Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[taylorx300]

Shriner,

you cannot go long on that hole. Either get a hybrid or play up to another set of tees.

 

[Shriner]

Can't go long, short or right ? I am anti-hybrid for whatever reason, I really should buy a 5w but how many 240 yd par 3's are out there.

[AUTIGER07]

Last time I played out there I hit the fli-hi (230ish club) and wherever it ended up I was just trying to play for the par. If you're into the wind at all though I have a hard time as the 3W is way too much and the fli-hi isn't near enough.

[AUTIGER07]

Just booked Randall. Appreciate the feedback.

[B-Man]

Ruffled Feathers is a bizzare golf course off the blues (especially that back 9). Also with every par 5 reachable and a few par 4s too. I could've/should've reached that 6th green in 2. I had 3 eagle putts yesterday and missed them all. Granted the putts on 4 and 15 were both over 50' but missing a straight 12-footer uphill on 13 hurt. There were 4 brutal holes out there yesterday with the NNE wind: 5, 9, 17, 18.

Just fun to get out on a course in great condition with fine weather and playing for free to was a bonus. Buddy won a certificate for a foursome there so that was cool.

[ldchristopher]

The 7th at Highlands of Elgin, the 5th at Pine Meadows, the 5th at Blackstone, the 17th at Prairie Landing, the 7th at Glencoe, the 4th at Shepherd’s. If you choose to play the better courses in the Chicago area from the tips (sans Glencoe, which is just okay), you may come across a par 3 between 225-240. But those tees are there for the low handicap players. At Stonewall's 5th, it's 190 from the middle tees. Just food for thought.

[mci711]

12,13,14,15, from the blues are all reachable (GUR) with no hurting wind (12 I may need some helping wind). I hate myself every time I play that stretch par or worse. 15 just really isn't a great hole. I think they should move the tees up a little bit and cut the tree protecting the green and make it a hard par 4. The mound in the middle of the green is a pain too.

[Shriner]

Good call on some of those. Blackstone #5 is a challenge with the trees. Pine Meadow is wide open on that hole. Now what fun would the middle tees be ?

[DavePelz4]

Considering the narrowness of the green coupled with the length, #5 at Blackstone is the best short par 4 in IL.

[AUTIGER07]

Bowes #5 is another one that is up there. It's usually not into the wind but when it is...good luck.

[Argonne69]

Fun round at Stony Creek this morning. Tee to green it's not much of a course, but oh those greens are tough. I think they're tougher than Mt Prospect. With tons of slopes, multiple tiers, and running 10 to 11 they were quite the challenge. Lol. Who am I kidding. They kicked my butt. More three putts today than any round this season. Ouch. I never touched my driver, so my hybrids and woods got a good workout. As did my wedges. Certainly not a course I'd play regularly, but it was worth a visit on my "off" day.

Strange start to the round. Almost didn't tee off after getting into a heated shouting match on the first tee that came close to fisticuffs. I showed up on the tee 15 minutes before my teetime. The group ahead of me was waiting to hit, and I would follow them. There were four older guys in carts next to the tee, and I asked one of them what tee time they had. The guy replied by basically saying that it doesn't matter, they were going next. I bluntly told him that I was next up, and again asked him for his tee time. He huffed, pulled out his receipt, and announced that he was two groups behind me. I said fine, then I'll be off next. He then basically told me to f-ck off, as they were at the tee first. Huh? I half heartedly explained to him the concept of tee times, but he told me to shut the f-ck up, and get in line. After a few F bombs were exchanged, I backed off and pulled out my phone to call the pro shop to have them send the starter over. As I was calling one of the other players in the group walked over and said that the tee was mine. It appears that they convinced their hothead buddy that they weren't going to win this one. Just when you think you've seen everything on a course...

Winnetka tomorrow. I haven't played it in years, as the conditions are usually poor compared to the other courses in the area. Also, the last time I played it the course was in serious need of a major tree trimming. We'll see how it goes, but I'm not expecting much.

[ldchristopher]

I used to be in the same boat as you. I always played from the tips at placed like Stonewall, HOE, and either the tips or the gold tees at Pine Meadows. However, I've found that my handicap has gone down from about 3.5 to 2 when I started playing combo tees or, in the case of Stonewall, Oak Grove, and Thunderhawk, just teeing it forward. There's no shame in playing a course from 6550-6800 yards, especially if it means my index is lower than it would have been had I played the back tees.

[Argonne69]

The 6th at Dubs plays 240 from the tips.

The 17th at Ruffled Feathers is "only" 221, but with the pin in the back it's tough.

 

[geochitown]

What club is your 3 iron (model and loft)?

I'll think of some others, but there isn't a bail out on Stonewall #5, the others mentioned, there is a bail out.

[Shriner]

Mizuno MP-4. Believe it is 21 degree.

[geochitown]

I play a 22* hybrid as my longest club before a 4 wood at 16.5*.

If there is a par 3 much longer than 200 with a hazard in the front, I'm grabbing the 4 wood for a partial shot, or considering a lower lofted hybrid in the bag.

Or if I can get away with it, substitute a 5 wood for the 4 wood.

I always keep 4 wedges in bag, so haven't gone to 3 wedges to get another at the top.

[St Jimmy]

 

Move up a tee and play a 5 iron.

[GSDriver]

If you come to DFW, play Indian Creek GC, Creeks Course, uphill par 3 (triple tiered green) 260 from the tips, depending on wind I've hit driver.

[TheBear95]

Feisty down in Oak Lawn. Looks like you got to meet the King of Stony Creek. What a miserable SOB.

Just another reason why I like playing either super early or late. I don't have the patience to deal with clowns.

[Argonne69]

Lol. Yeah, I got the sense that he was a regular, and didn't really give a sh-t about policies and procedures.

Also, I've mentioned this before, what's with the starters and their d-mn receipts? Has anyone heard of contactless payment? First, the course doesn't offer prepayment, so one has to go into the pro shop, provide a credit card, insert it into the reader, tap on the OK button, and then grab the communal pen or use one's finger to sign. Then one gets a paper receipt. I walk outside and the starter is busy chatting with his buddies near the pro shop. They're well within six feet of each other, and none are wearing a mask. I tell the starter my tee time and name, and he starts walking towards me. As he gets closer I start backing away, but this doesn't seem to trigger any brain function in his empty head, and he continues to get closer. I finally tell him to back off, and stay six feet away. He gets a screwed up look on his face like he just woke up from a 20 year sleep, and tells me he needs my receipt. I toss it to him, he initials it after giving it a glance, and then hand it back to me. My next step is to head back into the pro shop for a healthy serving of hand sanitizer. FFS. I'm still curious why the dumb a-- was hanging around the pro sho p and not the teeing area.

 

[NJgolfer11]

I can not stand hot heads, especially on the golf course. That is amazing restraint you showed.

I remember one time, the starter called my time at one of our local county courses in Jersey and he asked where my friend was and I said he is in the restroom. He said well you guys are on the tee. I said I just said he is in the restroom. What do you want me to do? Pull him out?

Some people just refuse to listen.

[Thunder Dan]

Finally got on Chicago Golf Club this week after about 5 years of networking. Hopefully I'll be back soon, that place is special.

[DavePelz4]

Have played it once with the late Jim McWethy...let's hear your thoughts TD!!!

[mci711]

Stupidity. I play at 7 bridges 4ish times a week and they have cart/bag staff every day and they are super helpful usually and provide a good service. The problem is, I don't want that service right now. They pretty much get it now, but 1 kid is extremely pushy and always tries to grab my bag and get really close to my personal space. He caught me on a bad day and I finally told him a couple of nights ago that I don't ever want him to help me. I appreciate the thought but by now he should know I don't want him in my personal space... This came after I told him I didn't need any help walking in (same thing i've told him probably 15-20 times this year) and he went on to check the to make sure I was strapped into the cart correctly and put his hands all over my stuff. Like really? You think I have never used a cart before? It is funny because I tip and talk with all of the other staff really well for doing nothing and respecting my space.

[Thunder Dan]

Yeah I remember you posting about that. I emailed you since I was able to go in and get a hat and wanted to know where to walk to once I got in the complex. I'd been working on putting a peg in the ground about a year prior to that. Oddly, I'm playing Mistwood for the first time in awhile on Saturday and just was made aware of his passing last night.

 

As for Chicago... what's to say? It's always been my #1 so any course from now on will stand a shot at 2. The setting is unreal, you can see the clubhouse and complex from anywhere on the property which is amazing. The scale is incredible, you don't feel like you are in Chicago. The greens are world class and you can't fully appreciate them until you are standing on them, then to think how they built the place with no modern equipment is crazy. The slope on the redan... how did they do that? Everything is so precise, every angle, every mowed area, but it's not fake. I think that's what I love about that place vs. other top courses. It's not a watered down, green, fluff piece. It's just golf in it's purist form. Finally, I've never hit off such tight, firm fairways., the ball just rolls forever which makes it challenging to hold a fairway unless you stripe it down the middle.

[Argonne69]

These summer days are fantastic. More, please.

Unfortunately I spent the day at Winnetka GC. Well, it was a nice walk anyway. It's been over 5 years since I last played there, and little has changed. The conditions of the first handful of fairways is awful. Dead spots everywhere. The rough is loaded with weeds. Bunkers could use a front loader's worth of sand. The greens were decent looking, though, but only rolling 9 at best. I did see a crew out trimming trees, but they probably have 200 more to go. There are still too many tee shots that require a big curve to avoid overhanging limbs. On the par 4 11th they had the tee markers on the far right side of the teebox, so it required a slice of more than 25 yds to find the fairway. No thanks.

Another poor day with the driver, leading to too few greens in regulation. Only five of each today. Ouch. I really should take a break, but I'll keep plugging away until I sort it out. My short game did get a good workout again, though. Gotta find something positive to take away from the round.

[CMCSGolf]

For what it's worth, it may not be the kid and could be his boss telling him what to do. When I worked at a club in high school, we knew the members that always refused our help, yet if we did not go up and offer we would be scolded by the pros. The appearance of helpfulness was more important than the actual help. Then again, maybe the kid is just dense.

[Marlo989]

Harborside Starboard yesterday. That place has a soft spot in my heart for some reason but it really is in bad shape right now. Tees and fairways with dead spots, GPS non-functional except erroneous cartpath only stoppages, ran out of scorecards so printed on paper. And the cart paths were beyond gone 2 years ago and are much worse now. If it's always decently busy with $100 rounds, what is going on?

Also was at Winnetka today. Missed Arg or I would have tried to jump in front of his tee time (kidding). Never had played, was as expected.

[ME27]

Lol good ole stony creek. I grew up in oak lawn and stony creek was my home course for high school unfortunately so I’ve played there way too many times. Par 65 and you can drive more than half the par 4’s. The greens are decent though. Was the guy wearing jeans and a cutoff t shirt cuz that seems to be the clientele there.

[Argonne69]

Those cart paths are brutal. I swore I heard a rumor that they were going to film a monster truck rally on site using the paths as obstacles. They really do need to get rid of that stupid lockdown function in the carts. 'Can't count the number of times the cart locked up while on the cart path.

Playing behind me at Winnetka had its benefit. Hopefully you found the half dozen ProV1's I lost.