Mistwood GC

Getting To Know: Mistwood Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Daniel Phillips, Director of Golf

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 Daniel Phillips 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
Mistwood Golf Club is a links style golf club. There is truly no course like it in the Midwest. The addition of 19 sod wall (Scottish style) bunkers adds a challenge and the feel of playing golf at St. Andrews. We have players come here from Scotland and Ireland and they rave about the course. We also have a 67 acre lake that comes into play on a few of the front nine and some of our most challenging holes on the back nine. Many players have told us that we have the five best finishing holes in the state.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
It is an absolutely stunning golf course. It challenges golfers at all skill levels yet is very fair to play. The rates are a steal for the quality and conditions of this golf course. The staff is highly trained and the service is impeccable. You will always have a great time at Mistwood Golf Club.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Although you can hit driver on every hole you may want to hit 3wood or iron on some of them. Practice your short irons and wedges if you are looking to make birdies. On the par five eighth hole you need to aim at a white aiming pole for your second shot. Relax have fun and enjoy your day, scoring will follow.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Golf Digest four and one half star rating best places to play. It is the top rating for any golf course in Illinois. We are looking forward to the upcoming award season with our golf course renovation and the building of a new Performance Center we have been told that we should receive some top awards.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Although Mistwood has 18 magnificent holes. Golf Digest recognized our par five eighth hole as one of the top new holes in the nation. They even honored us with a full page spread and picture of the hole. It has a combination of length, risk and reward, and beauty that sets it apart from other golf courses across the country. The hole has six tee boxes so it can test anyone's length, split fairways which give you options to the green, and a beautiful rock lined lake which fronts the right side of the fairway and the front of the green.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It? The par five fifteenth hole is my favorite. The tee shot is over water and you can bite off as much water as your game and the ego will allow. The second shot is very interesting. The further you hit towards the green the more the hole opens up, but with out of bounds right and water on the left you tend to squeeze that long iron, hybrid or 3 wood. The green is fair but tough with very interesting pin placements. Fifteen is an exhilarating yet scary golf hole which I have both eagled and made some very big numbers.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Chef Jim Shamet's daily special. Our executive Chef is always working on something new and delicious. It is the first thing that our players ask after playing the golf course. "What's Jim's Special?"

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The old course record is 64 and it is held by a few players including our head professional Visanu Tongwarin. The new tournament tees at over 7,000 yards have not been tested. We have had many quality tournaments including NCAA, Professional, and top amateurs. The course has always held up well when played at tournament conditions by the best players.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,040
Slope: 144
Rating: 74.7

More Information
Mistwood Golf Club
1700 W. Renwick Road
Romeoville, IL., 60446
815-254-3333
www.mistwoodgc.com

Revised: 07/15/2013 - Article Viewed 33,768 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.