Rend Lake Golf Course in southern Illinois

Golf resorts in downstate Illinois are few and far between. Despite a wealth of superb, affordable public golf courses and the recently organized Southern Illinois Golf Trail, there's not much by way of family resort destinations that feature golf in their list of activities.

One of the first, and still one of the few, in the state is the Rend Lake Recreation Complex. As part of the Rend Lake Conservancy District, which surrounds the 19,000-acre lake of the same name, the recreation complex offers lodging, camping, dining, fishing, skeet- and trap-shooting, hunting, boating, and, oh yes, golf. Rend Lake Golf Course's 27 holes have earned four and a half stars each of the past five years from Golf Digest.