Jeff9288816

Disingenuous staff. Course used to be a great gem that was maintained well and with a pleasant staff of normal people. Not anymore.

Course conditions were sub par for this time of year. Most courses in the area are in as good, if not better shape than Bowes. What a shame.

Just the best course/facilities in the area. Well manicured, fast & smooth greens - everything is literally 5 stars. Have been playing here for years and have over 100 rounds in the books.

First off, the good. This is a beautiful golf course with a nice, challenging layout. Greens were impeccable on 5/5/18, rolling true, fast, and firm - honestly some of the best greens at a public facility. Bunkers were fantastic, firm packed and freshly raked with just the right amount of sand.

If my review was based solely on the quality of the golf course it would be 4.5 stars all day. But, as you know, your overall experience at a course can either be enhanced or diminished depending on the staff working at the course and how the property is managed.

This is where we get into the bad....
Our foursome started our round @ 10:10am... and had a 20 minute buffer from the group in front of us (a couple of foursomes that we noticed on the 7th or 8th hole). Pace of play on the front 9 was just under 2 hours, perfectly normal and relaxing pace. Upon finishing the 9th hole @ 12pm our group stopped into the clubhouse for a beer and quick hotdog, spent 5 mins at most. As we approached the 10th tee we noticed a long backup (group on #10 green, fairway, and 2 groups waiting on the tee). This didnt make sense as we never had to wait for a shot on the front 9... on top of that, ALL of the groups in front of us were completely different groups that we had not seen previously. The course was sending groups off of #10, ahead of groups making the turn - even though the 1st & 2nd hole were wide open. By the time we finished the 10th hole it was now 1:00pm - thats right, 1 hour from the time we made the turn. 1 hour to play 1 hole.

We called into the proshop from the 11th tee box to advise them of what was happening and find out why they decided to send groups out in front of us. They offered NO assistance and the course pro actually hung up on me after our 3rd call into the shop. It took 1 hour for a ranger to come out and talk to us and when he arrived to our group he jumped out of his cart and screamed "What do you expect me to do!!!"... Really poor approach to customer service when spending $94 to play the course. He said that those groups must have stopped for lunch at the turn and that caused the backup.... no apology, no respect, nothing but a mean old man that obviously didn't care. Our back 9 took 2:50 for a total round time of 4:40.

Wont return, there are plenty of good courses out there. Take your $$$ to Cantigny, Stonewall Orchard, Thunderhawk, Prairie Landing, Shepard's Crook, Harborside, Mistwood, Seven Bridges, or Cog Hill.