Lake Bluff Golf Club
About
Situated on Chicago's scenic North Shore, Lake Bluff Golf Club has become a "must-play" destination in the area. First opened in 1968, the course has a classic layout with front and back nines that are very different. The front nine provides a gentle start. The terrain is mostly flat and the holes are straightforward. As you move onto Lake Bluff's back nine there is more up and down and consequently the challenges are greater. Don't get too comfortable on the first half of the golf course because you'll need your wits about you for the second. Trees line the narrow fairways and the tricky greens all slope in one direction or another. Accuracy is essential. Water doesn't come into play but the doglegs and strategically placed bunkers provide plenty of challenges.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 6589 yards | 71.3 | 124 |
| White (W) | 72 | 6195 yards | 75.4 | 126 |
| White | 72 | 6195 yards | 69.5 | 120 |
| Gold (W) | 72 | 5656 yards | 72.4 | 120 |
| Gold | 72 | 5656 yards | 67.0 | 114 |
| Red/Gold (W) | 72 | 5162 yards | 69.6 | 114 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 4969 yards | 68.5 | 112 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 71.8/127 | 393 | 522 | 330 | 183 | 538 | 200 | 338 | 360 | 419 | 3283 | 420 | 364 | 419 | 194 | 367 | 494 | 147 | 530 | 321 | 3256 | 6539 |
| White M: 70.0/123 W: 75.9/131 | 380 | 472 | 315 | 158 | 506 | 190 | 327 | 344 | 402 | 3094 | 410 | 357 | 391 | 182 | 342 | 482 | 137 | 521 | 279 | 3101 | 6195 |
| Gold M: 67.5/117 W: 72.9/125 | 299 | 469 | 285 | 149 | 406 | 168 | 312 | 331 | 399 | 2818 | 366 | 326 | 377 | 165 | 339 | 429 | 124 | 444 | 268 | 2838 | 5656 |
| Gold/Red M: 65.3/112 W: 70.1/119 | 296 | 400 | 276 | 140 | 404 | 168 | 312 | 331 | 340 | 2667 | 315 | 290 | 312 | 125 | 253 | 421 | 111 | 400 | 268 | 2495 | 5162 |
| Red M: 64.4/110 W: 69.0/117 | 296 | 400 | 276 | 140 | 404 | 140 | 248 | 274 | 340 | 2518 | 315 | 290 | 312 | 125 | 253 | 421 | 111 | 400 | 224 | 2451 | 4969 |
| Handicap | 7 | 1 | 11 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 12 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 13 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 10 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Accolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2015 #21)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Great muni course
I have played this course several times this year. Always I’m great shape from tee to green-immaculate!!
Staff always friendly and always on time as far as tee times. Sometimes even ahead of schedule
Best public course in the area
For the price, this is the best public course north of Chicago. Greens are in great shape and the fairways were the best I’ve seen. Staff is super friendly which is always a huge plus!
Good value if you want to travel north
Fun and forgiving course, good value for money, interesting lay out and terrain, reasonably well maintained.
Not organized
There was no starter so everyone started when they wanted with no regard for scheduled tee time. 2 foursomes that was supposed to start after us, started before us. Pace of play was slow since there was no ranger to make players aware they were leisurely walking before and after their shots. Did not play all 18 holes because pf the waiting time and had to skip a couple of holes behind a slow group.
Good Track but Pricy
I have played LBGC for a long time now. Got a Hole in One on #13 back in the late 90's . The Golf Course is in decent condition with spongy but yet fast ,clean greens and excellent fairways . Most of the holes are straight forward but there are a few that can make you think ( ball placement) . Bunkers like most this year on most golf courses have been neglected ( covid probably). I would not pay the $51 to play this GC though. There are much better Tracks up the street like like Bonnie Brook, Bitter Sweet , Shepard's Crook to name a few . I guess if you see a Deal on GN for $38 or whatever do it!! . Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad golf Course what so ever. I just can't seem to justify their regular price. GPS ? nope. Half Way house or Food/Bev Cart? nope.
Slightly over priced
Nice course layout. Good pace of play. The golf carts however- barely worked. Had to play w cart mechanics to get it to start-up every time. Course is over priced by $10-20 IMO
Fine Place
This was my first time at Lake Bluff and it was very nice. The course was moderately difficult with a decent layout.
The pace of play at 8:30 AM start was good and the weather could not have been better. The only issue I have with the course was that the greens could have been in better shape. I will play there again.
Tough greens
Surprisingly course in excellent condition. Greens very difficult and fast. Good channeling course.
Had a Blast
First off if you have ever played public courses in northern Illinois or southeastern Wisconsin, you most lkely will find in 80% of them with kentucky blue grass fairways and depending on the manicure the fairways can be sometimes difficult to manage your shots due to real bad ball positions. Also blue grass doesn't offer the greatest drainage consistencies and you have dry hard spots. Lake Bluff has bent grass fairways so that should be enough said right there making the 45.00 or an average upcharge over other local courses of about 8.00 per person worth the choice. The course on the day we played was perfect in every way. It was not too busy but although there were some pockets of players there was not really any more than a 2 or 3 minute wait on about 30% of the tee. The tees and greens were manicured wonderfully and the people playing were courteous enough to fix their ball marks especially on the green and also divots on the fairways. I found the pace good in that at most courses we play and I play with my 2 sons, we usually are at the 4.5 to 5 hour mark for 18 holes. Here we finished in 3 hours and 40 minutes. I was surprised we got done as fast as we did because we didn't rush and never felt rushed by those behind us. I am a senior with a very high handicap ad I play the gold tees and my sons play the men's regular tees at most courses so here my experience was a bit different from them with regards to course difficulty but they said it wasn't real hard. They only had difficulty on 1 par 5 and 1 extra long 484 yard par 4. The greens will have you scratching your head a bit I think until you play the course a bit and find out their undulations because some of the puts looked like breaks but went straight and some looked straight but went off due to the hole sitting on a crown where you had to be dead center with the correct speed. It was great fun. I will make every effort to make this course my regular course of play after this experience as there were 2 other courses in the area I had like previously but this one blew them away. Next time I will post some photos.