A Review of Lost Nation Golf Club in Dixon, Illinois

A good drive west of Chicago (about 100 miles) is the hidden golf course of Lost Nation located in Dixon. The eighteen hole course is located on 6391 Lost Nation road which cuts off Flagg road just between the closest cities of Dixon and Oregon. Lost Nation road is a very rural country intersection that can only be found by accident. I would strongly recommend GPS navigation for those first timers trying to locate this course.

Once you get to the golf club entrance, the drive is flanked by fairways on both sides of the road and the club house and restaurant are straight ahead. The club house is pretty small with friendly counter service and available hot coffee that is paid for by the twenty five cent honor system.

Once checked in, there is a small putting green just off the first tee box for practicing the short game. The course population was relatively low when we checked in to our tee time so the practice green had light traffic and the tee box was wide open for us to start.

The Course

The course is laid out as a par 71 with a slope rating of 114. The slope is mild for several holes and picks up on a few holes in the back nine. The holes are packed in tight in several spots with conifer forests becoming the main hazard throughout many holes. The second hole has a nice marshy swamp hazard that is set right in front of the tee box. It is relatively easy to clear with even an average tee shot. The par 3 holes on this blue grass course actually play quite long with hole number five measuring in at 237 yards from the white tees. The water hazards do not seem excessive on this course, but be mindful of the trees, sand, and some tricky dog legs.

The Price

The greens fees do not come any cheaper than this. We played this course in early July for the paltry sum of $35 per person with cart included. The hidden cost for our group was probably the gas spent getting out to Dixon along with the 19^th hole refreshments we enjoyed in neighboring Oregon. The rates can get even cheaper with weekday twilight specials at $22 and $25 on the weekend.

Overall Opinion

As the course played well and seemed to be in great shape, there is room for improving some of the amenities at Lost Nation Golf Club. The course could do with the addition of a driving range to allow golfers to get loosened up before teeing off. I would also recommend an upgrade to food service at the tenth tee turn. The restaurant or lounge was dark, dismal and offered what appeared to be "aged" hot dogs sitting in an old pot of scummy water. Needless to say I went with a snicker bar and headed out the door. Overall, our foursome had a great outing at Lost Nation golf course despite the occasional attack of mosquitoes and errant tee shots landing into the forest.