Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[MountainKing]

On 2/16/2025 at 5:14 PM, ldchristopher said:

Thanks. I was never gonna be a country club guy and I’m not in that tax bracket anyway. But last year really pushed me. Cart speaker-wielding Covid bros aren’t going anywhere and they have started taking early tee times and late morning times after dropping off my kid at camp or whatever were either getting impossible to find or were guaranteed slogs. Hopefully that can be mitigated. And if it doesn’t work the financial commitment is a nothingburger.

 

I was a member there for a long time,  been thinking about joining back.   You can get on Old Wayne as well.   They had perm times on the weekends, but beyond that super easy to grab a time,  and it's dead in the afternoons.   Very easy to get 36.   Its a fun course,  especially from the tips.

[taylorx300]

Blackstone is for sale. Should we buy it as a group and make it private?

[DavePelz4]

11 hours ago, taylorx300 said:

Blackstone is for sale. Should we buy it as a group and make it private?

 

Where did you get that scoop?

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Where did you get that scoop?

 

 

The listing is on Google - almost 7 million.   I don't see this being a good thing.   I doubt anybody will buy it and keep it as is, either a big management company will buy it and we know how that goes, or somebody will buy it knowing what it is and jacking up the prices even more.   Even with them raising their rates, they probably can get away with raising them a lot more.

[TheBear95]

49 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

 

The listing is on Google - almost 7 million.   I don't see this being a good thing.   I doubt anybody will buy it and keep it as is, either a big management company will buy it and we know how that goes, or somebody will buy it knowing what it is and jacking up the prices even more.   Even with them raising their rates, they probably can get away with raising them a lot more.

 

Most likely option #2, as there's some meat on the bone there when it comes to the rates. 

 

I play Blackstone maybe once a season, so if the rates get jacked, oh well. There's a part of me hoping that will be the case because I find their "members", sorry season pass holders, to be completely obnoxious. 

Edited February 20 by TheBear95

[Holy Moses]

9 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Most likely option #2, as there's some meat on the bone there when it comes to the rates. 

 

I play Blackstone maybe once a season, so if the rates get jacked, oh well. There's a part of me hoping that's will be the case because I find their "members", sorry season pass holders, to be completely obnoxious. 

I used to play it a lot, but it got too pricey last year. Love the course, but not close to $100. 

[MountainKing]

10 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Most likely option #2, as there's some meat on the bone there when it comes to the rates. 

 

I play Blackstone maybe once a season, so if the rates get jacked, oh well. There's a part of me hoping that's will be the case because I find their "members", sorry season pass holders, to be completely obnoxious. 

 

Never had any real run in's with their "members" until last year until we had one drive up on his with his built in cart stereo blasting at concert levels, then decided it would be good to hit his shot on 17 with us having just stepped off the green.   He said we were walking to slow for his liking, I told him next time to just hit while we're on the green because that's the safest place anybody can be with how much he sucks.   I love Blackstone, but if they start getting into the $120-130 range, I'd rather just pay another $40-50 and go play Dubs and stay local.

[TheBear95]

5 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

Never had any real run in's with their "members" until last year until we had one drive up on his with his built in cart stereo blasting at concert levels, then decided it would be good to hit his shot on 17 with us having just stepped off the green.   He said we were walking to slow for his liking, I told him next time to just hit while we're on the green because that's the safest place anybody can be with how much he sucks.   I love Blackstone, but if they start getting into the $120-130 range, I'd rather just pay another $40-50 and go play Dubs and stay local.

 

Yeah, that's been my experience with their "members". Etiquette and common courtesy doesn't exist.

 

Well, they now have the opportunity to buy Blackstone, take it private and continue their clown show.

[taylorx300]

DP - same person who told me about the McHenry CC acquisition.

Supposedly the Blackstone owner is moving and McHenry CC is changing to McHenry Golf Club, new owner, management, restaurant, HP and everything else that goes with it.

can’t really call it a country club if there is no pool or tennis available.

[Symphonize]

21 minutes ago, taylorx300 said:

DP - same person who told me about the McHenry CC acquisition.

Supposedly the Blackstone owner is moving and McHenry CC is changing to McHenry Golf Club, new owner, management, restaurant, HP and everything else that goes with it.

can’t really call it a country club if there is no pool or tennis available.

They can’t throw a few floaties in the fox river and use that? 

[DavePelz4]

37 minutes ago, taylorx300 said:

DP - same person who told me about the McHenry CC acquisition.

Supposedly the Blackstone owner is moving and McHenry CC is changing to McHenry Golf Club, new owner, management, restaurant, HP and everything else that goes with it.

can’t really call it a country club if there is no pool or tennis available.

 

That was at the point where I was looking for opportunities. Now, it's all about dividends and golf!

[DavePelz4]

Ironically, Carillon is also for sale...$6.8M. Must be a thing.

 

Looked at the listing/numbers...throwing off $900K/year in cash.

Edited February 20 by DavePelz4

[DavePelz4]

10 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

Ironically, Carillon is also for sale...$6.8M. Must be a thing.

 

Looked at the listing/numbers...throwing off $900K/year in cash.

 

The Blackstone exec summary only says "cash flow positive." Hmmm.

[ldchristopher]

I’m not crying over Blackstone. Courses like that were 100% developed to be sold. The worst people in America might need to pay more for their season pass? 

[Jc0]

How is the Chicago golf show? Never been and I have a 2 year old that is showing some interest in golf (corrupt them while their young). Thought it might be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

[@_the_crook]

6 hours ago, Jc0 said:

How is the Chicago golf show? Never been and I have a 2 year old that is showing some interest in golf (corrupt them while their young). Thought it might be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

well, it's a giant room with multiple aisles of vendor stalls. selling everything from clubs/bags to clothing/accessories to replacement windows/gutters. there are also multiple 'destination' reps from various states/regions and every darn one wants you to fill out a slip with your contact information for their prize 'drawing'.  they'll all blast you with marketing emails post-show. I'd recommend not giving any info to the home repair reps. you'll never get off their phone list.

 

some booths have freebies, like packs of tees or ballmarks. many have literature/advertising on their location, some will even give you a tote or plastic bag for that.

 

the CGDA will most likely have a large area for their members with many nice exhibits, etc.

 

the main stage, depending on your timing, may have featured speakers, entertainment. along one of the far walls are several manufacturers offering free product demos and/or a speed lesson.

 

then there's the center area, with the longest putt competition, which can be fun to watch for a while.

 

it's quite a bit of walking around - so I don't know how to gauge that for a youngster.

 

parking is about $15 across the street in the big lot on River Rd. . 

inside - there are some concession/beer stands for refreshments and also a Starbucks in the center's main lobby.

 

our group goes in the morning and we're done by lunch.

[propman]

Went for a number of yrs but got bored with it. Alot of walking for next to nothing.

Not that confident a 2 yr old will be entertained.

[ldchristopher]

I’m going to the Milwaukee golf show this year. Free parking and great people watching. Three types of people go to the Milwaukee Golf Show: guys in camo, guys in Packers gear and guys in Badgers gear. 
Plus, I was just in Rosemob for Unicorn World (dad life). No desire to fight traffic on 90 outbound and inbound. 

Edited February 23 by ldchristopher

[MountainKing]

The Chicago golf show seems to survive on the newbs.  Most  of us that have been playing long enough know better than to waste time on it.

[B-Man]

I go with some of the locals who have only been playing the last few years. It's a big time for them! Usually I pick up my cheapo supply of gloves for the year although I did go to the baby golf show down in Tinley a month ago and picked up last years Bridgestone BXs for $24 a dozen.

[Gdane]

On 2/22/2025 at 6:15 PM, Jc0 said:

How is the Chicago golf show? Never been and I have a 2 year old that is showing some interest in golf (corrupt them while their young). Thought it might be a fun way to spend an afternoon.

 

I go every year. Taking my son on Friday afternoon to check out the kids stuff, and then returning Saturday with a big group.  We use it as an excuse to get away from the families for a day and see how long we can last in Edison Park afterwards before we realize we're not cut out for day drinking anymore.

 

As stated before in this thread, if you enter the drawings you're going to get inundated with junk mail.  There are generally a ton of club and hat vendors and some years the main stage is more entertaining than others (this year may be the biggest dud in terms of "headliners" in recent memory).  The year they had Paige Spiranac was eye-opening in terms of how creepy lonely guys can be.  

[Springsteennut]

It’s about the only flea market I’ll go to. I’m retired so I’ll probably go for a little while on Friday while the wife is working from home. Then again I might just take a nap.

[psygolf]

On 2/23/2025 at 5:19 PM, MountainKing said:

The Chicago golf show seems to survive on the newbs.  Most  of us that have been playing long enough know better than to waste time on it.

But you did at one time, probably more than once-?

[MountainKing]

8 hours ago, psygolf said:

But you did at one time, probably more than once-?

 

Yes, and No

[ldchristopher]

From an equipment standpoint, the golf show has all the stuff that didn’t sell in stores and online. So, yeah, it’s marked down, but the shaft/head combos can be kinda funky. Lots of 75 gram stiff driver shafts. Things like that. Still worth a trip if you’ve never been. Not really an environment for a 2 year old if you go on weekends. 

[psygolf]

9 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Yes, and No

I went once or twice…the year they held it at the Arlington Race Track was actually quite nice.

 

No PGA Orlando Show though…and it shouldn’t be.

[ldchristopher]

Remember last Tuesday when the forecast for today was low 40s? Yeah, me too. That seemed playable so I booked the home of (winter) golf, St. Andrews. The actual weather was in the low 20s with a biting wind right in our face when Bear and I teed off. Once we got through the first three holes it was actually fine. The greens were about half frozen but the overnight cold firmed up the fairways to the point there was no mud. I hit the ball well considering I hadn’t played in a while. 

[GwrxMod]

No politics per the Terms Of Service. Let's keep it about golf.    

[ldchristopher]

Sanctuary today. There was frost all over the place but no delay. The pro said they won’t bother with frost delays until they cut the greens. Ball striking was a little iffy but I had three birdies, including two chip-ins on 1 and 14 for a 75. 

[Holy Moses]

Weather looking great next week. Are most courses opening up?