Renwood Golf Course

We moved to Grayslake late last year, so I'm just discovering courses in this area and this is the first time I played Renwood after hearing about it from some other players earlier this year. It was friggin' hot, so I only wanted to play 9 holes and this is about the only course close by where I could reserve 9 holes someplace that wasn't an executive/par-3 course. Granted, the course is not long but I felt it was in pretty good shape and I played in just under 2 hours on the Sunday mid-morning of a holiday weekend; which was a pleasant surprise. Pace was good. Greens and tees were in good shape. Some of the fairways had what looked like floodoing or water damage from earlier in the year, but was being addressed.

We appreciated the friendliness and helpful staff. They were sanitizing the carts and askEd if we would like any other areas on our cart sanitized. It made us feel very comfortable and safe to play there. As always, it’s a great and challenging course to make for a very fun time.

Nice course easy front nine harder Back Nine I like the box to hold the broken tees by tee box very good covid protection large plexiglass up and do not give you any paperwork the only thing I recommend is not to combine the white and blue tee boxes I play the whites and my son plays the blues it is more enjoyable when they are separate and further back it's not very long so make it harder for those who want to play the blues

Courses very unique front plays a lot easier than the back

I have found this course to be crowded so play often slows down. Also there are a lot of areas around the course that retain water after rainy weather making for some wet spots. Overall the course is still maintained and for $15-$18 walking 18 holes it’s a fantastic course with great value for your money.

This is a solid park's type course. It's cheap, but well maintained. The only thing I can't comment on is the clubhouse since it was closed off due to covid-19, but the course itself was in good shape. The ruff was thick, but the fairways and greens were in good condition. I also walked it, so no comment on pull carts or golf carts as well. I recommend it for the price point, and if you want a solid 18 holes of golf. Finally, the front 9 is easier while the back 9 is more challenging.

I love this course. Its clean, grounds are kept up. Clubhouse is beautiful. Close to home for me, I can walk to it. Definitely recommend.

I had never played the course, I was at one time a 6hcp my game is not the same after some injures n others but I loved the golf course and the greens the were under maintenance but still rolled nice, I will play again since I believe I can break 80 there without issue.

thanks Brad for your assistance this morning.

The Good: Renwood Golf Club in Round Lake, IL is a nearly 100-year old club that has been recently refurbished by Chicago area architect Bob Lohmann and managed by the local park district. While short in stature in the modern golf game, this 6250-yard course challenges golfers with its fairly tight fairways and smallish greens on the front nine, and severe doglegs and wetlands on the closing nine. While the front nine is fairly benign and unmemorable, the back nine has two extremely interesting Par-5’s (the 13th and 16th respectively) and some tough dogleg Par 4’s. Fairway conditions for early March were impressive and course overall was in pretty good shape. Greens held well (as expected) and weren’t overly bumpy. Nice little clubhouse with good-size pro shop, bar, and reception area for events. Practice area includes driving range and putting green. Pace of play was good at just over 3-hours walking, which was surprising considering how everyone was flocking to the courses for the first nice weekend day in months. Good value at $26 walking.

The Bad: The front nine is fairly uninteresting with several straightaway, short Par-4’s that don’t require much strategy or skill. Odd routing has only one Par-5 or Par-3 on the front half as well. Green conditions and speed were inconsistent, which is to be expected for the first rounds before Spring. No short game or bunker practice area. Service, particularly on-course was lacking, but I suspect during the summer they have a regular cart staff.

The Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised with this little Round Lake municipal course, particularly the fun holes on the back nine. While its certainly not a visually impressive course, it is inexpensive for the area and has enough character and challenge for the good golfer.

Best Hole: The 16th hole is a crazy-looking short Par-5, a double-dogleg that requires a conservative drive to the right of a sand trap or a sweeping hook around trees to be in position to go for the green in two. The approach is hidden with trees right and a pond left, making for a difficult shot. Fun!

I enjoy playing this course two or three times a year since it is fairly close to where I live. It usually well-maintained and I consider it a good value. Tee-times are usually available and the golf pro has always worked with us to get us started on one of the open nines. The front nine is a traditional older course while the back nine is a newer course, and definitely challenging with more water in play. When I played this weekend the course was cart path only due to all the heavy fall rain, but that has only happened once since I started playing here. Rest of the staff has always been excellent to interact with and they have a nice range and practice area.

Haven’t played this course in twenty some yrs, not very challenging , needs a little maintainance, some short par fours to get birds or par, all in all would come back for the right price.

Well taken care of course. Not to tight fairways, but entire course is compacted into small area. The rough is very dense grass that is hard to hit out of or find ball. Some greens are pretty tough and the par 5 #16 is hard hole. Fun course that doesn’t play to long.