Spring Valley Country Club

Great course to play. Challenges all levels. Pin placement crazy locations must bring your A game. The only thing that made this a little bad was the rain the night before. Certain sections only. Staff friendly accommodating to a slight glitch on golf now . Golf had this deal with a cart but something different at the place . Thanks for the cart. My son wants to go back .

The Good: Spring Valley CC is a public-access Langford + Moreau collaboration just north of the IL/WI border. Much of the original design, other than keeping all of the 65 planned sand traps as grass, has remained in tact over the years and it is one of the most cost-effective golden-age tracks that you can play in the Midwest. L&M are known for blind tee-shots & large grass knolls to add to shot strategy and both are very prevalent. Excellent, tough Par 3’s & good mixture of risk/reward Par 5’s. Good variety of Par 4’s that range from 460-278 yards. Modest in both amenities and conditioning, yet the small, devilish greens are in great shape even despite 4-inches of rain just a few days prior. One of the best values in the state of Wisconsin at under $50 during peak season with cart.

The Bad: Spring Valley’s charm is its old school golf course, not its amenities or pace of play. The fairway conditions were only fair, and tee-boxes were expectedly in pretty rough shape. Limited practice area with small putting green and “bring your own balls” driving range. Given the current Covid-19 situation, there was limited service and no clubhouse open, but I suspect it is a fun, raucous environment when in normal state. I am not a huge fan of blind tee-shots and smallish greens, so a few long Par-4’s with greens the size of a conversion fan were an annoyance.

The Verdict: Fans of Lanford & Moreau’s Lawsonia Links in Green Lake, WI will eat this place for dessert. “Lil’ Links” is a fun track that harkens back to a time when the game was simpler and just about golf, nothing more and nothing less. While I won’t have as high on my “Best in State” lists as some, it’s one of the best ways to spend as little of your hard-earned money in the greater Chicago area as possible.

Best Hole(s): The double punch of the Par-5 4th and the long Par-3 5th hole is dynamite. The 4th is a long, downhill Par-5 with a huge pond in front of green unbeknownst you’re a regular. The 5th is a 230-yard tee-shot with water short and left.

With double cut greens and tucked flags Spring Valley was very wet and wild due to overnight rains. A nice sunny fall day - Bears were playing and no one was there. This classic Langford & Moreau design never disappoints. The greens were in tremendous shape and were so much fun to putt on with the difficult flag positions. Lots of leaves and wet areas but expected. It's that time of year where you want to get in as many rounds as you can while the weather is decent. If Spring Valley was my last round of 2019 in Chicagoland there couldn't have been a better place to culminate the season. Play this gem - your game will be challenged and you'll be a better putter/chipper because of it. Highly recommended and always one of the best values in Chicagoland.

This course is a fun course with some pretty challenging holes! The staff is Great & accommodating!

Read my previous reviews below. Simply put a fun old school test with some vexing green sites. Go to wisconsingolf.com and get a deal. $26 w/cart on weekends with no restrictions. We teed off at 830am on a Sunday and played in a leisurely 330. Welcoming folks and I always get up to Salem at least two or three times a year for a wonderful day. Play it!!

Spring Valley is in the best shape I've seen it in several years with all the rains recently. Normally hard and fast it's playing much longer than it's yardage at the current time. See my reviews below for more information. Excellent value - look for coupons. We had a 930am Saturday tee time for $26 and played in about 420. Outstanding old school awesome green complexes Langford/Moreau design - photos of all five of the Par 3's below - Par 70 with 3 Par 5's. The stretch of holes from 12 thru 17 are formidable. Play this place!!

We were greeted by a rarely seen freshening Eastern breeze for this round and so my appreciation of the course architecture of Langford/Moreau only increased. Many of the holes played entirely different. Spring Valley is playing very hard and fast right now. You have to execute well thought out shots to score here. Greens are in really decent shape rolling well and sure there is funny grass in the fairways and you need a hammer to get your tee in the ground but that's probably the way it was when the course was built over 90 years ago. If you enjoy value (go to golfwisconsin.com for coupons) and old school roller coaster greens I highly recommend this place. I guarantee your short game will get a workout. The prices are right, they have a small grass range (bring some shags) and the folks are always welcoming. You'll have a wonderful day and have money in your pocket to play 3 more rounds of golf - let's say I had a choice between playing Cog #4 and Spring Valley.....I'd play Spring Valley every time.

An untouched Langford/Moreau gem with nary a sand trap a visit to Spring Valley is like going back in time. While the course conditions are average the course offers great value - search the net and get a coupon and you can play with cart for under $30 even on weekend mornings! If you enjoy old school design, roller coaster greens and natural routing you'll love this place....it requires strategic shot making. The par 3 7th hole is one of the best designed par 3's you'll ever experience if you never played here before. If there ever was a place for a historic renovation this is it - trees on the 1st and 10th cover up the mounding/grass traps that the designers were famous for so your tee shots have to be carefully routed to make the dogleg. Several of the greensites have shrunk in size from what they used to be but there are several which have retained size......just imagine what the course looked like in 1926. Several 1/2 par holes which these designers also incorporated in many of their other courses. This course is one of my "hidden" secrets.....I always pull it out of hat at least once or twice a year and my playing partners are never disappointed. A gem in the rough if there ever was one. Small grass range to warm up...bring shag balls. Old school clubhouse, very fair beverage/food prices and very friendly folks. 3.5 stars but I rate as a 4 because the track is so much fun. Heartily recommended.

Played here in February and it was in a really good condition. Greens were nice layout is interesting with lots of blind shots and dog legs. This course is a nice value for somewhwre to go and play and not worry about the people around you. The staff was super friendly. Nice place for a nice price.

Probably my 5th time playing this one overall. The course is pretty standard as far as layout and hole design goes. Only a few water-hazards and very few opportunities to lose balls. Beautiful weather. Very much a drive-pitch-putt course for anyone further along in their golf career than a beginner. Unfortunately, I am still pretty bad, so my long drives don't help me that much.

No cart attendant. Beer is cheap at the clubhouse though for beforehand and a the turn. Friendly clubhouse staff and clubhouse dog.

My lakehouse is literally 5 minutes away and for the price ($28 w/cart), this makes for a very enjoyable.weekend afternoon.

This course is one my best kept secrets. Spring Valley is always worth a play (or four) during the season and this untouched Langford/Moreau design with devilish sloping green sites is just a joy to play. While the conditions are not perfect/pristine this track will challenge your short stick and short game. The greens were micro aerated on Tues 5/3 however they are rolling very true as of 5/6....the downhillers are extremely swift.....and can't wait to get a crack at them later this summer. You always have a breaking putt and sometimes a double or triple breaker! Highly recommend this place if you love the history of the game and golf course design.

Nice course nice prices nice chhhhaalange nice emplyees

The course must have a pace person or mentioned to players they should play ready golf

We went out as a foursome with a couple of beginner golfers and finished in 4h20m. A fair test of golf. For the money spent, it is well worth it.

I called the course ahead of time to let them know that I was going to be 10 minutes late for my tee time booked on golfnow.com due to traffic. The guy in the pro shop said I had to drive to the third hole even though no one was teeing off on the first hole.

We had 5-somes in front of us with us waiting every shot. Poor tee time management, they basically let people do what ever they want, we could only get 14 holes in before we decided to leave. If you like wearing cut-off shirts then this place is for you!