Bonnie Brook Golf Course

Getting To Know: Bonnie Brook Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Tony Tinetti, 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 Tony Tinetti 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
The golf course has rolling hills and tree lined fairways that will challenge the most accomplished golfer. Our four sets of tees also make Bonnie Brook a friendly course for higher handicap players.

Our grounds crew does and outstanding job in keeping the course in great condition all season long. Our signature 17th hole is a 177 yard par 3 from the back tees that plays into a green that is about 50% boardered by water, it is a truly beautiful hole.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
There are 3 reasons why a golfer should choose Bonnie Brook:

1. The course is great, very challenging but not a course where you will lose a bunch of golf balls. This course will test your ability to hit recovery shots, something most modern courses don't allow the golfer to hit.

2. Our staff! We are completly committed to providing the golfer with a top notch golfing experience. From the outside staff,shop staff, or the food and beverage staff, you will find friendly people who are willing and able to help you with whatever you may need. and

3. TheValue! Over the years Bonnie Brook has been known as the best golf value in Lake County. Especially with people having less disposable income, we feel that our rates are very fair. We also have coupons on our website and on ChicagoGolf.com.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Some of our greens have a large elevation change from back to front. On these holes keep the ball below the hole, anything above the hole will test your skills just to keep from 3 putting.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
I am proud that we have been choosen to host a Illinois Junior Golf Association event again this year, these golfers are the future of our industry. I am also very proud that we have many, golfers who play here multiple times, to me that shows we are doing something right.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The 17th hole is usually the one people talk about the most. The front and right of the green has water, it is an elevated tee that plays 177 from the back, and the green has a good amount of slope from back to front. What is unique about this hole is that depending on the wind you can hit anything from a Driver to a 9 iron.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My favorite is the 14th hole, a 541 yard par 5. There is a demanding tee shot that must be hit between to large trees, you have to bust one to get it down far enough to reach in 2. For the approach shot you have a well bunkered green that is quite challenging for event the best putter. You are very happy with a 5, elated with a 4, and if you make a 3 it will be the best hole of golf you will play all year.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The burgers and brats are really good, but if you can eat one item here it would have to be the Broasted Chicken which is cooked fresh everyday. That is our most popular item.
We are also known for our Bloody Marys, for some reason our weekend morning players seem to drink a lot of them.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Tom Kerr with a 63, not sure what year. But I do know that he shot a 69 at age 69 in 2010.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6626
Slope: 127
Rating: 71.8

More Information
Bonnie Brook Golf Course
2800 N. Lewis Ave.
Waukegan, IL 60087
847-360-4730
Waukegangolf.org

Revised: 04/27/2012 - Article Viewed 34,555 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.