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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2016 #12)
Reviews
Good track
It’s a course that demands good shots, smart club selection , and discipline to keep the driver in the bag on many holes . Probably the best test of course management skills in the area cause errors can be punishing overall a good track and different from many other courses. Course was in excellent shape.
Close to 4 stars but slow play always an issue
My once a year visit to Bittersweet was just that as usual. Clubhouse with good bar, practice area and grass driving range. The room behind the men's room that had a shower is now locked off. Water and trouble is everywhere on this course.....several holes are quirky, very tight and need to be played a few times to score well. You find yourself "shoehorning" tee shots most of the day rather than swinging away. Bittersweet is a good challenge but the numerous harzards and some forced carries slow the play down to turtle crawl. If you're behind some less an average players plan on a 5 hour plus round on weekends. Greens microaerated but rolling well and overall decently maintained for a public course. Recommend but bring your accuracy.......if you're off a little you'll lose a sleeve of balls......
Devilish Fun
Not for the faint of heart here at Bittersweet. This is NOT a bomb a gouge course, this is a track that requires thought and all the clubs in your bag. Played my driver 1/3 of the time off the tee. Lots of irons and a F/W wood. Greens are firm and fast with lots of slope. Pin hunting is not always the thing to do.
Extremely tough coutse
Extremely challenging course with water in most holes with reeds along the left or right of the fairways. If you don’t t put it on the fairway, it be difficult to find your ball especially if it’s in the reeds. Difficult hole locations with fast greens. Very challenging golf course.
Challenging Course
Played this course today. If you are not an accurate shooter then bring lots of balls. But loved the layout of this course.
1st gem.
Great value. Greens were fast. Staff was friendly. Only issue is if you're a big hitter many holes cannot hit driver.
Good course. Could have gotten senior rate at course, less than the "hot rate"...also, let us off at 10th hole, so when we got to front nine, there was a wait..need to control better. Singles, etc...slowed down second half of round...
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