The Highlands of Elgin

Very nice course. Great value. Always in great shape. The staff is always friendly and helpful.
I also took a lesson this summer from Jim Vogt as I was having some issues.
Since the day I took the lesson I have enjoyed playing the game more than I have the last several years. Jim was great at identifying the problem… in my case problems!!! Some simple fixes have made a world of difference. I’m looking forward to the spring so that I can work with Jim again on a few other things. Highly recommend Jim as a great teacher and a nice person to work with.

DO NOT BOOK OUTINGS HERE!!! We recently booked an outing here and had a terrible experience. The course is very nice, but management is terrible. Our outing was booked for months, and we were charged for range tokens to warm up, but when arriving on the morning of the outing, they locked up the range balls and told us it would not open until after our round started. Why charge us for range if you knew our round would start before you open the range? They just rudely told us they weren’t opening the range and no refund was given for the range tokens. During our round, we were constantly berated by management to keep pace, even though we were keeping up with groups ahead of us. Nevermind a group showed up at 1pm for a 11:30am tee time. They were just allowed to jump in front of us. Meanwhile, management yelled at us and shouted profanities at us in a very unprofessional manner. They would follow us from hole to hole and confronted us after our round to yell at us more. We spent a lot if money for the outing, plus food and beverage, and to be treated with such disrespect is unacceptable. Outings are always going to be slower than other groups. If you don’t want a little slower pace, don’t book outings. Based on other reviews, it looks like management has been a problem with others. If you are booking an outing, go elsewhere!

Gorgeous links style course. Undulating terrain and elevations. Brutal fescue requires you to keep it on the fairway or die trying. Pain and pleasure, just the way I like it, though I appreciate the pleasure lot more.

Great course, very good food.
One issue though which won’t affect everyone, fairways are in great shape but are cut very short.
I had a shoulder replaced and hitting from tight lies hurts.
When I’m near the rough I moved my ball to the first cut so I didn’t hurt myself.
For my son who is a pretty good golfer this wasn’t a problem.
I’ll play again for sure.

Though my golf game may not reflect how much I enjoyed it, the highlands are a beautiful and well kept course. The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable. The club house is great and the restaurant chef makes some great food.

What a course! And a great staff also. Jim Vogt provides superb customer service. If I didn’t live 50 minutes away, this would be more than twice a year course for me.
LOVE IT!
Surprisingly not too difficult for the higher handicapper’s either.

I was treated very rudely by the staff here. I am doing a reverse course, they (like bowes creek) are seemingly having an issue with Golf now. I tried to add a resident to our tee time and they refused to help us, rather told me I had to call golf now. Spent the 40 minutes in car 90 degree August heat (couldn’t turn on ac cause I was on with Manila we where having an issue communicating) just trying to add one resident to my tee time. Couldn’t do it online. I questioned the guy behind the desk why he couldn’t just give me the rate… answer from this supposed 65+ mature adult… «I cannot do that or else I will get in trouble». I was comfortable blaming golf now 50% until I heard that. Golf would be such a great sport if it where not for the lame people running the show.
BTW, this course is still awfully nice and a great links track, but like Harborside there is a water treatment stench on the front 9 that will make some people sick.

I was there today with my fiancée just to chill a little bit. We have had a Bloody Mary and we enjoyed it.

Wonderful layout, a lot of fun interesting holes to play. In my opinion, one of the best golf values in the Chicagoland area. Really like this course.

Wonderful, challenging course DESTROYED by poor management. I played a PARTIAL round at the Highlands today. My foursome chose to walk and had an early tee time. After six holes, we were told that we were going to be MOVED up to the 8^th tee. We had not held up the groups behind us and we were playing at a decent pace … We were not warned, and were told that there were many foursomes behind us, (including the superintendent of the course). I get it, it’s Labor Day, it’s busy… Then REQUIRE carts! There are long walks from green to tee box. REQUIRE carts on a holiday or tolerate walkers! Nice course, but I left after nine holes. Golf’s challenging enough without poor management practices. I’m 51 years old, played golf all my life in many different venues and events, and have never been treated so poorly. Not the ranger’s fault … Totally on the management. Will not be going back there. In this economy and all the reports about golf courses barely making ends meet? Plenty of other great courses around the Chicago area. Choose one other than Elgin Highlands.

Played this course on a friday twilight and it was wide open for $ 31. We started at 4pm and got em all in by 8pm.
This is a links style comparable to G.C.I. in Algonquin, but this place probably one-​ups em. It’s not about how far you can hit it on every tee here, you have to shape your shots and have some accuracy.
The greens were quick as shiiii. The fairway was in nice condition eventhough it was CPO due to the monsoon the day before.
The course is well maintained. The staff was courteous.

Gorgeous links style course that still has some water hazards to contend with. A fair but challenging layout which gives golfers some interesting choices between aggressiveness and playing it safe. It may have been a seasonal rate, but we paid $ 39 walking on a Friday. Definitely a great deal.

Great course. Similar to Harborside at a cheaper price.

One of the best renovations of a golf course I have seen! Considering the price and amenities you get, I am hard pressed to find a better deal in the Chicagoland area. Here is my take:
Clubhouse: Very nice! Sits up high on the land giving really nice views of the course and rock quarry it was built around. Pro Shop well stocked and organized. Restaurant and bar, although it might be better to call the restauarnat and banquet hall instead.
Driving Range: One of the best in the area. I like going out here just for the range at times. Areas to work on bunker play, chips, pitches, etc. Well marked with yardages. Nothing to really complain about.
Practice Green: Very nice. Medium sized, allowing 4 – 6 guys to putt around without knocking into each other. Offers a good roll that is similar to the course.
Course: As already stated, one of the best renovations I have seen of a golf course. More links style than traditional with very few trees on the course. In their place however, are large mounds of unforgiving wild grass. Fairways are wide and forgiving, but if you hit it into the fairway, life gets difficult. Water comes into play on a couple of the par 3’s which is nice. Greens have a nice roll to them, but some greens were under repair. Excellent GPS system on the carts.
Staff: No bag attendant, but starter was nice and there was a bag boy offering to clean clubs as I came off the course. Staff in the pro-​shop were nice as well.
Food: I have been to the restaurant once and was less than impressed. It is more banquet room than restaurant, and the food taste like banquet food than restaurant quality. I was there for the Friday fish fry and I just got the impression than the fish was made well ahead of time in huge batches and were just sitting in a warmer somewhere. Service staff were nice. Bar is decent. I would invite friends in for a post round drink.
Overall: In my opinion, this might be the best bang for your buck in Chicago. Rates are normally found in the high $ 40 to mid $ 60 range depending on time and day. Anything under $ 50 is a steal. Anything $ 65 and lower is worth the price.

I don’t golf and this review isn’t for the course — which I grant you is sort of a jerk move considering it’s the first review — so someone get out there and play a round then speak up!
My family participates in an annual golf outing named for my dad, who founded the thing in 1999. After changing courses about five times since its inception, we decided on the Highlands and haven’t looked back. It’s a beautiful, Scottish links-​style course which I hear is both challenging and enjoyable.
The staff is always so very helpful, the food and catering is some of the very best we’ve ever had (ribs that fall off the bone, meatballs that make me want to take them to a party so I can be the most popular person in the room), and the course and clubhouse are beautifully maintained. The golf carts even have screens in them with a GPS and detailed info about each hole. Makes me wish I played, kinda.
They have a restaurant on-​site, The Hickory Stick (mom loves their fish and chips), which has a lovely stone patio with seats both shaded and in the sun. There’s even a fireplace outside. Oh, and they have free wifi. It’s a great addition to the public courses in Elgin and also great for your next meeting or function.