Bittersweet Golf Club
Rating Snapshot
About
Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee, Ill. is ideally situated for a scenic round of golf. The diverse landscape flows seamlessly from lush wetlands to native prairies covered with colorful wildflowers. The layout also winds across a 100-year-old sage meadow and through forests of mature hardwoods, which serve as a home to an abundance of wildlife. Beyond the beautiful scenery, the terrain presents many challenges. The undulating fairways demand accuracy as you hit from multi-tiered tee boxes. Water also comes into play on almost every hole and there's an array of strategically placed bunkers you'll have to avoid. The eighth is the toughest hole on the front nine, a par-4 dogleg right with a lightning fast green. Bittersweet Golf Club's back nine is known for its scenery, which is best displayed on the signature par-5 11th hole, which offers not only a challenge but also a spectacular view from the tee.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 6751 yards | 73.3 | 135 |
| Blue | 72 | 6345 yards | 71.4 | 131 |
| White | 72 | 5559 yards | 67.8 | 122 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5559 yards | 72.8 | 128 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 4952 yards | 70.0 | 121 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 73.3/137 | 338 | 565 | 196 | 344 | 371 | 148 | 346 | 422 | 516 | 3246 | 369 | 546 | 403 | 200 | 506 | 420 | 421 | 203 | 437 | 3505 | 6751 |
| Blue M: 71.4/133 | 319 | 531 | 169 | 334 | 361 | 126 | 326 | 404 | 485 | 3055 | 340 | 530 | 363 | 183 | 496 | 376 | 409 | 190 | 403 | 3290 | 6345 |
| White M: 67.8/120 W: 73.0/129 | 298 | 490 | 127 | 323 | 234 | 106 | 309 | 328 | 410 | 2625 | 329 | 507 | 319 | 145 | 445 | 341 | 360 | 133 | 355 | 2934 | 5559 |
| Red W: 69.8/122 | 283 | 469 | 93 | 279 | 234 | 76 | 288 | 323 | 402 | 2447 | 241 | 424 | 289 | 115 | 371 | 290 | 327 | 126 | 322 | 2505 | 4952 |
| Handicap | 17 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 4 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 4 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAccolades
-
Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2016 #12)
Reviews
November Bonus Golf
First time playing this course, heard it was a challenging track. Hole # 2 is par five that is very challenging. After recovering from loosing four balls, I enjoyed the layout despite its difficult layout. Was paired with a pleasant couple, pace was good as we finished under four hours Course for November was in good condition. Be prepared for some long carries and narrow fairways.
Bittersweet Oct 10
Course was in great condition. One issue - too many leaves therefore difficult to find balls.
Burgers are excellent!
Tight
Course ran fast. Tight fairways were as tight as I remember. Greens were pretty fair, even though too many people fail to repair their ball marks! Used my entire bag of clubs to get around. Fun layout
Very narrow and difficult tee shots with lots of hazards, but not overly long so if you can keep it straight you can shoot a good score
Bring extra balls
Enjoyable , but challenging course. Blind tee shots and shots into the green. But really fair off the tee... but it's a shot markers course into the green. Warning to you... greens are fast and missing the greens my most likely result in a big kick into a penalty area.
Slow day
We lIke this course. It rewards good shots and penalizes poor ones rapidly. We were directed to play from 10th but as a two ball we hit a very slow foursome on the first tee and the day went downhill from there, it was slow. Course condition was generally good but people are just not repairing divots or pitchmarks and it’s taking a toll. The management would benefit from reminding patrons to observe etiquette and maintain the course as they would hope to find it.
Decent Value
Played for $59 on a Sunday. Good value. The course is in good condition. My big complaint is the huge discrepancy between the white and blue tees. There is more than an 800 yd difference. We were in a foursome with some playing white and some playing blues and it was like we were on different courses. Move the whites back a little.
Stay & Play Offers
