This season, my last full round of golf took place at Mill Creek Golf Club in Geneva, Illinois. Located just outside Aurora's limits, Mill Creek is a pleasant community that offers a challenging yet fun golf experience for players of any ability. I had not played the course prior to this season, but after having my initial experience I am sure to return in the near future. This 18 hole facility is not only known for its golf course, but also its golf academy. The main golf course has multiple tees on every hole, allowing you to choose the appropriate length for your group to play from. Wildflowers are abundant throughout the facility, adding to the beauty of the course. The elevated tees on many of the holes give players spectacular views of The Fox Valley.

The practice facility has over 58,000 square feet of bentgrass teeing areas, and the range has five target greens from which to choose. There are multiple putting greens as well as fairway and greenside bunkers to practice your short game. The Mill Creek Golf Academy has instructors available every day to assist you and your guests in every aspect of the game.

What I enjoyed most about Mill Creek was its variety of golf hole layouts. At many courses in the Chicago area, what you see is what you get; there are few surprises offered by course architects on most public courses. This is not the case with Mill Creek.

It is truly evident that the surrounding neighborhood homes and condos were in place prior to a golf course being built. Therefore, Mill Creek Golf Club was actually built after the many housing units instead of the other way around. This unique feature makes for some interesting golf shots, especially when having to work your shots away from private yards and out-of-bound markers that come very much into play. At times, the white stakes appear just inches from the fairway.

This characteristic may not be appealing to some players, but I felt it gave Mill Creek a unique charm that I can't find at many other courses in the area.

Overall, I very much enjoyed my round at Mill Creek despite not playing the best that morning. If you are looking for a well-manicured, challenging (yet fun) course in the West Burbs, check out this gem next season.