Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[TheMagicStinger]

7 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

I would plan on that drive being 90 minutes to two hours depending on the day/ time and location of the city.   I'm in Oak Brook and it's generally an hour to get to the loop area during rush hour.

 

For courses,  Cog #4.  They'll be opening soon after a bunker renovation.  It's always a treat. imo.

Totally get it on the traffic. We would probably play then eat and shop until traffic dies off. 

[Scratch2Plus]

Bartlett Thursday...

[ldchristopher]

Hilarious to me that no one is recommending Bolingbrook to an out of towner

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, ldchristopher said:

Hilarious to me that no one is recommending Bolingbrook to an out of towner

 

He's done nothing to deserve such things

[Chanceman]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:51 AM, TheBear95 said:

 

$200 is chump change for the privilege to tee it up at the future home of Talor Gooch's record setting 57.

Are you talking THE Taylor Gooch or the one who came 61st in the PGA?

[J3H]

Big golf weekend for me, playing Crane's landing(lol) early morning Saturday, might do Tam O shanter afterwards.  Then up to Wisconsin on Sunday to play Nippersink then Trevino at Geneva national.  Following it up Monday with somewhere that is TBD, maybe Mt Prospect.

[TheBear95]

5 hours ago, J3H said:

Big golf weekend for me, playing Crane's landing(lol) early morning Saturday, might do Tam O shanter afterwards.  Then up to Wisconsin on Sunday to play Nippersink then Trevino at Geneva national.  Following it up Monday with somewhere that is TBD, maybe Mt Prospect.

 

Gotta say, that's ummm an interesting itinerary. 

[DavePelz4]

Hooky yesterday and played Blackthorn with the college buds.  My memory is getting really bad as I didn't remember Blackthorn very well.

 

Have to say it's been a while since seeing greens play that hard and fast, and it was awesome! You either had to have a very highly flighted shot or land it short if possible and let the ball run up.  Probably had more shots go over the greens yesterday than in any round over the last few years.  Big fan of the green complexes as well.  Missing a green didn't mean an up and down was going to be easy and you need to be creative with how you flight even a short shot.  Being a Pelz guy, I'm a 1/3-2/3s chipper but that had to change yesterday.  

 

Loved the variety of holes from short par 4's to 442 yard par 4's, nothing boring or repetitive about Blackthorn. Not remembering the course, or the green contours cost more than a few shots. There was a bit of inconsistency in the sand in some of the bunkers, which is about the only criticism I can offer. Being basically 90 minutes from home, it's well worth the drive, especially at a $69/round price point.

 

Coming off putting on the shag greens of Tanna, Blackthorn was the perfect lead in to Arrowhead where you know those greens are going to be super fast.

[J3H]

13 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Gotta say, that's ummm an interesting itinerary. 

Howso?

[TheBear95]

On 5/23/2024 at 10:39 AM, J3H said:

Howso?

 

Just the array of courses in the different areas.

 

I'm fan of Nippersink, decent 1920s parkland design. But an extremely different course compared to Geneva National.

 

Enjoy the rounds. Unfortunately, Sunday looks wet.

[Scratch2Plus]

On 5/21/2024 at 6:59 PM, Scratch2Plus said:

Bartlett Thursday...

 

New irrigation being installed. They made #10 into a 95 yrd par 3. Hopefully it was only this week. Still got charged full boat.

Greens were on the slow side for Bartlett and their tee boxes were shaggy. I think I'm gonna pass on Bartlett until they get everything done.

[stasek]

Prairie Bluff Monday morning (~7AM).   I'm quietly hoping to finally find my game, since the course "generally" (don't want to piss off golf gods any more) suits whatever is left of my game.  

 

[MountainKing]

6 hours ago, stasek said:

Prairie Bluff Monday morning (~7AM).   I'm quietly hoping to finally find my game, since the course "generally" (don't want to piss off golf gods any more) suits whatever is left of my game.  

 

 

Playing there at 8:30, don't hold us up!

 

Springbook today.   Been years since I've been there.   Was pretty run down at thar point.  The renovation and tree removal has brought much life to it. Pristine conditions all around, and possibly the best greens I've seen this year.   Love to see these courses come back.   Bonus with pace of 3:45.  Places with a good walking culture rarely disappoint with that.

 

Great start to the round with a 1 under front,  the back had some brutally difficult pins resulting in some tough up and downs and a couple 3 putts ended with a 74.  Was very happy,  this is by far the hardest I've ever seen it played.

 

[ldchristopher]

Bear and I played two of our favorite Wisconsin courses yesterday, Old Hickory and Mascoutin. Old Hickory is always a fun challenge given the solid variety on the par 4’s and the need to work the ball. Given all the rain they had up here, I expected standing water all over. However, with the exception of some low spots, it mostly drained very well. There were no ponds in bunkers and the greens were probably running at a 9. Pretty decent for the amount of moisture the area dealt with.  My game was a little off but my wedges bailed me out to at least stay in the 70’s. 77 with no birdies and really only 3 makeable looks. 
 

Mascoutin was one of Golf.com’s Courses of the Year for 2023 and, given its proximity to Green Lake, isn’t exactly a secret. The layout on the original 18 is pretty standard parkland golf from the 70’s. It’s chock full of Larry Packard’s signature double dog leg par 5’s (there’s an applicable yet HIGHLY culturally insensitive quote from Jack Nicklaus that I can’t share for fear of banishment). The bunkers were quite rocky and the greens were inconsistent. Again, lots of rain does that. It looks like the course got hit with Dutch Elm Disease because about two thirds of the elm tree were cut down and several more were standing but looking very dead. No complaints from me. I’m pro-tree removal. Let the grass get more sun exposure. The Blue nine is such a good layout. Rick Jacobsen does well with elevation changes and that course has a lot of holes that look more like what one finds in Michigan. They do need sand in the bunkers. Shouldn’t be seeing weeds, hard pan and rocks. Again, no birdies and I had three holes where the putts looked good but hit the inside of the hole and lipped out. However, after bogeying the first three holes, I closed with 15 straight pars for a 75. 
 

Also, man they get the cart riders up here. Two weeks ago, Aldeen (Wisconsin adjacent) was $44 to walk and $64 to ride and Glen Erin was $37 to walk and $72(!) to ride. Old Hickory was $44 to walk and $64 to ride and Mascoutin was $44 to walk and $75 (lololol) to ride. When we checked in at Mascoutin they were out of carts, and as one pulled in the guys came stumbling out with multiple beer cans. Never change Wisconsin. 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2024 by ldchristopher

[DavePelz4]

Talk about having your lunch handed to you...Arrowhead's greenskeeper did it yesterday. From the speed of the greens, I'm guessing they were 13-14, to the precarious pin positions, Arrowhead was setup as tough as I can remember. As always there, above the hole is dead but stopping the ball on the front was nearly impossible as well unless you had a ton of spin on the ball. My normal ball flight is high and I had 7 and 8 irons land on the front of the green and go through the back, leaving a dreaded downhill shot.

 

Not a ton of positives to take away from the round other than walking/carrying.  78 days ago was my little procedure and to be able to walk 7 miles, carry and never have a single labored breath was a blessing. I kept checking the heart monitor and it rarely was over 100...probably what I shot considering the green speed and pin positions.

 

Operationally, Arrowhead is one of the best run facilities in our area and the staff is equally wonderful.  Was expecting to see a ton of cicadas considering the area but absent a few exoskeletons, you could hear them but rarely saw any.

 

Tomorrow trekking to Oak Grove for the annual Memorial Day round.  Don't mind the drive up but coming back is always a B with the holiday traffic.  Fingers crossed the rain stays away. Comp round Saturday at Foxford, lots and lots of driving for golf lately and upcoming.

[Holy Moses]

My uncles like Phillips Park, so we play there occasionally. A month or so ago one of the spray techs got Roundup mixed up with something else and torched about 25% of the front 9 including part of the 3rd green. The superintendent got fired as a result. They are reseeding, but it’s unfortunate. 
 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2024 by Holy Moses

[MountainKing]

Prairie Bluff today,  no way I'd risk going anywhere else,  PB always has guys moving things along making it a safe holiday play.  Course was in excellent shape,  was expecting cart path only,  but it had dried out nicely.  Pace was great a 3:50.  The guys in front of us had slow play potential, but the ranger was all over them the entire day.  Need more places to do this.

 

Another good day of ball striking, lot of great birdie looks. but sadly couldn't get a single putt to drop.  3 bogeys, lots of pars for a 75.

 

[MountainKing]

20 hours ago, Holy Moses said:

My uncles like Phillips Park, so we play there occasionally. A month or so ago one of the spray techs got Roundup mixed up with something else and torched about 25% of the front 9 including part of the 3rd green. The superintendent got fired as a result. They are reseeding, but it’s unfortunate. 
 

 

 

 

That's brutal,  I love PP.  I have heard they've been bri up front about this when booking and paying,  so good on them for that.   Hopefully by fall it'll be back to normal.

[ldchristopher]

Wrapped up Memorial Day Weekend with Edgewood Pines this morning. Bear booked the 5:40 and neither one of us expected a threesome of bros taking very big swings and making very little contact to snatch the 5:30. After we got through that on the third hole we flew. Both of us fully expected a swampy mess but were pleasantly surprised by fairly firm conditions. The two holes along the Fox River were basically wetlands but that’s the case at that place in mid-August. It’s a 36 hole facility with room for about 32 holes so the other four just get split between Pines and Oaks and constantly play as lift, clean and place. The rough had also been cut to speed up pace of play. Edgewood was ready for a full tee sheet. Kudos to them. 
 

I played very well. Less than ideal conditions with below-radar mist, winds and mid-50’s AM temps but I drove it very well and got more spin on approach shots as the greens dried out. Two birdies on 1 and 17 and three bogies for a 73. Played in 2:50. MountainKing, this is your future. Tee off before 6:00, off by 8:30. 

[Scratch2Plus]

Highlands of Elgin Wednesday and 36 at Prairie View on Friday...

[stasek]

6 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Prairie Bluff today,  no way I'd risk going anywhere else,  PB always has guys moving things along making it a safe holiday play.  Course was in excellent shape,  was expecting cart path only,  but it had dried out nicely.  Pace was great a 3:50.  The guys in front of us had slow play potential, but the ranger was all over them the entire day.  Need more places to do this.

 

Another good day of ball striking, lot of great birdie looks. but sadly couldn't get a single putt to drop.  3 bogeys, lots of pars for a 75.

 

We finished in 4:05, which was borderline miracle, since one of my playing partners shot ~140.  Game is still a mess - but there’s hope. Gotta clean up the 2-3 “WTF was that” shots, and I’ll be back in business . 
Highlight of the day - picked up 4 cicadas on my  back while retrieving one of the above mentioned shots that one hopped into the forest.  

[DavePelz4]

Oak Grove Monday, the weather held out thankfully and it was a fun round, albeit it extremely windy at times. Some of the greens, including the practice green, have some type of disease and apparently they're hoping Mother Nature will be the greenskeeper to remedy the situation, great job Golf Visions.  Thinking back to when OG first opened, it was in the top 5 in terms of greens quality, up there with the likes of Medinah or Arrowhead.  Now, it's a mere memory of what it used to be. 

 

Only in 1 bunker and shockingly, it had sand in it...and had been groomed within the last week. 

 

The range was extremely wet but the course, no so bad.  A few holes with a hint of a mud ball but not terrible. Not a ton of roll unless you hit a very low tee shot.

 

Paired with a father and son, who were honest about being "newer" golfers.  On multiple occasions, I had to ask them not to stand directly behind me, or drive their cart in front while I was hitting a shot. They have no idea of the danger with that. On the 8th tee as I saw the group in front of us clear the 9th green, I suggested we needed to kick it in gear.  It was rather common for them to each hit 2-3 tee shots, which was also done in the fairway, around the green, where ever.  But they were nice and actually asked for etiquette input a couple of times. Normally we're around 3:50 at OG walking, but this was a solid 4:30.

 

There were more people working at OG than I can remember seeing in a few years.  There were at least 3, which is 2 more than normal. Of course, the bartender/chef (well, he made hot dogs for someone we saw), didn't know how to open the cash register on a non-sale.  The Golf Visions training program is apparently as good as their deployment of sand.

 

Thinking we need to start a GoFundMe and get OG range balls from this century.  It's hilarious the variety of ball flights you can see from orbs that were around when Walter Hagen played. And we should kick in a few extra dollars so they could actually wash the balls at least annually.

 

Despite all that, still a fan of the layout, with the obvious exception of 11. 

[VNutz]

Took half the day and played Blackstone Friday afternoon. Rain storm came through right before tee time, but you wouldn't know it on the course, was playing pretty dry and fast. PW into the wind on the 2nd hole took a big hop to the back edge of the green.

 

First round of year, and the rust showed. Bunch of solid tee shots followed up by poor approaches. Pretty much bogey golf until a birdie birdie birdie finish. With the firmness and a bit of wind the entire group was inside 80 yards on 18, almost creeping up to the front bunker. Never seen anything like that there.

[VNutz]

One other thing, driving past Fresh Meadows on the daily, it's quite obvious its days are numbered. A bit of a bummer for me, not for the course, but the range. Spent many a night as a youth figuring out my swing there, there aren't many nearly as large as that around anymore. I know multiple HS golf teams use it in the fall, no idea where they go now. The grass section they've allowed to grow out and they don't let people hit off of anymore. Their putting green and chipping holes are overgrow, nets have huge gaping holes in them that cannot be safe to the golfers. Even on the course the rough between holes is massively overgrown. Only a matter of time it seems.

[zer0]

On 5/26/2024 at 2:10 PM, ldchristopher said:

Bear and I played two of our favorite Wisconsin courses yesterday, Old Hickory and Mascoutin. Old Hickory is always a fun challenge given the solid variety on the par 4’s and the need to work the ball. Given all the rain they had up here, I expected standing water all over. However, with the exception of some low spots, it mostly drained very well. There were no ponds in bunkers and the greens were probably running at a 9. Pretty decent for the amount of moisture the area dealt with.  My game was a little off but my wedges bailed me out to at least stay in the 70’s. 77 with no birdies and really only 3 makeable looks. 
 

Mascoutin was one of Golf.com’s Courses of the Year for 2023 and, given its proximity to Green Lake, isn’t exactly a secret. The layout on the original 18 is pretty standard parkland golf from the 70’s. It’s chock full of Larry Packard’s signature double dog leg par 5’s (there’s an applicable yet HIGHLY culturally insensitive quote from Jack Nicklaus that I can’t share for fear of banishment). The bunkers were quite rocky and the greens were inconsistent. Again, lots of rain does that. It looks like the course got hit with Dutch Elm Disease because about two thirds of the elm tree were cut down and several more were standing but looking very dead. No complaints from me. I’m pro-tree removal. Let the grass get more sun exposure. The Blue nine is such a good layout. Rick Jacobsen does well with elevation changes and that course has a lot of holes that look more like what one finds in Michigan. They do need sand in the bunkers. Shouldn’t be seeing weeds, hard pan and rocks. Again, no birdies and I had three holes where the putts looked good but hit the inside of the hole and lipped out. However, after bogeying the first three holes, I closed with 15 straight pars for a 75. 
 

Also, man they get the cart riders up here. Two weeks ago, Aldeen (Wisconsin adjacent) was $44 to walk and $64 to ride and Glen Erin was $37 to walk and $72(!) to ride. Old Hickory was $44 to walk and $64 to ride and Mascoutin was $44 to walk and $75 (lololol) to ride. When we checked in at Mascoutin they were out of carts, and as one pulled in the guys came stumbling out with multiple beer cans. Never change Wisconsin. 

 

 

 

 

LOVE the Scoot!    The Blue 9 is fantastic.  And the people working there couldn't be friendlier.

[zer0]

Sunset Valley for twilight Saturday night.  Course was in great shape.   2 birdies on the front followed by 2 doubles, sounds about right for me.

 

Shepherd's Crook yesterday at 7:45 am.  The Crook was in great shape, but pretty brutal at that time.  58 degrees, no sun, 25 MPH winds.   Felt like a beautiful day in Scotland.   Only saving grace is in that weather you can't smell the Bluffs of Zion, only gaze at their beauty from a distance.     Course destroyed me.  Sunk a 25 foot putt on 18 to save a 98 lol.

 

 

Heading to French Lick in a couple weeks.   I now have 6 rounds under my belt in past week and a half after not touching a club since August.  Been inconsistent with a low of 82 and high of 98, but index clocking in at 12.8 so I'll be looking forward to receiving some strokes that weekend.  Moreso looking forward to a couple trips to Shapiro's Deli in Indianapolis, but we all have our priorities.

[B-Man]

Arrowhead early yesterday. Couldn't notice that it had pissed down most of Sunday. Greens and fairways running fast. Pin was middle on 13. One player in our group was putting from the back edge and his next shot was a 60yrd pitch back up to the flag.

Edited May 28, 2024 by B-Man

[MountainKing]

17 hours ago, stasek said:

We finished in 4:05, which was borderline miracle, since one of my playing partners shot ~140.  Game is still a mess - but there’s hope. Gotta clean up the 2-3 “WTF was that” shots, and I’ll be back in business . 
Highlight of the day - picked up 4 cicadas on my  back while retrieving one of the above mentioned shots that one hopped into the forest.  

 

We probably would have been up at the 4 hour mark but the group in front of us went inside for drinks, we all dumped our shots close and got off the hole quick, we weren't about about to wait 5 minutes for them.  We got to 10 tee and the group in front of them was just teeing off and told us to go ahead for some reason, no complaints from us to randomly jump 2 groups. 

[Scratch2Plus]

HoE was in excellent shape. They're letting the fescue grow out which really frames each hole. Probably not the best for pace of play but sure does look nice...

Not as wet as I expected w- all the recent rain. Greens could have been quicker but a decent pace around a 9.5-10.

 

[Holy Moses]

Mt Prospect was superb on Monday. Greens were really rolling. They have the smallest bladed bentgrass I have ever seen. Anyone who what variety it is?