Well maintained and layout. Fun n challenging. Decent prices. Has become my favorite since moving here a year ago.

I had the 7:50 AM teatime and was playing had a good pace and the group behind us started hitting into us. Then the starter came out to me and my friend and told us that the group behind us complained that we were playing slow. We were at a 90 minute pace for nine holes and we were totally on the right pace way ahead of it. When we made the turn, we both made a quick bathroom break and started five minutes later on the 10th hole. The group that was behind us skipped in front of us and then began to make us wait every shot. Just like they had to complain about us earlier. We call the pro shop and told them what had happened and how they had now made us wait. When the starter came back to talk to them a group in front of us still continue to play a slower pace than we were and we finished at about three hours and 20 minutes, but we were on three hour pace with them not jumping us. I will not be going back read more

I played 18 holes yesterday (9/28/24) and the starter let me tee off by myself. I played right behind the foursome in front of me and someone in the foursome behind hit balls at me four different times because he felt I wasn't going fast enough. You can only go as fast as the group in front of you period. Upon completing the round I told the people in the office about it and they chose not to address it. In my opinion the least they should have done was allow me to talk to the other group but on second thought it most likely would not have gone well. I will not go back there and it's sad because it's a nice course. read more

Awful awful experience The Korean league in front of us took forever to finish and these greens are without a doubt the worst greens I have ever seen. There are holes and divots everywhere it looks like they roll and fix then once a month at the most Would not recommend read more

I really liked the layout and beauty. The round got a little slow on the back 9 and the greens were a little slow, but would like to play it again. read more

Sunday golf here is a death march. On Sundays the course is busy with people who normally do not golf and have no understanding of golf etiquette. Consequently it can often take 3 hours for 9 holes and 6 hours for18 holes. Course rangers can only doso much. To their credit it was so bad last Sunday that because we could only golf 9 holes the pro shop gave us a 9 hole rain check. read more

I've recently moved right around the corner from here and have been starting to use the driving range pretty regularly. I have yet to do the course, so I can't review that, but I've been heavily using the driving range which is pretty decent. The range has AstroTurf mats with rubber tees which are the only option, no playing on the grass. Most of the mats are in good condition and the range itself is not too bad...a few mud puddle holes that love to suck up balls, but other than that, not bad. Prices are very reasonable for the range, $6 for a 50 balls (at the time of this writing, check it out in case the price went up) which isn't half bad. They also sell 25, 50 and 75 bucket of balls. Lessons are available and also well priced. Next time you're in the mood to golf and not spend too much, set up a tee time or hit the range here...you won't be disappointed by this small tucked away course. read more

This course is good.....not great, but good. Staff is 8/10, courses layout is awesome but not always in great shape. Driving range is mats only (for your avid golfer that's no bueno). BUT I willl say this....Forest Preserve Golf is a rip off. This is proably their best, if not 2nd best course to offer read more

I have been golfing off and on for some time and golfing at Highland Woods today was MISERABLE!!!!! I mean truly a bad experience. I booked two tee times at 2:45pm through golfnow.com. I got to tee box at 2:42 and promptly waited until 3:05 to tee off due to walk ons going out in front of us. During the course of my THREE HOUR front nine, I was hit into three times, to the point where I called into clubhouse to complain. Nothing was done. We ended up calling it quits after 11 holes. It took us 3 hours and 32 minutes to play 11 holes.... AS A TWOSOME!!!!!! I tried to talk to guy working pro shop and he flat out told me "that's why you don't play here on weekends." Word to the wise, DO NOT play here. Go somewhere else. It will be cheaper, a better experience and you won't be hit into many time. Very disappointed. read more

5-5-19 They changed my tee off time and the course conditions sucked. Greens were just neglected , might as well be putting in mud. I'll never visit another cook county course. read more

Played here a bunch of times. The big plus for Highland Woods is you can get a tee time on Saturday morning without permanent tee times. Around here, that's tough to do. The course is long enough for big hitters, and offers enough challenge for all. Coupled with a good price and tee tie availability, it's a course I'll keep returning to. For a full review with more pictures visit: http://danperry.com/wordpress/golf-course-reviews/ read more

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Needed a receipt for a golf game I paid on-line. Pro-shop said they don't have receipts to show how much I paid for (if done o-line) and directed me to call Indigo (the company managing payments for on-line reservations). Indigo also said they cannot provide receipts in their system. They are only capable of sending e-mail reservation confirmations without any amounts paid. This is such a simple basic requirement for any payments done on-line. All services, airlines, car rentals, on-line purchases have this feature. Receipts should be easily retrievable for company reimbursements. Customer service was of no help. Got passed around 4 different people and still not resolved. They asked me to re-apply on a different website so they can issue an e-mail saying that I paid. It was too much work for such as simple need. Frustrating and a total waste of time of time. read more

Highland Woods is a decent course. Super wide fairways and the course is forgiving. I have to agree with most others in that you can always find a tee-time here with no problem. Compared to most other courses in the area, the price here is fair! We got rained on yesterday evening, and they gave us a credit for our next outing. That was nice! Regardless of the rain, play was still slow yesterday. Move it along, people! read more

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Had two prepaid rounds at 34 dollars each to ride, requested 2 carts to insure social distancing but were refused told we would have to pay an additional 17 dollars. This is unacceptable and violates state directives for social distancing and also the individual behind the counter not wearing his face mask properly standing directly by the sign face mask required. read more

Fun course and in good shape. 5 stars for John - he makes a mean vodka lemonade and serves it up with a smile. Thanks!

We've been playing here every Saturday for years. Like most courses, there are pros and cons. The positives: It's a nice, challenging, yet forgiving layout. Most of the the fairways are wide, and unlike many courses in the area, rarely do golfers end up on adjoining fairways. You can play this course long if you choose. Many of the holes have interesting, yet fair, layouts--plenty of water, and bunkers (more on those in a minute) that require planning and allow lots of options for play. For a Forest Preserve course, the greens and fairways are kept in great condition. The people who work here are friendly and helpful. And spring and fall rates can drop exceedingly low. The people here know when conditions are less than ideal, and adjust the greens fees accordingly. That's huge. On the downside, the bunkers are unplayable. Which is a shame because they are plentiful and strategically placed. And by unplayable, I mean exactly that. A very thin layer of sand conceals what appears to be dirt--or at least very, very old sand. The result is having to play off of essentially a parking lot. Do what we do--play from the nearby rough instead. Also, the tee boxes are inexplicably undulating. I'm no landscaper, but it seems to me it wouldn't be too difficult to get a roller out and flatten the tee boxes. On most tees, it's impossible to find level ground from which to hit. Finally, they need to widen the space between tee times. Their times alternate between 7 and 8 minutes, and that's just too close together. On some days, be prepared to wait between every shot. A typical Saturday round is five hours. Four stars might be a bit high, but all in all, I like this place. I rate it high because I believe the main problems--the bunkers, tee boxes, and slow play--are all very fixable. If these people can get those issues taken care of, this will be an excellent golf course. As an addendum, I'll finish with this: Regardless of where one plays, there are usually four tees from which to hit. At Highland Woods, the tips are black, and are meant for professionals; the next are the blue tees, meant for VERY LOW handicappers--single digits. Then come the white tees, intended for 95% of male golfers. The red tees are generally used by women or men who do not hit long. One problem at all courses are the average to below average golfers who insist on playing from the blue tees, which adds to the slow pace of play for everyone. Nearly all of them should be playing from the whites. I've been playing for 45 years. When I play well, I shoot in the mid to high 80s. My average round is about 90. I drive the ball anywhere from 235 to 280. I play from the whites. You probably should too. read more

Absolutely ridiculous that all tee times have to be paid in full due to Covid still and each golfer can't pay their own green fees upon arrival? Played 21 rounds of golf this year at other IL Golf Courses and this is the 1st time, people could not pay on their own. Will never play this course again and will not offer any recommendations to anyone I know. read more

Long course but fair. There was a lot of rain a few days before our round so I understood some of the mushy fairways. The forest preserves are designed to be flood plains for the county. The greens were fast and the pins in tough positions for a Sunday. My only grip was they didn't seem prepared for the golfers Sunday morning. There were no balls in the machines for the range because no one had picked them up, the clubhouse only had one person to take in your green fees so there was a line to check in, and we teed off 25 minutes late because they were behind getting golfers out. The round took over five hours and I returned home eight hours after I left the house. I love the course but delays and slow play are what turns many off the sport. I'm not sure I will play it again any time soon. read more

Loved this course. Gorgeous, great condition. Only complaint I have is rental clubs were $20 (that was the 9 hole rate!!) BUT they were a brand new set of Cleveland's so that was nice they weren't some piece of crap, would definitely recommend read more

This course is 2 1/2 stars at best. Nothing noteworthy about this course so I'll get to the point: Pros: Greens were in great shape. However, they were very slow. This seems to be the theme with Billy Casper managed courses. The course is pretty long, about 7000 yards from tips, pretty wide open with a few challenging holes. Cons: Pace is SLOW SLOW SLOW. If you don't mind 5 1/2-6 hour+ rounds, then play here. Our tee time was 1:15 and finished the 9th hole at 4:30 so we could not finish our round. Distance is a bit away from downtown Chicago but if the greens and play were faster I'd definitely come back. The price was OK at $35 on a weekend in early October, but you can find much nicer courses closer to the city. read more

This course is pretty cool. It's in the middle of a forest preserve. I guess it's run by Cook County. I loved it b/c it's the perfect course to walk nine, score good and enjoy nature. read more

This course is in better shape then most area courses which usually cost more. Greens are in great shape...fairways are wide and playable for all types of golfers...tee boxes could use a little attention (leveling perhaps)...sand traps a little low on sand, but playable (actually there was some work being done on hole #4 sand traps). Slow play was not an issue as others have mentioned, but we played early. Staff was very welcoming and friendly. Overall a very enjoyable round...look forward to playing HW again soon. read more

Terrible course 6 hour rounds on Friday afternoon Staff does not give 2 shits No ranger An embarrassment to golf courses read more

Over priced given the greens were bare in many spots. They even placed the flag in the middle of a large bare spot on one hole?? It's a county course and run like one. At the turn, we couldn't get a snack because the food gal was checking golfers in while the other gal at the entrance register watched. Two good things are no cart path restrictions when it rains and Fairways were wide and in good shape. read more

I do like the course especially with wide fairways, interesting par-3's and not a lot of water issues. However, the bunkers need some real sand and some grass cutting would be nice. The pace of play is terrible. Sending groups out every 7 minutes is crazy. We went Saturday and they ran out of carts (a problem when you let singles out in carts without asking them to share one). We waited 30 minutes for carts to be returned, so we could tee off. When two carts arrived we went out and 5 1/2 hours, we finished. We waited on every shot for the group ahead to clear - Never saw a ranger - once. Groups ahead were playing golds - not because they were good enough. Rather, it gave them more yardage to hit versus standing around for a chance to hit the whites. Plenty of signs around encouraging fast play, but can't blame the golfers this time. read more

Nice place to tee it up. Nice layout and great views. Good balance of doglegs and the par3 holes are not too long which is nice. Only reason I didn't give 5 stars is play can be slow here and I can only imagine what's it's like after 12pm. Billy Casper golf has to do something about this as it's epidemic at all of their courses. read more

I used to play there at least 10 times a year. This is when I was the Forest Preserve Gold card holder. But, after too many 6 hour rounds my buddies just refused to play there. For the last two years I did not play a round. What a shame because I really like the layout and its convenient location. They space the tee times every 7 and 8 minutes. For a public course this is plainly stupid. If you have a tee time at 10 or 11, you are already at least 20 to 30 minutes delayed. Sometimes they run out of carts. There may be an extremely slow group with 3 or 4 holes empty in front of them and a back-up behind them, but since there is no ranger you are stuck. All of these complaints don't mean a thing. The place is set up to pack players tight to maximize the profit. And I should add that the place is popular with the Forest Preserve employees. It may not matter that they are sold out, if an FP employees show up, they are "squeezed" in in front of you. Who cares about the experience. Enough players come back, so they don't need to change. I found out that I can play further out, e.g., at Countryside, for less and even though the drive is longer, I am home sooner than playing close to home at Highland Woods. read more

For a Forest Preserve course this place is every bit worth the money. Love the open space and the fact that even on a crowded day I never felt like I was completely surrounded and pancaked between fair ways with drives flying passed you're head that you see at some of other courses. Some good challenges but, def. a fun course for someone who loves to drive the ball. Greens and course were in amazing shape they should take immense pride in the work being done there. What set this place apart for me was the staff is in a class of their own. Top to bottom this is a world class establishment in making sure your visit is enjoyable. It's not just a typical polite customer service experience but, it's a genuine care which for someone like me goes a very long way. Thanks for the round Steve! read more

This was my least enjoyable round I have ever played. The pace of play was 6 hours (they have tee times every 7 minutes) even with a ranger driving around the course. When we made the turn there were 2 groups ahead of us waiting on the 10th tee. We flagged down the ranger about pace of play but he showed no interest in speeding things up. The course was in rough condition also. A few of the greens needed serious work. Where they lacked concern about pace of play they over compensated in making sure no outside alcohol was brought onto the course. The club pro was found driving around playing golf course TSA and checked our cooler on the 3rd hole, FYI. Just an overall terrible golf experience. This was definitely a one and done time for me at Highland Woods. read more

Played this past Saturday. The 3 stars represent a very mixed experience: Course conditions were outstanding. A very generous set of fairways coupled with challenging approaches. Greens and fairways were in very good shape. Not an overly manicured course by any means, but it's natural beauty is noteworthy. Staff was very welcoming and friendly. Pro shop, snack bar, starter, and beer cart gal. All very pleasant. Pace of play was awful. Clearly, based on historical reviews and my own recent experience, management seems more interested in cramming in as many groups as they can. Then to top it off, they ran out of carts ! If you can believe that. The cart shortage is evidence of either too many players herded o to the course, or an overestimated take rate on their silly hoover boards. The only one I saw being used was by a course employee. The problems with this course are easily addressed. The facility is well above average, their employees value good service, but who ever is ultimately calling the shots here with respect to tee time intervals is out of touch. I will not be back, there are many options out there. Oh, and 5 bucks for a can of beer is a bit much too. read more

I typically play highland woods once a year, and this past Sunday reminded me why. Let me start with the good, the course is decently maintained, and the layout is challenging, but friendly. For the avid golfer this is a straightforward track, with some entertaining risk/reward opportunities to cut corners, hit par-5's in 2, etc. The course is also wide open enough for the occasional golfer to have a good time and not find too much trouble. THE BAD: 6 HOUR ROUNDS!!! This course is about one thing, revenue... Go figure I guess, it is managed by a state agency, but the lack of rangers is staggering. There are nice old gentlemen riding around the course as "rangers" that will sit there and watch a group hit 3 tee shots a piece and hold up the entire golf course, without saying a word. On top of that, they bunch tee times up far too tight (5 and 6 minute intervals) to keep up when the course is busy. We waited 35 mins after our scheduled tee time to tee off on #1. We finally got started about 12:45 and didn't finish until 6:50, waiting upwards of 10-15 minutes between tee shots and approaches to the green due to the slow play. To me, nothing is more frustrating when paying good money for golf than slow play, and unfortunately highland woods is as slow as it gets. If you can get out early enough, it would be a nice place to play, without groups ahead of you, but lookout if you tee off anytime after 9am, you're in for a LONG day. read more

Its funny that despite reading the previous bad reviews on pace of play here I STILL decided to give it a shot with my father in law. BAD MISTAKE. Its funny how the "Business Director" says they are working on making the pace better and that it is slow during "peak hours". How out of touch is that? If its busy, it still shouldnt matter as long as the tee times are spaced properly. They OBVIOUSLY are not. They are trying to cram more tee time to make more money. Its that simple. Go to Palatine Hills or any other course in the area. Its to bad considering the course layout, length and condition are good. It may cost you $20 more but it will save you 2 hours of your life. read more

Extremely long round staff neglected to let us know that they were aerating the greens as well as dumping sand on them. Currently putting in the sand / greens . Beautiful course otherwise if you can get out early. read more

One of this writer's top five courses in Cook County. This course can suit any level of golfers with the length of tees they offer. The course can play up to 7000+ yards. One of the more expensive county courses, but the investment is well worth it. Located a little drive out of the city, golfers should be pleasantly surprised with what they find. read more

While the course is generally in decent shape and this is a nice easy course the management is infuriating. I don't know if they overbook the course but they definitely do not ensure people keep pace. I have played here at least 5 times this year and every time have spent most of my day waiting for 1-3 groups waiting to hit. The ranger sits there all day starting groups but does absolutely nothing in terms of making sure people are keeping pace. I arrived there this afternoon at 3:00pm for a 3:30 tee time. We had to wait until 4:00pm to even get a cart and then went to the starter where there was 6 carts waiting to tee off. The starter almost laughed at me if when I asked if we would finish 18. It took our group around 3hrs to play 9 holes at which point we gave up and went home. This place is a joke. This is not a fluke, they are always super backed up and the staff and management could care less. Will not waste my time or money here again especially with so many options around. read more

I have been playing Highland Woods Golf Course for many years and my wife just started playing last year. She enjoys playing this course for the open fairways and the nice condition the holes are in. The staff is great and the starter is very friendly! The course has definitely turned around to be an exceptional place to play for all types of golfers. The general manager named Steve is as good as it gets! He is very conscientious, always comes out to greet/meet the golfers. We will play this course many times and look forward to having a relaxing day on this golf course! read more

Very nice course for the forest preserve courses. It hits pretty long but is very forgiving with the super wide fairways. My only issue is that it plays very slow and always gets backed up. If you want to play a quick round this is not the course. read more

Greens are slow, pace of play slower. 6 hrs for a round is ridiculous.

Very good, long course. Wide, inviting fairways for long hitters. The course is well maintained, and the staff is very friendly.