Avondale Golf Club

Had a wonderful couple of days at Avondale Golf Club, both on the nice 18-hole course & practice facilities, and with the lunch at the clubhouse. The head club pro Dan Boguslaw, was personable and extremely pleasant to deal with, and the next day the club pro Jim Schreiber was also very helpful. I particularly appreciated the well-kept practice facilities, from the driving range, putting green, and chipping green, to the practice sand trap and the meditation room that is guaranteed to knock 10 strokes off your round. Ok, I jest about the latter, though some would say that space is actually the club bar! The beautiful course itself has a Midwest design flavor. It's challenging, but with fairly wide tree-lined fairways, limited fairway bunkers (thankfully!) and water hazards. Greens were in great shape as were the fairways. Sand traps had semi-firm sand and were easy to play out of if you landed in them. There are some water holes where golfers need to play smart with their club selection and target strategy. Fortunately for me, one of my par-3 lake experiences had a worm-burner hit off the tee that skipped three times on the water and popped out onto the fairway (whew!). The white tees were playing at 6,400 yards for the par-72 course. Very comfortable pace with no one biting at your heels. We played the course in 3 1/2 hours, which is pretty incredible these days. Most courses I'm on play to about 4 to 4 1/2 hours. The outdoor breakfast & lunch dining space at the clubhouse was wonderful. It was mostly shaded, with misters, and had views of the nearby lake fountains & golf course. At the time, there was a light breeze, it made for a great setting to enjoy lunch. They have a strong selection of club menu items. Service was fast and attentive. Salads, sandwiches and draft beers hit the spot. My overall experience was certainly 5-Star. The golf course and facilities are private for members and homeowners in the gated Avondale community. However, one can play as a guest of a member or with a month-long trial membership. Last year they allowed the public to play on the course during the off-season. If this becomes available again, I would highly recommend it.

Great stop worked a wedding at the venue

Arrived at 11:45 for a 12:30 tee time, was told that our time was pushed back to allow more members to go out in front of us but pace of play is usually 3 hours and 45 minutes. Finally teed off at 12:55, finished 4 hours and 10 minutes later. Maybe they shouldn't be putting any tee times out for public play. Course was in good shape.