panderson1988

This is another course I played at years ago when I was in middle and high school in Jefferson City, and finally revisited during a nice stretch of weather in early winter. I lucked out with the temperatures around 60 degrees in late December, which is unseasonable. That said, in two days after my round the high will be 20. Welcome to the Midwest.

I digress, but for about 30-50 bucks on average with cart, it's a solid track. The good things I can tell since I played as a kid is they have improved the conditions over time. Even in December I can tell the fairways are solid shape, and even the greens are as well. In fact, I didn't see many divots, or signs of golf shoes either when putting. The tee boxes looked a little beat up; however, it's off season. They didn't put out the colors to represent the red through blue boxes. I am sure during the season they move the tee boxes around to allow proper growth and maintenance.

The only negatives I have with the course, hence it's name, is it's very hilly in a bad way at times. What I mean is the course was built without a lot of leveling or modern design in mind. There are holes where the hills are sloping so bad that it's almost luck at times how it bounces and settles. Some really weird angles as well where it's very tight while other holes are very wide.

I only say this as a negative is the course was likely built around the land instead of repurposing it for consistency throughout the course. A couple of examples. You have a lot of fairways are sloping easily 30-45 degrees. You don't see that often on nicer or newer courses that build with a modern design in mind. In my view, they likely converted old hills when they built this course into a fairway without thinking much of landing areas and so forth. There are holes where your landing area is going to bounce notably and land in an awkward spot based on your luck, and not skill.

Another example of some odd design choices is you have par-4s from the whites that are about 270 yards, and others are about 380. Again, nothing wrong with some variations with distances, but they are all over the place at time. In fact, your front nine is 34 strokes, and the back is 36. Not often you see it vary a bit like that.

To be fair, this course was built in the 60s. To me that feels like an era where the game grew a lot, but at the cost of not being as consistent with the track compared to a newer or a remodeled course. This is my personal opinion on the matter, but compared to some nicer and more expensive courses, there is more consistency with the challenges and having the fairways more flat/slight hilly then a 45-degree hill.

Also there are some bad blind shots on a few holes where you could hit someone. I almost hit someone once with my drive, and we almost got hit twice as well. Especially on a couple par-4s that only play about 270 yards from the whites. Honestly some holes need a bell or something to indicate to the people behind them it's clear. I doubt anyone gets serious hurt, but a lot of close calls.

Finally the Greens, which some will love or hate, are very challenging with tough to read slopes. To be fair though, this is winter. The greens, while good conditions for December, were spotty color wise. As in regular green, dark, and some brown. The color at times made it hard to read compared to a normal green for me. That said, very challenging where you'll likely 3-putt a few times and get frustrated. I won't say that is good or bad since it varies on your skill and how you handle it.

Overall though, it's a solid public course. The beer is very cheap, as in $12 for a 6-pack. The pace of play was a little slow at times, but not bad and things pick up on some holes as well. If you have a little time in the state's capital, check it out. One final note, this course has a lot of leagues in the summer. Be mindful if you try to play at times since there might not be any tee times available.

This was my first time playing at this course in years since I moved away a decade ago. I struggled a lot when I was younger, and was a much worse golfer. Thankfully I've improved a lot in the last couple of years, and I had a blast on this course.

To be fair, I played in the offseason here. It was a cool day in December, mid-50s with a decent wind at times depending where you are. The grass was surprisingly greenish in the fairway, brown in the rough, and greens were in great shape for this time of year. This is likely classified as a parkland course, but it's very open like a links style course. As in not a lot of trees on most holes, and it has slopes and elevation changes at times. But it isn't a true links style, and it will have some holes with trees and creeks in the way.

The difficulty is interesting in my view. For starters the greens are fast, which is fun, but some have misleading slopes and bad spots. As in you'll barely touch it and roll 30 feet easily. I am not a big fan of those kind of elevation changes on greens since it's too much for amateur golfers, and at times it's luck where the pin is placed in my view. Not horrible, but a little ridiculous at times with the slopes and how the bulk of your golfers are amateurs and even older from my experience there.

I digress, but a strong strength in the challenge I like is the layout. It has doglegs, elevation changes from the tee box for par-3s, a couple holes with water in play and focusing on your landing zone, and slopes and challenges around the greens. For me that is what I love since it isn't a simple crush it and you'll always be fine. In fact, it emphasis me on my iron play which I have been focusing on and it paid off.

Having a reliable iron game will come in handy out of the fairway since it's not the longest course from the whites, and even blues depending on how good you are out of the tee box. Therefore, focusing on a good iron game and understanding your distances and strategy goes far here. For me, I love that challenge and element of the game.

Finally the last thing I can touch is the clubhouse. It has a restaurant that has been there for years, and it is still a solid bar. Sadly they were closed on Monday and Tuesday when I golfed there, and I believe that is year round. Otherwise they have a nice little pro-shop, and the gas carts are fine.

This course has an interesting history. It was either founded, or at least once ran by a former NFL player Justin Smith. Justin Smith grew up in Holts Summit, went to Jefferson City High School, attended Mizzou, and had 14-years in the NFL. A very impressive career, and he has kept ties to the region. That said, I've heard he sold Railwood. I can't fully confirm it, but I can tell the course is run better nowadays compared to 10 years ago. While he seems like a good guy, the course conditions deteriorated over time for a while. That said, now things seem better under likely new management.

The course has been a staple in Missouri for about 20-years now. Through it's up and downs management wise, the course's conditions have improved with decent management running the clubhouse.

The course has a very good front-9 in my view. It is challenging, but fair, and resembles a solid layout and challenge. You have wide open holes, a couple holes surrounded by trees, and a little water in play.

Meanwhile the back-9 is a hilly mess that is all over the place. There are a couple of holes on the front nine where your tee box is notably above the hole or fairway, but that is it. On the back-9 you multiple holes where are you notably above or below the hole. You have a hole that turns 90-degrees from the tee-box. A hole that goes back up a major hill after climbing down from the previous hole. Mind you, this is hole-17 where you hit up, it's narrow with many balls going on the 16th and 8th fairways that hug it.

Honestly the course design being very inconsistent and all over the place is what holds it back a bit from being a great course in the region. It's not entirely by luck, but frustrating since it has confusing design choices that feel more like a chore than fun.

Finally the last major negative are the cart paths and carts. There are parts of the paths where you are going down steep hill, and it feels like your cart will give out and crash. Especially on the back-9 where it happens several times. The poor carts breaks feel worn down trying to not lose control down these hills.

Overall it's a decent track that is worth checking out at it's price point. The food and beer is reasonable, and they usually have some openings on a given day to get out there.

Simply put, the Schaumburg Golf Club and it's three 9-hole courses that rotate between 18 and 9-hole setups is amazing for the prices they charge. You're only out about $25-30 to walk 9 with push cart on most days for being a non-Schaumburg resident. 18 holes with cart is about $50-60 which is quite reasonable considering how expensive many courses are in the Chicago area.

For example, nearby Mount Prospect Golf Club is nearly $70 on weekend with cart that will likely be a 5+ hour journey to go through 18 holes, circus style greens, and horrible conditions where balls bounce and spin much more than they should. For $50/60 you will get great conditions on the fairway, challenging setups from the bunkers to pin locations, and fast greens where everything feels fair at the end. It's not cheesy and cheap unlike other courses, and it won't overcharge you either.

This club is easily one of the best in all of the Chicago region.

I will be upfront, I like this course for the for the fact it's about $17 to $20 with pull cart that is a nice walk without being overly difficult or complicated. Most balls, even bad hit shots, have a good chance of being in play. Honestly what is wrong with that? I don't always need crazy greens to putting creeks 75-100 yards from the green. When you want to work on shot making and increasing consistency of hitting it properly, this is perfect. Let alone good opportunities for the short-game as well.

The only main negative is the condition of the fairways can be suspect in spots. It's a cheap course, and it shows at times. The greens and bunkers are usually fine, but the fairways are mix. That said, it's $17 to walk without a pull cart on a weekday. And they don't have annoying league night every day where you have to get one by 3:30, or 6:00pm. That is the only negative that stands out, but for a decent 2 hour round on foot, this works well.

I've played at Port twice, and Starboard once, and overall Harborside is a very solid place to play golf. You get a links style course with some views of the skyline off certain holes. Best of all the course is challenging, but fair in my view. It has some wide fairways on certain holes to give you some forgiveness, but others put some strategic bunkers. Also the rough can be a little thick, but not impossible to play out of. Minus some of the true fescue spots. Finally the greens are readable, but have some slight breaks and slopes giving you a challenge along with speed.

A couple of tips with this course. I recommend playing during twilight since it can save you a good $30-40, and it can literally be 10-20 mins apart. Twilight usually starts at 2:00pm, and all fees include cart and a warmup range bucket. They have a solid practice facility too. The only negatives is the location is out there with heavy traffic off the interstate, and pace of play can be slow at times if it's busy.

I will start with the positives of this course. Twilight prices are reasonable. They are about $40 with a cart for $18, and it usually starts after 2:00 pm. In May through mid-July you can squeeze in 18 if you get out by 4:00pm.

The fairways and tee boxes are normally in good condition. They aren't dry as dirt, and have good give allowing you to get underneath the ball.

Also there is a solid practice area too. That's it for the positives

Now we go into the negatives. The greens are ridiculous, and the rating and slope is way off. USGA should be embarrassed with their rating here since the "slope" is off the charts and not being properly represented here. Many of the greens are large, but they usually have a lot of slopes with many pin placements in bad spots.

A couple of examples on the par-3s. Hole 7 is a large green, and when they put the pin in the front right hand corner from the tee box. If you go too far you'll on top of a hill that you put into a valley below the pin, or to left of the pin and almost off the green. If you are short with your tee shot, you'll roll off below the hole. Or hit the tiny pot bunker that is just there for giggles.

Sadly there are many holes with crazy greens and pin locations. The last par 3 on the back nine has a valley in the middle of the green. They will put the pin there, so you need your ball off to roll into that valley, otherwise you are hitting a weird putt of slopes into the valley. It's very stupid.

Also the greens can be very fast. I mean ridiculous fast, and a couple of examples. I had a couple of chips where I hop it on like a proper looking chip, and it kept rolling for a good 30 plus feet. Usually off the green despite having the chip 15-20 feet before the pin, and it just rolls on. Not super fast either like it was bladed. No, it literally keeps rolling.

Another example, I was about 70 yards out, and I topped by half swing which will usually put me short of the green. Nope, it literally bounced a couple of times and rolled for on the fairway onto the green for another 50 feet within 15 feet of the pin. It literally rolled off the fairway across the entire green for a good 50 feet, and it wasn't a bullet by any means. That is just ridiculous. This is a public course with league nights, not Augusta or trying to be the toughest test in golf nonsense.

I like speedy greens, and usually do okay. But when I see decent chips roll for 30+ feet, or topped balls 70 yards out actually be okay tells me it's poor course design and awful speeds. That isn't skill, that's luck. I am not a good golfer, and I know when I bladed or screwed up, but seeing I and others off and on get punished for good shots while awarded with blind dumb luck is a clear sign of an incompetent design. I've played on courses design by Nicklaus and Pete Dye, and I am used to difficulty. The big difference with them, it's fair and not based on luck.

Sadly the greens get beat up easily over time too. It's mid-April, and it's divots galore with patches of dirt everywhere. You see spikes from shoes too.

Meanwhile the fairways slope a lot, and they can punish you. The biggest issue I had is they roll a lot too. I had a 8 iron out of the rough with about 170 yards to the end of the fairway into a creek. A safe layup shot, and I hit well which carried about 135 yards like usual out of the rough, and it rolled for almost 30+ yards into the creek. It was about 165 yard 8-iron. Again, ridiculous slopes and speeds.

Also almost all the bunkers have put in an unnecessary bump when hitting out of it. Not a typical hill, it's an out of looking tumor of a hill in your line of sight. Not even courses that are ranked higher in the region like Harborside or Schaumburg do that kind of crap all the time.

Finally, the weekend fees suck. It's like $70-80 for 18, and that doesn't include cart. It's not worth that. It's worth $50 at best. Also good luck bypassing league nights. I wasn't able to play past 9 holes despite paying for 18 because I saw the league night on 10 just standing there taking literally a few mins between each player. They would be lucky to do 9 holes in 3 hours. That is so inconsiderate to others and pace of play.

Overall it's not a bad weekday course for the price, or if you live near it to get to there and back quickly on a weeknight. But there are much better other courses in the region that have earned their green fees, or are cheaper.

Schaumburg is a well run club. The conditions are good, and the prices are reasonable for the quality of the course. Best of all it's a 27 hole course, and they rotate 9 holes often. You can golf every couple of weeks here, and get a mix of holes each time.

Best of all it has some challenging holes, but everything is mostly fair. It works on your skills such as avoiding well placed bunkers and figuring out how to lay it up with the current tee placement, but no crazy slopes that make no sense like some other clubs nearby.

Overall this is a solid course with very reasonable prices. The course conditions were really good. Despite how the grass has dried out in the last month from the heat, the fairways, greens, and tee boxes were soft and in good shape. Even the rough was in good shape. I only dealt with the staff when checking in, but standard and nothing negative to note about. That said, no bar cart, but there is a halfway house that is situated around the halfway mark on the front and back 9. The course is design where you meet the same house twice. The only negative is after you meet it the first time, it will be a while until you see it again and the clubhouse isn't design to get a quick drink or bathroom break like the halfway house. Otherwise, you can't beat this course for the conditions to it's reasonable price with cart.

If you want to get a quick 9 hole round that resembles a traditional 18 hole course over a typical par-3 or a short 9-hole course, this is the place to go. It offers a couple long holes, and the traditional par-3 and par-4 holes you will find on many 18 hole courses. Furthermore, the conditions were good with the fairways, rough, and greens in good condition.

The only complaints I can offer is there is no net off several holes that hug a road. This isn't about losing a ball, but more about safety since a slice will easily go onto the road or the neighborhood. I feel like for safety reasons their should be a net off several holes. The other issue is there is a bit of walk between a couple holes, and it's not labeled well how you cross the street, hug around a corner, then continue your round. Not a huge issue, but for a first-timer like myself it could be confusing for some. Otherwise, a very solid 9-hole course. I recommend it if you just want a quick 2 hour round.

I have played here a couple of times, but last summer was my first time. That said, this course left a great impression on me, and I played Starboard in late summer as well.

Overall the course is usually in good condition despite the amount of rounds it serves daily. The fees includes cart and a small bucket for the range. That said, there is a flaw in the fees. They either charge a $100 until 2:00pm, or $62 for twilight. Why go out at 1:40 when you can save about $40 waiting 20 mins? Most illogical, and they should do a better tier price system from peak times in mid-morning through mid-day to twilight.

Otherwise the only issue last year is the cart paths look like they haven't been touch since the 90s. Very bump like you're on safari.

Besides the weird pricing until twilight, and the paths, it's a great course overall. Challenging, but not unfair in my view. You gotta make your shots and reach the fairways, but many rough areas are playable and not impossible to get out. Also the slopes are fair too and not ridiculous on the greens or fairways where you are screwed no matter what. Slopes are supposed to challenge you, but fairly.

If you want a links style course with a few views of the skyline, check it out. It's worth it!

Overall this is a beautiful course. It's designed as an open style links course you would see off an ocean. Obviously the big omit is you won't get links style weather conditions you would see in the British Isles, or off the ocean or a great lake. It's close to Lake Michigan, so you'll get a breeze and some high winds with a storm nearby, but not similar to what you see on TV when it's off an ocean. But what you do get is the open layout with fescue, thick playable rough, rolling hills, and plenty of bunkers. It's fun due to how you are really thinking of where you want to land your ball since if you hit it too far by accident, right into a bunker, or if you are off a bit to the right or left is the fescue. It adds the mental thinking to how you want to approach your shots, especially how some greens are very large leaving you with a 40+ foot putt. I say go for putting over a bunker shot, but those putts aren't easy at all. Also the greens were in great shape, and the breaks were subtle and made you think.

My only issue, which is personal, is my driver was horrible with me topping the ball again. I resorted to my 4 iron or fairway wood, which at least got into the air, but if you are struggling with distance, it will hurt you on some holes. It's challenging course, but designed in a good way.

This review is for late May after quite a bit of rain recently. I know some courses are closed due to wet conditions, and honestly this course shouldn't have been open. I can deal with softness and some mud, but this was uncalled for. Many bunkers were basically ponds. Several holes with fairways basically turned into ponds or morphing into the marsh. Worst of all are many hits took the course with you since it was so wet and soaked. Let alone the mud everywhere.

I've played on soft courses, but wet courses are terrible and horrible to maintain in good condition. This course drainage system didn't exist. Parts of the fairways looked beat up because it was too wet for normal play.

Mind you, I walked it due to covid-19 restrictions in May. Somehow the people behind me got carts, but they didn't look like they needed them at all. In fact they could have used the walking. Because of them breathing down my neck since they didn't have to walk at all, and the group in front me was moving slow since they hit from the blues without the additional distance to justify hitting that far made the pace of play out of wack. In fact, they were painfully slow, even with a 15 min gap. Overall I was disappointed, and I want to try it again after the course is dried. The course shouldn't be open after some rain since it can't handle it.

This is a solid park's type course. It's cheap, but well maintained. The only thing I can't comment on is the clubhouse since it was closed off due to covid-19, but the course itself was in good shape. The ruff was thick, but the fairways and greens were in good condition. I also walked it, so no comment on pull carts or golf carts as well. I recommend it for the price point, and if you want a solid 18 holes of golf. Finally, the front 9 is easier while the back 9 is more challenging.