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NA Reviews

Club Name: Legends Club

Date Played: Jul 26, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 28, 2014

Course Condition:

5.0/5.0

Staff friendliness:

5.0/5.0

Value:

3.5/5.0

Overall Rating

4.5/5.0

Comments: We got to play the Legends Golf Club thanks to a Golfsmash promotion!! It is an upscale public course in a countryside setting, with some massive houses on the course. I believe the land is on an Audobon Society wildlife protected area or something like that, so you will get to see plenty of beautiful Minnesota nature. The courses is neatly manicured and in excellent condition. Tee boxes in great shape, fairways mowed tight, greens fast but fair. Water coolers located on multiple holes, as well as nice restrooms at least once on each nine. The course is tough, but not as devastatingly hard as it seemed from some online reviews I read. We were expecting it to be incredibly hard, but we still shot our averages. Although we probably would've done better than average if not for finding the hazards too often (yes, there are plenty), and it is definitely tougher than your average run of the mill course. Also, if you were a man playing the farthest tees, that would be tough as it's like a 7,000 yard course from those tees. But play the tees that best fit your skill level, and you'll be OK. The GPS carts helped a lot and were very nice. Very few holes (except maybe 1 & 18, that I can think of) are right side by side to each other. It often felt like we had the entire course to ourselves, which was awesome. The par 3's are not really a "break" like they are on some courses, as they required signifcant carries over water. But just forget about the water and they will be manageable. The only part of the practice facility we used was the putting green, which was nice and large. I'm sure they have a nice range and banquet facility. All in all, we had a great time playing the Legends (thanks again Golfsmash!). The standard rates are high, but I think you can get some decent deals for twilight or couples nights. It was a real treat, and if you are a serious golfer you should check it out!

Club Name: Halla Green Executive Golf Course

Date Played: Jul 24, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 25, 2014

Course Condition:

4.0/5.0

Staff friendliness:

4.5/5.0

Value:

2.5/5.0

Overall Rating

3.7/5.0

Comments: Halla Greens is a nice little par-29, 9-hole course. My parents were in town and wanted to golf with us, so my husband and I squeezed in a quick little round after work with them. The holes are all pretty straightforward, but there are some opportunities for trouble, even though it's a short executive course. OB, woods, and water/marsh areas are present on some holes, though a safe shot is always available. I don't recall seeing any sand traps on the entire course. It's also a nicely maintained course, a high-end beginners course if you will. Because of that, however, prices are kind of steep in relation to how quickly your round concludes (which is to be expected with 7 par 3's and 2 short par 4's). Fun course if you are a beginner, or for an intermediate player to tune up the short game. They also have a driving range, practice green, and teaching pros that offer lessons.

Club Name: Village Greens of Woodridge Golf Course

Date Played: May 27, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 22, 2014

Course Condition:

4.0/5.0

Staff friendliness:

4.0/5.0

Value:

3.0/5.0

Overall Rating

3.7/5.0

Comments: I played this course when we were visiting my parents in the Chicago area. It was one of our first rounds of the year, so we weren't really on the top of our games, which made the course seem tougher than it was (and the round a little less enjoyable). I'm not sure if this is typical or just happened to be this way the one time we played it, but the rough is very long and thick and tough to play out of. It definitely penalizes you if you miss the fairway. Unless you get a lie that happens to be sitting up in the rough, about all you could do is hack it back on the fairway and hope to get 50 yards or so out of it. I'm sure very good players could do better than that, but it was quite a struggle for us, and we're used to playing from the rough. Other than that, it was an enjoyable round. Solid course in nice shape, no incredibly tricky holes, but definitely not overly easy either. My dad was able to play a free round because it was within 10 days of his birthday. There was a descrepancy between what their website said for the free birthday round and how the pro shop lady thought it worked, but she was friendly enough and they worked it out.

Club Name: Princeton Golf Course

Date Played: Jul 19, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 20, 2014

Course Condition:

3.0/5.0

Staff friendliness:

4.5/5.0

Value:

4.0/5.0

Overall Rating

3.8/5.0

Comments: Princeton GC is a nice, small-town type golf course. Built on a river and in some woods with plenty of water, it is an enjoyable course to play. Tee boxes can use some work (grass should be shorter, some par 3's don't have a lot of grass left on the tee boxes). Fairways are fine, not overly short though, which doesn't bother me. Rough was playable. Greens were in good shape, though fairly slow. The layout on a couple holes was a little odd. Regulars of the course would definitely have an advantage over first-timers like us. One par 4, you can only hit about 100 yards from the ladies tees before a sharp dogleg, leaving you 200+ yards on your 2nd shot, so that is a frustrating design. I also wish they had at least one water cooler on the course, though the bevarage cart did come around a couple times. All in all, a nice laid back, adequately maintained local course with a few quirks. We had an enjoyable round.

Club Name: The Pines At Grand View Lodge

Date Played: Jul 2, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 16, 2014

Course Condition:

4.5/5.0

Staff friendliness:

5.0/5.0

Value:

3.5/5.0

Overall Rating

4.3/5.0

Comments: Had a chance to play a couple rounds at The Pines on a vacation up north to the Brainerd lakes area. The course has 3 separate nine hole courses: Marsh, Lakes, & Woods. We played Woods & Marsh the first round, and Lakes & Woods the second round. It is a very beautiful and well-kept course located on Grand View Lodge resort. Staff is friendly, cart & unlimited range balls come with the price of the round (although the driving range was closed when we played on July 2nd for a fireworks display that night). The electric carts are very nice, including ball washer, club washer, and divot seed. Most importantly, the GPS on the cart is very accurate and is a great help to first time players of the course. The course can be difficult, but if you are relatively accurate it is quite playable. It doesn't force you to make any hero shots, and course management can be key. Basically every hole is cut out of a forest, so it's a very serene setting. This also makes it a problem for tee shots that are not fairly straight. Accuracy off the tee is the biggest key. Plenty of sand bunkers, and a fair amount of water that is usually avoidable with a safe shot. The greens are very fast, but roll true. The first round we played was very windy, and some little tree twigs and whatnot had fallen on some of the greens, but I'm sure they were all cleaned up by the next day. If you're in the area, you should treat yourself to a round at The Pines. Weekend mornings are pretty expensive, but you can get a nice deal if you play twilight, which starts fairly early. You'll have a great time!

Club Name: Oak Marsh Golf Club

Date Played: Jul 13, 2014
Date Reviewed: Jul 15, 2014

Course Condition:

3.5/5.0

Staff friendliness:

5.0/5.0

Value:

4.0/5.0

Overall Rating

4.2/5.0

Comments: I may be biased because I shot one of my better rounds here (90, but that included being +9 on my two worst holes), but I really liked this course. They are kind to the ladies, moving the tee boxes up a significant amount to help me beat my hubby (he shot a 94). Course was in pretty good shape, especially considering the rain we've gotten. Greens played average speed and smooth, tee boxes were well kept, and fairways were in good condition. The rough was not too long either, which is nice for finding balls quickly and having a playable shot. The sand in the bunkers was wet, which made it tough to know how it would play, and there were pools of water in a couple of them. They are also currently doing repairs to the cart path bridge on hole 2, which caused some re-routing of both carters and walkers. Not a big deal since we had a cart, would have been a bit of a hassle if I was walking. Attached restaurant seemed nice, we breezed through our round quickly so stayed to watch the very end of the World Cup final on their nice HD big screen.