Balmoral Woods Golf Club
I had a chance to check out Balmoral Woods Golf Club in Chicago’s south suburb of Crete a few times this year. For me – it’s quite a hike, something like 35 miles south of downtown Chicago. In my frequent pursuit of new (to me) and interesting golf courses, this distance is a commitment of nearly a full day. I’ll tell you – this one was worth it.
Balmoral Woods presents a great test of golf with beautiful views, interesting holes, and the right amount of quirk and difficulty. It played around 6700 yards (72.8/133) from the back, mixing some short 300-yard holes with some 460+ brutes. I found out from the folks in the pro shop that they often hold local tournaments and qualifiers, and have a regular group of low handicappers. No kidding. You play this joint long enough, your ‘cap is going to travel well.
From an architecture nerd perspective, this is a 1976 George Fazio & Don Mortell design that I immediately thought – and was wrong – could date back to the 1920s. As you drive in, you pass miles of fields and forests, take a tight left turn, and suddenly you’re in the parking lot. A place like that, you never know if you’re playing in a cow pasture, or something that’s dripping with golfy charm. The big, bold, perched first green and the classic clubhouse put all worries away within seconds. Let’s tee it up shall we?
Check out this clock. A perfect indicator of what’s to come – oozing golf charm with a tree in front of it. (Well, maybe not oozing, but I happen to love big golf course clocks, even though this one needs about 3.5′ of shrub knocked out…)
Let’s Talk About the Cool Holes at Balmoral Woods Golf Club
First off – weather in the midwest had been awful in the early part of 2019. Heavy rain has left grass-friendly areas overgrown and not conducive to my game. I suppose if you’re prepping for the long US Open style rough, you’re good though. My tee time had me in one of the first groups of the day, and while I was expecting mud balls and standing water, I saw nearly none. This course looked liked it drained well, but you could still tell they were working hard to control the rough.
Hole 1 (510 yards, par 5)
The first hole offers a good start – a straight away par 5. Position yourself for an easy wedge, or take a big whack and get there in two. The shallow creek out front needs your attention if you’re that aggressive though. I dropped a 50 footer to start my day here. Par :/
Hole 2 (337 yards, par 4)
A pretty typical challenge for Balmoral. Short, but needs some precision. Hit a decent wood or hybrid here to setup a wedge. This will give you your first glance at the…foliage. One thing you’ll see is that this course is probably overdue for a trim. We all know the challenge facing the mom & pop style courses – limited budgets for maintenance can lead to a lot of trees sneaking into your line of play… Still, we get to see a cool raised green with some subtle back-to-front movement. Grab a par and get out of here!
Hole 4 (410 yards, par 4)
Four just might contend for best hole on the front. While short, you play your tee ball to a bit of a valley. Get a good look at the green and pin, because you must hit a semi-blind approach shot with an unfriendly bunker guarding the front/left. They could probably cut about fifteen trees out of here too.
Hole 8 (155 yards, par 3)
The shortest hole on the course lies in an interesting corner of the property. You’ll need to be able to control trajectory even with short irons here. They also hid a wonderful “old country club” style halfway house off to the left, then ask you to hit to a small, slightly perched green with a sizable bunker guarding the left. Not going to lie, one of my favorite “charms” on a golf course is seeing a couple old-timers crushing Marlboros and hanging around watching players go through. Check.
Hole 9 (520 yards, par 5)
Hole nine has the “look” of Augusta National’s 18th, of which I have sadly never been (yet!). Narrow chute, a big valley that leads to a rising fairway that asks for a left-to-right shape. While I’d like to see it opened up a bit (via massive amounts of chainsaw), nine offers another look at a red number.
Hole 10 (443 yards, par 4)
Beautiful hole. (And check out the vista of ten while in the ninth fairway… sorry for the lame carts in the pic though.) You have a wide fairway so swing hard and float your drive to the left side. The hole does not feature any bunkers, but the green is small and has a lot of movement.
Hole 12 (485 yards par 5)
Shoot. A chute. This should be the best hole on the property, but I’ll call it the worst due to some maintenance complaints. First off, there’s really nowhere to go from the tee but dead straight. I hit a 3 hybrid to try and drop it in between the tree growth. Usually a 210 shot, I needed about 230 to get past. The fairway opens up, but is all rough that slopes right. Right into the junk that is. Should you hit a good drive, the hole rolls gently down and left, offering up a look at the green. There’s a big ugly tree that intrudes on the left, with an even uglier cart path. A little work and twelve becomes a star three-shotter.
Hole 13 (208 yards, par 3)
***SUPERINTENDENT EMERGENCY – SHRUNKEN GREENS ALERT***
Love this one. You feel like you’re playing a wave of turf. Plateau tee box, hit off the cliff to a perched green. It’s blind if you go short, and clearly had more green surface area in the past… Tragedy.
Hole 16 (171 yards, par 3)
Same deal as thirteen – but glaringly apparent. If you look close, (sorry, cameraman missed the shot) you’ll see some really cool slopes guarding the wide edges of this green. Those are, for the most part, lost for now but still a great hole for your final one-shotter.
Hole 18 (430 yards, par 4)
The finale presents your last challenge. A long-ish par 4 that forces you to hit a mid-to-long iron to a raised green while all your buds watch from the clubhouse. Just what I like to see on a golden-age (or golden-age looking) style course.
Final Thoughts – Balmoral Woods Golf Club
I’m surprised more local folks don’t talk about Balmoral Woods Golf Club more. The variety, the challenge, and the feel of “history” are so pure here. I can’t tell if this was an old Bushwood-style country club, but today you can head out and feel just as comfortable in your Nike blade collar dri-fit and white belt as you can in blue jeans and Chicago Bears t-shirt. (Not like this Michigander would EVER do that…)
This is the type of golf course that makes me really happy. A friendly, cared-for place that’s a reasonable drive from home. While not perfect, I think Balmoral Woods holds their own among the best south-side Chicago public courses, and I look forward to my next visit. Oh, and I also got around in three and a half hours on a Saturday morning and paid $49 bucks. So there’s that.
