Joe Louis Golf Club

The greens are nice at Joe Lewis the layout is nice. The course had good length at 6800 from the blues. The fairways in nice shapes the tee boxes were rough but acceptable for the price. The pace was ok. I normally walk this course it’s flat and the greens are close to the next tee box.

It’s a good course for the money and has some challenges

The people in the clubhouse are very friendly and happy to help you. I messed up the day of my tee time, got to the course a day late, and the woman working the counter took the time to get me a refund for the round my foursome missed the day before. Who does that, nobody that works at Fountain Hills that’s for sure!

This is my 2nd time playing at Joe Louis the Champ. We played as a 4some, with a tee time at 8AM on Saturday morning. The round took over 5 hours with only 4 or 5 groups having teed off before us. We actually were not even able to tee off until 815 because of the slow groups. Multiple groups ahead of us were hitting multiple balls off the tee, and no ranger came out to move them along. A ranger did come by and say that there was one slow group that his "manager" would be speaking to, but it honestly only got slower after this incident. On the turn, there were FOUR groups on the par 4 10th hole.

I asked one of the rangers what the delay and slowdown was, and his only response was "people are getting food". To have 4 groups on a par 4 should be a signal to any club that things are moving far too slowly, but he made no effort to help move things along.

I golf around 2-3 times per week, and because of this experience, myself and my friends will never golf at Joe Louis again. I would also never recommend the course to a friend because of the pace of play issue.

Thanks, Jimmy for correcting my forest preserve golf card, as you know when I tried to reserve a Tee Time the system would not recognize me and required a call to the club house to reserve time. Now that’s fixed and I got a great Tee Time.

Everything was good. Just wish the fairways were watered or just get some rain.

Course in best condition in a while. Great value. Only missing a practice range..

Hard to beat Joe Louis for the money if you’re hitting your drive well. If not, it can be a challenging day.

It got backed up due to several sets of new golfers walking ahead of us, but with the weather we didn’t mind. It’s not the toughest course but sometimes you need that to keep your spirits high!

I thoroughly enjoyed my round at Joe Louis “The Champ”. The course layout made it challenging, and the grounds were all in good shape. Amazing value for your money. The staff was excellent. I honestly felt like a member at a swanky country club. I will be playing here a lot more this season.

Course was in great condition, staff are very friendly. Lost my wallet on the course and they got it back to me with nothing missing! Bonus points for canned Gatorade

Course is in the best shape in quite awhile. Greens great fairways nicely cut. Also they were blowing the cut grass off the fairways. Fantastic. Great job Jerry Jimmie and the whole crew. Always a good day at The Champ!

I was in a foursome and all of us were walking. We had to wait for 2 foursomes driving carts to tee off on every hole for at least 20 minutes. After 9 holes (which turned out to be a 3 hour and 10 minutes) I decided to go to club house and get a rain check for the back nine. Guy in club house told me if it's not raining we cannot issue you a rain check. I decided to stay. I'm not going to lose money. My interest in playing was gone after 9 holes. The ranger did not drive out and see what the delay was. Which Cleary was that they allowed 2 sums out and a single out. Never again will I set a tee time at Joe Louis if it's not an early tee time. My tee time was 11:50.

Joe Louis is a Cook County Forest Preserve golf course that is currently being managed by Troon.

As of early May 2023 the course is in good condition and can be played for a fair price.

PACE: Our round took 4.5 hours because a 4-some two groups ahead lacked any sense of self-awareness whatsoever. This course would benefit from having a ranger on the weekend that monitored pace and asked (the inevitable) slower groups to let faster groups play thru.

CONDITIONS: I wouldn't call Joe Louis manicured, but it's definitely playable. Tees and greens are good, and the bunkers were maintained (though the type of sand in a bunker seems to vary). The fairways have some sparse spots, but nothing to take away from enjoying your round.

STAFF: Got me checked in and out on the course.

VALUE: Given the conditions of the course, I think this course is responsibly priced. We paid $30 to walk on the weekend.

LAYOUT: A lot of straight holes with various hazards in your way to make the course a challenge. Hole #4 is a sneaky tough par 3; #7 is a long par 5; #14 and #15 are back-to-back par 5s; and the drive on #18 is tough. This is an easy course to walk.

OFF-COURSE: Giving this a 1-star because at the time of booking (not when you show up) is when they charge you 100% of your greens fee. Occasionally our 4th gets called into work at the last second, and Joe Louis said in that instance they would not refund that tee time. Not a fan of that policy... hence the 1-star.

Joe Louis can play slow. But their greens fees are fair and the course is fun to play.

It only took 5 and a half hours for a Saturday round.

Literally the slowest round of my life and it wasn’t because the guy in front of us took 15 strokes per hole.