I have had the opportunity to play the Glen View Club close to 100 times over the past 9-10 years both before and after the renovation by D. Esler in 1999. It is a really neat place and with respect to Shivas, much different than other courses in the area. The main difference would have to come from its (relatively) hilly / rolling terrain. The front nine plays on the higher ground of the property and the routing uses the land well moving on the far outskirts of the property. The back nine plays in lower land and the north branch of the Chicago River rolls through. The land is more flat on the back nine, but there are some nice natural features (I’m assuming) were formed by the river.
It should be noted that they have just added a set of “Mach” tees that are played from some interesting points in order to make the course harder for the better player. For example, the 18th hole is played from the right of the 17th green allowing for a cape style tee shot over the river to the 18th fairway. And the par-3 14th can be played from the 17th hole ladies tee. This was Northwestern Golf’s second home for a while when Luke Donald was a member of the team. They held the Big 10 / Pac 10 Tourney there one year.
Holes of Note;
#1 The first hole is a good par 4 of about 430 yards that plays down a hill away from the clubhouse, there are two sets of tees giving two different angles on the hole. The green is pretty flat but guarded by bunkers.
#2 The second is an awesome uphill par-3 of about 190yds. The pin is almost always upfront because a back pin is almost too hard.
#3 The third hole is a tough par 4 with a blind tee shot. A good drive is needed and anything right of the pin is dead.
#8 is a short par 5 that is played as a par 4 when the college guys play there. Easy par but a tough birdie due to the small green.
#11 A new tee was added this year to make the hole play almost 190 yards to a really tough green. They took out almost 200 trees in this area of the property, which really helped open it up and make it look more dramatic.
#17 A neat short par 4 that gives you the option of playing safe left or aggressive right of a large tree and getting a slingshot around a hill. The second shot plays uphill to a green that falls off to the river on the left.
#18 is usually a short uphill par 4 that plays downwind, sounds easy but a tough two tiered green makes it hard to get the ball close.