Bittersweet Golf Club

Course was ok. It had rained the night before so there was a bit of water on the fairways and a few greens. But the round was still enjoyable.

This was my 5th time playing Bittersweet, but my first time playing in ~2 years. Practice facilities are solid. Great short game area, plus grass tees at the driving range. Putting green is a little small. Bittersweet isn't for amateurs, so if you're not striking the ball well... come prepared with plenty of extra balls because the course can be very penalizing. What surprised me most about Bittersweet was the speed of their greens and quality of their traps. I don't recall either being in this good of shape this late in the season. It was a treat to play and great way to round out the Chicago golf season.

I have played this course several times this year. The course is usually in great shape. However, this time around it was not. The sand traps had too much water, several fairways had too many leaves and it was difficult finding the ball even in the middle of the fairways. Many of the greens were completely covered with leaves also, and to the point that it was extremely difficult to put. Please have the leaves cleaned.

There were too many fairways and greens that were covered with leaves ;you couldn’t find your ball or make a putt without impeding leaves. There was no maintenance staff on hand to make the course more enjoyable for play. I asked the pro shop manager why they weren’t clearing the leaves and she replied that they couldn’t afford to pay Maintenace to work 24/7.. How about paying maintenance to work during business hours. I’ll bet, my round was extended 40 minutes searching for balls covered in leaves.

I was impressed with the layout, the challenges and the condition of the course, Greens were nice, could be cut a little more but easy to read. The difficulty are the doglegs into blind areas, sand, marsh wetlands made target golf the method to play. I would play again had a penalty plague 87 because of lack of knowledge hitting into areas causing drops. Next time it’ll be 80!

I played here 20 years ago returning this week on vacation. The course has matured into something special. Defined fairways, forced carries and excellent greens. It would be my go to course if I lived in the area.

Getting off tee boxes were punishing for slightly off track shots. Water and hazards will eat your ball on every hole - bring a dozen of your forgettable golf balls.

We had younger players in our trio - a beginner and a second season player. We felt eyes on our shots which caused some nerves as the pace of play was stop and go with 2 groups lined up in front of us and 2 groups staring us down behind us…didn’t make sense for anyone looking to play through as there was nowhere to go.

Course was in nice condition. The greens were soft and slow - needed to hammer on some of the putts. For a round of 9 at $30 a person, we definitely enjoyed and will return with a bunch of balls.

Not worth $70 dollars it’s more like a $50 course. Has been in much better shape in the past and better management. Never saw a ranger out on the course to push the pace of the slow pace of play. Seems like it’s ran by a bunch of teenagers with no experience in the golf industry.