Mt Prospect Golf Club

This was our first time there. Beautiful day but pace of play was very slow. Not sure of what group was slowing things down. We were behind for women and they played quick and were great. Greens are unfair and too many craxy hills. Not bad to have that in some spots on a green but every green was like that. You need to add a map to the scorecard. We always found the next hole but you never had a feeling of where you were. You go through and by so many holes.

Nice course layout. Super tough to score with big slopes and pin placements. Get ready for 3 puts. Just plane stupid when they put pins on tough slopes.

This course is very fun to play. The green is very fast and layout is very challenging. I would not be concerned about playing at other courses because this is hard enough... I have always enjoyed playing here.

The course was very slow and a lot of build up. Plus everything was dry. Plus 18th was changed to par 3 without even letting golfers know on pro shop. Very poor overall. Would not recommend at all.

I will start with the positives of this course. Twilight prices are reasonable. They are about $40 with a cart for $18, and it usually starts after 2:00 pm. In May through mid-July you can squeeze in 18 if you get out by 4:00pm.

The fairways and tee boxes are normally in good condition. They aren't dry as dirt, and have good give allowing you to get underneath the ball.

Also there is a solid practice area too. That's it for the positives

Now we go into the negatives. The greens are ridiculous, and the rating and slope is way off. USGA should be embarrassed with their rating here since the "slope" is off the charts and not being properly represented here. Many of the greens are large, but they usually have a lot of slopes with many pin placements in bad spots.

A couple of examples on the par-3s. Hole 7 is a large green, and when they put the pin in the front right hand corner from the tee box. If you go too far you'll on top of a hill that you put into a valley below the pin, or to left of the pin and almost off the green. If you are short with your tee shot, you'll roll off below the hole. Or hit the tiny pot bunker that is just there for giggles.

Sadly there are many holes with crazy greens and pin locations. The last par 3 on the back nine has a valley in the middle of the green. They will put the pin there, so you need your ball off to roll into that valley, otherwise you are hitting a weird putt of slopes into the valley. It's very stupid.

Also the greens can be very fast. I mean ridiculous fast, and a couple of examples. I had a couple of chips where I hop it on like a proper looking chip, and it kept rolling for a good 30 plus feet. Usually off the green despite having the chip 15-20 feet before the pin, and it just rolls on. Not super fast either like it was bladed. No, it literally keeps rolling.

Another example, I was about 70 yards out, and I topped by half swing which will usually put me short of the green. Nope, it literally bounced a couple of times and rolled for on the fairway onto the green for another 50 feet within 15 feet of the pin. It literally rolled off the fairway across the entire green for a good 50 feet, and it wasn't a bullet by any means. That is just ridiculous. This is a public course with league nights, not Augusta or trying to be the toughest test in golf nonsense.

I like speedy greens, and usually do okay. But when I see decent chips roll for 30+ feet, or topped balls 70 yards out actually be okay tells me it's poor course design and awful speeds. That isn't skill, that's luck. I am not a good golfer, and I know when I bladed or screwed up, but seeing I and others off and on get punished for good shots while awarded with blind dumb luck is a clear sign of an incompetent design. I've played on courses design by Nicklaus and Pete Dye, and I am used to difficulty. The big difference with them, it's fair and not based on luck.

Sadly the greens get beat up easily over time too. It's mid-April, and it's divots galore with patches of dirt everywhere. You see spikes from shoes too.

Meanwhile the fairways slope a lot, and they can punish you. The biggest issue I had is they roll a lot too. I had a 8 iron out of the rough with about 170 yards to the end of the fairway into a creek. A safe layup shot, and I hit well which carried about 135 yards like usual out of the rough, and it rolled for almost 30+ yards into the creek. It was about 165 yard 8-iron. Again, ridiculous slopes and speeds.

Also almost all the bunkers have put in an unnecessary bump when hitting out of it. Not a typical hill, it's an out of looking tumor of a hill in your line of sight. Not even courses that are ranked higher in the region like Harborside or Schaumburg do that kind of crap all the time.

Finally, the weekend fees suck. It's like $70-80 for 18, and that doesn't include cart. It's not worth that. It's worth $50 at best. Also good luck bypassing league nights. I wasn't able to play past 9 holes despite paying for 18 because I saw the league night on 10 just standing there taking literally a few mins between each player. They would be lucky to do 9 holes in 3 hours. That is so inconsiderate to others and pace of play.

Overall it's not a bad weekday course for the price, or if you live near it to get to there and back quickly on a weeknight. But there are much better other courses in the region that have earned their green fees, or are cheaper.

Not many players on the course because of weather, low 50s and windy. Played in under 3 1/2 hr. Course was in good shape. Greens were fast and not a flat spot on them.

Course is in great shape for early spring. Playing hard and fast.

Holy undulating greens Batman! They arent kidding. Hit the practice green. If you can stay in the fairway... You will avoid trouble. Pay attention to the hole description. Greens are quick, and in great shape!