Palmer at Geneva National Golf Club

Excellent and scenic course can't wait to the middle of summer

I feel the Palmer course is the best course on the property. The back 9 is more challenging than the front. Holes along Lake Como provide great views.

Had a beautiful fall Indian summer day temperatures in the high 70s. Course was in fantastic shape. Beautiful layout. Punishes you when you miss the fairway or the green. Be prepared to lose a few balls and have your score impacted by penalty strokes unless you keep it in the short grass. Fantastic time.

We arrived at Geneva National for our 1st of 3 rounds to be played on the Palmer course. I had played the course a few years ago and struggled to remember a lot of the holes until stepping back on the tee. The course itself is a fun course with lots of tee shots requiring a little shape or a layup if you don't want to try it with driver. The first few pins were very severe making a 3-putt almost un-avoidable which but after #4 things got more under control. The unfortunate part was the pace of play, we were unable to complete our round because the 1st tee was 25 minutes behind schedule and the pace of play was horrible. 4:35 into the round and we were only on the 16th tee in the dark and were not able to enjoy what is the best stretch of the course. We saw a ranger on multiple occasions and nothing got better, based on how the bar/restaurant was staffed this felt like it was strictly a money grab and the resort was stuffing in as many people as possible. When I brought this up with the pro shop that evening they said there was a slow group ahead of us but they did nothing to speed them up. Our group was given a slight refund on golf but it wasn't enough to get the sour taste out of our mouths. When compared to U. Ridge the day before, this course pales in comparison for value and playability.

This is a truly exceptional golf course. The setting of the front nine is like playing through an old stand of oak trees with beautiful home scattered throughout. The back nine opens up a bit after 14 to get you with lake views.

What truly stands out is that the layout offers risk reward decisions on most holes but always leaves a safe out if you choose to play conservatively course was in gear shape and the greens were fast and took some time to get the feel for the speed and the grain.

Will definitely be back

The Good: Very challenging and interesting layout from golf king Arnold Palmer has some of the most picturesque holes of the entire Geneva National Resort. Many holes weave through forests sprinkled with ponds and creeks, while the course closes with several super views alongside Lake Como. Superb course conditions, a top-notch practice amenities, and an exceptional clubhouse and service for a public facility. Make sure to eat at the Hunt Club Restaurant after your round! On-site accommodations are very nice.

The Bad: Some holes have great character with elevation changes or intimidating hazards, while the holes in the middle of the track (particularly the Par-4's) appear to be "filler" holes until the great closing stretch on the back half. The $130 greens fee during peak season is steep for the course. The greens, while putting very true, are extremely slick and difficult to the point that it can ruin a happy-go-lucky round. Lack of GPS on the carts is a glaring amenities omission.

The Verdict: The Palmer course at Geneva National has arguably some of the best holes of the entire resort, yet the Player course is the better all-around track. A joy to play if you can avoid 3-putting all of the greens. A great option if you are in the Lake Geneva area.

Best Hole: The closing is a great capper to this impressive track; however, the best hole of the resort is the long Par 5 #17. The hole borders Lake Como and winds around the water to a green pinched between sand traps. Make sure to bring your camera!

Still absurdly priced on weekends. They must be subsidizing the broader condo assn with their fees. Over a hundy to play and carts don't even have GPS. Play Hawks view down the road where they value customers.

This course is about 45 minutes away from Milwaukee and is a great alternative option to expensive courses such as Erin Hills or Whistling Straits. Twilight hour rates are around $50 and if you get a tee time right when they begin you will finish with sunlight. Practice facilities include putting green, short game area, and driving range(all in great condition). I played the last week of July and the course was basically in perfect condition with a few minor issues with the tee boxes and fringes. Greens are in good shape and aren't too fast, giving easy approach shots and aggressive putts to score low. Only complaint was our round took 4:45 to finish and waited on every tee box past the 12th hole. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone looking to pay a low price for amazing quality.

Well we didn't get to play the palmer course, because it was a members day thing. They had no golf now reservation at all. Ended playing the trevino course and was pretty nice.

Course was in nice condition foe this early in the year. Greens were good but not yet excellent. Paid $39 thru Golfnow. Great rate since rates are closer to $100 the rest of the year. Have played here many times but won't pay $100. All courses here are always some of the best in the area.

Very unique layout. It is recommended you drive ahead a little to see what's ahead if this is your first time going. This course will definitely test your accuracy. Overall this course is very awesome and I will definitely return.

This course has a good variety of golf holes. The undulating fairways with excellent bunkering gives the course a very nice look. I would like to see a few more greenside bunkers, but that is a minor issue on an otherwise beautiful course. The condition was not perfect, but certainly understandable for the time of year. Overall a great experience with a great price from Golfnow.

Let's just say $10 was a great price but for those of you that paid more you should be looking for a rain check. I can only hope the aeration fixes some of the greens and fairways....You would have thought 1000 people had just played ahead of me. When the sand traps have tractor tires going through the middle of them and tee boxes are torn up beyond repair it's time to either close the course or lower the prices. Thus, $10 was just about right but requiring a collared shirt was a bit much....I'm thinking a white tank top would have compared to the condition. Not to mention the number of geese that have now made #8 their home for the winter. I agree with the others on 12-14 couldn't have been designed by anyone...they just don't fit with the rest of the course. There are a number of great hole but I don't understand the higher price for playing this course...Arnie must just get a bigger cut. Note: Play from the Golds if you want a challenge. Now let's talk about the ladies tee's..Arnie must not have had their tee boxes mapped on the course as they placed them on the other sides of fairways 85 yard up ahead. My wife actually had no shot off of 2-5 as they had trees in front of the tee boxes....I'd never seen anything like it..as my wife hits the ball 210-240 off the tee and she found herself 80 yds away on just about every second shot...this needs to change as it was almost laughable with some of her advantages. This must keep the members happy as they really don't tolerate slow play here. Well I'm rambling on now so I'll just tell you to play Trevino or Player before venturing out on this course. If you want perfect fairways check out Hawksview....they still have greenskeepers working instead just winterizing.

My brother and I played on a day where we knew it was going to be a bit cold. We started off and the wind wasn't too bad and there was a little sun. But as we went on, the sun disappeared and the wind really picked up...so weather wise, it wasn't the greatest (what do you expect for late October). But for $20.00 a piece, we couldn't pass up the chance to play the course...even if it was a bit cold. Staff was very friendly. I would definitely play this course again...IF I could get a similar deal.

We booked this on GolfNow for $32.00 PP which apparently is a great deal. After golfing the course I feel it was. The course was challenging and in great condition. The only drawback we found was no GPS in the carts. Other than that it was a great time and I WILL definetly come back.

This is a great golf course. Two circumstances made it a dissappointing round. #1: The starter informed us that the greens were recently aeriated and that we probably wouldn't notice. We noticed. The practice green was probably at an 11 or 12. The actual greens were probably at a 2, with a ski hill mogul feel to them. #2: Pace of play. It was the longest round of the year. With a 1:48 tee time we played the 18th in the dark.
I understand greens need to be maintained and with the GolfNow hot deal I believe we paid an appropriate price for the condition of the greens. The pace of a play is a different issue, one that I wish could have been addressed properly by the more than ample staff which made its presence known. I'm glad I had the opportunity to play this course for the price we did. I cannot afford the regular rates.

We had used our gps to find the course only to arrive at a gate that can't be used to access the golf courses. After receiving a map to the right gate from the security officer we arrived entering another gate and pulled up to a massive clubhouse. The pro shop is nothing special and small but the attendants outside were helpful and friendly. With the security entrance and clubhouse I was expecting the course to be something special but 12-14 different holes were simply like playing a subdivision course designed by a nobody not Arnold Palmer. The course was in terrible shape and I recently learned that another course of theirs was in way better shape yet the Palmer course is suppose to be the most prestigious. The tee boxes on multiple holes were beat up to were you couldn't find a decent spot to tee off and the fairways weren't much better. Minus a few nice holes to finish the round on the lake the course is well below what I would have expected and not worth the $50 I paid let along the well over $100 which is the normal fee. I think Arnie could have done a lot better and this is just a sad excuse for a feature course in an upscale setting.

beautiful course great shape fast greens very playable when you play apropriate tees, lots of elavation changes must play course, my top ten list for wisconsin

Slow pace of play didn't allow completion before sundown