This course is awful! Water on 17 holes, greens slightly elevated and/or tuck back around water for no necessary reason. geese all over the place and so are the droppings (especially on the greens). Losing balls is "the norm" on this course. Very poorly designed. Old owners defaulted on the loan so bank took it on and hired a management company. Their idea of improvement was to get new golf carts. Could have used the money to make needed improvements to the course. The new management is as bad as the last with the attitute. Best suggestion is to NOT play this course, EVER!

Customer Service

Attitute describes it best. Course pro has the biggest attitude problem. If you're not one of "the boys" they probably won't waste much time on you. Food at the restaurant is terrible and always has been. You'd get better food off the catering trucks at construction sites.

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Most of the other courses in the Gurnee/Lake county area are FAR better the this place. Don't waste your time or money on this course.

Most people who play this course only once are turned off and refuse to play it again. The first time I played it was back in 1997 and I shot a 77, but the other guys in my group shot at least 10 shots over their average. It's a very precise golf course with little bailout like another reviewer mentioned. However, the greens are very large and the fairways are plenty wide. I have a hard time believing that single digit handicaps would think this course is overly penalizing. I think that the course should sell yardage books and have some green depth measurements in the yardage books. With greens this deep, it makes a huge difference as to whether the pin is cut back, front or center. Also the tee areas need to be levelled off and the yardage plates should be reviewed for accuracy. But in truth, this is a fantastic facility and a very reasonable price

Scenery, facilities

overly penal design

Even though I played this course more than a year ago, I still remember how p*ss*d off I was after I played this course....that's never happened to me before! Mind you, not at how I played(eh), but the course itself! Blind tee shots, sloping fairways, sneaky tight landing areas...all conspire to make this a very penal course. Miss the fairway? Lose a ball.... I'd kill to have the ball concession. And many times there is no "bailout" or safe area to play to, either. I understand( and I observed this the day we played), that they are widening(re-claiming swamp land) a few landing areas to make the course more playable. All the course management in the world doesn't overcome a overly penal design....unless you like using no club greater than a 5 iron. I know a dozen people of various skill levels(mostly 1-9 hcp)..not one of them enjoyed playing this course. That said, I thought the course conditions and facilities were very nice...and the price was attractive. Also a very pretty course. I may try the course again...just to get even! ;-)

Customer Service

very good

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Range....adequate for pre-round warmup

Great fairways and smooth greens, Do I need to go on..

Fairways all lean to the water,and dumb people don't repair the divots..

You can not ask for anything more in a golf course, the layout is great, pretty views from the tees, and people in there yard telling me "Good Shot"... If you like fast greens this is the place for you, If you hate water, this is NOT the place for you, 17 of 18 holes you will find water,or wet lands... The people that work there are very very nice, the fairways are like a brand new carpet in a house... So I say try it out, and if you don't like it, Oh well..

Customer Service

Great

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Bathrooms are clean and bartender was nice..

Requires accracy

too much water, overkill on design of site.

Oh my!! First time I played here, will be the last time! I live only 5 minutes from this course, but this course is beyond difficult! I never seen a course so difficult before even on the PGA tour! Too much water skinny fairways, OB is too close to rough.

Customer Service

Good, seen better

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tough but fair, beautifully kept up

if you struggle on this course it will have no sympathy.

Let me start by saying those golfers who shoot in the 90's but think this is an unfair course, meant to say that once they broke 100 (cheating probably). That said, this is a hard course for the player who can not think. Course management is key, but a beautiful well kept up course it is. not too long so proper club selection will reward you, not punish. But bring plenty of balls just in case you have one of those days.

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Clubhouse, grass driving range.

difficulty, fairness.

This is a beautiful course with a great clubhouse. Unfortunately, the course is not only difficult, but unfair. I have never met a golfer that enjoyed a round of golf there. Bring lots of balls, there are forced carries over protected areas, and slanted fairways that force your ball to roll OB. This is target golf for experienced players.

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Condition. The course was in pristine condition both times I played it. The fairways were lush and well tended to. The greens were not chongered up. The cuts for green, fairway, and rough were consistent. The course, in the few times I have been over there, is not overcrowded. The twilight rates and early bird special are a true bargain.

If you ARE behind someone who's clearly struggling, it can be a long day. There are not as many clear opportunities to skip a hole or to be waved through by a grumpy golfer.

And watch your step if your ball should stray. Marshy land can look more solid than it is, and the next thing you know you're in ankle deep.

It's pretty far north. While this doesn't pose problems for those of us who live up here, it's something to keep in mind if you're looking for a place to play but trying to stay close to the city.

To reiterate what has been mutually agreed upon so far, it's a tight course. For many Midwesterners, that's a curse. Out here, there's no shortage of land, or of public golf courses, and people who play them tend to become accustomed to lining up and whacking the ball very, very hard with little regard for which fairway it ends up in. You can't do that here. The course is full of water and marshes, yes, but also lined with homes in places. In that regard, it plays much more like a Western private course, where the developments are planned to maximize real estate values and you're always risking the embarassment of an erratic slice into someone's swimming pool.

That said, it IS a fair course. There are no ridiculously narrow fairways, no impossibly long approaches, and few blind shots. It is target golf at its finest, and the only thing that will demolish a round is poor course management. As was said earlier, leave an inconsistent driver in the car. Check your ego. Play smart, and the rewards are immense: it's scenic, you're not surrounded by hackers hitting in to you from the side or from behind, and you move along pretty well.

Customer Service

Pro shop staff was very helpful and courteous.

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Beautiful range. For beginners, who should probably NOT strut right out to the first tee, let alone expect decent results, there is an excellent group lesson program. The instructors are solid, and DO run the group lessons as well (which are often dumped off on neophyte instructors or high school golfers by other clubs or park districts).

The amount of water the course has, I mean 16 of the 18 holes have water in play...that's amazing and tough.

Some weaknesses of this course are that there arn't that many bunkers. I think it would be a lot better if there were some more greenside bunkers.

Bittersweet Golf Club is a great one. I got nervous steping up to every Tee shot, because you had to hit over water are swamp most of the time. Greens were almost perfect a few divots but not to many. Tee conditions were ok, had sand and broken T cups on everyhole, same with ballwashers. On your cart that you rent they had a bucket of sand so you can patch up your shots in fairway which was cool.

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Golf shop was a little on the expensive side, but what do you expect. Golf Range was huge with 3 practice putting greens.

beautiful course / nice staff / great facilities

ballmarks on a few of the greens were annoying. Do people golfing Bittersweet own green repair tools?

I traveled to play Bittersweet because of its reputation for beauty and challenging play... it did not disappoint me. I play alot of golf and have played courses all over the USA... this course is one of the most scenic I have ever wandered through. Ducks, marshlands, trees and reeds growing from the water, fish, rabbits... I even saw a fox on #8!!! Now on to the golf:
The play was challenging and requires discipline. After the first two holes I realized that irons were going to be the tools for me. The water played on almost every hole... it was fantastic. One member of my foursome was hitting woods off the tee and fairway quite often... with very little success. If you are not an "A" player leave the fairway woods in the bag. Myself and the other guys did not try to be Ernie Els (I shot a 96)and had an awesome time of it. Play to your talent level and you will do fine. I saw some spray golfers whackin' away and realized that people complain about the course because they want to be able to hit from three fairways over and knock it back to the hole of play... not here! I loved the course for its beauty and challenging play... playing there will definitely improve your game because you have to play target golf to score well... great discipline builder.

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