Big Run Golf Club

Just a great traditional layout!
Long, steep, not unfair. Just a pleasure !

I hadn't played Big Run for a few years, but it continues to be a great, fun course, especially at a 18 hole senior rate of less than $40, cart included.

If I had 4 days left on Earth, Big Run would be one of the courses I'd want to play. Awesome experience! You'll be confronted with shots, lies, and putts that you simply cannot get anyplace else but Augusta. Better bring your "A" game and keep a close watch if you hit it off the fairway. Often challenging to find your ball in the rough because of the usual ricochet off of 100+ year old oak trees.

Beautiful course, nicely manicured. Pay attention to tiered greens

The course has a decent layout but the mature trees can get you into big trouble. I suppose if you played it a couple times you could figure where to lay up and play a little course management for a better score. The greens were SLOW. We had just played Mistwood in the morning prior to playing Big Run in the afternoon. It was a night and day difference with the speed. You couldn't putt the ball hard enough to make it up some of the undulating green contours. It was almost like they had a substance on them to prevent them from rolling. And then there was the pace of play. Our foursome kept up with a twosome the entire round. When the ranger came around on the 5th hole or so and asked how the pace of play was going, we told him slow and that we were keeping up and waiting on the twosome. He said it was the owners son and grandson or something like that and I guess we were supposed to give them a break or it meant there was nothing he could do? Anyhow, the round took over 4.5 hours as we had to wait for these two every hole. We paid $44 for the round and all of us felt we could have played a better course for that price. We golf all over and give each course a chance to win us over but this one will stay in the bottom third of our extensive list of places to play and I probably will never go back. I'm not trying discourage anybody from playing the course but maybe our standards and expectations are a little higher than others, that's all. The course has great potential as it is challenging but concrete bunkers with rocks and greens that played as if they had glue on them did not win our future business.

I don't usually give a course a negative review. And, in the case of Big Run, I wish that I wasn't doing so. However, this course is sitting on a tremendous piece of property and the layout is fantastic. Unfortunately, everthing about the place screams that the owner/ownership is tight with the pocketbook and doesn't invest in the course or the facilities. and that's a shame. (disclosure: I have no idea who the ownership is or what their financial situation is). The clubhouse, restaurant, bar, etc looks like it hasn't been updated since the '60's. The course, itself, does not appear to be maintained very well. fairways are pretty lengthy, slow greens, very very very very poor bunkering, as evidenced by the large stones laying on each green resulting from explosion shots from the greenside bunkers.

lastly, I walked off the course after the 16th hole. reason being - the back 9 was incredibly slow due to one group holding everyone up. Normally not the course's fault however I did not see a ranger anywhere.

Summary: I love the layout of the course and the cost is certainly reasonable and fair. however, i wish that ownership would either take some pride in the facility and give it the attention ($) that the phenomenal property deserves.

I'm amazed every time I play Big Run. It has so many beautiful and challenging holes. If you shoot over 90 I would recommend staying away from this course unless you play the green tees. Pace of play is great 4 hours. Staff is awesome.

20 years since I played this. Big Run had 3 different faces the day I played. Good is probably understated, the course it self was fantastic. Fairways, greens and layout makes me want to play this a lot more. Lots of trees and elevations, greens were challenging but very fair.. Fun to putt on and read. Now for the bad. Fairway bunkers were horrible, either standing water or not taken care of at all. To be fair after the round a local said they had so much rain part of course was closed previous week, so not sure if this is typical. Ugly was pace of play 5 hours and 20 minutes (Friday). Longest round of the year. Playing partner said this was not typical, once again but not sure about this. I will definitely play again

Big Run has a lot going for it and a number of areas for improvement. I am a scratch golfer and played the course from the back tees. The layout has tons of elevation change and is one of the most unique and challenging in the Chicago area. That being said, average golfers will easily find errant shots. Water comes into play on several holes, including the extremely difficult par 3 13th.

Course conditions are decent. Tee boxes and fairways are in average to above average condition. You won't be disappointed. The greens are in good shape but are significantly slower than most courses, which may be a good thing given the ungulation. The bunkers are functional at best with a very coarse sand mix (no silky white sand here).

The club house is very old and tired. The carts are gas, which may be necessary given the elevation changes on the course, and the cart paths are in down right terrible condition.

Probably the biggest negative is the lack of practice range. They have a net you can hit balls into to warm up but a net is no substitute for warming up on a range.

Bottom line is, this course is a wonderfully challenging and unique layout that I highly recommend. This course could be one of the best courses in Chicago if the owners put money into the clubhouse, cart paths, bunkers, etc.

Recent storms had left parts of the course flooded, but the greens and fairways overall were in great condition. This course is long, almost boderline unfair for an average hitter, 15 handicap like myself.

Pace of play needs to be addressed. Over 3 hours to play the front 9 and 2:45 to play the back. I know it was a holiday weekend (8am July 3rd) but a 6 hour round of golf is unacceptable. I will never, ever play this course again on a holiday and/or weekend. Tee time are way too stacked up. They are 7-8min intervals when they should be 12-15, but they have to make that almighty dollar.

If you have 5-6 hours to kill and want a challenge this course is for your. I would rather play a 4.5 hour round at a better local venue however, and not have uphill 600 yard par 5's to shoot at.

I can't believe I've lived in the area for over 5 years and never played here. Really cool layout with large elevation changes and numerous doglegs. Not an easy track by any means. Really hard par 5's/3's, but a bunch of beautiful holes. I thought the course was in excellent shape overall. This course is not for novice golfers. It plays longer than the scorecard indicates, and requires very precise shotmaking. If you're up for a challenge, this is your course.

greens were aireated and slow would like to play it when in better shape nice layout easy to get to,

Course is better than I ever remembered; Great condition; tough; 9th & 18th hole is a cornerstone of golf in Chicago. Par 3's 4,7, 13 (amazing), 16 were awesome; Great day, lots of fun

One of the best layouts I've played. The only issue with the course was some of the bunkers had lots and in some cases big rocks in them. Also, none of the fairway bunkers were raked. Unless there was a puddle in it, each of them were basically hard pan. The biggest problem was lace of play. About 5 hrs 20 min on Saturday morning. The course is way too tough for the novice golfer, but the ranger never did anything about pace.

Course is long and challenging. Need to drive the ball well otherwise it could be a long day. Pace of play was pretty good. Clubhouse is old and smells musty. The course has some great holes and is in very good condition. Booked with GN and got a great hot deal rate.

This is a humbling course bring your A game or be prepared to add a few strokes to your score.

tee time ran half hour late, then played in 5 hrs.

course in good shape, staff and pricing very fair

Loved the course and the challenging layout. The pace was brutally slow, even for a Sunday.

Big Run is a tough, challenging grind. There are not many flat lies on this course. The hilly topography is rare for a course in Illinois. The hills add to the beauty of the course but also adds many blind shots. The facilities are a little tired but the course condition and landscaping is very nice. Narrow tree lined fairwarys forces you to stay in the fairwary or you will add strokes punching out of trouble. This is not a course I would want to play every week, but a must play 1-2 times per season.

Really like how this course has matured. The putting green play similar to the course, which is not common in my experience. Just a fun adventure if you are a casual player.

Beautiful course. Super challenging. Pace was brutal but on a Saturday afternoon it's to be expected. Love everything about it.