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Lake Bluff Golf Club
Rating Snapshot
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
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Accolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2015 #21)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
Course is underwater, should not be open
My first time playing this course was a very pleasant experience. This time was the complete opposite. Course was absolutely soaked, and we had two golf carts get stuck in the grass because of the mud. There were no signs indicating a no cart area as well. Also, the rough is heavily outgrown making it almost impossible to find your ball if you are anywhere but the fairway. Sadly had to skip the back 9 of my round because my clothes were too muddy and wet.
Wish the coarse was in playable condition
This course has been underwater for weeks it should not have been opened. The rough was 6 inches to 12 inches in some places fair ways were uncut greens beat up. I wish they had closed it. certainly not worth the money. I would think about playing it again if I knew the conditions are optimal.
Course condition
It was so bad the course should never been opened. The carts were tearing up the course .
Great course with no wait
Great course with no wait! Discourse his character and is always a joy to play.
Course Conditions
Course in great condition, challenging and fun layout.
Greens in excellent shape, totally recommend this course and I will play here again!
Solid layout. Fair course
Course is challenging. But fair
Lake Bluff is a hidden gem
Given the high quality of this course, I was shocked how empty it was on a gorgeous day. I’ve been on this course many times before, and for some reason at the end of August it was not crowded at all. This course deserves our patronage. You’re also find yourself thoroughly enjoying the course.
Decent Muni
New to our Golf Visions players pass for 2019 we waited and played here to experience mid-summer conditions. Found the course to be well maintained and greens had good speed. It's a decent place but it's not the type of course I'd play multiple times a year or make a special trip to play it unless I lived nearby. While it has some dog legs it all looks the same after a while. The front nine is flat as a pancake. The back nine has a bit more variety of landform - playing through corridors of trees the entire round. Large round fairly flat greens that require you to have multiple rounds under your belt as they contain sneaky ridges in them - tough to get a good read on them or route your ball properly on approaches with out some prior course knowledge. Our group had multiple lip outs this day. All in all a nice place - the late 60''s design just doesn't inspire me to play it more than once a year. Recommend as the conditioning was very good.
Fast Course - needed a little water on the greens
This is a good course that is challenging for all levels of players. Speed of play was very good and the layout of the course is very good where you have to work the ball in both directions off the tee. Fairways are narrow to hit while the rough was just long enough to make a player pay if they were not on the fairway. Only issue I had was with the dryness of the greens to the point that you would hit some great shots to greens that did not hold. In some cases, the first bounce would be substantially high and these were even to greens with false fronts. I know I played much better than my score indicated as you would have to club down in order to let the ball roll on the green in order to keep it somewhat close to the pin. Firing right at pins that were middle or back of the green was a guarantee of winding up over the green. Greens had great speed to them which was excellent and being below the hole is a definite advantage. I like the course but the greens keeper needs to throw a little water on the greens.
I generally don’t leave reviews...
There are many many many more places to play golf in the area. I’d spend a few extra dollars to golf anywhere else. You couldn’t pay me to golf here again.
Worst course I’ve ever played.
Destination Kohler - Champions' Trail Golf Package
