mci711

Thank you for this! I am staying at the Carolina Hotel, I never heard anything about construction, hopefully that isn't too impactful.

Going to Pinehurst in a few weeks. My wife is going and was supposed to play but had to have foot surgery. We changed her package to the spa package so that will give her something to do. She is going to walk #2 most likely with me because she is a big golf nerd and wants to see it. Other than that we are just planning on eating and hanging out around the town. Long winded, but is there anything else to do? Any restaurants that are a must? Looking for some ideas. Thanks

Nice. You'll have a blast. Literally the most fun combo of courses I've played at one place. I think it is the best golf resort anywhere in the midwest. Get the tacos at the turn on Sand Valley.

I'd rather play SV, MD, and Sand Box over anything else. Lawsonia is overrated. It is good, but nowhere near the level of Sand Valley courses. Sand box is a good idea to get use to the greens/tight lies you'll have on SV and MD. You may have trouble getting a room, I am pretty sure they are close to booked up this summer. If you need a course to play Sunday I'd play Erin Hills 10 times out 10 over Lawsonia. But cost wise it is quite a bit more. I do like University Ridge. It is a fun course.

Not everyone is lucky enough to live in Oregon! Couldn't imagine going to FL from OR.

I live on the Hill now and lived in Chicago's Little Italy for 5 years the past decade. There is just no comparison at all. Chicago feels no different than any other neighborhood. The Hill is an awesome place.

Depends on what you are looking for. Salt & Smoke is in ballpark village and is really good BBQ. Super convenient and probably the best food near Busch. For dinner check out "The Hill" St Louis' little Italy if you want Italian. Gian Tony's or Lorenzo's are my picks for dinner. Lunch spots Amighetti's or Gioia's. Gioia's won a James Beard award and has been on food network, cooking channel etc. But I think Amighetti's is better. The Hill is kind of known for the food and a great safe neighborhood. High end accommodations - Ritz in Clayton or 4 seasons down town.

Conditions should be starting to get into shape by then but won't be prime yet. If you are downtown you should play Gateway National directly across the river. Not a ton of good public courses in the area. Gateway, Annbriar, and maybe Pevely Farms or Aberdeen would be my picks for public courses. Nothing fits your description for number 3. Are you a member at a private course? There are a lot of decent accessible private options.

Didn't know the numbers, that is interesting. I'd say the my biggest issue with Phoenix/scottsdale is what you said, housing developments. Even the "best" courses. People love Troon and it gets great reviews but I feel like I am being smothered by houses at some points. That is why We-ko-pa and AK-Chin are on another level to me. Quintero is pretty but just an ok layout. I've never played the lower tier courses there though, unless we count TPC lol.

Yes, there is no shot I could only play FL courses for my day to day golf. I don't even vacation there anymore because playing golf is a big part of what I do on vacation. The Chicago area is so great because you can play a different course every day for weeks and be pretty happy with what you are getting and also have a ton of variety. The public quantity is really unmatched, maybe Arizona? I felt this a lot when I moved away this past year.

Just answering half of the above question for you

Until the bears ownership changes none of this really matters.

Pine Barrens is awesome, haven't played the other course. I had a blast there when I went. It was also one of the best deals in the country - top 100 I think I paid like $70 bucks when I played. Only public course worth playing in the area that isn't at Streamsong. Everything Keiser touches turns to gold, so I can only see this being a great thing.

This is a great option. I didn't think about playing Mistwood and Dubs the same day and being able to add another high end course like Bowes or HoE. I'd probably play Blackstone over them but that is a bit further. This option obviously doesn't work if you are coming up on Thursday and jumping off 55 directly to Mistwood from St Louis the day of your travel.

duplicate, deleted sorry.