The Bourne, Marseilles IL

[ChaosTheory]

Gonna play The Bourne in a few days. Never played it, but I understand local knowledge is required. Does anyone have any advice for any of the holes? Thanks.

[DavePelz4]

Reach out to Argonne in the Chicago thread. He played it last week and can give you the most up to date info.

[Argonne69]

Hole 1: Dogleg right. You have to drive it out far enough to have a clear shot at the green, as there are trees on the inside corner. Avoid missing the green left, as there are a number of overgrown pine trees with low branches. If the ball gets under them, you'll have a hard time finding the ball. Personally, I really wish golf courses would trim pine trees so that you can see a ball under them at a minimum.

 

Hole 2: Elevated tee. Draw is preferred, but there is prairie grass and a small stream on the left side. Favor the right.

 

Hole 3: Short par 4 sweeping right. Less than driver to the left side of the fairway to avoid the trees blocking the approach from the right.

 

Hole 4: Strange par 5. You'll likely hit 6 iron, 8 iron, 8 iron, unless you have the distance to carry the hedge. I believe it's 240 on the right side, and 225 on the left. However, there are trees on the left that could be an issue if you run the ball into the rough.

 

Hole 5: Sweeper right. The right side is thick forest, so don't over-fade the ball.

 

Hole 6: Short par 3. Straightforward.

 

Hole 7. Severe dogleg right. Gotta get the drive out far enough to clear the corner.

 

Hole 8: Par 3. Straightforward.

 

Hole 9: The view of the green is blocked by the trees. Play a fade, but avoid the slice, as there is dense prairie grass that can't be seen from the teebox running along the right side of the hole.

 

Hole 10: Bomb away from the elevated tee, and favor the right side.

 

Hole 11: Short par 3. No worries.

 

Hole 12: Short and narrow par 4 with plenty of trees. Sweeps right. I hit a fairway wood off the tee, leaving a wedge into the green.

 

Hole 13: Par 5 with an elevated teebox. The opening is small, and the trees on the right would interfere with a big draw, so I hit a fade off the tee. Easily reachable with a good drive, but if I recall correctly there's a tree in the middle of the fairway near the layup area, so you have to decide if you're going to fade or draw the ball around it.

 

Hole 14: Straightforward par 4.

 

Hole 15: Long, tricky par 3. The greens sits high, with severe slopes on all sides, Don't miss left, as there's a hazard at the bottom of the slope.

 

Hole 16: Short but very deceiving par 4. Sweeper right. You basically have to hit your drive over the water hazard on the corner. Too far left and you'll run through the fairway, even with a fairway wood off the tee.

 

Hole 17: Very tough, long par 4. The fairway is a bit of a sweeper left, and narrows significantly. You have to chance it, because a long approach to the green on the other side of the creek has very little in the way of a bailout area.

 

Hole 18: Par 5 dogleg left. Don't go left into the trees, or you'll pretty much have to punch out, and still be left with two more shots given the dogleg. Favor the right side.

[ChaosTheory]

Thanks! I have printed this out. And used it with Google Earth to try to nail down some kind of rough plan. It looks like we might be moving up on a handful of tee boxes in order to be able to get to the landing areas.