Billy Caldwell Golf Course
Hole-by-Hole Photos

It's a short walk from the Billy Caldwell practice green, past the Audubon landscaping patch, to the first tee box. Your round begins. Hopefully you can manage it in about 1 hour 45 minutes with favorable course conditions.

Hole #1 starts the round off gracefully with a relatively wide fairway and a good amount of real estate in the right rough to aid first-tee slicers. Of course, there's no driving range here, so tee #1 is your first opportunity to let one fly in earnest. Feel free to take a breakfast ball if needed; I approve.

The hole curves to the right, but only very slightly. As a righty, if you have a fade dialed in, you'll be rewarded. OB is also to the right, denoted by the fence. You'll find some free golf balls over there if you look closely.

If you go into the tree line on the left, you'll likely greet golfers playing the 9th hole who found those same trees finishing their round.

The green runs uphill a tad, but is mostly flat, like most of the greens here at BC. Also, there's no bunkers. In fact, there's no bunkers at all on the entire course, which is one of the reasons I enjoy this course so much.

First timers at BC might be confused by fact that the tee box for the 9th hole is on the way to the 2nd tee box. Steel yourself. It's all part of the psychological roller coaster you'll endure in this short round. This is where the fun begins.

From the blues, this hole is almost 400 yards. But trees guard the right side of the layout very close to the tee box, preventing any straightforward, direct assault on the fairway. As a result, a tricky dogleg right ensues. Lefties: I hope you've been practicing your hooks. Righties: this is the time for your power slice.

If you hit driver, but rolled through the fairway and ended up in the trees and rough on the left, I feel your pain. Been there a million times myself. As a consolation prize, you'll likely find a ball or three, if you don't find your own. But if you bailed out with say, a 200-yard 5 wood from the tee, then you've still got 200 yards to the pin, and the approach is no picnic.

The green is small, but very flat. There's tons of rough to the left, and it's usually very plush. Proceed with caution.

If the 2nd hole was a dark, stormy night with thunder & lightning, hole 3 is a calm, sunny beach with a perfect breeze. A cool, unusual slanty tree greets golfers as they roll up to the tee box. Does it have a name? If it doesn't, it should.

This driveable par 4 is straightforward, but the circular green is a little difficult to see due to a slight ridge in the fairway. If you're a big hitter, you'll want to wait until the green clears to avoid any friendly fire casualties with your fellow Billy Caldwell comrades.

In my humble opinion, this hole and hole 1 offer your best shot at birdie (though the scorecard begs to differ, saying hole 5 and 6 are the easiest on the course).

Pro tip: while approaching the green, leave your golf bag in the tree line to the left of the fairway. When you're done on the green, leave your bag there and just take your driver with you to the tee box on 4. You'll come back to the bag after tee shots on 4, saving precious energy you'll need to weather the coming tests.

The tee area on hole 4 can get pretty chewed up. Hopefully you have a decent stance to tee off from.

What you see is what you get on the 4th. Bomb your tee shot up the gut and you're left with a simple approach to the green. However, if your ball landed in the right or left tree line, then things get interesting. After your tee shot, you're reunited with your golf bag that you parted with in the left tree line.

Behind the green, you get a glimpse of life in the Edgebrook neighborhood of Chicago, whose residents are blissfully unaware of the duel you're currently in with mighty BC Golf Course. To the right of the green is an old, dilapidated 1850's schoolhouse. A sign mentions restoration by the Edgebrook Historical Society, but as long as I've been golfing here, I haven't noticed any restoration. Easier said than done I guess.

Things get real spicy on hole 5. An elevated tee box, which is often in poor shape, provides a view of the challenge ahead. A small pond separates the narrow fairway landing area from the elevated green. The smart play, of course, is to lay up in the fairway and then approach the green with a short or mid iron.

I've played this course upwards of 30 times, and not once have I seen anyone successfully fly the water, let alone get on the green from the tee. At 317 yards from the back tees, it's a shorter par 4. A Google Maps measurement says it's only about 260 yards to the front of the green, but anyone not laying up regrets the decision in my experience. I suspect scientists will discover a golf ball magnet in the pond at some point.

Billy Caldwell is next to the North Branch of the Chicago River. Despite the best efforts of the Forest Preserve and BC staff, flooding can be a problem here after heavy rain as mother nature reclaims what's hers. Sometimes the tiny pond turns into a lake. Sometimes holes 5, 6, and 7 are totally submerged and closed entirely. And it's unfortunate, but the condition of the 5th fairway suffers as a result.

The elevated green is surrounded by both wooden and chain link fences, which hopefully you don't have to account for if your approach missed the green. Though, chipping over the wooden fence onto the green is a fun challenge you don't get at other courses too often.

You're done with the tricky 5th hole; exhale. A short downhill par 3 awaits you on the 6th, with a flat, inviting green. This area of the course can sometimes get pretty damp due to the Chicago River running nearby, resulting in ground under repair. But I've found the green to be in good shape regardless.

Leave your golf bag at the bottom of the hill on your way to the green. You'll retrieve it when walking back to the 7th tee.

Here's your first actual glimpse of the North Branch of the Chicago River, which plays such a pivotal role in the condition of this course. Dry weather conditions signal a docile river, but recent heavy rain makes the river anything but.

The same pond you tangoed with on the 5th hole is once again your dance partner on the 7th, but this time it's to the right. The same ball magnet that pulls in shots on the 5th also applies to the 7th unfortunately. And there's often a lot of geese here. I've seen woodpeckers here too, Downy woodpeckers I believe. And sometimes deer sightings on the river side on the left. Oh, and what's that rumble in the background you hear? That's the Metra train. There's a lot going on. Stay focused.

Speaking of the left side, if you pull the ball over there, it's more than likely gone. Don't spend a lot of time looking, you'll be disappointed, as I often am on that side. If you hit driver and it squirts out right, there's a good chance it's headed for the 5th fairway. Be ready with a fore call.

The fairway concludes to a flat, elevated green.

The penultimate hole at Billy Caldwell Golf Course is my nemesis, often spoiling a previously promising round. 8 is a demanding dogleg right with OB on the left and a tiny ridge on the right that demands a precision drive toward the port side of the short grass. The fairway narrows considerably in the exact spot you want to play from.

If you've successfully delivered your ordnance to the preferred landing area, you are now faced with a short iron into the green; take dead aim. But maintain focus, as several obstacles await your arrival. The flat green is a welcome sight, but its diminutive size thwarts all but the most accurate offerings. Furthermore, the hearty North Branch of the Chicago River carves through the westernmost edge of the property. The damp environs birthed by the tributary not only result in a green that performs differently from the other 8 on the course, but spawns a phalanx of hungry mosquitoes eager to steal your focus.

Finally, if one successfully navigates all the previous tests, he or she is left with one last potential challenge. The Metra train tracks run adjacent to the green; passing trains distract an already taxed golfer at their breaking point. Occasionally, a stopped train provides an impromptu gallery of curious commuting wage-earners, enhancing the spectacle of the legendary 8th hole at Billy Caldwell.

Golfers achieving a par can depart the 8th green proud to have survived one of the toughest tests in Chicagoland golf.

The 9th at BC offers respite from the rigors of the challenging 8th hole. There's light at the end of the tunnel. This par 4 curves ever so slightly to the left and is marked as the 3rd easiest hole on the course according to the scorecard, which I concur with.

Finish strong. As you size up your tee shot, look to your left. Golfers just beginning their adventure at Billy Caldwell on the first hole remind you of where you were just a scant 100-ish minutes ago. You've come a long way. As the demands and challenges mounted, you grew as both a golfer and a person. This was definitely worth the $21 green fee, plus tax and plus that red gatorade you bought at the pro shop.

If you miss, miss to the right. The right rough offers mostly unimpeded routes to the green, whereas the left rough is blocked by a myriad of trees. The small circular green here runs uphill slightly, but you're used to that now. You've seen the same contour on several previous holes. Knock it in.