Best Golf Courses in Illinois (2026)

TheGrint Illinois golf course directory page on thegrint.com on an iPhone, beside a card noting six Illinois courses on the 2026 Top 100 lists

The best golf courses in Illinois, according to golfers on TheGrint, are Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course (97.7), Shoreacres (97.6) and Chicago Golf Club (97.4). Illinois has six courses on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100: five on the U.S. Private list, led by Medinah 3 at No. 27, and TPC Deere Run (No. 79) on the U.S. Public list.

This guide covers all six, the highly rated public courses just outside the Top 100, and how hard each one plays. Rankings come from golfers who played the courses, not a panel.

Every course links to its page in TheGrint's directory of 671 Illinois golf courses, with the full scorecard for every set of tees.

Which Illinois golf courses are on TheGrint Top 100?

Six Illinois courses made TheGrint's 2026 Top 100, and five of them are private clubs in the Chicago suburbs. Here they are with their list and rank, TheGrint Rating out of 100, and TheGrint Difficulty:

List and rank	Course	City	TheGrint Rating	Plays harder than
U.S. Private No. 27	Medinah Country Club: Medinah 3	Medinah	97.7	99%
U.S. Private No. 28	Shoreacres	Lake Bluff	97.6	79%
U.S. Private No. 38	Chicago Golf Club	Wheaton	97.4	70%
U.S. Private No. 60	Butler National Golf Club	Oak Brook	97.0	99%
U.S. Private No. 85	Black Sheep Golf Club: 1-18	Sugar Grove	96.5	76%
U.S. Public No. 79	TPC Deere Run	Silvis	93.4	99%

The five private clubs are also the five highest-rated courses of any kind in Illinois on TheGrint. TPC Deere Run in Silvis, near the Quad Cities, is the state's highest-ranked public course.

What are the other highest-rated golf courses in Illinois?

Three more Chicago-area private clubs rate above 95:

Course	City	Type	TheGrint Rating	Plays harder than
Olympia Fields Country Club: North	Olympia Fields	Private	95.9	99%
Old Elm Club	Highland Park	Private	95.6	90%
Rich Harvest Farms	Sugar Grove	Private	95.5	99%

Most of these are member clubs, so access usually means playing with a member or as a guest.

Where should you play golf in Illinois?

Illinois's top-rated golf is concentrated around Chicago, with good public options spread across the state.

Chicago's western suburbs: Medinah, Butler National and Chicago Golf Club are private, but Cantigny Golf in Wheaton and Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville are open to the public.
The North Shore: Shoreacres and Old Elm are private. The Glen Club in Glenview is the best-rated semi-private course in the area.
Northwest of Chicago: Blackstone Golf Club in Marengo.
Downstate: TPC Deere Run in Silvis and Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, near St. Louis.

Resort and club courses can have booking rules for guests, so check each course's page and the course itself before you plan around it.

What are the hidden gems in Illinois golf?

These public and semi-private courses rate highly with golfers on TheGrint but aren't on the 2026 Top 100. Each ranks in the top 77 of the 552 well-reviewed courses in Illinois:

Mistwood Golf Club (Romeoville, 91.8): harder than 96% of rated courses, the toughest on this list.
Cantigny Golf: Lakeside/Hillside (Wheaton, 91.7): its difficulty isn't rated yet.
The Glen Club (Glenview, 91.4): harder than 91%.
Annbriar Golf Course (Waterloo, 91.2): harder than 62%, the easiest of these picks.
Blackstone Golf Club (Marengo, 91.1): harder than 78%.
Cantigny Golf: Woodside/Hillside (Wheaton, 90.8): harder than 92%.

What is the hardest golf course in Illinois?

Medinah 3, Butler National and TPC Deere Run are the hardest of Illinois's Top 100 courses, each playing harder than 99% of rated courses on TheGrint. Olympia Fields' North course and Rich Harvest Farms also play harder than 99%.

Chicago Golf Club is the opposite story. Golfers rate it 97.4, but it plays harder than only 70% of rated courses, the lowest of Illinois's Top 100 courses. For more, see the hardest golf courses golfers rank among the best, and check what tees to play before a hard course.

How are these golf courses ranked?

TheGrint Rating is a score out of 100 built from golfers' reviews and their head-to-head course rankings on TheGrint. TheGrint Top 100 uses those signals, including the Course Ranking Game, and gives more weight to golfers who have played more courses.

TheGrint Rating: golfers' ratings of the course, plus where it places in their personal rankings. It is not the Course Rating^™ that the USGA^® and authorized golf associations assign to each set of tees.
TheGrint Difficulty: how hard a course plays compared with every other rated course, based on the scores golfers log there.
Hidden gems: public and semi-private courses with a state rank, meaning enough golfer reviews to be ranked, that aren't on the 2026 Top 100.

How we counted: ratings, difficulty and state ranks come from TheGrint's Illinois directory and course pages on October 26, 2026. Ratings update as golfers add reviews and rankings. For more on the lists, see how TheGrint Top 100 works.

How does TheGrint help you plan an Illinois golf trip?

TheGrint has the scorecard, ratings and difficulty for every course before you go, and GPS and scoring when you get there.

Browse the state: all 671 Illinois courses by city. Chicago has the most with 13, followed by Springfield with 11 and Peoria with 10.
See the full lists: TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Public list, the U.S. Private list and the rest of TheGrint Top 100.
Play and rank: free GPS on more than 40,000 courses, live scoring for your group, and the Course Ranking Game to rank each course you play.
Save it for later: add courses to your Bucket List.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best golf course in Illinois?

Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course is the best golf course in Illinois according to golfers on TheGrint, with a TheGrint Rating of 97.7. It is a private club and No. 27 on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Private list. Shoreacres in Lake Bluff (97.6) is next, one place behind on the list.

What is the best public golf course in Illinois?

TPC Deere Run in Silvis is the best public golf course in Illinois on TheGrint, with a TheGrint Rating of 93.4. It is No. 79 on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100 U.S. Public list and the only Illinois course on that list. Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville (91.8) and Cantigny Golf in Wheaton (91.7) are the best-rated public options near Chicago.

What are the best golf courses near Chicago?

The best-rated courses near Chicago on TheGrint are private: Medinah 3 (97.7), Shoreacres (97.6), Chicago Golf Club (97.4), Butler National (97.0) and Black Sheep Golf Club (96.5), all on TheGrint's 2026 Top 100. For public golf, Mistwood, Cantigny and The Glen Club all rate above 91.

How many golf courses are in Illinois?

TheGrint's golf course directory lists 671 golf courses in Illinois: 362 public, 134 semi-private and 175 private. Chicago has the most of any city with 13, followed by Springfield with 11 and Peoria with 10. Each course page has a free scorecard for every set of tees.

What is the hardest golf course in Illinois?

Medinah 3, Butler National and TPC Deere Run each play harder than 99% of rated courses on TheGrint, the most of any Illinois Top 100 course. Olympia Fields' North course and Rich Harvest Farms also play harder than 99%. TPC Deere Run is the hardest public course in this guide.

Plan your Illinois round with TheGrint

Pick a course, check the scorecard and your tees, then keep score in TheGrint with free GPS distances and live scoring for your group. Rank the course when you're done to help shape next year's Top 100. Get started with TheGrint.