Stonewall Orchard - Illinois - USA

Stonewall Orchard Golf Club features multiple large lakes on its property, which architect Arthur Hills was more than happy to dance around (and over) when creating his routing.

The result is a combination of the three most prominent “schools” of golf course architecture: “penal” (you had better keep your tee shot to the right on No. 5, a par five with lake and wetland all along the left side), “heroic” (enjoy the thrill of carrying nearly 200 yards of marsh to reach the green at the par three No. 13) and of course “strategic” (how much of the huge fairway bunker at No. 15 are you willing to cut off to try getting a better angle into the green?).

Most, of course, are a combination of these approaches. The aforementioned No. 5 is very reachable, at just 510 yards from the back tees. That said, there are not one but two centerline bunkers that you’ll need to challenge — one off of the tee and one during the approach — to land on the green for an eagle putt.