Valley Ridge Golf Course

Simply this course is the worst course that I’ve played in northern Illinois. Not only is the layout brutal, but the actual design and maintenance is equally terrible. There are a handful of good holes, but they don’t come close to redeeming the course as a whole. Even with the price, anywhere is better than here.

Unfortunately with all the rain and mud it was cart path only, even the cart paths were wet and muddy. All in all I liked the course $14 with a cart couldn't beat that. No ranger to keep pace of play moving. We teed off the group in front of us was 2 holes ahead of us and we caught up to them, they wouldn't let us play through not even when I drove my ball into them and the pro or whoever was in the pro shop was a Jag.

Very wet & soggy but the real issue is the fact that they weren’t doing anything to address this or fix this issue. Very unhappy & displeased.

Since ownership has changed hands the course condition has gotten better The fairways could be in a little better shape, but other than that, course played well.

I was a little worried when I booked this course just on previous reviews. However, it was a pleasant surprise. Still needs a little more care like others have said but I enjoyed the course. Some short par 4's that you can score on with some other holes that are tight and have water in play. I recommend this course to other's and for sure will be back to play it again. Good job!

course was decent but some bumpy and bad spots on greens. Tight back none for sure but greens could be a little better. all they need to do is topdress them some and repair the bad spots. I know as took care of golf courses for over 18 years myself.

Friendly staff, well mowed, nice to see new hole locations, could use more sand in bunkers. Seems like it’s only going to get better and better with new owner.

the greens were filthy, a couple of them were unputable! the overall condition of the course has tremendously declined over the years. When I first played there it had some of the best greens for a municipal course.. sad to see

The course itself was in very poorc condition. Yes boxes and fairways had not been watered in a long time. One of our biggest challenges was getting out tees into the ground without breaking them. Quite a drastic change from last year. I have earned several friends about the current conditions and to find other courses to play.

Staff was friendly. Very small putting/chipping area. Fun layout throughout the town, although the course itself wasn't in great shape. Greens had dirt patches and crevices on almost every hole, fairways were very iffy with some spots being entirely dirt. Tee boxes pretty torn up. For the value and pace though I'd play again

One guy doing everything from pulling up the carts to running the pro shop and bar/restaurant. I give him kudos. I understand the course was recently taken over by Golf Vision. They have a lot of work to do. Most greens had "disease" or some sort of rough patches you had to putt through. Tee boxes were in poor shape and the ground was rock hard. Bunkers were inconsistent. One hole had two bunkers, one with sand, the other with dirt/gravel. Unfortunately I found myself in the latter. A couple holes had strange layouts. Seemed like the architect had to fit/jam them in to the small piece of land he was given. No water in the ball washers or the water jugs on the tees. Pace of play was great, but only because there was no one there on a beautiful Sunday morning. Only a dozen cars in the lot when we left at 11:30 a.m. Now I know why. Lots to improve on and lot of money to be invested.

Not sure how long new management company has been in charge but needs a lot of TLC. Way behind area courses who have taken advantage of a lot of rain this season.

It's a great course to lean on and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere!

I usually browse other reviews on this site before trying out a new course. The reviews for this course are generally bad but I thought I'd play 18 here to judge for myself. I should've listened to the previous reviews...

Pros: Can't beat 15 bucks for 18 holes (walking rate) even if it is at a below average course. The price point is just about right for what you are going to get, which isn't much. The clubhouse and parking lot are nice. Pace of play was great because we were about the only people playing the course on a nice Friday morning. That's about all I have for pros...

Cons: I'll start with the layout of the course. To be frank, whoever designed the course, didn't take walkers or first time players into account. At times it can feel like a maze trying to find your way to the next tee box. Some of the distances from green to the next tee box are a flat out hike. For a shorter course from the tips (6100ish yards), the total distance walked over 18 holes was close to 7 miles for me. The hole design can become repetitive with many short par 4's that really don't require too much thought. Driver or 3 woods all day. There is only one hole which forces you to decide to try and carry a water hazard with driver or lay up with a long iron before the hazard. Tee boxes are a mess of weeds and bare patches already this early in the year. Parts of the greens are diseased and there are numerous unrepaired ball marks and what looked like putter slam marks. Drainage is terrible. Standing water many places and the whole course felt like it was a marshland. Cart paths at some places aren't really worth of even being called a path. I really can only think of two courses that were in worse shape when I played them. Both of them are closed now...

Verdict: I'll just leave it at this...my golfing partner today maybe gets out 10 times a year and he is very generous with his praise of almost every course we go to. Once he was done with 9 holes, he quit for the day. When we were driving back home, he told me that even though the price looked great, it wasn't worth trying to struggle through that course in that type of condition. He politely asked me that we never play that course again.

I'd like to think that I played the course on just a bad day but based on other reviews and the fact that it should be in descent shape at this time of the year but isn't, tells me that this course is a one and done for me.

The course itself was very affordable, however, the conditions of the course were pathetic. The rain (from the previous week) may not have helped the course conditions but it seemed as if they hadn't attempted to care of the course in a very long time. The owner or whomever gave me my receipt was very rude and didn't make our experience better. They should look to value their customers more and focus on taking care of their course. Don't waste your money even with the affordable prices they have. In essence, you get what you pay for. 1/5