Prairie Bluff Public Golf Club

My time spent at Prairie Bluff was great from my treatment in pro shop to conditions everything was great. It doesn’t hurt this course that I was just treated beyond poorly at another local course!

I have only played a few Roger Packard courses, but after this one I am going to seek more of them out. The green sites at PB are
Very well done and have a mixture of grass and sand bunkers as well as being full of undulation! The rolling terrain and surrounding prairie bluff park add to the aesthetic of the round.

Must play if in the Windy City burbs!

See my review below from 2020. Surprised there's been only one review since mine posted. Really nice conditions.....traps maintained, good green speeds, fairways decent (there's divot mix on the carts but few people bother to use it) and rough was proper length. Course was running hard and fast with the lack of recent rain. Funny but had the very same issue as 2020. Grounds crew mowing noise....again following us around the course. Way too prevalent. Recommend the course but slather on the sun screen there's almost no shade to be found.

Fun links track with the long retired Stateville Prison in the background. The conditions for late November were quite good and the mildly undulating greens rolled pretty well. On just about every par 4 or par 5 hole you can grip and rip it as it is very expansive. If I owned this place I would make some more cool bunkering both in the fairway and around the greens. Bunkers in the fairway could really help frame some of the holes and add more of a strategic challenge.
I would also change the name to Chained Links and make a logo with two convicts chained together and running with a golf club in their hands!

It had been at least 5 or more years since I last ventured to Prairie Bluff. Usually it was cost versus a slightly higher cost at nearby Mistwood that kept me away or they had a really full tee sheet. Now Mistwood is ridiculously expensive and not worth it. Folks are friendly and want you to have a good experience. Got a $43 senior rate....and that's about the right price point....a tad expensive but the course conditioning made up for it. Course is in very good shape.....Prairie Bluff is a really different experience from other Chicago courses.......there are virtually no trees and none are being planted so it's a great change of pace....awesome clear vistas. The wind howls and comes much more into play as you trade funny Blues Brothers lines with your playing partners with Stateville prision in the distance. Drawback is on sunny days you fry like bacon.....no shade to speak of. Also have to downgrade because of maintenance staff.....they followed us around mid-day for at least 6 holes in a row with loud equipment and the landing areas in most all of the fairways are completely sopping wet....so your ball plugged or didn't roll out as much as it should..every fairway lie was a crapshoot.....you couldn't count on consistent fairway ground conditions anywhere.. Greens had the right speed and rough cut to proper lengths. Solid 4 stars and along with Whitetail Ridge makes my top surprises list this season. Highly recommended. $40-$45 value. Any more than that I have to question.

Played the front nine as part of 9 and dine. The fairways were in great shape. The rough was cut to a level that was challenging, but not frustrating to find balls. I have played a couple times a week in the south Chicagoland area since COVID re-opening. It seems nearly every course has decided that maintaining sand traps is no longer required. Not here. It was late in the afternoon and the sand traps were groomed and very playable. Kudos to Prairie Bluff!

The included dinner afterwards was excellent. All choices included seem to be a great value.

The shape of this course was top notch. Fairways, greens, and traps were well maintained. Staff was great and the course was fun. You can take in Statesville in the background which adds intrigue to the backdrop. You can’t go wrong here as the course provides challenges, but is approachable for an array of skillsets.

Easily my favorite course in the area. The holes are challenging, but enjoyable to play. The layout is amazing so the next hole is not far away. Conditions are great, barely any weeds, and the greens are rolled out several times a day. For the price to play, this is a great course. Has a country club feel for a public price.

I played course on a windy and cool day. Course I’m fine shape for early spring and staff was very nice. Course have nice layout that made you think on the. Tee box It had its share Of fun shorter Par 4 s and some longer Par 5s. Nice greens. The only down side Is distance of this course just out side Joliet I had fun and I will make the drive again If they have a good golf now rate

For December 26th, course was in great shape. Cart path only. Par 3s tees were moved forward to protect tee boxes from damage. Par 4 and 5s had no tee markers. Greens and fairways were in great shape. Restaurant and bar fully operating.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the heartless jerks that run this place kick us off the course because we brought a few beers in our bag. We were on the fourth hole, keeping pace, respecting the cart path only rules, etc. I've been playing golf my whole life and have never, ever had this happen. What a bunch of complete d-bags!! I will never play there again. They could have just told us to pour it out and we would have had no objection. Even the ranger that kicked us off said he and his buds always bring a cooler.

This course was clean Fair and
Nice. A can’t miss course
Before Winter.

I have played Prairie Bluff roughly a dozen times over the years at various times during the year. Conditions have always been good from tee to green and the staff has always been kind, courteous and helpful.

Notable this time around were the greens.Our group found them to be in excellent condition for mid September. Nicely cut and rolled. Firm and true. Couldn't ask for any better really. The clubhouse has a full service restaurant with everything you could want in a relaxed atmosphere. It's a great place to hang out after a round.

It's always good to know that when you go to Prairie Bluff, you're going to get quality golf every time.
Well done to all at Prairie Bluff for doing things right!

Awesome links course that stretches out to 7,000+ yards from the tips. We were second group out at 7:30am and we were a twosome. We followed a foursome and they were nice and fast. We finished in 3 hours and 5 mins! Fantastic pace for foursome in front of us!

Lots of neat elevation changes, couple tee shots to semi-targeted landing spots. Good drivers of the ball should score well on this course. If you can hit 230-250 yds straight you will/should score well from white tees. Adjust yards up for further tee boxes.

We will definitely definitely play here again. Lots of caring maintenance staff out there. Rangers were out there as well. Course in EXCELLENT shape. So very lush GREEN rough and green everywhere. Gem for a park district course, wow!

The course is in really good shape. Picturesque in parts. The fairways are quite wide but if you go off them then the deep rough is chest high so say goodbye to your ball. So it's fair but very unforgiving in that respect. Unlike many public courses in the area the bunkers are actually sand and you can play a proper bunker shot. Has a nice bar and patio. this was my first time there and I will definitely be going back.

Very nice course with more than just flat and straight holes. Not extremely hard by any means but much better than your normal run of the mill course. Will be back.

Today marked my first visit to the course, and I knew today's conditions would be a bit iffy following heavy AM thunderstorms that dumped a ton of rain on the course.

While I didn't score as low as I would have liked for my first visit, the course left a good impression on me. There are some nice holes with subtle elevation changes for a course in the Chicagoland area. The most difficult aspect of the course today was the wind intensity that picked up after about 6 or 7 holes, and remained a challenging factor due to the wide open layout of the course. While I thought the greens were smooth and rolled fairly true, my two playing partners advised that most of their previous visits had experienced the greens rolling to a much faster degree.

I look forward to returning here in the future to post a number in the 70s rather than my disappointing performance today!

Played on a day with 25 mph gusts that made it very, very challenging. The course was in very good condition and would like to return on a less windy day.

This course has very good greens and is always playable rain or shine