Woodstock Country Club

I'm going to just come out and say that this is quite the gem of a course that is generally overlooked in McHenry County. Besides Crystal Lake CC and McHenry CC, I've played every other course in McHenry County. I would put Woodstock CC up against all of them.

At the first glance of the scorecard, it does not appear all that impressive. It is a nine hole course with two sets of tee boxes for each hole so that you can play it as 18 holes. The distance from the men's tees is only 5968 yards. Let me tell you, the distance is deceiving. The fairways are narrow and lined with mature trees. OB comes into play on over half of the holes. There are so many undulations in the fairways that many of the shots into the green are blind.

The course conditions are pristine. It may have been the course in the best shape that I have played on all year. The greens were smooth and lightening fast. I quickly discoered that sometimes it was better to be off the green and be below the hole than to be on the green and above the hole.

My biggest "criticism" of the course, if you want to call it that, is that the second set of tee boxes aren't too much different from the first set. As you are playing the "back 9", the complexity of the holes only drastically changes one hole. The rest of the tees really only change the distance from tee to green.

Woodstock CC offers very competitive membership rates compared to other courses in the area. I was informed they don't accept tee times as they are generally wide open for people to just walk on.

Consider me impressed and strongly considering membership next year. There's a reason why Golf Digest ranked it one of the top 9 hole courses in the country. If you get the opportunity, play this course. You won't regret it.