I think I've played the worst course in America.

[aschaefer]

Rolling Knolls Golf Course in Elgin, Illinois is possibly the most ridiculously terrible course in America. It's very easily the worst I've ever played (out of ~20 courses in the Chicagoland and southwest suburbs area, on through central Illinois)

Par 65, 3968 yards (from Men's tees, which were either labelled with white or blue tee markers...no real reason why they didn't just stick with one color I suppose)

Greens: hard as a rock. couldn't get a ball to stop to save a life, regardless of shot played into them.
Bunkers: hard as a rock, many of them with standing water or covered in weeds, also most of them had very large stones in them. I played 3 bunker shots in my round, and every time I had to break the rules and remove large (3" inches) stones from my club path so I didn't ruin my brand new wedges

all of the par 4's were mid-200 yards, and I drove two of them (a 260 yard par 4 with driver, a 220 yard with a 3-wood...the 260 yarder was guarded by the rock-bunkers but my drive skipped over them and onto the dance floor), missed both eagle putts but easy easy birdies.

I must say, the back 9 (4 par 4's, 5 par 3's) was reasonably playable, especially because most of the wholes circulated a large pond which kept the greens soft enough to hold a good tee iron. I went 7 over (should have been 5, but I hit a bad iron shank into water on a par 3 and duffed the shot afterward), but the front 9 was absolutely miserable. the course just seemed like absolutely noone there cared 1 bit for how the course played. the only saving grace was that greens fees, for noon Saturday with a cart, were $20/player

i went out +12 (had two 7's and an 8), in +7 for an 84. given decent course conditions, I think I would have shot in the +10 range for the round, which is unheard of for me (and I actually did better than usual today, I was striking the ball very well and was finally making some putts)

oh, i forgot to add that there was no happy medium as far as course moisture was concerned. the playing surface was either rock hard or swamped over (holes 5-9 had very large portions blocked off because of swamps)

anyway, i've rambled enough. has anyone else here played this course, or would like to share their story of the worst course they've ever played? I know this topic has probably been brought up before, but sorry, i just had to rant :)

[BigBoy]

http://town.bridgewater.va.us/v.php?pg=128

I can't really talk badly about this course, because it provided some AWESOME times in college, when 6-8 of us would go out, and play all in one group while carrying two cases of beer -

the course is free to play, there are no employees. Its just like a typical park that happens to have 9 4 inch holes with flags in the them with grass a little shorter than normal

the tee boxes are astro turf with driving range tees on them that are about 3 inches, even though no more than a 9 iron is needed on any hole -

the rule of the day was the person who hit the worst tee shot had to carry the cases of beer for the hole.

there was a small airfield right next to the course, literally 100 feet away, so at times planes would buzz right over your head during your back swing - we used to worry that one of us would hit a plane and cause it to crash

One guy, playing his first "round" of golf ever hit a hole in one on a 60 yard hole, hitting a 8 iron with his ball teed up on one of the 3 inch rubber tees.

so while this is by far the "worst" course i've ever played, the memories are some of the best i've ever had on a golf course

[bogeyhitter25]

Clearview Country Club in Millbury, MA. There was an uphill 450 yard par 5. I hit a really low, hard drive that smacked into the fairway, and rolled all the way up the hill leaving me with a 9 iron into a terrible green.

That's how hard the ground was.

[aschaefer]

Clearview Country Club in Millbury, MA. There was an uphill 450 yard par 5. I hit a really low, hard drive that smacked into the fairway, and rolled all the way up the hill leaving me with a 9 iron into a terrible green.

haha, ouch

the only par 5 at rolling knolls gc was about 400 yards, 'doglegged' 90* right at 200 yards, half the hole was swamped out. that's the hole I got an 8 on. :( downhill 6 irons into rock hard greens = bye bye, ball

[AmenCorner]

Sleepy Hollow in Dallas. IT was borderline impossible to get a tee in the ground.

[SpacklersEdge]

Rolling Knolls Golf Course in Elgin, Illinois is possibly the most ridiculously terrible course in America. It's very easily the worst I've ever played (out of ~20 courses in the Chicagoland and southwest suburbs area, on through central Illinois)

Now that's funny. I live real close to Elgin, and I would never play that course! I have never played it to date, and I never will. PM me if you want some better suggestions in that area.

[uttexas]

Sleepy Hollow in Dallas. IT was borderline impossible to get a tee in the ground.

I loved Sleepy Hollow--great layout, never crowded. Designed by J. Press Maxwell http://www.cogolf.org/hof.php?inductee=55 Agree, the ground was hard and the conditions unkempt. This was because they knew the course would be taken over by the city for Trinity River Project (insert joke here) flood plain. Sleepy Hollow closed in 2003. RIP

[aschaefer]

Now that's funny. I live real close to Elgin, and I would never play that course! I have never played it to date, and I never will. PM me if you want some better suggestions in that area.

i really only golfed there because fees were so cheap...saw it on golfnow.com

cog hill's 1 and 3 are next and i don't get the chance to golf too much, so i probably won't make it back up elgin way again :(

[madcityscott]

Cordova Golf Course in Rancho Cordova, California. They should re-name it "Fore Acres": It's cheap (meaning lots of newbies) and the fairways are close together. It's the only place I've been hit by a ball.

Oh, and there's no dress code, so it's not unusual to see sports jerseys, tank tops and denim shorts.

[Chilli Dipper]

The Windmills Golf Course in Rio, Illinois, is an old nine-hole course that has a par 3 with a large tree directly between the tee and green. Just imagine playing this shot after the trees grow their leaves.

[kfowler]

By far worst ever for me was Pin Oaks in Auburn, AL. I went there once in college because we couldn't get a tee time anywhere else. One par 4 had no grass in the fairway. Literally. I was just hard Alabama clay. We did have a good time in that we took the governors off the gas carts and raced with them.

[mrserv0n18]

Me and a buddy played one today in Redford , MI which is pretty ghetto just outside detroit, it was a disaster. They dont pick up there lawn clippings so if you were in the rough your pretty much screwed. Half the greens were SO dry they were cracking like dried mud, one hole in particular had more sand on the green than grass.

It was the first course I have ever played where you wouldnt even be able to tell if you did a donut on the tee boxes cause they were just grass and sand.

$27 on a weekday w/ cart? Too much. Wont go back, forget the name of the course off hand.

[Knockglock]

http://town.bridgewater.va.us/v.php?pg=128

Haha thats pretty funny! sounds like good times

[JGus]

Well not in America, but considered U.S. property, when I was in Saudi Arabia there was an area in the desert that had nine holes set up, the sand was sprayed down with oil, and you carried a turf mat with you for every shot, and as you could imagine, putting was a little difficult. Good thing I wasn't using my clubs over there.

[uttexas]

My folks live in Bahrain. My dad plays on these sand courses with the oil/sand greens. He carries around a piece of astroturf with him.

[Greg]

Played last year at a course in fairfield illinois. It used to only be a nine hole course but they recently added another nine I think a couple years before. It might be a good course in a couple years as it matures, but rock hard greens, very little grass in the fairways, piles of dirt everywhere, worst $32 I ever spent playing golf. I dont remember my exact score but it was over 100, I didnt make a single par, i usually get a least one or 2 pars for every nine.

[clearwaterms]

haha - I saw this thread and before i even opened it, i though Rolling Knolls. Your right it is a joke of a golf course, but for $20 with a cart (and that is the walk up rate) its very cheap.

[mirv]

there's a course here called Hickory Creek that... first, let me say that the people that run it are exceptionally nice, down to earth folks, and you're basically just playing golf in their back yard. i forget exactly how much it is to play 18 with a cart, but i'm inclined to say it's around $25.

there are three holes that are barely 230 yards long and are marked as par 4s, which i have a hard time accepting in as much as i can drive all of these "par 4" holes with my 3 wood. i have an even harder time accepting par 5s that are 450-475 yards long (typically a driver followed by a 6 or 7 iron to get on in two). and then there are two par 3 holes that are - no kidding here - 70 yards. these yardages are from the tips. the fairways are typically splotchy at best when it comes to the amount of grass, and the greens are hard and prone to patches of dead grass/no grass. and if it rains, just don't even bother because the course literally turns to swamp. i played after a day of rain awhile back, hit a shot right up the middle of the fairway, and when my ball landed, there was a pretty good size splash. i found my ball sitting under an inch or more of water in the middle of the fairway. also, there's a horse pasture right next to the course, so on the fourth box you get to tee off with the wonderful aroma of horse manure raping your nostrils. and finally, the tee box markers are - again, no kidding - empty cans of folders coffee.

like i said, the course doesn't seem to try to present itself as a "quality" golf course. it's a lot more akin to a bunch of country folks who conjured up a home-made golf course and opened it up to the public. so in that sense, i can't bash it too much, but i certainly don't recommend it.