Columbia Bridges Golf Club

Hadn’t played Bridges in many years but not much has changed. The clubhouse is nothing but a big, old green shed, and the air inside seems musty. I know it is late in the year but the course isn’t in great shape but the layout is fun at the beginning and end.

The greens are not bad and putts rolled straight but slow. A couple had serious slope to them with holes cut right on the edge. However, a few greens on the back nine were really bad with major damage (11, 13 and 18 were not good).

The tee boxes and fairways are zoysia and have turned into dormant yellow. Some of the tee boxes were in decent shape but others (especially on No. 1) are terrible and a few were muddy. The fairways are very patchy and just dirt in many spots.

The routing is fine with some major elevation changes on No. 2-5 and No. 16-18. The last three holes provide nice high views of the area. No. 16 is crazy uphill, 17 is a short drivable par 4, and 18 is a par 3 with a big drop to a gigantic green. The rest of the course is pretty flat, though. A decent number of the holes have forced carries but none are too difficult for most players. The sixth hole is interesting with a drive through the bridge.

Seems like the cart paths have been replaced in sections with new pavement but the majority of them are still just crushed rock, bumpy and uneven to drive on. The course was pretty empty so we never had to wait to hit. If you are looking for a course to just knock it around, it is OK but I think there are much better options in SW Illinois.

Was just an average course overall. Some really fun holes. Some not so fun holes. The ground was HARD and the greens have seen better days.

First off I want to say that I really enjoy playing this course. It is a well maintained course with a nice degree of difficulty. I normally play here at least once or twice a month once between April and Sept.
With that being said I booked a tee time online Friday 3/25 to play later that afternoon it was $16 for golf and $11 for the cart for 18 holes, so $27 total sounded like a great deal to me. When I showed up at the course and went to pay the young man behind the counter tells me that it will be $33 total. I told him that I booked it online and the price was $27 total, he then tells me the price online was wrong and the additional cost was for "Holiday Rates". I checked my email confirmation and there was no price indicated on it. I booked this directly through the courses website and apparently there was nothing I could do about being charged $6 more, the guy behind the counter tells me there is nothing he could do about it. I checked the pricing through the weekend 3/26 & 3/27 and it was the same $27, so I hope that everyone else that showed up to play this weekend also enjoyed being charged $6 more than what they confirmed online through the courses own website. The only thing that I can think of was that this guy was pocketing $6 from everyone that played this weekedn, because once I brought up the pricing discrepancy he should have corrected it and charged me the rate from the site or made sure the site was adjusted to reflect the correct pricing. Me and my playing partner were not very happy about this and we understood that it was only $6 each but it was more the principal of the matter and how the guy behind the counter did not care about it.

For some reason I love this place. I have no idea why…Its tough and my score is usually terrible but I keep coming back for more. This place requires to you hit several different shots and seems to be a place where power is not always a good thing. Hole 1 is a good opener. 2 through 5 is affectionately known as the "Gauntlet" to me and my buddy. If you can get through 2-5 in good shape then the course gets easier. The course is usually in fairly good shape. The fairways are decent and the greens a large and well maintained. Its usually not busy and pace of play is rarely a problem. The only complaints I have is the sand in the bunkers is heavy playground sand except for the bunker on 16 and several bunkers have no sand in them. The only other complaint is hole #17. Yeah its a pretty view but is a goofy layout from 16 17 & 18. Still, I love playing there.

The only thing missing from here is a range!

A lot of variance on this course. Short and long par 4's and 5's. Some very flat holes on top of the ridges and some holes have substantial elevation changes between tee and green. Some very flat greens and some very tiered greens. Par 3's are long.

Greens were in good condition and relatively fast. Rest of the course needs work although they have been working on the bunkers.

This is one of my favorite courses around. Course never seems to be busy and conditions are always the same. Bunkers need some work, but seems like all public courses these days have bad bunkers. Course requires every type of shot, would love a practice green and driving range though.

Looks like this was a nice course with several interesting and challenging holes. Now it needs work. ALL but one of the many sand traps were weed infested and unplayable. Its June and they haven't been worked up at all. The tee boxes were unlevel and the greens were shaggy.

i had not played there in a long time and did not relize that they had a newr nine holes. Very nice.

Course is women friendly and I enjoy the back nine more than front .

This course has a little bit of everything. Uphill, downhill, open, narrow, left, right. You name it, this course has it somewhere along the line. Seems to be in the same shape no matter when you play here. You can see for miles from the 17th green.

The course was in the best shape I have ever seen it but the cartpath needs a lot of help

tee boxes need attention. ground was very wet, so greens were full of ball marks that people weren't repairing

Staff was friendly, pace of play good. you get up in elevation a little bit and have some great views of the area, only complaint is fairways are kind of sparse