Prairie Landing Golf Club achieves 4-1/2 Star rating from Golf Digest "Best Places to Play"

Golf Digest has been rating golf courses since 1966. Prairie Landing Golf Club was established in 1994 and was given a 4 star rating. We were proud of this rating, but have had a goal to strive towards obtaining a 4 ½ Star rating.  In 2008, we achieved that goal and were awarded the 4-½ Star rating.

The state of Illinois has only 23 facilities (9 in the Greater Chicagoland area) that have obtained this rating and zero that have a Five-Star rating.

This goal could not have been accomplished without the hard work of all are employees in all of our departments.

Below is the criteria used by raters to help Golf Digest come up with their final rating for each course.
· Course Condition -Plush or bare bone?
· Pace of play -Quick round or slow burn?
· Service- Nice or rude?
· Value- Reasonable or overpriced?
· overall rating-Combine the categories above, mix in course layout and facilities and come up with an overall star rating.

Each criteria should be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 except for the overall rating. We have expanded that category to include one-half points so you can make a finer distinction between courses.
General Rating Guidelines
1 — Poor, 2 — Acceptable, 3 — Good, 4 — Very Good, 5 — Excellent

We are extremely proud of our accomplishment and would like the chance to show you why we are 4 ½ Stars!

An Overview of the USGA Handicap System

The purpose of the United States Golf Association (USGA) Handicap System is to make the game of golf more enjoyable by enabling players of differing abilities to compete on an equitable basis. This system uses what is known as a Handicap Index to indicate a player’s skill level. A player must have a minimum of 5 scores to obtain a Handicap Index. When a player has posted at least 20 scores the best 10 are used to compute the Index.
 

The two components used to rate the difficulty of a golf course and its different tees are the Course Rating and the Slope. The USGA Course Rating is the playing difficulty of a course for a scratch golfer. The Slope is a measurement of the difficulty of a course for non-scratch players.

The Handicap Index is portable from course to course. Each golf club should have a conversion chart posted to help convert your Handicap Index to a Course Handicap. This chart will have conversions for all the different tee boxes. To help demonstrate the importance of converting your Index to a Course Handicap, a player with a 14.4 Index playing the gold tees here at Prairie Landing would convert to a 17 Course Handicap. Your Course Handicap is likely to be different each time you play a different course or a new set of tees.

All scores for handicap purposes are subject to the application of Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). This limits the score that can be posted on each hole. It is important to remember that this only limits the score that is posted for handicap purposes, not the actual score on your scorecard. Adjustments are made according to your Course Handicap, not your Index, and use the ESC chart. (See Below)

Local Rules at Prairie Landing Golf Club (revised 06/17/09)  PDF file version

Prairie Landing Golf Club has established the following set of local rules to be used in our member league and recommended for use in regular play (casual matches) and outings.  The USGA rules are in effect but we encourage use of these local rules in order to expedite pace of play and provide an enjoyable experience for all golfers. 

Ball hit into Secondary Rough (unmown fescue and tall grass areas) or Lost Ball
USGA Rules
-Play the ball as it lies
-Deem the ball unplayable and proceed under Rule 28
-If ball is lost proceed under Rule 27

Local Rule
-Play the Secondary Rough as a Lateral Water Hazard using the options available under Rule 26 (see attached diagram for details on options). The outside edge of the Secondary Rough is considered the margin of the hazard when using the Lateral Water Hazard option.
-If a ball is lost, but not in the Secondary Rough, drop a ball nearest to the point where ball was thought to be and add one stroke.

Out of Bounds
Defined by the back of curbing along entrance road, all fences and all parking lots
USGA Rule
-Play a ball as near as possible to the spot from which original ball was played and add one stroke.
Local Rule
-Play the Out of Bounds as a Lateral Water Hazard.

Drop Areas
-Hole #5 forward of the red tee for balls hit in the canal (located at the 225 kirby marker)
-Hole #5 over the canal and just right of the bush on the side of the hill for balls hit into the Secondary Rough left of canal and equal to or past the bush.
-Hole #12 forward of the red tee for balls hit into the water hazard.

Max. Score
Local Rule
-The maximum score on any hole is a quadruple bogey. Adjustment of a score may be required for handicap posting (see Equitable Stroke Control chart located in golf shop).

Gimmes
Local Rule
-Putts 20 inches or shorter are considered a gimme, unless it is for net Birdie or better. The golf shop will mark your putter to measure the 20 inches from the butt end of the grip toward the putter head. Measure from the front of the hole, any ball touching the mark is a gimme.

Mulligans
Local Rule
-If you take a mulligan on your 1st hole you must play it, no mulligans allowed past your 1st hole (not applicable for shotgun outings, member league, or Prairie Landing In-House tournaments).