Big Run Golf Club

The course is long, hilly and covered in trees, very beautiful. I normally like to walk but was advised against it here and for good reason. Very challenging set up, but still very fun. Wish they had a bev cart driving around on a busy sunday. The halfway house was great and the grillmaster had dogs ready at the turn and the toasted bun really lets you know he cares. Some tee boxes and greens had some rough spots that could use some love. Overall had a fun time at a beautiful course.

I hadn't played this course in 25 years bur still remembered the hill going up to the 18th green. They offer a senior weekday rate of $42 w/cart, which is a bargain for this course. I checked a few reviews online and they were pretty bad so I called the pro shop to check on course conditions. The course was being sold prior to Covid, but now off the market. They admitted that the maintenance was neglected, but assured me that the course was in great shape now. We were glad we gave it a chance and were impressed with the beauty and layout - lots of mature oaks, plenty of flower beds, lots of elevation changes, and smooth greens made it seem like a private country club. We played the Senior tees from 6,190 yards and you paid a penalty if you missed the fairway as the rough is lush. The greens were like carpet and lots of slope, but rather soft, so not extremely fast. They have an impressive practice green, but no driving range - only a 3 bay net with free shag balls and some beat up AstroTurf for warming up (the only negative). They had a grill going outside the clubhouse with brats and burgers, and the drinks were reasonable. It was a 5 hour round with a lot of time searching for balls in the rough and a 20 min stop at the turn to let a couple of twosomes play through. Only a couple of coolers of drinking water on the course, and we didn't see a cart girl, so bring some beverages with you. I wouldn't want to walk this course with the huge elevation changes, but it's definitely recommended if you want a stern test on a beautiful golf course.

The greens were like shag carpet. Way too slow. Ruined my great ball striking round by not being able to convert hardly any putts because of the bouncy mushy slow green speeds. Okay to make the ball stop but had to hammer everything to get it to the whole. Not coming back here again until they have greens not shag carpet.

No ranger around Course people taking there time on course

This course has tons of character in its layout. There are elevation changes, the right amount of holes with sand and water, killer rough, undulating greens, and the dreaded par 5 ninth hole! There are needed cosmetic updates though, , bridges need to be replaced, floral or landscaping around the tee boxes, and newer ball washers would spruce things up. The course, if renovated, could bump up its green fees and easily get $90-100 per round like others in the area, especially on weekends. All in all, this is a great course to test every part of your game!

Classic golf course, a true test, find out where your game stands on this course. The course was in great shape, rangefinders on the cart worked.

Had an amazing time at big run

Weather was perfect course was green am in great shape

Not only a challenging course but a beautiful layout too !

This course is challenging and some of the holes are long! That is what I love about this course, it goes up and down, not just flat some of the other big name local courses. I just started playing this course this year and have logged about 6 rounds. It is challenging but the course needs some attention to maintain its infrastructure. A few times I wondered if my cart would make it over the old wood bridge. Aside from that, I have no complaints and I would highly recommend this place. Cannot wait to come back and play it again and again and again! The staff is super friendly. Cannot comment on the restaurant as I did not use it.

Course infrastructure (bridges, retaining walls) is a bit run down. The course itself was in good shape. The layout is great with hills, elevated tees, and trees. GolfNow had the course for $40 which is reasonable. The walk-up rate is $63 which is too much for this course.

Great place and if I had the extra bucks I would but it and make it a real nice joint but it needs lots of Tlc.. it’s a big place so the room is there

8 and 9 fairways were worse than others

Overall very good experience

This was my first time playing at this course and I was almost rained out. Fortunately, I got out on the course and definitely enjoyed myself. The course has some incredibly long par 5's, many dog legs, and a good mix of water and sand hazards.

The course was not in the best condition, partly because of the heavy rain but there were also many chewed up tee boxes and the fairways were a bit beaten up as well.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this course and would go back. However, I would say book this course as a "Hot Deal" for around $45 for a round with cart, the regular price is closer to $70 which is far too expensive for this course in its current conditions.

Old course with great overlay of holes

Great condition as well

I've played at Big Run since 1979. One of my favorite old school clubhouses in Chicago. Proshop, bar and locker room pretty much as is since it was built in the 40's or 50's. Might even be older than that. Course conditions vary from year to year as Big Run has never had a full blown sprinkler system. Bunkers are hit and miss in regards conditions. Greens are slower than most places and pretty smooth - if they cut them any closer you'd have all kinds of folks complaining how unfair they are. A wonderful routing that's changed over the years....some of updates unfortunately a bit over the top. For the first time in years the 18th fairway is in decent shape,...not a swamp and cut almost all the way out to Long Run Creek. Do yourself a favor and play the green tees. The Par 5's then become fun versus having to blast 3 shots to get to the green.....3 of the Par 5's play especially long from white and orange. Note - from the greens it's still over 130 slope and almost 6200 yards. Rough is overly lush this year and does need a trim as it's difficult to find balls that venture off the fairway in some areas. Fairways are bit sketchy but remember - there's not a full blown sprinkler system....so Big Run plays/looks and feels different each season....which is just part of it's overall beauty and charm. Overall 3.5 stars but personally I like Big Run a lot. It's a course I always enjoy playing and I've played it easily more than 50 times.....so it's a 4 star for me regardless of what others think of it.. Highly recommended for avid golfers and any avid golfers in Chicago land are really missing the boat if they haven't ventured to Big Run. It's better than Cog 1/3, Gleneagles and I would put it on par with Ruffled Feathers modern design versus the muddled sort of old school you get at Big Bad Run.. Try to play it during the week especially in the afternoon. On weekends it's likely a very long 5 hour round due to the difficulty of the track. We had a noon tee time finished in 330 and played at what we thought was a leisurely pace. Cheers!

Car path and rough coniditions must be maintained much better.

This course was recommended to me by a friend, but I do not think I will be returning. The course just overall felt "weathered" and outdated. I was told by someone on the course it's been up for sale a few times. The course is in decent shape and has a lot of challenging holes with water and trees. The "hot deal" rate was very nice and if you live near the course worth it, but I think it's not coming from Chicago.