Highland Woods Golf Course

On my most recent visit to Highland Woods, my experience at the golf course was great. Perfect day, Course is in good shape coming out of winter, and staff extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Even though they get busy due to being a public county course i enjoy my time each time. Will definitely be back. Keep up the good work.

I really enjoyed playing at Highland Woods yesterday. The course is fair for what you pay and the conditions were in great shape.

early season golf greens shaggy pin placements were brutal

Tee time was 11:00. Finished at 4:30. Five and a half hours for a round of golf? Speed of greens varied a lot. Some were slow, some very fast, otherwise course was in good shape.

We have been playing at Highland Woods for over 15 years and have never seen the course in such great shape with one exception. The rough is too tall this year and not by accident which is slowing the pace of play in our groups opinion as well as many of their staff. Teeing off at 6:30 most Sat and Sun mornings one would think you could easily finish in under 4 hours and at times we have finished in 3.5 hours. Today was 4.5 hours which is crazy with a 6:30 am tee time.

The amount of time spent searching for balls that are just off the fairway is very frustrating and holding up the pace of play. Simple solution would be to cut the rough a few inches shorter so one can spot a ball from a distance rather than having to walk back and forth looking for it.

It would also help to have a ranger out there to keep the slower players moving, however the course policy is now they no longer make slow players pick up and move.

I made a reservation from golfnow.com, but staff at the course did not accept.

And, one of my fellow player paid regular price.

So angry and messed up my game there.....Is there any way to fix this problem ?

We teed off at 6:15 Saturday with a group of good players. Had to walk the front nine because of heavy rain the night before. No problem. We got to the 20th tee and had to wait for three grouos to tee off before us. They did a back nine shotgun star at 8 am that slowed the course to a crawl. Three hours to play the back nine. It will be quite a while before I return.

I've only played a few times but it does appear to be backed up every time we play. This time around the front nine had significant wait time on every shot making it tough to develop any sort of rhythm. Even this was a Friday afternoon, it felt like a Saturday morning rush with carts backed up on nearly every hole.

The back nine opened up (partially because I'm fairly certain that some people quit in frustration)

That said, the course is enjoyable for the price and the conditions are good considering the amount of play it gets.

The fairways beg for sand/seed mix which are not on the carts and the rough was inconsistent. This is forgivable considering the dry conditions. Bunkers were consistent and very playable.

Greens were peppered but mostly running true. and on this day, FAST! Most people seemed to be trying to repair their ball marks but it's also clear that some people clearly don't know what they are doing in terms of ball mark repair and they are leaving serious scars that can't recover. The result is often a raised bump of dead grass and soil that has to be tended to if you find it in your line. That's unfortunate for the greens staff and the players alike and it does add to the time it takes to play out a hole.

On this very hot day - no cart staff. A Ranger made one go around and was very kind to acknowledge the backup but also pointed out that there was little that could be done to improve the situation. I believe him.

Whatever the cause of these player compressions and delays on the course, something really should be done to alleviate this as it is happening and not before it's too late as it does diminish from the enjoyment of the round.

Speaking of pace of play, Absolutely Love the golf boards! If everyone used them, delays would be eliminated as everyone would be able to begin close to the tees and finish near the greens and being able to head directly and quickly to your ball allows everyone to play the best possible ready golf imaginable and it give each player more time to think about their own game.

Keep up the improvements Highland Woods and we'll be back to enjoy another round another day.

The course was well maintained. Greens were true and for the most part, it looked like golfers repaired pitch marks on the greens. Seed mix; however, was not provided which would have helped with fairway divots. Pro shop staff, starter, marshals and beverage cart staff were all friendly and helpful. Pace of play was good.

Fun short course. Very knowledgeable and caring staff. Will be back in the future.

For a forest preserve course, this track plays very nice and is well maintained. Probably the best Cook County Forest Preserve course. It’s fairly forgiving but has a number of bunkers that are in play. You can make up ground on the par 3’s and the par 5 2nd if you play over the bunkers. The greens are not too fast but have quite a bit of undulation.

Had a 6:50 tee time on a Friday morning and played in under 3 hours. Course was in great condition. Layout offers plenty of challenges but is good for mid and higher handicaps too. Staff was very friendly.

I have played this course many times, and value, layout and upkeep are great. NEVER have I played in less than five hours, and a Wed. mid-afternoon round was 5 hours and 45 minutes. No rangers or help from staff. It is a shame that this course is so well maintained but no one seems to manage to its optimal potential. Many other better managed courses within 5 miles

The golf course has a fairly easy layout . 5 of the greens were aerated . The pace of play was slow , we teed off on time but waited on each tee box till the last few holes . Rangers told us that there was a slow group a few holes ahead of us and they asked them to speed up play . Took just over 5 hours to play .

Had great time. Course in excellent condition.

Play again and tell others..