Turnberry Country Club

For once a great course an layout this staff has lost will to do much anymore. On top of that they were quite rude. One guy told me the range is open and the other was snark about repairs when I went to hit and he told me range is closed. Which is it?

The course is in great condition and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. Very impressed!

I had a $10 coupon that was expiring and was able to book an early Hot Tee time so total price paid was to good to pass up. Check in was as friendly as you can get and I was told I could start when I liked if the tee was open or I could hit some balls at the range which was included, I was 50 minutes early to do some putting. Range was great, practice green was huge and accurate to what the actual green play. Course is challenging, lots of mature trees with bunkers coming into play on your tee shot. Fairways and bunkers were in great shape, lots of groomed sand and not many leaves to deal with since it’s ealry fall. I’d recommend this course if you really want to test your game but make sure to play from the right tees for your handicap or get the chainsaw out.

Bunkers r in bad shape cups on holes looked like at least 3 days old grass growing over edges and burnt out !! Old man behind counter told us there was a tournament at 2oclock so rushed us out to beat the back nine starting times so we get done with 9 and see there's nobody around go into pro shop and asked the new guy behind the counter where's the tournament golfers and he said there isn't one !! Told us he had no clue why the old man told us that !! Made us mad that we rushed to finish the front nine when there was no need to . Never going back there ever !!!

I have been looking forward to trying this coarse for quite some time. It’s a cool layout, and in pretty good shape. Sand traps were terrible. Unraked, weeds growing, and not enough sand. We were taking free drops out of the bunkers they were so bad! It has real nice potential if they can maintain the coarse better.

When I wrote a review on this course a year ago, it was still semi-private. Turnberry has since opened their doors and now anyone can book tee times here through GolfNow or their website. I was hopeful that with new ownership and a new source of revenue (non-members golfing there), that some money would be put back into the course. The bones for an amazing course are there. This is a course that hosted a US Open qualifier and an Illinois Open. The course is challenging, yet still playable. There aren’t many, if any (depending on the tees you play from), forced carries either off the tee or into the greens. Bunkering is very well placed throughout the course. When it comes to golf course architecture, you’d be hard pressed to find many complaints with this course. The holes are not repetitive and each one brings its own unique challenges.

While the architecture is great, and the clubhouse is very nice, the course conditions need a lot of improvement. Through a local newspaper, it was voted best course in McHenry County for 2017. Based upon the conditions of the course alone, I would strongly disagree with that. I will concede the areas of the course (specifically the back 9) that flooded earlier this year due to the extreme amount of rain we received. What was most disappointing for me was the condition of the greens. DIseased patches, dead patches, large divots, weird scratch marks, ant hills, weeds, and numerous leaves made it nearly impossible to get a true roll on a putt. The rest of the course conditions were just OK. Patchy rough, rocks in the bunkers, inconsistent fringe areas around the greens, and bare areas around the course where it is just hard pan detract from the experience of golfing at one of the more respected courses in the area. Over one year’s time, the course conditions have certainly worsened.

In my opinion, the price point for greens fees is a bit high based upon the conditioning of the course. I hope the course bounces back next year with better weather conditions and some more attention put on improving the course conditions. From last year to this year, the course has dropped from 4 stars to 3 stars. Based on the price, you would be better off playing Foxford Hills, Oak Grove, or spend a little more and play at Blackstone. Even Redtail, which is right down the road (and cheaper), had better conditions this fall. As of right now, I do not recommend this course. I’ll give it another shot next spring/summer and update the review again. FIngers crossed this once great course starts to bounce back. I would love to see it back in the limelight again.

Weeds on greens weeds on fairways weeds on tee box. Maintain your course I've never seen a course that looks so poor

Thoroughly enjoyed my round here, played off the back tees at a length of almost 6,900 yards. The par three's were particularly tough from the back. Very tricky greens and you will be hard pressed to find a flat putt anywhere during the round. Has a real country club feel which isn't surprising since it is a country club that has begun accepting a few fee based rounds. I get the impression the course fell on some hard times as its condition has likely deteriorated somewhat. The sand in the traps was very course and there were some areas of the course that had suffered probably from the recent floods. However all in all an enjoyable round.

Turnberry is a semi-private golf club. Anyone can sign up for various levels of membership and amenities for a variety of prices. The only way to get onto the course is to be a member, play with a member, or play one of the few scrambles they host every year. I was a member two years ago. I tried it out and found out that it just wasn't for me. Two of my golf buddies are still members there so I've played it multiple times every year.

Last time I played here was in June. The driving range and practice greens are nice. The course itself WAS a gem (like worthy of 5 stars). Over the past several years, it has deteriorated a bit. Tee boxes. greens, bunkers, and most of the fairways are in good shape. The rough and fringe areas are patchy. Cart paths are in poor shape and there are numerous low areas around the course that don't drain well. The on course bathroom has never been open.

The difficulty of the course is challenging. Both the front and back 9 have changes in elevation and water bordering the fairways. The bunkering was well thought out as there are fairways bunkers in "normal" driving areas and numerous green side bunkers that protect the greens. There are not any forced carries on shots into the greens which allows you to be creative with how you want to play the hole and gives you options if you are hitting out of the mature trees throughout the course. The course tips out at 6876 yards with other tee options as well. The hardest holes for me on this course have been 3rd hole which plays 220 yards from the tips and is well guarded with water down the left and bunkers on the right and the 460 yard 5th hole which usually always plays into the wind and has a tee shot that has to carry water. The 17th hole, par 5, is no guarantee to be a scoring hole. There are large, mature trees, along the left side of this dog leg left which makes taking a 2nd shot towards the green nearly impossible.

My review boils down to this: I like the course, I don't love it. I really don't like the rates, even when I was a member. It is comparable to Foxford Hills or Chalet Hills in Cary but you can play at those course for almost $10/round cheaper. In my opinion, its worth signing up for the basic membership for one year, playing your free rounds, and seeing if you love the course. The course was recently sold so perhaps the new ownership will address some of the shortcomings in order to make this a 5 star course again in the near future.