Bittersweet Golf Club
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 73.3/137 W: 79.5/143 | 338 | 565 | 196 | 344 | 371 | 148 | 346 | 422 | 516 | 3246 | 369 | 546 | 403 | 200 | 506 | 420 | 421 | 203 | 437 | 3505 | 6751 |
| Green M: 71.4/133 W: 77.3/138 | 319 | 531 | 169 | 334 | 361 | 126 | 326 | 404 | 485 | 3055 | 340 | 530 | 363 | 183 | 496 | 376 | 409 | 190 | 403 | 3290 | 6345 |
| Green/White M: 69.7/126 W: 75.1/133 | 319 | 531 | 127 | 334 | 234 | 126 | 326 | 328 | 485 | 2810 | 340 | 507 | 363 | 145 | 496 | 376 | 360 | 133 | 403 | 3123 | 5933 |
| White M: 68.0/120 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 |
| Orange M: 65.2/113 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 |
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Course Details
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2016 #12)
Reviews
Tough track
Course is in great shape. It's a tough track that plays more difficult when you tee off before the range opens. Tee'd off 6:15am and was unable to warm up due to range opening at 8am.
need ranger
Too many courses, including this one, do not have a ranger(s) on course to keep up pace of play. Too many times we are caught behind players who are a hole or more behind the players ahead of them. But the course is nice and challenging from tips.....good value.
Awesome
Beautiful and difficult. Perfect mix. Would definitely play again.
Different course
I played Bittersweet when it first opened and have seen it change from a completely unfair course to what it is now.....challenging but very fair.
Same 'ole Bittersweet
Played this course dozens of times and it is still the same. Course eats golf balls if you're even remotely wild off the tee and number 8 still owns me. Greens roll really well for the amount of play, but the pace is a bit slow.
Challenging but Fun
Great course with high level of difficulty. Well kept grounds with water hazards abound. Had a lot of fun playing at Bittersweet and definitely recommend it.
Bad 9 / Good 9
Front 9 is not fun... you can maybe use a driver 2 times safely... the other times you can pick between missing in a hazard or homes that are right off the fairway. There are signs every where reminding golfers they are responsible for things they hit - not really what I want to be reminded of when golfing. Looks to me like home owners love to go after golfers for bad shots. Back 9 is much better and feels more open.
every hole was a challenge
course a little dry until the monsoon hit, deffinately play again, alittle short from the blue tees, black seems more playable to above average golfer. received rain check from club pro and extremly friendly. look forward to playing again
Nice chanlenging course
Course is always a challenge and you must hit it straight. Greens were running fast. Overall decently maintained although a little beaten up late in the year. Course played quickly today, but have been out there when its taken 5 hours. A nice experience if you are an above average golfer. If you don't hit the ball straight you could have a long afternoon.
Bring extra balls !
Very tough for beginning golfers. Must be able to place shots or count on lost balls and 100+ scores. A course hate and love at the same time.
Shot makers course a short game dream
The course was in wonderful condition the staff was very nice. For 15$ this course was a steal. The pace of play was very slow. I arrived early at 345 for a 430 pm tee time. They had an outing that began with a shot-gun start at 1pm at 430pm they were still on every hole the staff told us to go to a set of holes but the people from the outing became angry with us for playing between their groups. We finally went to the 1st hole and played a very slow round behind an outing of crabby men playing a course to hard for them. In short golf now should not have had a tee time during an outing.
Labor Day Golf
Fairways and bunkers were in good shape but greens needed work. I attribute it to the end of the Labor Day holiday; I just wish golfers would repair ball marks even if they are not there own mark. The driving range could use more targets and a practice bunker. I was also 'rushed' to get to the 1st tee. I was called 15 minutes prior to my tee time which didn't leave me much time on the putting green. I usually have my practice time controlled; I had to leave about 15 balls on the range and then rush to the green and hit only 3 short putts.
Appropriately Named!
Beautiful course with well maintained fairways, excellent greens and really interesting holes. The problem is that you really need to be precise especially off the tee. On many holes you can be just off the fairway and be lost in tall reeds or grassy wetlands. There are only a few holes where you can just grip and rip with no regard for precise placement. Overall though, great value for the price. I will go there again.
THIS COURSE WILL CHALLENGE YOU!
Nice course set up. First tee seems straight forward not a driving hole seemingly easing you into the round. Hole #2 really sets the trend for the rest of your round. It is a difficult Par 5 and from there it just gets more fun and challenging. I enjoyed this course and look forward to golfing there again!
Good course close to home.
I've played Bittersweet many times. Best shape ever ! GolfNow has the best prices. Good value.
This is an excellent golf course.
I'll start with a summary: Fairway conditions - excellent; Green conditions - excellent; Rough - excellent (i.e., not long enough to lose golf balls but thick enough to draw your attention).
I found the fairways on Bittersweet to be a nice mix of narrow, hard to hit fairways with fairways that were wide enough to enable you to relax a bit. All of the fairways were nicely cut and therefore rewarded you with a good lie for your effort provided you didn't land in a divot.
I always judge a golf course by the condition of its greens. I can forgive unkempt fairways and granular sand traps if a course's greens are in pristine condition. Bittersweet had none of the former and a lot of the latter. I like fast greens on which a ball rolls true. Bittersweet didn't disappoint. This means that you need a deft touch in your short game. A knowledge of the greens wouldn't hurt either.
The sand in the traps wasn't as fine as I would like but the traps were manageable.
I started playing the course from the white tees. However, after the first ten holes I decided to move to the blue tees because the distance from the white tees was way too short for me. And I'm not a long hitter. Bittersweet's score card states that anyone with a handicap from 6 to 17 should play from the blue tees. I disagree with that. My opinion is that anyone with a handicap from 6 to 12 should play from the blue tees. I'd hate to be behind a player with a 17 handicap playing from the blue tees unless of course he/she knows how to keep pace.
This course also has its share of water and trees. However, since I was playing the course for the first time I paid particular attention to the score card for distances and hazards and to my pleasant surprise the score card was very helpful.
Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this course and I would return to it in a heart beat.
Difficult course, but had to stop and take a picture - Beautiful
Beautiful course with extremely tight fairways. Beware, brings more than a sleeve of balls unless you're a scratch golfer. The challenge is a beautiful as it is challenging, just a great course.
Well Maintained Target Golf Course
You might lose a few balls but this course is not as penal as it once was (it was all but unplayable 10 years ago). Target golf so if you don't hit it straight you may struggle. In very good condition but you need to know when to leave the driver in the bag. Overall, a fun yet challenging course in very good condition.
Beautiful layout, not for the faint of heart..Be prepared if u are not a target golfer.
Beautiful layout, some very picturesque holes. Be prepared if you do not hit the ball straight, bring plenty of reinforcements, (extra balls). Some blind shots. You should play this course several times in order to appreciate the lines and understand where you should be hitting your shots.
Great value
I've played this course often enough to expect the course to be wet when it rains. The day I played was, to my surprise, in great shape. The greens were in great shape and rolled very nicely. Good consistent speed. The fairways and tee boxes were cut the way fairways and tee boxes should be. I would definitely recommend this course to any level golfer. It's challenging yet fair. If you have a chance to get out there, try this course....you won't regret it.