HOTSPOTTS

Eaglewood (Nordic Hillls) has been around for a long time. "Resort Course" but overall the course suffers from a lack of updates. In decent enough shape during the summer it features rock hard greens - several with sand traps fronting or partially fronting...making the course too difficult for less than average players to enjoy their resort experience. Some really uninspired green pads.... most if not all sloping back to front....and in the summer way too fast if you get above the hole. A bit of elevation changes on a few of holes - most are really short for their par....and several that are too long. Eaglewood is a less than once a season play for me. A decent enough place to get in a first round. It was nice to see that they seem to allow carts in the parking lot...it was a real pain not to be able to load up next to the car...lugging your gear to and fro at some distance. Prepare for resort prices on your beverages - $7 for a can of IPA was a bit much. Course is a $30-$35 value at most. When crowded wear a hard hat and gird yourself for some really slow play.. as there's a lot of sand for newbies to fend off and very little space between holes.

Today I noticed that the 2022 Golfvisions Players Pass Booklet has page and round w/cart at Mill Creek. Looks as though Mill Creek will be reopening after a 2 year hiatus!! Happy Thanksgiving all!

Water's Edge is usually a decent play during the week. Unfortunately our day was ruined by two lopes. When asked when their tee time when they arrived at the practice green the response was "we don't have one but we're next on the tee." We didn't bother to respond back to them....we just let them head to the first tee and waited for them at the putting green even though our tee time was absolutely next. Two foursomes of millennials music blaring with beers already cracked were directly in front of them. These two managed to finally play through these two groups by the 11th hole and really took their sweet time as they did so. The millennials did have the decency/acumen to wait for our foursome to play through them on the 11th tee. We thought the slow play nightmare was over.....but these two senior jacks actually played even slower on purpose and held us up.....to the point of backing up the other two other slow playing 4 somes we had played through!!!.......and this with a completely empty 7 holes in front of them!! A 440 round that easily should have been 330/345. I hope someday I get paired up with these two guys. I'll definitely recognize one of them. I'll treat them as poorly as they treated the golf course as well as all others playing the course. Sometimes you just have back luck but I know in my heart the golfing gods will never ever be kind to these two guys. See my other reviews of this course below......this day the greens were pretty speedy but pockmarked with tons of no repaired ball marks and also old poorly repaired ball marks. A couple of greens had obvious club/divot damage from other entitled HOLES who play here. Really a shame.

Empty course on a Tuesday afternoon - light winds and partly cloudy in the low 70's. Course was a little wet from rains the day and evening before but very playable. Traps were mud. Appeared they had somewhat been maintained this season but probably hit and miss. I wish they'd finish off renovating their clubhouse and get that back up and running. It's still not done...getting there and hopefully will open next season. Halfway house out of trailer for beverages/food and porta potties. At least they have water jubs on course that are filled. The Bluffs is well designed and grasses were all in decent shape. The rough does need to be mowed soon...very thick. Solid grass driving range for warm up. Greens had good speed and were not aerated. Solid 4 stars. Recommend. Once the renovated clubhouse opens it will be above 4 stars.

Cedar River is in great shape overall but the fairways in many areas are getting divot laced. 3 very good tee shots and my ball finished in a fairway divot....two of those times in areas that it was almost impossible to avoid them unfortunately. Cedar is one of my all time favorite courses - I never get tired of playing it.....a spectacular design and really fun to play. Especially knowing just how to route your ball for maximum rollout. This is a Weiskopf gem that's not to be missed if you are in the area. A must play each and every time I venture to Northern Michigan. 4.0 stars on this day. Tree colors were just starting to pop....mid to late October course will be photo eye candy. Highly Recommended.

Returned to Shanty for some fall golf. Had some very nice weather. On my next visit to the area I'll probably just skip playing Legend.....HawksEye was already closed for the season....would much rather play that instead. Legend is definitely not a 5 star and it's simply not even a 4 star for the overall conditions and what they charge.

The Legend simply put is getting a tad "long in the tooth" with age. It desperately needs a solid rehab or renovation in a number of areas. Especially the cart paths.....many are crumbling and for a resort course of this stature it's really been neglected. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy playing Legend but Shanty needs to pay attention and invest some funds in to what was their featured 18 holes years ago....otherwise they'll start getting real push back for what they charge to play it. It's a 50/60 course at most right now....definitely not towards the c-note range. The clubhouse/bathroom facilities for the Legend/Summit courses are also is old, smelly and tired. The pretty Legend flower logo in the hillside at the first tee only goes so far guys. Recommend play however Cedar River (and now Hawk's Eye) are the courses not to miss at Shanty. 3.75 stars. Legend is downgraded from my 4 star plus plus previous reviews.

Sundance is in very nice shape and good place to get in a round or two when visiting Northern Michigan. The new clubhouse finally opened just after my 2021 June trip there. Clubhouse is okay but for some reason it still feels like you are checking in at the trailer they had for far too long. It also never ceases to amaze me the complete lack of forethought when designing a new golf clubhouse Slippery stone steps to navigate up and down to get food and beverage at the turn? Check. Clubhouse bathroom with only one urinal and only one stall so you probably have to wait?? Check. I hear the pizza is decent but didn't smell or see anyone eating pizza both days I was there. A well designed fun to play course with lots of sand traps. We enjoyed really good pace with our week day round. Unfortunately pace of our Saturday afternoon round was painfully slow due to several groups of golfers in front of us playing a scramble format -they took forever on the back nine. Highly recommend Sundance but play it during the week to avoid large group nonsense in front of you as we've found weekend rounds over the years to be painfully slow pace wise. The Torch Course also on site is worth a play...old school with a number of quirky holes.

Several reviews where folks have had bad experiences at Ruffled. I've played here four times this season and this was the first time we had to practically DEMAND to play through a group who initially refused to do so. The had two holes open in front of them and they accomplished that on the front nine! Other than that course was in the usual shape - decent greens and fairways and cruddy traps. 3.9 stars. They also overcharge on their orange whips and other beverages a tad. I enjoy RF it's a lot of fun requires thought and never plays the same. Ruffled has shown significant conditioning improvement from a just few years ago. The bad reviews are because for what they charge to play most avid golfers do expect a more of pristine course. Recommend a play or two here. $55 senior rate Mon-Thurs is a decent deal especially for the quality of the overall design and challenge. Any more than that and I'd have a beef too.....

Fyre Lake had such great press when it first opened in 2012 - Nicklaus design. All holes really fun and well designed but the original owner obviously let this place go. A crying shame. Fyre Lake could be a top 25 public course in Illinois you can play. The course is really in the middle of nowhere 20 to 30 minutes south of Moline/Rock Island/Davenport....solid 2 1/2 hour drive for me from the Chicago burbs. Lots of Iowa plates in the parking lot. New owner is doing his best to bring the track back to some semblance of glory. The greens were recently micro aerated-just a tad bumpy however in very decent shape - several greens do need attention - diseased or bare areas - it did impact play slightly. The green surrounds are now just higher rough cut...appears when built there probably was a fringe/second cut area around the greens - it makes a number of greens seem rather small. Many greens have ridges/different levels....and this day many of the flags were in extreme back parts of the greens. Numerous sand traps....impossible to maintain acceptable conditions in even half of them. Fairways were really good condition (divot mix on the carts) and most tee boxes are good. Driving range/practice green. Large trailer clubhouse. Front nine is bisected by a ridge and fairly wide open. Back nine winds through some housing stock set back far enough to not be intrusive. Spectacular back 9 routing around lake with an island par 4 13th green. Easy to see why the course received high marks when it opened. Continuing care as well considering to just grass in several bunkers so key ones can be maintained & as well significant green conditioning improvements by the new owner potentially could bring this course back into the top 25 of Illinois publics. Was first out and really enjoyed the 2 1/2 round. $50 weekday charge for me...just seems a bit pricey for how far out the course is from a metro area. Well worth seeking out and do absolutely recommend you play. Just overlook the areas and surrounds of some of the greens that need work as well as the far too numerous sketchy sand traps. 3.9 stars.

Weaver Ridge is a course I've wanted to play for several years since it had such great press when it first opened. It was one of the top Public courses in Illinois you can play for several years. The new owners are doing what they can to bring this wonderful Hurdzan/Fry design back to some semblance of glory. It's a very picturesque course with lots of elevation changes. The greens were in decent shape but still need work as some areas - diseased or bare - but did not impact play much if at all. The numerous sand traps - unfortunately many "high end designed" late 90's courses are complete over the top sand trapped to the gills every hole.....impossible to maintain acceptable conditions in even half of them. Fairways were decent as well as most tee boxes. Driving range/putting green which was in the worst shape of all the greens near first tee. Nice clubhouse with deck overlooking 18th green and really friendly folks who want you have a great experience. Front nine winds through housing stock which is set back far enough to not be intrusive. The back nine has a spectacular routing with several elevated tee shots. Easy to see why the course was so highly ranked until the last few years when the former owner just let it go. Continuing care as well considering to just grass in several bunkers so key ones can be maintained & as well green conditioning improvements by new owners would easily bring this course back into the top 25 of Illinois publics. The routing and bones are that good. I wasn't disappointed by the $50 charge....in it's current shape it's a $40 weekday $60 weekend course. 3.9 stars....and from what I can tell should be slightly over 4 stars by next season.....

Chapel Hill is a value course. Greens are okay except many of them are extremely small. A decent enough challenge - crab grass fairways and non maintained bunkers - rock hard conditions. Downhill putts on the 8th and 14th - forget it. They are rehabbing several tee boxes and seeding with divot mix on others.....nice to see that. Most of the dead trees are cleaned up. I play this course once a season with my GolfVisions players pass. You have to play this course a few times to figure out where to route your ball - especially on the 15th and 17th holes. 3 of the four par 3's are long ones...if you can survive the 1st four holes with par or bogey you can score well on the rest of them until you reach 17 and 18. Clubhouse is closed except for the bathrooms. Check in at the back patio window w/beverage service available. Take your less accomplished player here....they will be comfortable. You'll likely be disappointed as an accomplished player.....really small green pads on a number of holes. I like the place because there are some really funky holes and shots to pull off. $25-$30 value....happy it's still open. Recommend but now you know what you're getting into.

White Pines (both West and East) are value plays. Tree over planting would be an understatement here. Greens are pockmarked and generally are slowish and overall conditioning is just fair. We played on a cool cloudy day so it wasn't all that crowded - but when it is a full course pace of play here is usually a 5 hour turtle crawl - especially if you get behind foursomes of members who think they own the place some weekday mornings. The West course has several long Par 5's and plays a longish 6300 yards plus. East course is shorter but ridiculously tree lined in places - straying off any fairway you're likely punching out ala Club Pro Guy. Thankfully windstorms have blown down a lot of trees on a couple of the West course holes.....but not enough on far too many holes. You can be 10 feet off the fairway and still have tree troubles. Both courses are $35 values at best. Fairly decent facilities...driving range off mats and halfway house, etc but that just doesn't make up for the lackluster overall conditioning and a lot of holes that all look the same - where the lack of trees tell you where to go.....

Always telling it like it is -

Due to overpricing (and still way overpriced) I've not bothered to play 12 Bridges for at least a decade and a half (you cross 12 bridges during your round not 7)...I live just 10 minutes away. A convenient venue but confounding bad (and good) for what you get for their standard green fee. $56 dollar hot deal for me and playing partner was acceptable....any more than that pushes me away and I'll gladly go elsewhere for better value....no senior rate during the week - $80 weekdays and $90 Friday-Sun...not going to apologize but that's just really pushing the envelope....a price point where you expect more. It also explains why the course wasn't all that crowded. We got around in under 4 hours but we did our fair share of waiting on the back nine.

History lesson for many of you -

Half of the current site was part of Woodridge Golf Club which was 36 holes back in the day...it closed in the mid-80's and then was redeveloped into 18 holes you play today. The front nine is essentially a reverse routing of one of those original nines. One of the main reasons I have not bothered to play here in a while - after the new course opened in 1991... about 5 or 6 years later they switched the nines so you teed off on 10th hole. The course became a ridiculous start of golf with crowned fairways for 3 holes with water everywhere and no place to even warm up. Thankfully a few years ago they switched the nines back to the original routing.

Staff is extremely nice and welcoming. Use the bag drop or just put on your shoes/drag your clubs from your car after parking. Same deal post round...no carts in the parking lot for good reason.....it's rather small lot with tight turns and some hill to it. The cart staging areas is cramped and unless you go into the clubhouse front door you a have to navigate a number of stairs to reach the pro shop. Nice functional well maintained clubhouse for receptions/weddings and also have decent locker room w/showers off the men's room.

The open air outdoor bar and restaurant are both wonderful when the weather is nice.. A hidden secret in the area - on clear days a post round cocktail with a beautiful sunset over the golf course if you finish late afternoon. I saw several non golfers turning up when I was leaving around 5pm getting a sunset drink & nibblies..

Large practice green representative of the course conditions and slope. A netted hitting bay to warm up on the way to the first tee. The cart paths are all in dire need of resurfacing or renovation.

GPS on the cart - very accurate and assists with an exact distance to flag stick.....several greens on this course can be 2 or 3 clubs difference - they are quite deep/large sizes. It's an "extreme" cart GPS that also won't allow you to drive everywhere willy nilly - several holes our cart speed was slowed to a frustrating level for no reason at all. NO SAND JUGS on the cart. I guess they want their ground crew filling in fairway divots. Most sand traps were in fairly decent shape. Greens rolling decently with good speed except pockmarked with old brown ball marks not correctly repaired (a lost art it seems). Being above the hole required a deft putting touch.

With the lack of rain this season there's over watering going on. The back nine is filled in swamp that is part of the East Branch of the DuPage River. Getting off the fairway or not hitting the green is a real penalty.....roughs and many surrounds are rock hard.

The course itself seems to have turned into a claustrophobic mess due to tree and bush growth. Especially on the back nine where the last 6 holes feel shoehorned into an area. A very watery over manufactured back nine. Front nine not as much but several holes on the 1st nine feature trees that will get in the line of play without a few rounds under your belt - Par 5 1st hole has a very small area to place your second shot correctly, 4th hole requires a drive to extreme left part of fairway and 5th hole dogleg right has a small landing area....8th hole is way overgrown on both sides now to the point where the group following us hit into us by accident. Also be careful driving up to reach the 17th green....the GPS forces you to take a cart path directly into a slicing line of fire from the 18th tee box. Pace of play slows considerably on the back nine.....due to it's difficulty....makes it real easy lose a sleeve plus of balls.

Recommend play however overall Twelve Bridges is just 3.3 stars - course design/cost bring my rating down considerably. Too many shots have to be shoehorned to be rewarded and I had some real fortunate breaks to play well this day. A venue that I wouldn't mind playing more than once a season.....but it's just not a $80 or $90 venue.

I've played Oak Grove at least once a season for at least the last 15 years or so. Now it's getting really torn up by golf carts (lots of muddy cart tire damages all over the place). Obvious the grounds crew isn't even attempting to keep up with it. I enjoy the routing - Oak Grove is usually a fun play. I recommend play - however traps are not maintained and noticing some greens losing size, brown diseased areas on fringes, greens were a tad slower than other courses and a tad bouncy/not sanded fairway divots etc......course conditions at Oak Grove are no where close to what was for years a 4 star plus experience.

Gone are rope guards fronting greens (or stay on path signs for par 3's) which directed motor carts to the paved cart paths green side. In addition there's no ranger to enforce pace of play or even to keep an eye on things. We had very nice beverage cart service.

4 foursomes (8 carts) visiting with each other in the shade near the first tee were directly in front of us. Our first tee shots were taken more than 10 minutes past our tee time. starting at noon on Sunday with a full tee sheet prior to a "takeover" -
1) first group played the tips - none of them had any business doing so. By the 4th hole there was an entire Par 5 wide open in front of them despite them teeing off directly after several other foursomes!!
2) second group - their wives or wives of the two foursomes behind - searched for their balls way too long (patently obvious that this was done to provide a buffer) to not remotely press or disturb the turtle pace of play of first group playing the tips.
3/4) 2 foursomes of guys with really bad swings - 3 practice swings on every shot for a couple of them - they teed off behind the women had still had "difficulty" barely keeping pace - the slow play got to a the point where each of the group had an ENTIRE open hole in front them.

NOT ONE OF THEM ATTEMPTED TO REPAIR A BALL MARK THEY MADE, REPLACE A DIVOT THEY MADE OR EVEN GRAB A RAKE IN A SAND TRAP THEY JUST HIT OUT OF.

The guys in front of us (none with a physical impairment) just drove their carts wherever they pleased right up to the green aprons on most holes even the Par 3's (drove completely wrong side behind the 8th green and parked right on top of very wet front green aprons leaving noticeable tire track turf depressions on 3 and 17). No regard for other golfers and absolutely no regard for course conditions. The beverage cart attendant advised that she had politely requested all four groups a few times to get pace moving but certain that was falling deaf ears. Incredibly frustrating and ridiculous displays in front of us. The sense of "entitlement" was completely disgusting.

Sound familiar?

Hey Golfvisions management - really hope you are reading this - HIRE A RANGER on weekends - rope off the fronts and sides of greens with no paths - and please note several who teed off directly after noon this past Sunday purchase your annual Golfvisions players passes - ruin afternoon experiences for everyone that follows- in addition to completely destroying all the golf courses you manage.

After you read this review please scroll down and read Tim Gavrich of Golf Advisors review. I echo all of his comments - this is one wild ride.

The Bull is a completely ridiculous over the top Nicklaus golf course which is most instances requires right handers to hit a number high long approach shots that fade. Almost every hole at some point you have to get the ball in air to reach the green surfaces that you'd have to play multiple times to figure out how where to hit proper approach shots. Sand traps front most of the greens...many greens are angled to make their targets even smaller and more difficult. Numerous tight and/or imposing tee shots with trouble everywhere. Several blind/uphill to greens - hit and hope - especially for first timers.

A spectacular incredibly beautiful course....you gape at the design/difficulty of every hole when you arrive at the tee box.

If it weren't for a $51 hot deal I'd reluctantly say to you that it's not worth a visit at their $109 plus rates unless you're an extremely proficient player. You'll just be beating yourself up and by the back nine many could run out of golf balls or be just plain frustrated they haven't even carded a par on a hole yet. Play the white tees...don't play the greens. Conditions - as immaculate as they can get them. Warm up range, sand/chipping practice area. The lack of gps on the golf carts is a really large miss. The numbered area on the posted cart pin sheet is okay but for a course that requires this type of accuracy and precision have an exact distance to the pin should be standard operating procedure.

A conundrum for me. Would I want to see this course again? For the beauty of it - yes. For the playability of it - absolutely not. 4 stars - recommend once but at least for me pretty tough to revisit unless I snag a cheap hot deal again. And you might find this interesting to note - can't think of a Nicklaus designed course that I've played (probably more than 20 plus) that I "must" go back to.......

I'm a huge L&M fan and have been fortunate to play many other courses designed and built by them. For example - Spring Valley and Kankakee Elks are staples for me that I play a few times every season. I always have a smile on my face making the 3 hour drive to Green Lake and Lawsonia.

Links is just so much old school fun it's a 5 star plus. And I rarely if ever hand out 5 stars on Golf Advisor.

Punched up greens with incredibly deep traps and drop offs - if you play conservatively/hit to middle of greens/don't short side/chip and putt decently you'll score well. You do have to play Links more than once - just to understand where to play to and club correctly. You can hit many different types of approach shots Bubba Watson shot creativity is often rewarded by Bill & Ted. Course was in great shape playing hard and fast as it should be. A first timer was with me very good with a short stick - had shock and awe at just how sneaky the Wyld Stallyns greens are. You'll absolutely hit some putts where you say - it breaks that way??

Several Links rounds under my belt - I find each play is always an excellent adventure. If I lived anywhere close to this place I'd definitely make this my home course. Wonderful that it still exists and fantastic the track was brought back to original as built glory. Highly recommended - a course any proficient golfer should absolutely visit and savor.

Woodlands was in very good shape and cleaned up/renovated a bit from my last play at least 3 years ago now. Has some really nice challenges.....many approach shots require at least a club or two extra....numerous uphill approach shots. With the famous Links course next door many don't even bother to get a round in on Woodlands. They are really missing out.....Woodlands is so different it makes for a great 36 hole day - recommend playing here in the morning/have lunch/a couple Spotted Cows on draft in the clubhouse....then go tackle the Links. Woodlands is a really solid tree lined golf course overshadowed by Links old school perfection. The 2nd quarry hole - what would be the right part of a larger second green still is growing in...they really should consider posting a sign on the tee box informing that you should play as far as you dare down the right side of the fairway left of the quarry as any ball that's left off the tee or short in the fairway will be blocked by a large tree left....you have to hit under it...so large and obtrusive of a tree near the left side of the green - any short iron shot will go right into its canopy and likely kick into penalty shot trouble. Par 5 18th still has the original green in play which is a ridiculous two tier with way too much slope to it - 3 and 4 putts galore. When they open the new 18th green appears the finishing hole will be shortened considerably eliminating the hard right uphill dogleg 3rd shot to the green. I'll probably be really disappointed. What they should do and strongly recommend is open the new green up and then renovate and redesign the current 18th green site and put a fair slope on it. The slope of 17th green is pretty out of hand as well. 4 stars. Recommend play wholeheartedly - definitely make the time to play Woodlands when you visit Lawsonia.

OV receives an extreme amount of play. Normally packed to the gills the very hot weather kept many away from playing on Wednesday afternoon. Most fortunate to play in under 3 hours never held up by anyone in front of us. OV is in decent shape....the lack of rain has the fairway running extremely hard and fast. It was nice to see they are replenishing sand in places - GUR for the huge front right trap on #8 as well as the fronting traps on #15.....probably others but those were the two I noticed. Halfway house where you get range balls was closed but they did have roving beverage cart. A nice jug of ice cold water was operational on the 12th tee box. And restrooms with running water after 4&7 front after 13&15.

Greens were in decent shape rolling okay however a lot of old ball marks to fix on a few putts.....fault the players more so than the grounds crew....repair your ball marks, rake traps and sand your divots please!!! Had a perfect drive on 14 end up in a divot that was dug to China. Hope the idiot who made that divot and didn't sand receives the wrath of Golf Gods multiple times. Nice to see OV hosts Batavia HS team who were going out as we were finishing.

OV has a really fun routing with plenty of water to fend off. Some nice green complexes providing short stick challenge. A number of short par 4's and if you can keep your ball in play you can post a good score. Several par 5's are reachable in two....most especially with the fairways running out so much right now.

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon to all at OV. Highly recommend play. Book your tee times early as day before and day of decent times can be hard to come by. Cheers!!

RF is in very good shape right now. Greens were receptive as we played after a downpour of about 1/2 inch mid-day. Pace of play was very good - slightly over 3 hours as the tee sheet was pretty empty between noon and 1pm. $55 senior rate is a tad pricey but the layout and challenges (130 slope from the white tees!) this course presents make it worth the $55....but $45 would be about right mark. In addition RF do charge way too much for beverages - playing partner at the turn wanted a John Daly and that cost $10! All of the employees that work here were fantastic to interact with. I've now had 3 really nice experiences here this season and might even return in another month or so....recommend -if you're a first timer try to play with someone that has played the course. A ton of target golf involved on this Dye design.

Played in May (review below). All the same except they had rakes out for the sand traps. A very good interesting track which is a tad pricey even for seniors at $49 during the week. That's the very most I'd ever pay to play Whitetail... it's really a $40 course with nice facilities and driving range. Their "dynamic" pricing for non seniors rates are over $60 most of the time and even get close to $100 on weekends. For a really decent course way out in Yorkville those admission charges are quite a bit overboard. First thing in the morning we got around in a little over 3 hours. Recommend for play.