Highland Woods Golf Course

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..

I have been playing this course since I was a child. this has been a staple of my past. I decide to bring my co-workers to here for a nice round, they parked to close to the green on hole 8 which is fine. Lets mention it was 97 degrees with the heat index nobody wanted to walk. Also half of the grass on the course was dead. But the ranger pulled up and spoke down to me personally. Like I was an uneducated child. I had no idea this had occured but he decided it was apon himself to speak to me in this fashion. I will say it has been many years since I have been back here. I decided to bring my co-workers here which we play twice a week minimum and this happens. I dont think I/We will be bringing further business towards any Billy Casper run golf courses anymore due to this gentleman. I will also try and get my local representative to kick you guys from the management via viral thread.

Highland Woods is a nice course. Has farily open fairways but many sand traps. Great rate and pace of play.

Beautiful layout; gorgeous course. The play is really slow; we waited on every tee box and every shot. There was a twosome and a foursome ahead of us; our threesome eventually joined up with the twosome to move more quickly. There was no starter and no ranger; on one hole across water, there is a sign that limits you to one tee shot.The foursome in front of us each took 2 or 3 shots. We waited 20 minutes on that hole to tee off. If you have time, play there. if you are easily frustrated and used to playing 18 in 3 1/2 - 4 hours, don't

Highland Woods is a good place to play to have a nice round of golf on a well maintained challenging golf course.

Nice course, great staff, but not enough help. The group I was in usually buys a few "dogs and beer", even though it is over priced, between 9s, but there was only one person working (about 1 o'clock). We could not order because the crowd was so big with people checking in and other people wanting food or range balls .

Our group went to one of the local restaurants nearby after golf. I can' imagine the revenue lost by the course.

I know, Billy Casper big wigs will say, why didn't you order from the "bev" cart, well we never saw one till we were almost done.

I will return, because I live close and it offers a great place to practice, before playing the premier courses in the area, but none of my friends want anything to do with the place!

We had a 4pm tee time. Arrived at 3:20. When we got there, there were about 4 other groups of 4 ahead of us who were standing around waiting for golf carts. The place had apparently booked 4 outings plus still allowed all normal tee times.

Everyone was very frustrated because there was NO management. No one was communicating and everything was SLOW. We eventually teed off at 5;00 pm!!!! and were only able to get in 9 holes because it would take 20 mins to play each hole. You would literally have to tee off, then wait at your 2nd shot for 10 mins while people ahead of you finished. It was like that the entire time until it got dark. POOR MANAGEMENT

I stop playing this corse 20 yrs ago because it took 6 hours to play!!! It now takes about 5 hours,,some improvement but still way too long. I ve played it 3 times and it takes 5+ hours, including 1 weekday round.

Highland woods is a good course to play but for some reason at times play can be slower than a snails pace! This time we played front nine not too bad but the back nine became a slow sad pace for no apparent reason. The course is not that difficult for reasonable play and was playing well this day! The pace was hit and wait every shot, hard to keep your game in a good click when doing this and I am a good player. My wife was not happy at all! Cannot blame the group in front of us as they were hitting a moving forward even though they had no business playing from the blue tees as low level players they were! But I am not one to tell people where to play from or how high their score will be. I am high 70's low 80's and in fact shot 81 only because it was so slow lost my concentration to keep on task.