Woodruff Golf Course

Woodruff Golf Course Overview
Joliet Park District has three golf courses, and Woodruff is the oldest, built in 1926. It resides on the northeast corner of the Pilcher Park footprint. Almost a century old, a muni like Woodruff has had generations of local Joliet golfers learn the sport here. It’s woven into the fabric of the community, and by playing here, you continue that legacy.

In addition to being the oldest, Woodruff is also the shortest and easiest of the three Park District courses. It has no par-5’s and measures 5,670 yards from the back tees. The par-68 layout has four par-3’s and fourteen par-4’s, with a course rating of 67.8 and a slope of 122. There’s only a handful of bunkers on the property, but dramatic elevation changes create intriguing holes at the venue. Golfers will obviously want to avoid the two ponds on the course, along with the small creeks, offshoots of Hickory Creek to the south. The track has a lot of parallel fairways, with clusters of old trees dividing them. Said fairways are consistently around 25 yards wide, and mostly straight lines. The longest hole here is 390 yards, but the hardest hole is #15, the 371 yard par-4 with water on the right, a creek that cuts across the fairway, and a small green to target.

There’s no driving range here, and there’s one putting green to calibrate your short game. The clubhouse has a wooden exterior, sort of a Wisconsin northwoods vibe. There’s a full restaurant in the clubhouse that serves bar food classics. The pro shop is on the smaller size but has a decent selection of merch, particularly shirts.