Another weekend, and unfortunately another poorly-played round of golf by your's truly. This time the torture took place at Prairie Bluff Golf Course near Crest Hill, IL. First and foremost, the course was in great shape and played every bit of it's 70.8 rating from the blue tees. I have never played on faster greens in my life, which is saying a lot since I've played many different courses in 30 years. Neither I or my playing partner could hold an approach shot into any green, often needed to choose a club less to allow for the ball to release after landing. Putting was also a chore at times due to the firmness 0f the putting surface, but perhaps that is to be expected on a challenging course like Prairie Bluff.

Luckily for us the surrounding heather mixed in between fairways and the rough was still relatively low, so even the most errant tee shots were easily located after a couple minutes of searching. I anticipate that by mid-summer, however, the tall grass will be waist-level and much more unforgiving than what we saw last weekend.

Having only been my second time playing the course, I was impressed by the conditions overall. The golf staff also seemed friendly and responsive to any requests we had, and the driving range was large and serviceable for all your pre-round warm up needs. While we played early in the day (7:26am tee time), a beverage cart was out on the course by the time we reached our back nine. The course is also well watered, featuring many water coolers throughout the layout (which came in handy on our 90-degree day).

The only negative regarding the course that I could point out - as mentioned above - were the extremely challenging greens. Trust me; I am all for difficult golf courses when the situation calls for it. But when greens won't hold a simple 100-yard pitch shot? That seems a bit excessive to me, as it probably would for most amateur golfers. Difficulty is one thing. Unfairness is another.