Revamped Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa in Galena remains Illinois' top golf vacation spot

GALENA, Ill. -- Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa is unique both as a golf resort and as a vacation destination -- there is simply nothing else like it in Illinois.

Situated in the scenic, rolling hills of the far northwest corner of Illinois, Eagle Ridge boasts three 18-hole golf courses and one nine-hole course. Each track features dramatic vistas and demanding-yet-inspiring tee shots. And the town of Galena, which was arguably far more important in mid-19th-century U.S. history than Chicago, draws shoppers, foodies, and history buffs by the score to its quaint streets.

Eagle Ridge's North Course (opened in 1977, 6,875 yards, par 72) and the South Course (opened in 1984, 6,762 yards, par 72) are solo Roger Packard designs, and the executive East Course (opened in 1991, 2,648 yards, par 34) took shape with input from Packard and resort golf staff.

The resort's centerpiece course is The General (opened in 1997, 6,820 yards, par 72), and is a Roger Packard–Andy North collaboration. The General is regularly found on national lists of top resort and public courses, and is ranked as one of the top public golf courses in Illinois. It is every bit as undulating as the North and the South Courses, but presents fewer blind tee and approach shots than those older tracks, and therefore offers one visually impressive (and slightly intimidating) hole after another.

As of June, 2013, new management at Eagle Ridge set about returning all of the courses and facilities of Illinois' original golf resort to its former predominance. In particular, swaths of native grasses and scrub, which had grown up over the decades to encroach into sight lines and fairways, have been cleared out, allowing far more freedom off of all tees. Fairways and greens have been continually improved and conditioned, and are once again tournament quality.

And of course, throughout the resort (and town) you'll find the famous Midwestern hospitality that will make you feel as welcome and important as Galena's most famous resident, Ulysses S. Grant.