Stonewall Orchard Golf Club

I had heard a lot of hype about Stonewall Orchard and so I decided to try it out. We played the Saturday before Father's day so I knew going in it was going to be busy. I didn't know that the "player's assistants" would do absolutely nothing to maintain pace of play. We had a group in front of us that was absolutely playing from the wrong tees and they were slow on top of that. Absolutely bottled up the back nine and the staff refused to do anything. We waited five minutes to tee off on every hole after about #7.

The course conditions were another issue. They clearly had under watered both the greens and the fairways. Nothing held the greens. They we're hard as a rock. The signs asking to repair divot marks were a joke because none of our balls even left divots. Even decent drives ran through fairways and on this course, anything off the fairway is penal - bounding off mounds and slopes designed to kick balls out of bounds or into sand straps. I will say the traps had good sand in them. And the course layout was interesting. If the course wasn't setup like Pinehurst No. 2 then I actually think we would have enjoyed our round.

BTW, these observations were not limited to our group. The foursome behind us actually stopped me in the parking lot after the round and asked if we had struggled like they did with the conditions. We both said we would never come back. Such a shame because it has the potential to truly be one of the best courses. Maybe, at some point, it truly was.

Course was playing very nice for the day. Greens are fast so plan accordingly and pin positions can be VERY annoying but it’s expected for the type of course it is. One issue I had was pace of play. I felt like the group I was with (myself and two gentleman I got paired up with) were not playing THAT slow but when we got to the 9th tee box the cart displayed we were 12 minutes off pace. Rangers came up to us to do his job and I get it, let’s keep everyone happy and moving. HOWEVER it is expected to play 9 in 2 hours. Seems very tight! I’ve played many that are 4.5 hours for the round and had that been the case we would’ve been spot on. We DID pick up our pace and it MILDLY affected my round but I totally understood. On the 10th tee box we saw the group that “caught up” to us on the 9th box. By the time we ended the back 9 they were 2.5 holes behind us. Once again I get it they need to do their job and they can see where everyone is at with the GPS trackers but let’s get realistic here, a little bit higher handicap players may need to pick up some shots to stay on pace.

This was the best course I have played this year. The entire course was in pristine condition. Challenging from the gold tees. Most relaxing round of the year. I highly recommend this course. Was worth the hour drive from Naperville.

Early in the season and the course is already dialed in. Fantastic shape. Greens are on the plus side for speed. Even though the course beat up me and my guest pretty good, we had a wonderful experience and will return for more torture soon.

The best green speed I've ever played in anywhere.

managable speed with interesting undulation.

Tough day windy but course is so great. In solid condition for early year. Greens rolling great.

Just a great track. Great driving range and nice putting green - course is a great layout- greens were so fast made it really challenging as well as the wind. just overall a place I love coming.

The course was in good shape especially in November. The pace was just under 4 hours. Good time

Especially for November. Maintenance did a great job with leaves.

Course was surprisingly empty. Good fall golf conditions. Some holes you get a different feel than your typical Illinois golf course and feel like you’re in rural Michigan or northern Wisconsin. No food on Mondays kind of a bummer but otherwise a great deal on GN.