward accurate approach play. The layout provides a classic test of golf within a mature suburban landscape, maintaining the architectural principles Tillinghast established nearly a century ago.