Bolingbrook GC

Getting To Know: Bolingbrook Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Eric Aldrich, PGA Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Eric Aldrich who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
A championship-style golf course that has held numerous high-profile events, Bolingbrook Golf Club is one of the finest public golf courses in Chicago. Recently voted as the #28/50 in the 2009 Golf Digest Reader's Choice Awards, Bolingbrook Golf Club is a traditional course layout but without trees. The course has its challenges with water coming into play on 14 of the 18 holes, but also boasts five tee boxes which cater to all handicap levels.

All green fees includes golf cart with state-of-the-art GPS, range balls, lemonade & fruit at the 1st tee, golf tees, ball markers, divot tools and towels to use for the day. Additionally, players have complimentary use of our locker room facilities which include a workout room, steam room, sauna and showers.

The Driving Range & Golf Academy is home to PGA Master Professional and Top 100 Instructor, Carl Rabito. The practice facility boasts 2 short-game practice greens with fairway approach, practice bunkers, a championship-size putting green, immense grass tee time and even two practice holes. This is all under the lights as the Driving Range & Golf Academy stay open into the evening hours during the summer.

The 76,000 square foot Clubhouse houses banquet rooms, The Golf Shop, Locker Room and The Nest Bar & Grill, a full-service restaurant voted "Best 19th Hole in Chicagoland".

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
One main reason - The Experience. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide first-class service levels throughout the guests' experience. We want each of our golfers to feel as though they were a guest in our home. Two other reasons include: 1) The pristine condition of the golf course and 2)The amenities which include, but are not limited to: complimentary range balls, lemonade & fruit at the 1st tee, electric golf cars with state-of-the-art GPS and cell phone charger adapters, plus the Locker Room facilities.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
With many of the second and third shots slightly elevated, it is highly recommended to take one extra club on your approach shots.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We have held numerous high profile events that include: Monday Qualifier for the Western Open, Monday Qualifier for the LaSalle Bank Open, The World Youth Tournament Challenge, The Tom Dreesen Celebrity Invitational and a National Pro Golf Tour Major.

Accolades include:
"Top 10 New You Can Play" - Golf Magazine, 2003.
"#28/50 Reader's Choice Public Courses in United States" Golf World, 2009.
"Best Courses You Can Play" - Golfweek, 2009.
"Golf Digest 4 1/2 Stars"
"Best 19th Hole" - Great Lakes Golf Magazine

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#15 is a true island green that plays as long as 165 yards. A very picturesque hole and depending on the wind, challenging.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My preference is hole #6. A short hole, only measuring 342 from the back tees, #6 is a true risk/reward hole. A solid drive with a driver leaves a short little wedge to a tricky and hidden green. The smart play from the tee is a hybrid or iron, but one will still have to navigate two fairway bunkers, in the middle of the fairway. Tips to play the hole - Hit your driver and hit it straight.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Pulled Pork Sliders.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,104
Slope: 139
Rating: 74.3

More Information
Bolingbrook Golf Club
2001 Rodeo Drive
Bolingbrook, IL, 60490
630-771-9400
www.bolingbrookgolfclub.com

Revised: 11/28/2012 - Article Viewed 34,274 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.