Hawthorn Woods Country Club

I was a long time member at HWCC so have a very good perspective on the club. Let’s start with the golf course…
The golf course is really, really good. The greens are some of the best in entire Midwest. I’m a fairly good golfer that has played all over the world, and HWCC greens rank in my top ten. If you like them fast and smooth (who doesn’t) you will love these greens. The fairways are usually in great shape, although heavy rain plays havoc with a couple of the holes. They actually had to build a new tee box on the 17^th hole, due to the fact that the fairway floods very easily and the par 5 had to play as a par 3. It’s been this way since the course opened 11 years ago, and I can’t believe they haven’t fixed it yet. The bunkers leave something to be desired, but you really shouldn’t hit it there anyway. The houses line the fairways and are very close in some situations, which certainly takes away from the beauty of the course. The superintendent out there is phenomenal (his name is Scott) and they had better hope they never lose him to another course. I really think he’s one of the best in the business.
Also, if you’re a walker, stay away from this course. The walk between 9 green and 10 tee box is very long and not easy. There is also a long walk from 11 green to the 12^th tee box. It’s just not a course designed for walking. Some folks do, but it’s carts first and foremost. Kemper gets $ 24 a rider in a cart (on top of the membership down stroke and monthly fees) so you can imagine what they are making on that deal. Walking wasn’t discouraged, but certainly wasn’t encouraged either.
There are small things that bug you out there, like no caddies and tips that never seem to end, but the golf staff is so cool, that you really don’t think about them. The locker room is one of the worst I’ve ever seen for a club like this. It’s way too small, and doesn’t exude country club at all. The shoe cleaning guys are very, very nice though. There’s a small porch they added to the front of the locker room, but it’s fallen badly into disrepair and is used mostly for storage.
The last thing I’ll mention about the course is that the 18^th green is not in view from the clubhouse. To me, that’s a cardinal sin of golf course design. They added a little «viewing area» on top of the hill near the green, but it’s not the same, trust me. Half the fun of being part of country club is after the round sitting around and watching people come in on 18. Not at HWCC. Really a shame.
Now I’ll move on to the clubhouse and aquatic center/​tennis facility. First of all, the food at HWCC has never been top notch. I never minded it, but the members complain incessantly about it. There are never enough waiters and waitresses working (or too many…) so the service is usually not great. The people that run it are very nice though. The chef there is also very nice. The biggest beef I have with the food service is that they add a mysterious «service charge» to every bill, which jacks up the prices. This service charge doesn’t go to the wait staff either (or so many of them told me…) We would always have to leave a tip on top of that service charge, which made eating there a non-​starter. Based on how few people were ever in there, it was obvious others felt the same way. When the club started, they had a beautiful pool table in the bar area, and a shuffleboard game, but quickly removed them. Never understood why they did that.
The tennis courts are clay and don’t get too much use. There are some ladies leagues that play in the summer, and some nice kid’s programs, but the courts need to be smoothed out so not much jump in traffic. There are two paddle courts, but they really need four. They are in decent shape. The paddle hut is an embarrassment though. Nobody takes care of it, ever. The doors are falling off the cabinets, the little fridge is not good, and it just seems like nobody at Kemper cares about it. When we used to go to other club’s facilities, it became very obvious that HWCC’s paddle hut was bottom of the barrel. They even put that old shuffleboard table in there and it’s fallen into disrepair. They just need to put some money into it, as they have a very dedicated, loyal group of people that like to play paddle in the winter. It’s embarrassing, with the kind of dues everyone is paying year round, that the paddle facilities are so bad.
I was a member for over 10 years there. Probably spent in excess of $ 150K at that place. Really got to know some great people (and also some that weren’t very nice, but that’s true anywhere…) When I left the club, they kept my initiation fee (which if you join today, you’ll NEVER get back…) Not one word of thanks from anyone there, even the GM. Not one word of thanks from Kemper. Not one word. I know I sound bitter, but that’s just bad business. I wouldn’t recommend HWCC to anyone at this point. Kemper left a very bad taste in my mouth. 1 star for the complete lack of business acumen.

I have attended two wedding showers at Hawthorn Woods in the past year. The grounds are beautiful and the service is good. The food, however, is fantastic. Try the chicken crepes! The only downside is that the club is hard to get to from the city of Chicago — it is quite the hike!