Hardest Public Holes in Chicagoland

[DavePelz4]

[quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1400893635' post='9357549']
[quote name='lordbyron' timestamp='1400892963' post='9357481']
How about # 9 at Mill Creek, I'm not sure if it's hard or just terrible. One of the holes I like the least in our area.
[/quote]

We're playing MC tomorrow and I love the 9th. Unless the winds are at a disadvantage, it's a reasonable drive and you can take a whack at the green. My 3w miss is right so I can still be in play with an up and down possibility.
[/quote]

LB...played MC on Saturday and hit a really nice drive. The problem was it cleared the hill and ended up near the bottom on a severe downhill, side hill lie. Had under 200 to the middle of the green and of course, I have to go for hit because hitting a 100 yard layup shot isn't anything fun. I hit so far behind the ball that it scooted to the right and behind the tree on the right side of the fairway with zero shot at the green. The only thing I could do was to pitch to the right of the green and you know how bad that green can be. Walked away with double...thought of you and now I think it's a hard hole...if you tee your tee shot in the wrong place and you think you're better than you really are.

[lordbyron]

[quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1401222320' post='9376023'][quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1400893635' post='9357549']
[quote name='lordbyron' timestamp='1400892963' post='9357481']
How about # 9 at Mill Creek, I'm not sure if it's hard or just terrible. One of the holes I like the least in our area.
[/quote]

We're playing MC tomorrow and I love the 9th. Unless the winds are at a disadvantage, it's a reasonable drive and you can take a whack at the green. My 3w miss is right so I can still be in play with an up and down possibility.
[/quote]

LB...played MC on Saturday and hit a really nice drive. The problem was it cleared the hill and ended up near the bottom on a severe downhill, side hill lie. Had under 200 to the middle of the green and of course, I have to go for hit because hitting a 100 yard layup shot isn't anything fun. I hit so far behind the ball that it scooted to the right and behind the tree on the right side of the fairway with zero shot at the green. The only thing I could do was to pitch to the right of the green and you know how bad that green can be. Walked away with double...thought of you and now I think it's a hard hole...if you tee your tee shot in the wrong place and you think you're better than you really are.[/quote]
If you really bust driver, it hurts you. I have done the same as you, hit what I thought should put me in great shape. I was in that long junk at the bottom left of the hill. I hit 2h, 8 iron to the lay up spot on most days there.

Im glad you're seeing things my way DP4.

[Hybrid]

[quote name='VNutz' timestamp='1401200624' post='9373663']
[quote name='Hybrid' timestamp='1401188893' post='9372761']
How about #17 at Palmira? Only the longest and straightest of drives get a glimpse of the fairway guarded by a tube of oaks into a highly elevated green. Also, the 16th at Deer Creek which is a long par 4 dog-leg right. OB left, water right. Either hole can break your heart and break your scorecard.
[/quote]

That's a BEAST of a hole. Do they still have a set of tees set back on the hill? When I played it in high school I want to say they could play it out to around 650 or so, with a tee shot that has to deal with a creek and a significant hill. Overall I'm a fan of that course, I like the work they've done there the past 10-15 years, much better than before.
[/quote]


Back tees are not in use. You can tell where they were but the area is all grown over. I like that course quite a bit. Great par 3s.

[VNutz]

[quote name='Hybrid' timestamp='1401452007' post='9395177']
[quote name='VNutz' timestamp='1401200624' post='9373663']
[quote name='Hybrid' timestamp='1401188893' post='9372761']
How about #17 at Palmira? Only the longest and straightest of drives get a glimpse of the fairway guarded by a tube of oaks into a highly elevated green. Also, the 16th at Deer Creek which is a long par 4 dog-leg right. OB left, water right. Either hole can break your heart and break your scorecard.
[/quote]

That's a BEAST of a hole. Do they still have a set of tees set back on the hill? When I played it in high school I want to say they could play it out to around 650 or so, with a tee shot that has to deal with a creek and a significant hill. Overall I'm a fan of that course, I like the work they've done there the past 10-15 years, much better than before.
[/quote]


Back tees are not in use. You can tell where they were but the area is all grown over. I like that course quite a bit. Great par 3s.
[/quote]

That's a bummer, they looked so awesome set back on that hill. I used to play that course in matches in high school and hated it. Went back about 10 years ago and they had put in a lot of work and it was MUCH improved, night and day.

[Thunder Dan]

#13 at Orchard Valley..... 450 par 4, can't hit driver as fairway stops at 280. So you have to lay up and left with a 200 plus to a green with water right and OB left.

[optpaul]

[quote name='HighSpeedScene' timestamp='1400504910' post='9322961']
Don't think anyone has mentioned it, but I've had some issues with 9 at Klein Creek. I don't like the course, but play it a few times a year due to proximity and some deals on golfnow.

From the backs, its just hard.
[/quote]

Played Klein Creek #9 into the wind and hooked my drive into a bunker meant for #11. Tough hole with water right

[Chicago Lefty]

Not sure if it was mentioned the but 6th hole on the Players course at Schaumburg Golf Club is tough. Long par 4 with trouble all around on the second shot.

[lordbyron]

[quote name='Chicago Lefty' timestamp='1401667152' post='9409885']Not sure if it was mentioned the but 6th hole on the Players course at Schaumburg Golf Club is tough. Long par 4 with trouble all around on the second shot.[/quote]
I Second...

I mentioned this hole somewhere...?

[jimwgt26]

[quote name='Thunder Dan' timestamp='1401663759' post='9409559']
#13 at Orchard Valley..... 450 par 4, can't hit driver as fairway stops at 280. So you have to lay up and left with a 200 plus to a green with water right and OB left.
[/quote]

I agree, that's a hard hole.

[VNutz]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1401677896' post='9411229']
[quote name='Thunder Dan' timestamp='1401663759' post='9409559']
#13 at Orchard Valley..... 450 par 4, can't hit driver as fairway stops at 280. So you have to lay up and left with a 200 plus to a green with water right and OB left.
[/quote]

I agree, that's a hard hole.
[/quote]

Agreed, hard hole, stupid hole. I feel like it's shorter than 280 to the end of the fairway, or at least it plays that way as the last 30 yards are downhill to all the crap. That hole really bothers me, it's not right when you're hitting more club on your second shot than on your tee shot on a par 4.

[Gdane]

#3 at Pine Meadow is one of the toughest pars IMO. The card says it plays 458 from the gold tees and 422 from the blue tees, but that has to be on a bird's flight. The hole is a dogleg left with a sloping green that is guarded by deep bunkers on either side. If you miss your tee shot left you're in the water, and if you miss right then there is no way you're getting home in 2. I poked one about 290 yesterday and still had 195 left into the fan. I'm not sure I've ever made a par there.

[businessclass]

I agree on #3 at Pine Meadow. I'd also add #10 at Buffalo Grove (436yd par 4). Fairly tight tee shot. I always seem to have trouble with that hole.

Also has anyone played the 9 hole course in Vernon Hills (VH Golf Course)? It's a short course with no par 5s. Hole #8 is a tough little par 4.

[jimwgt26]

[quote name='Gdane' timestamp='1402329622' post='9459535']
#3 at Pine Meadow is one of the toughest pars IMO. The card says it plays 458 from the gold tees and 422 from the blue tees, but that has to be on a bird's flight. The hole is a dogleg left with a sloping green that is guarded by deep bunkers on either side. If you miss your tee shot left you're in the water, and if you miss right then there is no way you're getting home in 2. I poked one about 290 yesterday and still had 195 left into the fan. I'm not sure I've ever made a par there.
[/quote]

I agree. I also think 6 and 7 are hard too, all three are long par 4's with undulating well protected greens.

[MarquetteWarrior]

[quote name='smilin assassin' timestamp='1400298588' post='9312413']
I agree on #18 at Stonewall Orchard, as well.

I will also say that #18 at Steeple Chase Golf Club is tough as well.
[/quote]

I actually have a very hard time keeping those two finishing holes straight. Very similar setup but Stonewall is harder.

When I played Steeplechase earlier this year, 3 of the 4 players in my group (myself included) were hitting our third shots within 140 yards of the green (confirmed by rangefinders). There was a light breeze and each one of us bombed our approach shots over the green and up the hill by the clubhouse. It was bizzare. There's something really deceptive about that hole.

I also agree with whomever mentioned #9 at Big Run. It's almost an impossible par and I've only had a couple of par putts there in the 12+ times I've played the course. It absolutely requires three perfect shots to get a GIR and you have to be pretty far left on the fairway to not get blocked on your approach shot. I almost always get a couple of beers at the turn thanks to that hole.

[Argonne69]

[quote name='MarquetteWarrior' timestamp='1404678521' post='9647385']
[quote name='smilin assassin' timestamp='1400298588' post='9312413']
I agree on #18 at Stonewall Orchard, as well.

I will also say that #18 at Steeple Chase Golf Club is tough as well.
[/quote]

I actually have a very hard time keeping those two finishing holes straight. Very similar setup but Stonewall is harder.

When I played Steeplechase earlier this year, 3 of the 4 players in my group (myself included) were hitting our third shots within 140 yards of the green (confirmed by rangefinders). There was a light breeze and each one of us bombed our approach shots over the green and up the hill by the clubhouse. It was bizzare. There's something really deceptive about that hole.
[/quote]

I didn't find #18 at SC difficult. I hit a nice 3 wood off the tee to the right side of the fairway, a hybrid to a nice layup distance, and then an easy 9 iron into the green. Granted, the layup area is a bit pinched, but not ridiculously so.

[UCBananaboy]

I'll add one to this list.

Played Broken Arrow a few weeks ago and #2 on the (North maybe?) side is a long Par 4 that pinches near the green. The green sits along a marsh with tall trees on the right, so you really have to hit a cut into it. Green is pretty severely pitched towards the marsh as well.

[fore_life]

When I was back visiting, I played golf club of il, that par 5 is rediculous! Not hard, just stupid long haha. Into the wind from the tips, I hit driver, 3w, 5 iron for par, and I'm not a short knocker either.

Prarie Isle had some tough holes, I think it was 10 or 11 that has an insane mound on the left middle part of the green, no way you could get it close. Unplayable. I hit my approach pin high in the left fringe, just barely touched my putt and it rolled like 15 feet passed the pin. I played with JakeBarnes and we were just dumbfounded by that pin

[zer0]

A little outside of range, but Island Hills just over the border in Michigan has a par 5 that is 640 from the tips and 613 from the blues......and was into the wind all 4 rounds we played there. And the initial drive is a forced uphill carry of about 200 yards. Fescue all along the left side makes any shot left in danger of being lost.

Played it 4 times and my scores were 8,8,8,6 and one of those 8s involved me picking up and just giving myself an 8. The 6 involved a perfect drive and two perfect hybrids and I was still short of the green by a few feet.

[stringbean502001]

[quote name='businessclass' timestamp='1402330275' post='9459639']
I agree on #3 at Pine Meadow. I'd also add #10 at Buffalo Grove (436yd par 4). Fairly tight tee shot. I always seem to have trouble with that hole.

Also has anyone played the 9 hole course in Vernon Hills (VH Golf Course)? It's a short course with no par 5s. Hole #8 is a tough little par 4.
[/quote]

Have to say I didn't expect to see Vernon Hills mentioned in this thread, but #8 actually is a really tough par--have a choice of carrying a drive 270 in the air to clear the water, or facing a 220+ second to a small green, that is a tough sloping chip if you are left/right.

Also agree with the person who said #9 at Thunderhawk--that seemingly wide open fairway is very deceiving. The real landing area is small for a correct approach--and having to clear the left makes the hole play long--heckuva hole. Have often thought about a chainsaw for the tree at the corner

[saggysag]

Agree with 9 at thunder, that hole is beast.

[Thunder Dan]

#3 at Lost Marsh is stupid hard. It's almost so hard it's a gimmick. You have a long iron or fairway wood into a green that drops off 3 stories and there is no room to miss the green. It should be a par 5. I'm a long hitter and normally hit 3 wood 4iron into it, then stand no shot on the green if the pin is in the back. I've played with guys that have 5 putted that green.

[Argonne69]

[quote name='Thunder Dan' timestamp='1409673758' post='10050013']
#3 at Lost Marsh is stupid hard. It's almost so hard it's a gimmick. You have a long iron or fairway wood into a green that drops off 3 stories and there is no room to miss the green. It should be a par 5. I'm a long hitter and normally hit 3 wood 4iron into it, then stand no shot on the green if the pin is in the back. I've played with guys that have 5 putted that green.
[/quote]

I don't find the multi-tier green all that difficult. It's getting to the green that's hard. I played it on Saturday with a stiff tailwind, and hit a very nice drive than ran though the fairway and into the rough. I was left with a downhill lie (on the right-side mounds) in the rough 210 yards out. Oy. I layed up short of the creek, hit a wedge into the green, and two putted for a bogey. There's no way I could have gone for the green. As you note, you need two perfect shots to get to the green.

Frankly, they should move the tee box on #4 east 50 yards, converting it to a par 4, and then move the entire 3rd green complex to the right, allowing for more turf near the green.

Either that, or move the teebox on #3 back 50 yards and make it a par 5. There's plenty of room behind the 3rd tee, as it's part of the underused 9 hole executive course.

[sopel10]

[quote name='fore_life' timestamp='1408559756' post='9974257']
When I was back visiting, I played golf club of il, that par 5 is rediculous! Not hard, just stupid long haha. Into the wind from the tips, I hit driver, 3w, 5 iron for par, and I'm not a short knocker either.

Prarie Isle had some tough holes, I think it was 10 or 11 that has an insane mound on the left middle part of the green, no way you could get it close. Unplayable. I hit my approach pin high in the left fringe, just barely touched my putt and it rolled like 15 feet passed the pin. I played with JakeBarnes and we were just dumbfounded by that pin
[/quote]

11 is the dogleg left with a 3 tier green so you must be talking about 10. I've played there 30-40 times over the past 5 years and can't recall that green being tricky at all. Greens are somewhat slow too. Also, 10th is a 3 shot par 5, so you usually end up with something short into that green.