Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course — Attraction in Lake View Township

I recently played at Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course and had a fantastic experience, especially as a beginner! The course itself was in great condition, and the rangers were incredibly friendly and helpful throughout the round. As someone with only a few lessons under my belt, I felt completely comfortable and welcome playing here.

I actually played behind some pretty slow groups, but even with that, we still finished in just a little over two hours. If folks picked up their pace a bit, we easily could've been done in under two!

I've seen some reviews about this course that I honestly don't think are fair. For example, complaints about not being able to share clubs – that's just an unreasonable request for a public course! It would drastically slow down play for everyone. It's much simpler to just rent a set if you don't have your own.

Given its prime location as the closest course to the city, Sydney R. Marovitz is understandably popular, so expect it to be busy. You'll likely be paired with other golfers, and probably won't play alone, but that's typical for a public course in such a convenient spot. To those who complain about rangers encouraging faster play: remember that this is a public course, and there are other groups behind you. Being mindful of your pace helps everyone have a more enjoyable round. If a slower, more private pace is what you're after, a different course might be a better fit.

Overall, if you go in with reasonable expectations and a good attitude, you'll have a...

Really weird experience at this course...

First and foremost, we had a ranger come hunt us down on the second tee box accusing us of not paying for our cart. I advised him that I had paid $42 for the 9 holes and rental clubs - assuming the cart was included since it was never mentioned. I also let him know we took the cart from the couple that had just come in and an employee guided us as we loaded up the cart. After saying we were "fine", we were instructed that we owed $11.00 upon returning the cart. Very bad and strange experience for someone visiting the course from out of town and hopeful that this was not racially motivated. The two people we were playing with were also appalled that this happened.

The pace of play was really really bad. We teed off around 6:00PM and only made it through 6 holes in two hours before we headed in. Mostly walkers but extremely slow overall.

The course was in okay condition but the greens were horrible. We should have listened to the guy who was leaving as we were walking in, which advised us not to play. There were divot marks all over the greens and they were sooo slowwww and not maintained. It was like putting on a shorter fairway.

The bathroom situation was disgusting. They had a portapotty on hole #5 or #6 that could not have been serviced in a month and almost overflowing. I refused to go to the restroom there, which is one of the reasons we left the course.

Long story short, we will not be back or give our money to this course...

My golf partner and I have been playing here for years, but probably will migrate away from this course due to ongoing, unresolved issues.

First of all, the City's Department of Revenue has begun ticketing cars regularly although golfers pay at the pro shop and clearly display a receipt on their dashboard. And now to hear from other reviewers that we may get booted soon! It's the course manager's job to get this resolved, not the ripped off customers'.

Secondly, as stated by others, unless you're playing a foursome, you will get thrown in with random other players in order to make a foursome. They could be way better or much slower; it doesn't matter. This really disrupts the flow and affects enjoyment of the game.

Thirdly, a course employee in a cart typically drives around and harasses players for not playing at a good enough clip; this, even when they themselves are waiting to tee off following a prior group still on the fairway.

Fourthly, more often than not, no one answers the phone at the course so one has to drive over there to change or cancel a reservation. The manager is only in the office a few days a week.

Finally, the park district restrooms are downright decrepit. The women's in particular features broken stall locks, a missing toilet, and often flooded floors. A real mess.

Based on the above, the entire venue needs someone new brought in to revamp it...