Today’s Groupon gets you and a golf buddy 18 holes on the difficult Tamarack Golf Course in Naperville for only $50. Each Groupon is good for two people to play an 18-hole round together, so get a pair and a foursome together to hit the lynx for the price of a 2.6-some (meaning it’s up to a 62% discount—weekday rounds are $55, weekends are $65). Golf with friends is the best kind of bonding; there’s nothing like being out in the open air, hearing the wind blow through the beautiful old trees lining Tamarack’s well-groomed fairways, and refusing to grant your compadres mulligans. The satisfaction of a well-played hole is amplified by one’s sadistic enjoyment of your partner’s three-shot adventure in the woodsy rough.

And make no mistake, Tamarack will provide your friends plenty of opportunities for double bogeys. Designed by David Arthur Gill of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Tamarack has challenged golfers with its water hazards and sand traps since 1989. It has a course rating of 74.2, which refers both to the strokes a par golfer needs to finish and to how many minutes it takes to ride a unicycle across each fairway. Tamarack’s slope rating of 131 is the number of strokes a bogey golfer takes on average, as well as the number of hours it would take a bowling ball to turn into silver if you were to roll it across the course. The exhilarating 6,901-yard course is exactly the same length as the long-john-donut dessert served at the 19th hole. Indeed, Tamarack’s clubhouse offers quite the lunch spread, so after a breathtaking round of golf, your posse will enjoy equally breathtaking burgers and beers.

Please Note: This Groupon may not be redeemed for two rounds by the same person. You must redeem for one round of 18 holes for you and a partner at the same time.

Reviews

Positive web reviews speak to Tamarack’s challenging course, affordable prices, and available tee times: > * Nice course all around. Many holes demand accuracy. Lots of water. – Scooter186, GolfLink.com > * Price is reasonable and location is convenient. It is not hard to get a tee time. There are not many easy holes here and several are quite challenging. – Cliff S., Yelp > * I was impressed at the quality of the course…the clubhouse had a great layout and lunch spread. I recommend you golf here for a challenging course with tight fairways. – Jason P.

Course Challenges

The only person who has successfully completed the course in under nine seconds was course pro Wesley “2 Scoops” Berry. A number of unique features increase Tamarack’s difficulty. Some of the most challenging holes include:

• 4th Hole: The fairway is surrounded by turrets in which men and women in lycra jumpsuits fire tennis balls from cannons at golfers.
• 7th Hole: Golfers tee off of an elevated platform while an opposing player tries to knock them off using a jousting stick.
• 15th Hole: Golfers hang from suspended rings while the muscle-bound Nitro attempts to stop them from reaching an opposing platform.
• 18th Hole: Golfers crank a hand bike over a pit, run across a balance beam while avoiding swinging medicine balls, climb a 60-foot wall of netting, use a zip-line, run up a reverse treadmill, and break through a line of tape.