What You Need To Know: Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa

An Insightful Interview With John Schlaman, 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 John Schlaman 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
Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa resides within the Galena Territory, which is a 6,800-acre land development located 6 miles east of the town of Galena, Illinois. The Galena Territory has 3,300 pieces of property, 2,300 of which are developed as single and multi-family. Several properties are available for short-term rental.

The town of Galena, IL (population 3,500) is the #2 tourist town in the state of Illinois (behind Chicago). Galena is consistently rated as a must-visit small town in the United States.

Eagle Ridge features three 18-hole golf courses and a nine-hole course, all of which are cut into the hills of the Mississippi River Valley "Driftless Region."

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
The hills and valleys of the Driftless Region provide a spectacular landscape for each of our unique courses. Most notably The General, our last course to be built. The General features 289 feet of elevation change and hole #5 has a 175-foot drop from the tee to the fairway. Upon opening, all our courses were honored with "Best New Resort Course" by Golf Digest magazine. If you are here for a few days, please play them all and tell us which is your favorite. That's how scenic and unique each golf course is, with spectacular signature holes.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Most of the 63-holes at Eagle Ridge do not require long tee shots, but they do require accurate ones. Hit your tee shot in play and then upon reach the putting green, realize - like most mountainous courses - that the greens slope away from the highest point next to the green even though it appears they do not.

Any recent changes to the golf course? Or any upcoming changes?
N/A

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The General course hole #2, #5, #8, #17, and #18.
The North course holes #7, #8, and #11.
The South course holes #4 and #18.
The East course hole #2 and #3.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My favorite hole is #18 at the South Course. Depending on what tee you play, your tee shot needs to be no farther than the 150-yard pole. From the back tees that's about 260 yards, severely downhill tee shot, from there add two clubs for the uphill second shot and make sure you know where the hole is located on the green.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
Eagle Ridge features 80 hotel rooms in our main lodge and 105 homes/golf villas in our rental program. The lodge is situated above Lake Galena with awesome views of the lake and is home to the Woodlands restaurant, elegant ballroom, scenic meeting space, and an indoor pool. Just a few hundred feet from the lodge is Eagle Ridge's Stonedrift Spa facility which is new in 2022.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72 (The General) / 72 (North Course) / 72 (South Course) / 34 (East Course)
Yardage: 6,649 (The General) / 6,884 (North Course) / 6,762 (South Course) / 2,648 (East Course)
Slope: 136 (The General) / 136 (North Course) / 140 (South Course) / 118 (East Course)
Rating: 72.4 (The General) / 73.6 (North Course) / 73.4 (South Course) / 33.0 (East Course)

More Information
Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa 444 Eagle Ridge Dr. Galena, IL, 61036 (815) 777-5000

www.eagleridge.com

Revised: 07/29/2025 - Article Viewed 146 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.