Moving to Chicago - Need to get "clubbed"

It looks like we are moving to Chicago in a few months. I'm a scratch golfer that likes to have a regular game every Saturday and Sunday (very cool wife...) but don't know any golfers in the area. I am looking to live on the North Shore or near-West burbs and am curious as to what is the best way to integrate into competitive games with some good people. My preference is to have a home club where I can get to know people and can just show up and find games. For example:

(1) are there any private clubs doing deals?

(2) do the high-end public tracks offer memberships as well and are they worth it?

(3) are there any societies of competitive golfers that play various courses.

Also, there seems to be no love out there for the Glen Club....why is that? It looks nice, Fazio is a good architect and it got rave reviews by the press.

Thanks to all.

Ridge,

Welcome to Chicago. There are many private clubs with special membership deals right now. The top tier clubs, Medinah, Butterfield, etc. are still pretty hard to to get into, but most clubs are actively looking for new members. Although it is a bit of a ride from the north shore, Olympia Fields is not too terribly difficult to join, and not as expensive as many would think. There are also annual memberships available at many of the high end public courses, running about $5,000/yr. If you are looking for pure competition, the CDGA runs many tournaments and USGA qualifiers throughout the season. As for the Glen Club, many feel it is overpriced.

Hi Ridge, I can share some info. I belong to a great club in the North Shore. It's affordable and a great men's association (tournaments, parties, events, etc.).

PM me and I'll be happy to share more info.

Tom

The north shore clubs are all, pretty much, awesome - but finding any deals up there won't happen at the really good tracks. There are crazy good deals for private clubs down south (like ofcc, flossmoor, etc) - there are also some good deals near west and west right now, as well as some good deals for paying annual fees at some high end public tracks (prairie landing in West Chicago is the best deal, IMO).

Feel free to pm me if you want any help...I will give you my email address and we can communicate that way.

Edit: if you like competition, check out www.localamateurgolf.com - my buddy runs it and it has everything you would want to know about Chicago area tournaments.

I do believe Cog Hill does memberships. That would be your best bet. Course 4 is just pure awesome and then you have course 2 that is decent then two others that are well not great. So you could never get bored there with 4 courses to play and there range is magical. Dubs greens roll around a 10-10.5 year round and are normally in outstanding shape for the amount of play it gets.

Cog Hill does not offer memberships. They do have a permanent tee time program, but no memberships.

Thanks. Anyone have any thoughts on prices/access to places like Skokie, North Shore, Conway Farms, Shoreacres?

[quote name='Ridge' timestamp='1316699403' post='3582203']
Thanks. Anyone have any thoughts on prices/access to places like Skokie, North Shore, Conway Farms, Shoreacres?
[/quote]

I live in the western suburbs and haven't played any of those courses, but I would imagine Conway Farms would be the most accessible. Shoreacres is supposed to be one of the best courses in Chicagoland and is pretty exclusive. All of them would be pretty expensive to join, I would think, just knowing their location.

What are you truly looking for? Conway will get boring so will merit club. Shoreacres is a great course but short. Depending on what your looking for and the money along with were you decide to get settled in Olympia is probably your best bet (since they have 2 courses) I get bored very quickly with golf courses. I am sure you do too since you probably play just like me in a sense playing the same course over and over again gets tiring. It is more fun to have a change. Also look into Stonewall orchard Thunderhawk. I know for a fact stonewall orchard has a membership program. Stonewall is a monster of a course and it changes daily with the wind. Always in great shape. I don't know about thunderhawk tho on a membership since it is a lake county course. Thunderhawk is the most under rated course in probably the midwest.

So Ridge, what have you decided?

thanks for the color....

why would conway or merit club become boring? i've played merit club and thought it was a good course but haven't played anything else north of chicago. i do like olympia fields but if we are living north of chicago, i can't imagine the club would get much usage. are there people that make the drive to play? stonewall looked nice and i like arthur hills' courses.

ultimately i want a good, tough golf course with a lot of low handicappers which is within a full-service club for my family to use at a fair price....doesn't seem like to much to ask?????


[quote name='jdhallissey' timestamp='1316734989' post='3583713']
What are you truly looking for? Conway will get boring so will merit club. Shoreacres is a great course but short. Depending on what your looking for and the money along with were you decide to get settled in Olympia is probably your best bet (since they have 2 courses) I get bored very quickly with golf courses. I am sure you do too since you probably play just like me in a sense playing the same course over and over again gets tiring. It is more fun to have a change. Also look into Stonewall orchard Thunderhawk. I know for a fact stonewall orchard has a membership program. Stonewall is a monster of a course and it changes daily with the wind. Always in great shape. I don't know about thunderhawk tho on a membership since it is a lake county course. Thunderhawk is the most under rated course in probably the midwest.
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Consider Kemper Lakes.

Maybe you should look into Ivanhoe Club if you are living in the North Suburbs of Chicago. I have not played it but heard it is a challenging course

Ivanhoe is a good track. They have 27 holes. Kemper is also another great track. You also have royal melburne. I have played merit a bunch and it is a good course but gets boring mentally. It doesnt make you play golf shots. Same with conway farms the first 4 holes then a few more are absolutely outstanding then after those you get back into boring golf. I like courses were there is no back down to them. I like being almost dead when i miss tho so my courses are a little different.

Skokie is fantastic...hope you're jewish though

you can easily get clubbed in certain parts of the city....

[quote name='mthibo' timestamp='1317260215' post='3600795']
you can easily get clubbed in certain parts of the city....
[/quote]

as a lifelong red wing fan i expect it in chicago...especially now that the lions have come alive and the tigers are running down the american league!

Ridge don't worry I am a redwings fan, lions fan, tigers fan-- UofM fan!!! So you will fit in just fine out here! Then when you become a member I will look forward to the golf invites to your said club lol!

Shoreacres looks a little over the top elitist to me....must wear jacket and tie at all times in the clubhouse/dining room, cell phones only permitted in the parking lot, etc....good grief. I'm guessing the membership is a bit up there in age.

Yea shore acres is a really great course but there is more old money there that I figure in the next 5 years it will be a cemetery lol. I have played it twice and got yelled at the second time. I walked in to thank the people who let us out. Pro, general manager and the front desk lady (she ran the inside sales or something) I walked into the proshop and a member just about killed me when I was in there and then when I tried to explain what I was doing he said the outside public is not allowed inside the building. The caddy shack was were I and my 3 buddies belonged. I will not be back there to play.

Huh, I had a great experience at shoreacres. At northmoor two years ago for my usam qualifier practice round, I was told when making my time that I was not allowed in any of the buildings, and that I could only use the practice green for 5 minutes and not the practice tee. I clarified that I was only allowed on the putting green and from there had to go directly to the first tee - that is correct, the woman said.

So I did exactly what they asked and didn't pay the practice round fee - after all, I wasn't allowed in the pro shop.

Pretty average club and course to be that uppity...

Yea northmoore and knollwood are the same way. When I played shoreacres it was just a fun round and I really wanted to thank the people that made it possible. The best way to do that is thank them in person, makes the best impression along with showing them that respect they might let you back out again more often. Conway Farms is actually a really laid back course. The inside is gorgeous. Another great club house is at Medinah. I would say if at all possible RIDGE get a membership here. The other issue is you are going to pay a pretty pretty penny for the premiere private clubs in IL. They like to rip people off in this state.

Thanks for the feedback. My research has got me focused on the following two tiers...open for opinion on (1) the golf course, (2) the club membership. Please note that I have never seen any of these places with the exception of the Merit Club, and my experience there was skewed by meeting Michael Jordan!

[u]Tier 1:[/u]
(1) Skokie
(2) North Shore
(3) Shoreacres

[u]Tier 2:[/u]
(1) Exmoor
(2) Evanston
(3) Merit Club
(4) Glenview Club

I would love to join Olympia but if living on the North Shore, I couldn't imaging ever driving that far to play golf or use for dinner, etc.

Well let me know when you pick and I will be your golfing buddy whenever you need one lol.

yes but i conveniently leave out the fact that I don't know what they cost or anyone at the club to sponsor me... i guess it is all about which is the ideal club.

Ohh if you pick one I know a few guys around who could sponsor you. Most clubs right now are not caring about sponsors because they need the money that bad. Hey I will even be your driver lol

Skokie COST--- ummm probably 600 a month I would say. not including the 10k down or so.

Exmoor is by far the best course of the second tier - IMO, of course. And the club is awesome.

The first tier is all awesome - can't go wrong there.

[quote name='Ridge' timestamp='1319343380' post='3706717']
Thanks for the feedback. My research has got me focused on the following two tiers...open for opinion on (1) the golf course, (2) the club membership. Please note that I have never seen any of these places with the exception of the Merit Club, and my experience there was skewed by meeting Michael Jordan!

[u]Tier 1:[/u]
(1) Skokie
(2) North Shore
(3) Shoreacres

[u]Tier 2:[/u]
(1) Exmoor
(2) Evanston
(3) Merit Club
(4) Glenview Club

I would love to join Olympia but if living on the North Shore, I couldn't imaging ever driving that far to play golf or use for dinner, etc.
[/quote]

My dad is a member at Glen View Club (I am 14). It is a great and challenging I carry a 4.5 index and the first 5 holes from the tips are the hardest stretch of holes you will find around. The club is great for families, I learned to swim there when I was there and they really love junior golf. Junior are allowed to go to the range by themselves and once you become a respectable golfer (shooting in the 90's) they let juniors invite a guest for FREE! Glen View beats Evanston in quality of course and beauty of the course. I haven't played Exmoor or Merit Club. Also in the winter they freeze a pond and turn it into a skating rink to play pond hockey, which is a blast.
I do not know what membership expenses are or how to become a member but the course is great and you are bound to find a great match. Over the summer I was playing alone and a 60 year old man asked to join and he became very competitive and it became a match he was a 4 handicap.

[quote name='Ridge' timestamp='1316699403' post='3582203']
Thanks. Anyone have any thoughts on prices/access to places like Skokie, North Shore, Conway Farms, Shoreacres?
[/quote]

these are the elite courses in the rea. good luck and mucho dough!!

I would not do Glen view golf club as a membership. It is a ok golf course but it is boring. I will not be back out there again, great staff just not enough golf course for 150 bucks a round. For that price I would drive to cog hill or go the geneva national.