Settler’s Hill Golf Club in Batavia (www.settlershill.com) is a great example of a creative use of a garbage dump (or land fill in more polite circles). This course weaves up and down and around the mounds of refuse that has been accumulated over the years, and for the most part, it works. (And contrary to some rumors I have heard, I have never noticed an unseemly smell rising out of the fairways.) Throw in some heavily wooded areas and some well placed water hazards and bunkers to go along with the elevation changes, and you end up with a pretty nice layout.
The fun starts out right away on the 1st hole, a short par 4 that runs straight downhill to a green protected by a pond to the right, a real good chance for a par if you keep your tee shot in the fairway. The 4th hole is a short par 3 with a tee shot from up on a ridge and over a creek, another fun hole. The 5th hole is a dogleg left par 4 where your approach shot will be in trouble if it is left of the green (pond) or over the back (thick woods). This hole begins a transition as you temporarily leave the open prairie part of the course and enter the wooded section. The 6th hole is a long par 5 with a forest along the right side of the fairway. A creek appears on the right about 150 yards from the green and meanders across the fairway in front of the hole, with a background of woods providing one of the best views on the course. Be forewarned, however, that if you don’t hit your tee shot far enough (about 250 yards), the 2nd shot will be blind over a hill to a narrow landing area with the aforementioned creek lurking.
The 7th hole is a good par 3 with the tee tucked back in the woods to a green with the trees hugging the right side. The 11th hole is another tricky par 5, the hardest hole on the course in my opinion. The tee shot is over a pond to a narrow fairway with thick groves of trees on both sides, with a creek crossing the fairway about 100 yards from the green, and a steep rise to the green past the creek with bunkers protecting the front. It will take 3 above average shots to get to the green in regulation, and double bogey (or worse) is a real possibility if you screw up any of them. (About a 10 yard wider fairway would help.) The 12th hole finishes the woodsy part of the course, a tough par 4 with the trees to the left and mounds of thick prairie grass to the right.
The next few holes are back to the high prairie and allows for some great views of the course, and the last 3 holes provide a memorable finish to the round. The 16th is a par 3 with a downhill tee shot to a green with a pond on the left, and provides another interesting view…the barbed wire fences of a correctional facility (OK, not ALL the views are great). The 17th hole is a par 5 dogleg right with water in play on each shot, and the 18th is a strong finisher, a par 4 with an uphill approach over bunkers to a sloped green.
With a top rate of $65, the course is priced about right (maybe a bit high) for the quality of the layout and the course conditions, but there are almost always discount coupons that are available on the Settler’s Hill web site that will knock a few bucks off the greens fee. So although I have some issues with the 6th and 11th holes (I like challenges, but I think these holes straddle the borders of fairness), and the “prairie” holes early (#’s 2 & 3) and later (#’s 13 thru 15) in the round are solid but uninspired, there is enough interest , scenery, challenge (70.3/126 slope from the 2nd set of 4 tees) and value that always brings me here a few times each year.
Mr Z Rating
Layout - 7
Playability - 6.5
Conditioning - 7
Aesthetics - 8
Amenities - 6.5
Value - 7.5
Total Score - 71
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