The Meadows Golf Club of Blue Island

Another exceptional November weather day here in the south 'burbs of Chicago with full sun and temps hovering near 70. The course was well-populated but not overly so and the pace moved well - even with a fivesome (yes, 5!) ahead of us. Friendly ranger made sure we knew they were there and that they had been given a strict warning to let any group pushing them thru. They apparently took heed and kept the pace because our twosome never bogged down. Was nice to see active on-course management by a ranger - something missing even on many higher priced courses this season!

The course was in quite decent shape for a heavy-use muni course. The fairways were fairly good - the exception being that there are many areas where this course does not drain well. Even without any rain in the area the past 5 days, numerous soggy, rutted, muddy spots remained. Most of this was on the sides, but enough of them spread out into the fairways to cause a bloody mess at times. The course really needs to do something about drainage - underdrains or tiles are needed to get rid of the excess moisture in a faster process. Otherwise, the tee boxes were good, greens were largely excellent. Every tee area had ball washers with clean, soapy water and towels - something else that is sometimes missing on more upscale courses. The course layout can be deceivingly tough, especially for those who don't know the path to the green. There are many areas of very tall and thick fescue grass outside the fairway and good luck finding your ball if you get there! Fairways are decent width - especially on the back nine. The par 5 #3 is a tough drive because of the narrowness and scrub zone all along on the right. The course is actually pretty nice when it is not soaked. Well worth the price of a GolfNow hot deal!!

The course double booked threesomes and foursomes at the same times when we arrived at 11:00. Did not tee off until noon and there was two other groups behind us with the same tee time as ours.

played course for 1st time, solo on a wet tuesday. played/walked blue tees, some tough par 4s on the back, par 3s were all 170+ yds, par 5s were pretty straight-forward. not much in way of water hazards, which is ok. rough was tough, had rain last few days so they didnt get chance to cut much of it, few times had to just hack way forward. good course, good challenge, will come back again.

The course books tee times every 5 min which contributed to significant slow play. The ranger was going around and addressing slow play and even blaming it on us sometimes but it was nobody’s fault but the 5 minute tee time intervals. Another contributing factor to this review was that the course was overgrown. The rough was way too high and should have been mowed again. Lastly, there were puddles of water on the green and I don’t even think it rained the night before, I truly believe it was from the sprinklers.

When we arrived 15 minutes before our 11:10 tee time, we were told that there was a problem!! The golf course had an outing starting at 12 noon and we wouldn't be allowed to play 18 holes. We were offered a rain check for future golf, but I drove 2 hours to meet my golfing partner ( who drove over an hour), so I didn't feel a rain check would do us any good.
When I made this reservation, I called the golf course and was told that on weekends I would have to book with Golf Now, which I did.
This is the problem when booking with third parties. Either GN screwed this up, or the golf course didn't update GN that there was an outing.

I last played this course 23yrs ago, it was built on a landfill, so it has taken ok. It was laid out as a lynx style, it is very challenging on the Back 9, there is still high rough that will swallow your ball and club, no trees, but open. Good value with adequate grass short practice area.

The management and customer service is awful. The first time I came they charged me twice. Instead of refunding, they gave me a rain check to use on my next visit. When I booked the next visit online, it asked for a credit card, which is common when reserving, but you always pay at the course. That’s how courses like CPD and Cog Hill work. I arrived expecting to pay with my rain check, but they tell me they already charged my card and refused to refund it. They told me to save my rain check for next time (lol) and refused to refund my money. They have 3 green fees from me for two rounds played. Not how you run a business.

I won’t be supporting people who are ok with keeping extra money from their customers. I won’t be back and will tell my friends to steer clear.

Decent course. Very outdated, a lot of big dirt patches, rough was same as fairway, only saw 2 greenskeepers out there. Course layout was a bit odd, you’d finish a hole then drive back to the tees for the next hole on a couple of them. Carts were super outdated, didn’t even have wind shields on them. The course layout book they had was cool, very detailed. Staff was cool. $40 for a course that probably should be $30 cart included MAX, but golf’s becoming more popular so I understand. Overall not shabby spot, probably won’t play there again unless there’s a hot deal or my old man wants to play. Had fun though.

Used to love this place. The course conditions on Sunday we're top 2 worst i've ever seen. Tee boxes were a joke- Lacking grass, completely unlevel. Fairways were hard and full of dirt patches. Better off playing from the 'rough'. Greens were in decent shape, but that's the only compliment I can give this course. Unlikely to come back

What a bummer. This place used to be ole reliable. Could play here for a fair rate, always in good shape and had some cool holes where you’d hit every club in the bag.

Popped over for an impromptu round and was really disappointed. Staff is still awesome, but course was in awful condition. 90%+ of the grass is dead, balls bouncing 10 feet in the air because the ground is so hard, dirt patches all over the tee boxes. Surprisingly the greens are in pretty solid shape.

I know the folks here probably know the course isn’t what it used to be, but wanted to share so everyone was aware before heading over here. Hopefully it’s back to what it used to be next year.

Fairways are in spring shape. Greens were recently aerated.

i always enjoy playing at the Meadows. You can do 9 or 18.