Highlands of Elgin - Picture 3

1 Sentence Summary >>> An expertly designed golf course that calls for memorable shots throughout the round, presents the opportunity to take calculated risks on par 3's, 4's, and 5's -- all while staying under $60 for an easy walk on a summer weekend morning.

Best 3 Hole Stretch -- 11-12-13

• 11 - Par 4, 429 yards (all yardages from the gold tees). With a quarry hugging the entire left side of the hardest par 4 on the golf course (massive cliché incoming), the 11th will remind you of the 18th holes at Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass. As is consistently the case at Highlands of Elgin, you can take more risk off the tee with the reward of a much easier approach (around 150 yards) -- or you take the quarry out of play with a straight-away 220 yard shot...which leaves you about that same distance into the green for your second. This is what I would refer to as a par 4.5 -- you're fine walking to the 12th with a bogey, and a par will likely be a winning score in your match, especially with a stroke.

• 12 - Par 5, 502 yards. A well-struck drive that finds the fairway results in a legitimate chance to go for this green in two -- as this par 5 starts downhill, and then proceeds back up the hill. Though the hazard 100 yards shy of the green presents some visual challenges -- a welcoming wedge shot awaits any player that has 2 well-placed shots beyond the hazard which avoid the 4 bunkers (shown below - picture 1).

• 13 - Par 4, 280 yards. Here we have one of, if the single best golf hole in all of Chicagoland public golf. With not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6 bunkers (displayed below - picture 2) within your eye-sight on this drivable par 4, the million dollar question is what club will you hit off the tee?. A driver or 3 wood at the green could find the putting surface and be a shot you might never forget, while a 200 yard shot to the right might be what the analytics guys say will create the best scoring averages if this hole is played 10 times. A case could be made for any club from driver all the way down to your 170 club. This is one of the rare golf holes where the placement of the pin could entirely dictate your club choice (and side of the fairway you aim for) off the tee.

  • An additional note on what makes Highlands of Elgin so great: no matter the format you and your friends are playing, the most fun golf holes will be played during a key stretch of your match. This ensures that the decisions you make off the tee will have consequences, whether they be aggressive or conservative. While I've never spoken with Highlands of Elgin's architect, Keith Foster, I do wonder if Augusta's "Amen Corner" came to mind when he made 11-13 the most dramatic on the course.

• Best Par 3 >>> Hole 7 - Par 3, 203 yards. The website lists this downhill par 3 as the "signature hole". Despite being a par 3, the bunker placement provides you several options off the tee. A prudent play could be a low-running shot to the right side of the green, while the longer players might try (water and a double bogey looms left) to hoist a mid-iron that lands on the green.

  • A note on Highlands of Elgin's Par 3's: all 4 par 3's play in different directions (#4 to the east, #7 north, #15 west, #17 south) -- and given the general 1 to 2 club winds and yardages (#4 is 134 yards, #7 is 203, #15 is 137, #17 is 167), you will almost always have a different club (and trajectory required) into all 4 par 3's.

• Best Par 4 >>> Hole 3, 355 yards. To stick with the theme here, what makes this such a great short par 4 is that if you are willing to take a calculated risk off the tee, and execute your shot -- you are massively rewarded. Left of the 2 fairway bunkers looks like the obvious play given the hazard on the right that requires a 220 yard carry...that is until you get to your second shot. A tee ball that is left of (and even with) the first bunker results in a stern test of distance control and accuracy with a wedge, especially given the short grass that lies right of the green. Especially for someone with a left to right ball shape, a 230+ yard shot starting at the second bunker could be well worth the risk, as you're rewarded with a wedge in your hand and all the green in the world to work with. (Picture 4 below)

• Best Par 5 >>> Hole 6, 535 yards. We've already covered the 12th, and the 6th has one feature which separates it from the stern 2nd (uphill with an undulating green) and the reachable 14th (sharp dogleg left with a shallow green) -- and that is a bunker placed 100 yards short of the green. Also uphill, there is a barber pole just right of the alluded to bunker, which would be the more conservative line. If you carry the bunker with your 2nd shot, there is once again, a massive reward with a potential downhill kick and eagle pitch, chip, or possibly putt. Similar to other holes at Highlands of Elgin, your strategy might drastically change after playing the course several times.

• Devil's Advocate - We'll always do our best to be objective and look at both positives and negatives of the experience each golf course offers. If we were being tremendously nit-picky....we might say the longer drive of 47 minutes with no traffic from Lincoln Park isn't ideal, but why not drive an extra few minutes for what will be such an enjoyable 4+ hours on the golf course with your friends?

• In Conclusion - Highlands of Elgin checks all the boxes you are looking for in a public golf experience, and then some. With an engaging course throughout the entire round, extremely reasonable greens fees for a well-conditioned course, all at a course where it's relatively easy to get a prime tee-time -- there are not many (if any) courses in Chicagoland that comes close to what Highlands of Elgin offers.