Bittersweet Golf Club
Rating Snapshot
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 73.3/137 W: 79.5/143 | 338 | 565 | 196 | 344 | 371 | 148 | 346 | 422 | 516 | 3246 | 369 | 546 | 403 | 200 | 506 | 420 | 421 | 203 | 437 | 3505 | 6751 |
| Green M: 71.4/133 W: 77.3/138 | 319 | 531 | 169 | 334 | 361 | 126 | 326 | 404 | 485 | 3055 | 340 | 530 | 363 | 183 | 496 | 376 | 409 | 190 | 403 | 3290 | 6345 |
| Green/White M: 69.7/126 W: 75.1/133 | 319 | 531 | 127 | 334 | 234 | 126 | 326 | 328 | 485 | 2810 | 340 | 507 | 363 | 145 | 496 | 376 | 360 | 133 | 403 | 3123 | 5933 |
| White M: 68.0/120 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 |
| Orange M: 65.2/113 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
Overall the course was in good condition. However, the greens were extremely fast and difficult to read. Pace of play was a little slow.
Slow round
Overall the course was in good condition except for the fairway on hole one. There was lots of water on it and a few greens had fallen leaves on them. The pace was too slow. It took us 4 hours and 45 minutes to play 18 holes.
My favorite local course.
Excellent from start to finish. Challenging layout and pin placement. The only negative was an extremely slow foursome ahead of us a few groups that slowed the back nine to a crawl.
Good time
We got paired up with a fun group. The course was in good shape and the range and practice area was nice.
Jeff
Course layout was good except the areas around the greens. Most greens were elevated and the slopes around them were so severe that many times shots that hit side of greens would go out of bounds. Course was in great shape from tee to green
Beautiful course
Loved playing a round of golf here at this beautiful course. It was challenging and forgiving and inspiring. Would definitely play here again.
Course Review 1st time played
The greens and fairways were in good shape. But the rough was a challenge, ground was hard like concrete.
Nice course - challenging
Hot day. 7:30 start time...pace of play was too slow for that time of day on a monday.
course was in great shape. greens were running. mostly target golf. I should have left the driver in the trunk.
Play it . you wont be sorry.
Tough course, fun
Tough curse but really fun Love this course, especially the back nine! Lot of water and hazards.
Wrong 9!!!
they sent us off back 9 and when we got to front they said they made a mistake.and we'd have to wait to follow all the people they were starting on the front. We weren't going to wait a half hour for a very slow 9.
Challenging, bring the wood off the tee
Challenging course design with lots of hazards and water, not as driver, friendly as other courses. Lots and lots of T-shirts that may not work on, especially if you can’t keep them straight consistently. Greens were Challenging to read, the day we played was very hot and on the back nine lots of the turf became hard pan. Piece of play was slow on a Weekend, would definitely try during the week next time
Solid course
Bittersweet is very underrated if looking for a good test. T shots are pretty demanding but I feel there is enough room. Greens were excellent, fairways in nice tight shape. Always enjoy Bittersweet because you have to every shot with a purpose
One guy almost ruined a great experience.
Service from Young lady at the Bar - Excellent
Service from Young lady at the Pro Shop - Excellent
Course Conditions, Excellent considering all the rain from the night before.
Pace of Play - Slow, no ranger to keep groups from taking multiple balls off the tee.
Biggest issue - One of the young staff members of the golf course and his friends decided that it was a good idea to hit balls into my group on hole #8. All groups were backed up for several holes before that, so they had to know we were there, but decided that they were going to hit anyway. I know there will be no repercussions for this type of behavior because it was a staff member who also plays for the local high school team. In fact when they see this review they will laugh about it and wish they would have actually hit one of us. The reason I can say that is on the next tee I could actually hear one of them say it as the green from #8 and the tee on #9 are only separated by a tree line and you can hear the conversations through the trees. In conclusion, the course is great and the staff at the clubhouse is great, but keep in mind that at the end of the day the younger staff are allowed to play on the course and they will have no hesitation to hit you with a golfball.
Geneva National Golf Experience Package
SentryWorld Stay & Play Package
Destination Kohler - Champions' Trail Golf Package
Destination Kohler - To Dye Four Golf Package
