About
Just a chip shot south of Rockford along beautiful Illinois Route 2 in easy-going Byron lies a magical golf course that plays like the best country clubs in the region, but costs like a muni. Sculpted out of an ancient landscape once home to majestic bison and other denizens of the wild, this is a big course with a big, generous heart.
Weaving its way through remarkable tall grass prairie and the remnants of old oak savanna and other hardwood stands, PrairieView is a golf course where you can breathe, relax and enjoy the beauty of the natural environs remarkably untouched by architect James Spear’s design.
As is the case with most exceptional golf courses, what Spear left is as important as what he added. What he removed was minimal – and what remains is an amazing, naturalistic example of God’s hand relatively untouched by man’s: a true rarity in the world of golf.
A mid-course pond menaces the right side of tricky par four #5, feeding a narrow, bubbling creek that comes into play on the long, lazy par five #2 and the somewhat more menacing par five #6. The creek feeds another, smaller pond that comes into play for long hitters on the dogleg par four #7 and gets everybody’s attention on the lengthy, challenging par three #8.
In all, 63 strategically placed sand bunkers dot the PrairieView’s18 fascinating holes. Home to many local, state and regional tournaments, PrairieView Golf Club stretches from just shy of 5,300 yards from the forward tees to nearly 7,200 yards from the daunting tips.
Simply put, this golf course has game to spare for golfers of any level – but is fair enough from the appropriate tees to make play fun for players of all levels.
