Grand Geneva Resort & Spa

Everything at The Brute is oversized. The bunkers are huge. The fairways are wide. The greens are expansive. The elevation changes are significant. (There's no way I would walk this course.) It was fun, but I felt like it was more presentation than substance. For comparison sake, I'd much rather play Hawk's View, Washington County, or Prairie Woods. Those courses are similar in condition and quality, but more interesting and, ultimately, cheaper.

About half the holes at The Brute will challenge the placement of your drives. 10 in particular requires careful placement. The course overall was quite beautiful, it definitely felt like a resort experience. The carts are maybe the best I've seen in Wisconsin, the staff were great. The course was fairly dead on a Monday and so I spent some time searching for balls and was well rewarded, lots of Pro V1's in the trees, just be prepared for nettles to coat your entire body.

Overall, I'm glad I came out, but I don't think I'll be coming back soon. The Golf Now hot deal rate was worth it, but there are other courses I like more for less money.

It’s been a number of years since I played the Brute and it hasn’t changed much. Beautiful and challenging track.

The deal that I booked on Golfnow to play a 1st class golf course like the Brute was well worth it. You are never going to play a course like that for the dollar amount we paid. My friends and I are always looking for deals because we play a lot of golf and it’s not exactly a cheap sport if you play a lot. We fully understand that if we want to play a premier course we expect to pay a higher rate but it’s awfully nice to get the occasional deal as well.

Wonderful design with excellent conditions makes this course rate as one of the best golf venues within 50 miles of home. In conjunction with the Brute, Grand Geneva is the premier golf destination for northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Add Golf Now hot deals and you have a combination that can't be beat...Kuddos !

First impression from the staff was amazing. Course was a challenging layout that was fun to play. Experience was lessened by VERY slow pace of play. We had to wait 10 minutes on almost every tee box. Tees were in rough shape, each one had divots every, basically playing off sand. In the end it was worth it.

Second time played. What a beautiful course. If you stay out of trouble you can score well here. I’m a mid 90 golfer and I shot a 91. Would have been an 89 if it wasn’t for that 18th green. It needs some landfill. Hehe. Just kidding. I will be back.

so it's an amazing course! Just absolutely love it except for the bunkers being hard as rock with some pretty big rocks in there as well, I'm talking like half dollar size which for the place you would never expect for that nice of a place. But the other fault I had with this was they paired me up with a father and son which they were good ppl but I wanted to play alone especially with this pandemic going on cause i have two older parents at home so kinda why I said one golfer when booking this tee time.. I mean I had fun and all that but yeah I have to give it 4 out of 5 cause the golf cart GPS was so helpful lol

This is the old Briarpatch by Pete Dye and Jack Nicholas.

The redesigned has made it more playable and enjoyable. Great condition and fun to play.

This course is a lot of fun to play, has excellent practice facilities and is in great condition. I have paid much more for a lot less. This is a great value, I highly recommend it.

We played The Brute in 1980 on our honeymoon and decided to play it now for our 40th anniversary as we were driving through Wisconsin. We were rewarded richly for our expenditure. Grand Geneva has a great stay and play option that gave us overnight stay plus golf for each of us for slightly more than the cost of the room itself! The course was magnificent and the staff was very helpful. Food was great and the greens were fast and held a ball well. We will not wait 40 years to return!

7100+ from the tips. Long.

Practice facilities: excellent. Putting green, chipping green, gratis 400 yd driving range. Best I have seen in WI.

Signage: poor

In cart GPS: Excellent.

Layout: unexpected and extreme elevation changes are frustratingly fun and encourage one to learn the course for next time. Sadly there won't be a next time for us.

Fairway rough: fair and survivable; able to find your ball and return it to play but you'll be laying up most times.

Trees: heavily treed and beautiful; mature. Beware sneaky 30'-50' overhangs on teeboxes & anywhere but center-cut.

Bunkers: 3.3 traps per hole average. Challenging fairway bunkers make it play 300-500 yards longer. Plenty of sand in each so you can extract without throwing mudpies. Also best I have seen on WI publics.

Greens: generally HUGE and receptive but w/ inexplicable extreme slopes. Slick and fast (11-12 on Stimp this date)

Pin placements: fkn ridiculous. Each hole was slashed thoughtlessly into the face of one of the many random 4‐6 degree slopes making hitting the green penal; 3-puttable even if hit to 6 feet. Not just merely 'difficult pins.' ... fkn RIDICILOUS decisions were made with seemingly no regard for approach angles or green topography. Literally unplayable, making no sense for a course this long and regal, regardless of skill level. Ruined our experience.

You will use every club in your bag. Keep it under 100 (if you can) and you're winning. I play to a 7 hdcp. 96 and 99 were our scores. Not bitter or whining- just ain't going back.

Always heard how tough and beautiful the Brute is. Everyone is correct. Course is fair and challenging. I’m a 90’s hack but had my opportunities for birdies and pars throughout the day. Elevation changes were magnificent but added more challenges on most holes. I played the gold tees so I didn’t have to hit hybrids or fairway woods into each hole.