Preserve at Oak Meadows - Illinois - USA

“Drainage, drainage, drainage” is a brief summary of most golf course architects’ first steps when designing a course. Unfortunately, the initial route at Oak Meadows did not take this enough into consideration, and Salt Creek frequently over-flooded the property. Finally, Greg Martin was brought in to redesign the course, with emphasis on elevating the fairways and greens. That, and some strategic tinkering, is the current Preserve course at the property.

Players may not be dealing with mushy turf anymore, but players will certainly have water as far as the eye can see. Built among marshland that collects excess water from the creek, The Preserve features many forced carries from tee-to-fairway and, in many cases, additional stretches of marsh that separate fairway from green.

No. 12 is an example of what Martin did with the property to make such terrain an asset: At 365 yards, players won’t be able to carry the second stretch of marsh, but will face a tricky approach regardless of how close they come. The green may be on an island in the marsh, but it’s a large one, with ample flag placement possibilities.