Lost Marsh Golf Course - Par-3 Course

I love the layout of this course and been playing it since the clubhouse was a small trailer on the hill. I try and take friends from out of town there and always advise them to bring extra balls because so much water is in play on the front nine. It's often a bit slow but the pace of play this time was so bad we had to skip around and eventually only got in 14 holes, and this was a week day. The other issue is during my last few visits, they had the actual tight grass driving range area closed and they set up practice tees on the end in the high grass that wasn't cut very low. Basically, you practice in the heavy rough. Over the years, the only time I found the real range open was during an outing. Great course but need to fix the pace of play and the range issue or those in Chicago may as well go to Harborside. With the tolls, it's cheaper, with great practice areas and two courses. Lost Marsh needs an on course ranger and let us beat up the range a bit. I go there less for these two reasons alone.

First of all, let me start by stating that Lost Marsh is one of the nicest courses in the Region, a great layout, with fine conditions. When we arrived, we found out that all of the carts were out on the course, so the lady gave each of us a ticket for a small bucket of balls. Classy! We finally loaded our carts up and teed off (slightly late), due to the massive no. of people playing that day. Course was in great shape, but several of the greens were saturated with leaves, making putting pretty difficult, if not unfair. My cart began to lose its charge, and when I called, someone came out and switched me into another cart on the 6th hole. Pace of play was terrible. After 4 and 1/2 hours, we had only played 15 holes, and decided to quit. Also, the 2nd cart I had was also losing steam, and would not have made it through another 3 holes. I love the course and will return, but never again on a week end.

I played this course a week ago and it was in great shape but a little soft. Heavy rains meant a couple of balls plugged in the fairway on a good drive. That happens. I honestly love this course and the facility is beautiful. However, we never saw a marshal and the pace of play was fine until we got to #9. We watched a single tee off followed by a twosome, then my twosome. We waited for 10 minutes there on for the tee shot and the approach. It got unbearable, my scores started to suffer and we skipped four holes, played #18 and left. A morning weekday round should not have taken that much time. I will hold off on going back until I hear they are doing a better job keeping guys moving.

Great test. Target golf At its finest. Very helpful with extra player. Staff was willing to help us. Will be back.

You better hit your ball straight on the front nine or you will need more golf balls.

Lots of water! Play target golf. Very good conditions throughout! Worth the stop.

Great course but staff doesn't know what they are doing. No starter when we teed off so there were multiple twosomes that were slowed by extremely slow foursomes. Called into the shop 3 times first time we were told to go in front of them, second time ranger came out and had a group in front of us play through them. Finally the ranger came back out so we were told to skip around the last 5 holes. Very disappointing they would allow bad habits on the course.

I was pleasantly surprised with the playability, condition, and overall fun of the layout at lost marsh. The diversity of the holes and the shots required was what I really enjoyed about the course. There are two to three risk-reward short par 4s that are driveable for longer players. The few longer par 4s are relatively open off the tee, but demand a strong approach shot. Again, the par 5s offer a great risk-reward set up both off the tee and into the green. Hole 4 is one of the tougher holes in the area. The par 3s could use some mixing up (all played between 135 and 170 the day I played from silver tees). Really other than that, I have no complaints; the greens rolled fairly true, rough was appropriately long, and the pace of play was great despite every tee time being booked with foursomes.

Greeted by the friendliest pro shop ever.

What a gem! Played in under 4 hours and waited to hit on the first five holes. Had a great time! Layout was a little strange but excellent conditions!what a deal on golfnow! Definate replay even with the traffic (dan ryan expressway).

Well worth it! Won't get lost in my favorite courses to play.

If you want a unique golf experience then I recommend playing here. It's certainly lived up to its billing as a target course, as opposed to the wide-open links courses that I typically prefer. This brings out a whole new mental part to the game and ensures that only a strategic hitter is successful. For me I found this to be refreshing and a whole lot of fun! The fairways and greens were really well maintained. Oh, and the beer is cheap! I'd play this course again any day!

really helps using GNow GPS on this course especially for the first few holes where water comes into play often.

Course is great. Pace of play sucks. It would have taken over 5 hours to get a round in. Will not go again

A great course to play, the only criticism is that the carts need gps due to all the water in front and the sides especially the first 4 holes.

Lost Marsh may be in the best course condition shape in years. This is a target-oriented golf course that plays tough from the back 2 tee boxes (Silver - 6370 & Black - 6803 yds). The yardage is not long but the tightness of the course makes it play longer. The course's defenses are hazards (water & marshes), the wind, and the layout with strategic tree locations. Couples of tips - 1) Do not use driver off the tee at holes 1, 4, 5, and 15: not necessary and brings more hazards into trouble without any good reward. 2) Holes 7 & 12 have strategic tree lines to avoid on the drive or they make your 2nd shot impossible. OTHER STUFF: The snack shack is very convenient as you can visit after holes 8, 11, or 13. The clubhouse is beautiful with a good bar, restaurant, and locker room. The bar also has an outdoor patio area overlooking the course and the Chicago skyline. Good course that tests your accuracy of your shots. Good Luck!

2nd try in a few years at this course. Staff was friendly enough and the clubhouse is spectacular. Skipped the range. Knew first 4 holes were murder and while somewhat interesting they create a real log jam right out of the gate with the par 3 second hole. Why courses make the second hole a three makes no sense. So many hazards and chances for lost balls on those first four the group just loses its enthusiasm for playing. After that it gets more enjoyable but what really bothers me is how close the greens and tee boxes are. It's actually scary. Teeing off on 10 you have groups firing rockets off one almost right at you. Italian beef at the 8/12 snack shack made up for a lot. The last 4-5 holes are well designed despite the ugly storage tanks and make you enjoy the course overall. I can put up with the crazy starting 4 but my group said they're done with this course. Waited in every single tee, but still finished in 4h30m starting at 7:30 on a Sunday. Don't see how they can ever speed up play with trouble on almost 100% of shots on the first 9. Back far more playable.

Played course three weeks ago. 5 hour, 42 minute round. As it was a 90+ degree day, chalked it up to the warm day and an anamoly.

Gave course another chance yesterday. 5 hour, 36 minute round in high 70s, low 80s temps.

Despite reading management's responses that they are addressing pace of play concerns, it would appear that nothing is being done to correct the situation. If the course wants to keep the two rangers on payroll, then it may be better served having them do something else to earn their keep because they are certainly not doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is to keep groups on track in accordance with the course's suggested pace of play. On the two days that I played, the rangers seemed more interested in keeping their carts moving in pursuit of AVOIDING any groups than to approach groups needing a little nudge.

Lost Marsh is a fun course with its fair share of challenges. Unfortunately, until it TRULY cleans up its act on pace of play, there is very little value in what they ask the public to pay and is a recommended stay-away.

Played this course when there was hardly any wind. This is a great course but due to its closeness to Lake Michigan it can get fairly windy. This is a pretty tough track and combining it with the wind factor it magnifies the difficulty. Got to truly enjoy it yesterday. Course is in great condition. First 5 holes are a true test of your ability. You gotta play it.