In late September 1897, the foundation of the Des Moines Golf & Country Club was established.  Newspaper accounts have the details: "A forty-acre field owned by Mr. J. S. Polk just north of the station at the end of the Ingersoll Line will be fitted up for the grounds.  Mr. Polk has consented to rent the ground to the club and become a member himself.  At 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon the members of the club will meet at the grounds and receive their first instructions and a game will be played."

There was a subsequent organizational meeting on October 7, 1897, to ratify articles of incorporation.  Mr. N.T. Guernsey was elected as the first president of the new Des Moines Golf & Country Club.  The incorporation papers were filed in Polk County on October 11.  And so it was done!

In 1923 the Ashworth estate of West Des Moines was purchased and a new 18-Hole golf course was designed.  Following a devastating fire in 1946, a new clubhouse was built and membership rose 365.

In 1966 the east-west freeway cut through the heart of the golf course and members voted to build a dynamic new facility, featuring two golf courses, doubling the size of the clubhouse as well as membership.

Dedicated in 1970, the Club is located on 475 acres a few minutes west of Des Moines, and is nestled on a beautiful hillside overlooking a valley of rolling fairways.  The impressive tri-level clubhouse is the hub of all activities.  The Club's long-standing tradition of total family involvement includes golf, tennis and swimming programs plus a full social calendar.  Tee it up on two Pete Dye designed 18-hole championship golf courses...serve it up on 12 tennis courts...and dive into an Olympic-size swimming pool.

In 1999, the Club was honored to have hosted the record setting Twentieth United States Senior Open Championship.  Names such as Palmer, Rodriquez, and Irwin toured the Championship Course.  More than 250,000 fans enjoyed the great weather, beautiful grounds, and great golf.  At the end, Dave Eichelberger stood atop the leader board and was crowned the Champion.