Mistwood

Mistwood Golf Club is one of numerous public golf options in the Chicago region that takes its aesthetic cues from Scotland, but architect Ray Hearn seems to have had the legendary Lido in the back of his mind when laying out this track. There are several courses featuring a tribute to that route’s iconic Channel hole, but Mistwood has two within its front nine! Nos. 3 and 8 both offer optional, riskier fairways that make reaching the green easier on these par fives.

Water is a constant presence, due to the large lake that the property is based around. Hearn managed to make a risk-reward par five of a different stripe out of the thin strip of land on the opposite shore of the lake at No. 15: a hard dogleg left, players can try to bite off the corner of the lake to get some extra distance on this 570-yard nail-biter.

The links claims aren’t totally unfounded however, as the course features a number of sod-faced bunkers to emulate influences abroad.

Hearn returned to the property recently to make renovations, including stretching the course beyond the 7,000-yard mark.