Brookside Golf & Country Club was founded in 1927 on a layout designed by Charlie Lorms, the first golf professional at Columbus Country Club. Nestled within 260 acres in Worthington, the tree-lined course has hosted U.S. Open qualifying events and the 2012 Ohio State Amateur Championship.
History
Brookside Golf & Country Club in Worthington, Ohio was founded in 1927 and designed by Charlie Lorms, a figure of considerable importance to the early history of golf in Columbus. Lorms arrived in Columbus in 1922 to take the position of golf professional at Columbus Country Club, becoming that club's first professional. During his 37 years at Columbus Country Club—he remained in the post until 1959—Lorms became a standout influential figures in central Ohio golf, and the Brookside design stands as his primary architectural legacy. Lorms was not a formally trained golf course architect in the professional sense of the era's great designers, but rather a skilled player and club professional whose intimate understanding of the game informed his design work. His approach at Brookside drew on his experience at Columbus Country Club, where he had developed a deep familiarity with the characteristics that make an enjoyable and challenging layout.
The course at Brookside occupies a tree-lined site at 2770 West Dublin-Granville Road in Worthington, where the natural canopy of mature hardwoods defines the corridors and adds visual character to the round. The Brookside design is a tree-lined layout that places a premium on accurate driving. Fairways run between stands of mature trees, requiring players to position their tee shots carefully to open up the approach angles to the greens. The course has hosted U.S. Open qualifying competitions over the years, a mark of the layout's quality and the challenge it presents to competitive players.
Local and sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Open are conducted on courses selected by the USGA for their ability to test players at a high level, and Brookside's repeated use as a qualifying venue reflects its standing in Ohio golf. The Charlie Lorms Cup, a amateur event in central Ohio golf, takes its name from Brookside's founder—a recognition of Lorms's lasting influence on the sport in the Columbus area. The tournament continues to honor his memory and his contribution to the development of private golf in central Ohio. Worthington, a historic suburb north of Columbus, has grown significantly since Brookside's 1927 founding, and the club has adapted to serve the needs of an increasingly suburban membership base.
The course's location along Dublin-Granville Road places it in the heart of the northern Columbus suburbs, where easy access and a walkable, classically proportioned layout have kept it relevant across nearly a century of central Ohio golf. The club's history—from Lorms's original 1927 design through decades of member competition and community engagement—reflects the vitality of private golf in the Columbus metropolitan area. Brookside Golf & Country Club remains one of the few private clubs in Ohio that can trace its design directly to a figure who shaped the game's early professional development in the state, and the course's continued hosting of competitive events keeps it connected to golf's competitive traditions.