davescimo

For a forest preserve course, this track plays very nice and is well maintained. Probably the best Cook County Forest Preserve course. It’s fairly forgiving but has a number of bunkers that are in play. You can make up ground on the par 3’s and the par 5 2nd if you play over the bunkers. The greens are not too fast but have quite a bit of undulation.

I play this course a handful of times a year. The greens roll pretty fast and run true. The front 9 plays more forgiving than the back. 15-18 can really challenge your game. I believe the biggest downfall is that the first hole is followed up by a long par 3 that tends to get backed up.

Bonus: the southwest salad in the restaurant is amazing

I was here on vacation from Chicago in May. I read a number of reviews stating the staff only catered to members and was rude to visitors. I had a great experience with the staff and course. I also read the pace of play was slow. I’m an 18 handicapper and really enjoyed this course. I too have heard the Hills course is better but found the Jones course to be enjoyable. I was a single with an early tee time but they let me out before the first tee time. I’m fact, they were going to let me out before the pro shop officially opened and pay after but I needed rental clubs, which they provided Taylormade M2’s. The range was closed due to all the recent rain so I was a bit rusty during the first few holes and it was cart path only (there was a lot of rain recently). I’m your average golfer and I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is less than scratch. As far as pace of play, considering it was cart path only and I was a single, it’s hard to judge. It took me 3.5 hours which seems long for a single with no one in front of them but I did have to walk a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a normal foursome finish in 4.5 - 5 hours as the holes are spread apart. This course is forgiving and some holes are short but they make up for it with strategic pin placement with undulating greens. It works well for those who have never golfed here before and are looking to shoot a reasonable score with no course familiarity.