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
-
Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2015 #21)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Lake Bluff
Course was in great condition for walking. This course is very forgiving and open. The course can hold a lot of water. Staff is always friendly.

7 minute tee times
Tee times are spaced 7 minutes apart. We were backed up from the first tee, teeing off 5 minutes late. It grew to an hour off pace by the end of the round. You’re waiting on every tee and approach shot. We saw a marshall once on the 3rd hole, but there isn’t much they can do when management does the 7-minute interval nonsense. The course is an okay layout but not a great value for what it is and the pace of play is bad. Staff was friendly, but the course was overrun with way too many tee times. Wouldn’t recommend unless you are okay with a 5+ hour round.
Fun track but brutally slow
They don't stagger their tee times enough and the rangers don't really enforce it. We had a 10:30am tee time and the 10:15 was just starting to tee at 10:30. I mentioned this when walking up and they decided to start enforcing pace of play when we were teeing off lol.
Ranger was really nice though, I will say the group in front of us just didn't care at all about pace of play and by the time they reached the 17th green the group in front of them were done.
Overall Priced Right
The course was overall in great condition and very open to play even on errand tee shots. Priced right.
I played late afternoon around 5pm and noticed more juniors playing golf. Expect the pace of play to be a little slower than usual. Players should be reminded to fix their ball marks on the green.
Wet slog
The course had lots of standing water despite the fact that it hadn't rained all that much the day/night before. The rain precluded the grounds crew from mowing the greens, and between that and the heavy coat of cottonwood debris, the greens were super slow and hard to play. The fact that they were sending out a foursome every 7 minutes made it a very slow, more than 5 hours, and not so enjoyable round.
Nice location
Played here for years. Great location for our family,