The Woodlands Course at Whittaker

The woods make this beautiful... and challenging. Rolling fairways, accuracy is rewarded... wayward hits are not!

Layup and enjoy or go fir it and challenge yourself. Either way it’s a beautifully quiet time in the woods.

Staff always friendly and quick to get you going.

played this course after it got 3 days of rain and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't drowning, it was built out of a marsh after all. They followed the covid 19 guidelines so joy johns on the course are gone so ya better get used to peeing in the woods which is very difficult for me as a woman. Plus I think it's stupid to remove the joy johns cuz we all carry sanitizer now anyway and all Michigan courses have done this soooo i guess I'll stick to Indiana courses until Michigan wisens up. I hope it's soon because Whittaker woods is an amazing course and we try to golf here as often as possible.

This could be a very special course but the maintenance was awful. I'm not sure if it was because of the pandemic or if that is just what their normal maintenance is like but it really ruins what could be a fantastic course. There are a bunch of holes that go through the woods and it is a lot of fun, also beautiful. The layout is entertaining, and would easily be worth the hour 15 minute drive from Chicago if the course was in ok conditions but it is not. The fairways are pretty torn up, but that is nothing compared to the greens. They were the slowest greens I have ever played on. You literally could not go long.

this course has a BEAUTIFUL layout. Great woods feel, holes are fun and challenging.

Constructive feedback:

There were full grown dandelions in the middle of the fairways and greens were very long (also very slow).

I've heard great things about this course and although my experience didn't reflect what I think the course could be - it's only fair to tell the truth.

Course conditions were poor. The fairway was long and the greens were not kept up. The rough was uneven throughout the course and the bunkers were completely unplayable. For the price they charge you would think they would cut the grass. It felt like they let it grow out for a month.

I took a a trip to New Buffalo for a long weekend, and I played this course twice on consecutive non-weekend days.

The course is an excellent challenge, and the course conditions reflect t he price.

I recommend this course to anyone visiting; however, our experience with the staff was inconsistent. It wasn’t bad; it just was different.

On first arrival, we were greeted upon entering the parking lot and our bags were loaded into a cart, and we were driven to the clubhouse. After paying, our GPS equipped cart was waiting with our recently cleaned clubs. On the first day, we arrived 20 minutes before tee time and elected not to use the driving range.

The second day was different. We arrived about 45 minutes early. No greeter. In the clubhouse, we were assigned a key with a specific cart number. I purchased a bucket of range balls and inquired to the location of the range. “Across the road you came in on.”

Walked to cart assigned. No GPS. Drove to car and loaded clubs. Spent 10 minutes driving up and down a 55 mph speed limit highway looking for the range. After pulling into two driveways and turning around twice, we found the range. It was a decent range, in good condition, and had a very nice short game area.

It’s a good course, and you should play it if in New Buffalo. If your experience is like my first day, you’ll be impressed by staff and the course. If it’s like my second day, you’ll still be impressed by the course.

While the Saturday tee sheet looked full on line it was hardly that way at 1pm. Finished in 3 hours and played thru one foursome. Very unusual but their rack rates can be pretty steep. All in all Whittaker is a nice play....but extremely tight in several areas and lot's of water/forest to fend off. Not a "resort" course - blue tees are way too difficult for most and the white tees are a tad long for seniors.....so most everyone is forced to play whites. As such the white tee boxes were completely chewed up. Hadn't played since 2017....greens were okay but again chewed up around the hole and cups because of the new "flag in" rule. With no one on the course around us we still had to fix way too many ball marks. Green speed was miles slower and definitely more fair then two years ago. Traps are hit and miss as usual....in decent shape though. Happy to see they filled in the former "forced" carry for your tee shot on #11 which is a 185 carry from the whites. That was kind of a stupid ditch carry anyway. Recommend if you can get a decent rate.....$40/$50 value at very most. Does have a warm up range/practice facilities across the street.....all the help there was very friendly....a nice change from years past. Very pretty routing but bring bug spray if you're out there in the afternoon.

Course was in beautiful condition and it was a beautiful day. Some tight fairways and challenges with several holes.

I was paired with a couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Great people, the course was a bit over booked but nothing a starter or ranger wouldn’t have cured in short order. The course was in its typical outstanding condition.

One of my favorite tracks anywhere. A very pleasant surprise was the upgraded cart. The GPS and Bluetooth were OUTSTANDING!!! I love it. Listening to my favorite music while relaxing in the great outdoors. It doesn’t get any better.

On a 1-5 star scale I give the amenities a 6!!!! Great job!

First, the poor course conditions were obviously not in the control of the course. Most holes had serious issues with standing water and swampy conditions. Understandably, it was cart path only but for handicapped golfers, having to walk the 90 degrees to the ball was not doable. Golf Now booking restrictions for cancelling restricted being able to get my money back for that reason. I ended up not playing the majority of the course and just rode along. Secondly, no rangers came out to make sure groups kept pace. 18 holes was close to 5 hours, a lot of waiting on slow golfers. And finally, I booked a “sale” price. The condition of the course should have been taken into consideration for what was charged. There is no way we should have been charged that much for what they were able to provide. Very disappointed!!!

I played the course with 2 friends, we were passing through the area and decided to give it a shot. Considering how wet it has been the course was in good shape. I felt it was a tough but fair course, the only bad thing was that we got stuck behind a couple of foursomes that were slow so it was a longer round than it should have been.

Considering all the rain we have had, the course was in really good shape. It is challenging but fair. The staff was really nice and helpful. Play was a bit slowly as our threesome was behind two slow foursomes.

Our 14th annual outing was scheduled for months in Indianapolis, but the day before it was to begin, the forecast was for rain all day Friday and Saturday. We had 14 guys coming from three states. Tracking the weather and trying to find someplace still within a reasonable drive away, we called Whittaker Woods. Steve made it happen without a moments hesitation. We played 18 Friday and 36 Saturday. The course was very challenging but fair and a lot of fun. The staff in the pro shop, the restaurant and on the course was accommodating, friendly and best of all, no rain. To a man, every one of us had the same reaction: what a great audible and a great time. Thanks to Steve and the whole crew at WW. We would definitely go back.

We have been playing this course every summer when we come to Four Winds Casino. Steve and his staff are absolutely awesome. We are greeted every time as if we were family. Mike who handles the carts, Charlotte the waitress, Jim the starter and all of the other staff members have always been just great. Suck a pleasure to play golf here even when you score is not good. Thanks to all for making our stay in New Buffalo July 17 - 20, 2018 a great one.

Wes and Jeanette Segert

Our group had not ventured to Whittaker in at least 3 years. A very hot day with a light tee sheet on a Saturday it was the perfect venue to catch shade through the woods for some relief. We played in just under 4 hours.....coupled with the hot weather and a rack rate of $90 for a noon weekend time the tee sheet was wide open. Otherwise it can be a very long round (5 hrs plus plus) as novice golfers have absolutely no business playing this place. A two some played through us on the front. The foursome who teed off behind them we never saw....and we didn't even see them finish after loading up all our gear in the car and getting a beverage so they took at least 5 hours on an empty course......no gps bring a garmin or laser sprinkler heads are marked. Scorecard has a decent guide of each hole.

Greens were incredibly swift - estimate an 11 possibly even a 12 on the stimp. With all the rains balls were holding. Even with light play conditions around the cup were difficult because of the "doughnut" effect so any ball nearing the hole would break even more sharply even hit at perfect pace. Downhillers and even some side hillers were next to impossible. A couple of flag positions where 10 footers you were thankful just to get the ball within 4 feet yes they were that speedy. The White tees at just over 6000 yards have a stout 136 slope. Course is plenty tight in areas with some blind tee shots and numerous forced carries...you have to play this place a few times....good luck as a first timer. Rough was lush and plenty long assisting to keep your ball in play. Fairways and traps in excellent shape. Some tee boxes need just a little work but overall one of the best conditioned tracks experienced this season. Water jugs on course and pleasant nurse service but beverages are overpriced. I guess they figure if you're paying a lot just to get on the track you won't complain about the overpricing. Very pleasant folks all around pro shop/bar and cart attendants. Has nice grass warm up range across the street and a couple of practice areas. Practice putting green near the pro shop a tad slower than the actual greens it doesn't have enough slope but fairly representative. For a course of this caliber no locker room or showers a real lacking amenity.

Beautiful routing challenging well conditioned test for the average to advanced player. Several areas where the wind swirls. Highly recommend but avoid if you're a novice....you're guaranteed to have a very long day and lose more than a dozen balls. Bring some bug spray....and route your shots to stay out of the deep woods off. 4.5 stars, $50 value.