HIDDEN GEM Public Golf Courses in Illinois

Illinois is one of the midwest's best for great golf. It boasts some of America's best courses like Medinah Country Club, Shoreacres, Butler National, Rich Harvest Farms, Olympia Fields, Chicago Golf and more. With such a strong collection of tournament level courses, it is easy to over look the great public offerings across the state! Courses like Cog Hill's Dubsdread, Cantigny, and Thunderhawk get much of the attention and this video highlights some of the more hidden gems across the state. Over the course of the last year, I traveled hundred of miles looking for some of the best courses in the nation and this video narrows it down my favorites. Which ones are your favorite?

[luxefalcon]

Nice shout out for Annbriar. There are some solid courses in the St Louis metro east. Spencer T Olin is also solid. Gateway National is great with a view of St Louis skyline & Arch. Indian Springs near Vandalia is also a hidden gem!

[SnowmanK]

Cinder Ridge is a fun and affordable course that has been continuously improved over the past 20-30 years. If you haven’t played it in years, you should try it now.

[williamfix]

balmoral woods country club is low key fun- and has a lot of gorgeous holes.

[adamczamanske]

Agree with your list. So many great courses in Chicagoland. Highlands of Elgin & Blackstone are my favorite out of those you listed…Looking forward to knocking out Preserve at Oak Meadow and DG this year. Hidden Gems I would add are Village Links of Glen Ellyn and Arrowhead in Wheaton. Pottawatomie in St Charles is a fun RTJ course right on the Fox river

[RH-qklt]

The fact you included Prairie View, my home town course, gets me to subscribe. Prairie View has really matured over the years and is a true gem.

[xavierhubbell]

One of the absolute best in the Northwest is Deer Valley Golf Club in Deer Grove. Small town country club. Less than $40. Beautiful course on a huge amount of land. A couple super cool elevated tee boxes. Hole 13 is one of the best par 3s I’ve ever seen

[jamesmartinez]

Missed Redtail Run Decatur, IL. Fantastic Raymond Floyd layout. Affordable. Don’t miss the Wharf afterwards for beverages and really good food. Can’t wait to do it again.

[denniscallaghan]

Oak Grove, Stonewall Orchard,

You are right about one thing....as you can see with everyone adding a lot more courses Chicago has one of the best golf markets in the The ssd thing about Chicago golf is no home PGA tournament, :( I would love to see the PGA play Butler GC

[treyshaw]

Cinder ridge in Wilmington is a state of the art course

[GregPace]

Appreciate these videos. I gotta make my way out to a few of these courses!

[michaelforrest]

Not bad at all. Stonewall Orchard, Village Links of Glen Ellen, Foxford Hills, are all solid and stand up to those ya mentioned. Great call on MP btw. But, mentioning Shepherds Crook, and not playing Thunderhawk first is a miss. A solid RtJ jr. track that's public, and will test every player.

[Paul_seekingthetruthU]

Absolutely love Highlands Of Elgin. You need to play Makray Memorial in Barrington.

[swapnakhair]

Good list, the 2 Chicago courses I recommend is Harborside and Ravisloe, best of links & golden age design. I would add Bonnie Brook as a great value, plus Balmoral Woods, Whisper Creek, village links of Glen Ellyn and Heritage Bluffs.

[billkurtz]

Ann Briar is a must see, beautiful course and tough.

[alanmartins]

Damn where was this list when I was living in Illinois. You missed Thunderhawk, Chalet Hills, Steeple Chase.

[Kade_Hult]

Great list. Gotta get out there to THE Highlands of Elgin sometime!

[sundoesgolf]

I'm hoping to hit up some of these courses this year. I play around the chicagoland area and document my golf. Thanks for the list. I played Mt prospect this year and it was in great shape.

[MrMasonHernandez]

If you’re ever in the Rockford area check out aldeen golf course and the ledges. Also silver ridge out in Oregon

[alwaysboatin]

You should try Fox Bend in Oswego next time you’re back. It is so cheap and yet gorgeous! Great video.

[Growinggolfing]

If you’re ever near the St Louis area, play Annbriar. Immaculate course with a great layout.