Spencer T Olin was named for a St Louis industrialist who donated the funding for the development of the golf course. It is located 30 miles northeast of downtown St. Louis in the Illinois suburb of Alton.

The layout has generous fairways and places the emphasis on approach shots to the greens, which are heavily guarded by sand bunkers and water hazards. The course's grassing is a golf superintendent's nirvana with Penncross bentgrass greens, zoysia and blue/rye grass tees, zoysia fairways, with the roughs a combination of Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and Jamestown fescue. The course measures 6,941 from the tips, 73.5/135, slope/course ratings with three shorter tees, designed by Arnold Palmer in 1989.