Our Comments

The first half is an original Pete Dye country club. The second half was added later by digging water holes on a flat, comparatively treeless, tract.

The Pete Dye greens are typically tough. Hole #5 is a saddle, hole #8 a bowl. Most well-protected by sand. Some act like gravity hills and you'll swear your ball breaks uphill.

Both holes # 15 and 17 require controlled 210yd drives that should lay up just short of lakes (over a first lake in the case of hole #17).

They constantly improve this course (especially the back 9) and, during 1998 and 1999 paved the cart paths and made extensive rebuilds of holes 12, 13, 16, 17, and 18.

10/16/04 - They have opened up the bases around all the big evergreens. Makes finding your ball easy.

7/28/04 - Fairways are soft and running. Roughs fairly long. Greens soft and holding but still pleasantly fast. Only a few of Pete Dye's undulating greens show the summer wear that many courses have.

8/3/03 - The greens are better (see 6/22/03) but are hard to hold.

6/22/03 - Fairways and roughs in good condition with few divots. Greens, however, are normally smooth and fast but this Sunday afternoon they were worse than we've ever seen them. Many unrepaired weekend ball marks weren't as much problem as the slight cones around the cup making any putt to the edge veer outward. We'd say this was an aberration but most greens had sagging, uneven, or even loose circles of old pin positions - some greens showing up to a dozen of these.

5/20/03 - According to the Plainfield Flyer the city (Plainfield) may buy the Elks Club property. RH West would remain the management firm. Actually RH West has right of first refusal on the course but would step aside if Plainfield wants it. The city council doesn't want to lose the tax base ($33k/year) but could profit from the $12,500 monthly lease.

5/4/03 - Fast greens and punitive rough (long - causing some ball searching).

4/20/03 - Greens are up to Dye's standards - fast, smooth, and undulating.

5/5/02 - Greens are normal - on the fast side.

10/1/01 - Oak Tree GC has typically fast, fast greens and longish roughs. The fairways are firm and roll long.

Reader Comments

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9/1/04 - A very nice place to play a quick round. Different type holes. Fairway and greens in great shape. The trees on the front especially make it a place where control is a must. The tee boxes need some work though. Well worth a visit.

6/15/04 - A good challenging course. It makes you play every club in the bag. You can tell that Pete Dye designed the greens on the front 9... very undulating. The back nine is easier. The tree in the middle of the 18th fairway makes for a good target to aim at but if you get directly behind it you have no shot at the green with OB right. All in all it's a good course with not much traffic on the weekends. My buddy and I get around it in about 4 hours with cart. - Bogeyman37

5/29/03 - I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have done a lot of work to the course and have the course in very good condition. Fairways were short and plush, greens smooth and fast (as always) but most improved were the tee boxes which have been lost in past years. This is was also a very speedy place to play for a single on a Thursday afternoon, 2:20 for 18.

5/20/03 - Oak Tree is a really great course to learn how to play golf. It has forgiving fairways, and nice greens. It is normally well maintained, and cheap to play there. It is an all and all good course, to play fun golf. - Nick Kendall

4/15/02 - Fairways were wet, but the greens were all in very good condition. They are still trying to get the back nine together after reseeding most of their tee-boxes last year. Overall a beautiful tax day to play golf 85° and sunny! - Jim

6/9/99 - If you haven't played Oak Tree you should give it a go. Great greens and the fairways are more than acceptable. It is really a good place to play.