Bittersweet Golf Club
About
Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee, Ill. is ideally situated for a scenic round of golf. The diverse landscape flows seamlessly from lush wetlands to native prairies covered with colorful wildflowers. The layout also winds across a 100-year-old sage meadow and through forests of mature hardwoods, which serve as a home to an abundance of wildlife. Beyond the beautiful scenery, the terrain presents many challenges. The undulating fairways demand accuracy as you hit from multi-tiered tee boxes. Water also comes into play on almost every hole and there's an array of strategically placed bunkers you'll have to avoid. The eighth is the toughest hole on the front nine, a par-4 dogleg right with a lightning fast green. Bittersweet Golf Club's back nine is known for its scenery, which is best displayed on the signature par-5 11th hole, which offers not only a challenge but also a spectacular view from the tee.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 72 | 6751 yards | 73.3 | 135 |
Blue | 72 | 6345 yards | 71.4 | 131 |
White | 72 | 5559 yards | 67.8 | 122 |
White (W) | 72 | 5559 yards | 72.8 | 128 |
Red (W) | 72 | 4952 yards | 70.0 | 121 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 73.3/137 | 338 | 565 | 196 | 344 | 371 | 148 | 346 | 422 | 516 | 3246 | 369 | 546 | 403 | 200 | 506 | 420 | 421 | 203 | 437 | 3505 | 6751 |
Blue M: 71.4/133 | 319 | 531 | 169 | 334 | 361 | 126 | 326 | 404 | 485 | 3055 | 340 | 530 | 363 | 183 | 496 | 376 | 409 | 190 | 403 | 3290 | 6345 |
White M: 67.8/120 W: 73.0/129 | 298 | 490 | 127 | 323 | 234 | 106 | 309 | 328 | 410 | 2625 | 329 | 507 | 319 | 145 | 445 | 341 | 360 | 133 | 355 | 2934 | 5559 |
Red W: 69.8/122 | 283 | 469 | 93 | 279 | 234 | 76 | 288 | 323 | 402 | 2447 | 241 | 424 | 289 | 115 | 371 | 290 | 327 | 126 | 322 | 2505 | 4952 |
Handicap | 17 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 4 | |||
Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
Handicap (W) | 9 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 4 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Illinois (2016 #12)
Reviews
Tight
Course ran fast. Tight fairways were as tight as I remember. Greens were pretty fair, even though too many people fail to repair their ball marks! Used my entire bag of clubs to get around. Fun layout
Very narrow and difficult tee shots with lots of hazards, but not overly long so if you can keep it straight you can shoot a good score
Bring extra balls
Enjoyable , but challenging course. Blind tee shots and shots into the green. But really fair off the tee... but it's a shot markers course into the green. Warning to you... greens are fast and missing the greens my most likely result in a big kick into a penalty area.
Slow day
We lIke this course. It rewards good shots and penalizes poor ones rapidly. We were directed to play from 10th but as a two ball we hit a very slow foursome on the first tee and the day went downhill from there, it was slow. Course condition was generally good but people are just not repairing divots or pitchmarks and it’s taking a toll. The management would benefit from reminding patrons to observe etiquette and maintain the course as they would hope to find it.
Decent Value
Played for $59 on a Sunday. Good value. The course is in good condition. My big complaint is the huge discrepancy between the white and blue tees. There is more than an 800 yd difference. We were in a foursome with some playing white and some playing blues and it was like we were on different courses. Move the whites back a little.
Not a friendly course for high handicappers - slow play abounds
A lot of this is verbatim from my 9/1/19 review - Bittersweet is in very nice shape and the greens are rolling very well - faster than most places. The track itself has water and danger all over the place. There aren't many breathers or room for error. Shots must be properly routed. It's a course you have to play a few times....several of the green sites are very sloped.....to the point where you feel the course is a bit tricked up. A pretty place but when crowded it's always a 5 hour plus slog of wait. On a really nice Tuesday afternoon our 3 some teed off a little after 2pm and got around the course in well under 4 hours. When we made the turn we picked up some beverages and walked out of the clubhouse to go to the 10th tee. Then I was asked by two really heavy set guys sporting t-shirts and tennis shoes....hey do you know where the 10th tee is? Pro shop trying to send off a two-some with no course knowledge to play the back 9 holes directly in front on us?? That turned into a mess because the 1st two holes of the back nine are complete trouble/water/swamp everywhere you look....the 10th hole you can't even see most of the fairway from the tee box. The 11th hole you can't see the green from the tee box or your second shot. Had we not insisted (and argue) that we play first off the 10th (sorry guys not our problem the pro shop tried to put you in front of us plus there was a single that caught us on the 9th that we wanted to let play through us) all four of us would have been held up yet again by high handicapped golfers who then easily took 2.5 hours or more to play the back nine & playing the 130 plus slope blue tees - we were putting on the Par 5 11th green when this two-some finally left the 11th tree box... it definitely took them well over 30 minutes just to navigate the 10th and 11th holes.
Course suffers because the white tees yardages are too short - you get into trouble quickly from them as it gets tighter to fit your balls into windows/targets......and the blue tees (which most weekend warriors play) are way too much for them to avoid not losing a dozen or more balls in the numerous water hazards. Folks are nice and welcoming, grass range and chipping area to warm up and decent clubhouse/showers with food and proper orange whip selections. Once a year is enough for me but still recommend. Downgrading a full 1.5 stars this year to 2 stars overall because pro-shop was clueless and didn't have a care at all about our experience when making the turn.....I'm still hearing the question - hey do you know there the 10th tee is? Always a 5.5 hour plus round when crowded and that's just not acceptable. $35 value.
Course sucks
First golfers very rude since we only played back 9 course is horribly laid out no idea where fairways are leaves allover course lose golf balls when shot is down the middle this was the first and you can bet it will be the last time I EVER play here again worst experience I ever had playing golf this course SUCKS
Well maintained golf cc.
Fairway is well maintained. Good place to play golf. I wish faster green speed though. Nice work!
Great test
Bittersweet offers a fair test for golfers of intermediate or better skills. Tight fairways, lots of marsh and sand, thoughtful hole layout present risk/reward decisions throughout the round. Slope is definitely under-rating the difficulty. Greens and fairways were in great shape.
It would be great if a blue/white combo were offered to split the difference between the 5500 yard whites and the almost 6400 yard blues. There is a 5 stroke handicap difference between the two tee setups.
Did not think that the course was in good condition for just opening to foursome play and not having much play due to the Covid lockdown. It did not appear to have been mowed recently. Also there was supposed to be 10 minutes between tee times and they were sending out the next foursome while the one in front of you was still in the fairway.
Tough Round
Course was in good condition considering recent heavy rains. Bunkers needed work but otherwise playing well. Greens were in great shape. The wind came up strong out of the east which makes the course play tougher than with a south or west wind..
Fun Course, Poorly Managed
This was my first time playing the course. The course was a bit wet coming off some significant rainfall a couple days earlier. The course is a pretty fun track and I'm sure it would play differently if a bit drier.
I was a bit disappointed by the management of the course. Given the amount of rain we had prior to my round, there should have been a cart restriction. With that said, management ignored the state's golf operational restrictions regarding the cart usage. The two pairing behind me were all driving carts despite the cart restriction put in place. The four golfers in those carts did not appear to have any physical disabilities or physical restrictions which would prevent them from walking the course. Even as I completed my round, more carts were being sent out. I have compressed discs and numbness in my left leg, yet I don't consider myself unable to walk the course with my push cart. I think there was a certain amount of nepotism given to the local regulars in violation of the state's restrictions set in place due to COVID-19.