Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[ldchristopher]

I'm gonna try to get in 18 at Sanctuary on Friday. The forecast calls for 42 and overcast but I don't see any rain. The weekend also looks playable, with - gasp - sun and highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s. I'm sure it'll be muddy but all the courses that haven't closed for the season will at the very least be letting walkers out.

[PuttCurseRepeat]

I'm just surprised that Chicago Highlands is finally getting a clubhouse. That place has USGA-ready greens and the layout is awesome. I guess the only critique of the course is that since it's a former construction debris dump, it lacks water hazards. However, with no clubhouse they weren't really in the running for any events, and hosting is the most high-profile way to boost memberships. John Baxter is a massive tool but he's got balls (him showing up at LaGrange CC and offering to buy the club rather than build an entirely new course is one of the balliest a------ moves I can think of and opening a country club in the midst of a recession is just as gutsy) and he knows how to successfully build a brand. With that course and a decent clubhouse, I'll be very intrigued to see what happens with Highlands. They could very easily play it as a 7500-yard par 71 and make 18 a par 4. It's got plenty of other tour-length holes and the greens, as I mentioned, are like ice. I can see pros complaining incessantly about 9 (the Mount Vesuvius hole) and 13 (a 240-yard par 3 with a hidden green), and I interpret pros complaining as it being a sufficiently challenging course.

 

I can't see a PGA event being held at Highlands, but you never know. Access to the course is through a single choke point. There is absolutely no access to the grounds from the west and north, and dense residential due east. There is some commercial property to the northeast, but it would take a lot of cooperation with the property manager to grant additional access there, and to the southeast there is lightly developed residential, but would probably necessitate significant land acquisition by the club.

 

The course itself is enjoyable, save for the unfortunate green complexes on #'s 2, 13 and 15. Would they leave the green speeds at 13+ as they play for the membership? Slowed down a couple of notches, I just don't see the course having enough defense to make it very interesting for the tour pros.

[Argonne69]

First tee time of the day tomorrow at Sportsman's. I expect a frost delay, but hopefully I'll tee off no later than 8:30 am.

 

Sunday morning early at Wilmette. 'Hope they have hot chocolate in the clubhouse.

[preiter20]

Just ran across this. No affiliation or financial interest. May break up the post holiday funk.

 

http://www.chicagogolfreport.com/event/northern-illinois-golf-expo-2017/

 

Northern Illinois Golf Expo 2017

January 13, 2017 - January 15, 2017

 

Lake County Fairgrounds

Tenco Events, owners and operators of the Tinley Park Golf Expo, have announced the creation of a new golf show, the Northern Illinois Golf Expo. This new show will be held in the Lake County Fairgrounds and Event Center in Grayslake, IL January 13-15, 2017.

 

Exhibitors from approximately 20 local and regional golf courses will hand out information and greens fee discounts. Tenco also anticipates participation from the IPGA; in the dedicated Lessons Area, attendees can receive free one-on-one golf instruction from PGA professionals. A Closest to the Pin golf simulator contest, as well as Longest Drive and Long Putt contests, will offer attendees opportunities to win wonderful prizes. Parking is free in the Lake County Fairgrounds parking lot for the 2017 NIGE.

 

 

[B-Man]

Spur of the moment game yesterday at Big Run. A few fellow golfing buddies hold a tournament every Black Friday and I've been invited for years so I decided to play for the first time.

 

After a Bloody Mary on the 1st tee, that is all.

[Argonne69]

Caught a bit of a break with the weather this morning at Sportsman's. I arrived at 7:30 am expecting a frost delay with the 37 degree temps, but they told me to go ahead and tee off. Nice! Very little wind made for a nice round. The course is in decent shape, although the greens are soft and slow. No big deal, though. Anything after Thanksgiving is a bonus. Always great to start the weekend with a 2.5 hour round.

 

Solid day all around. 5 birdies offset 5 bogies. A birdie on the par 5 17th was the highlight after I pounded my new 7 wood to within 50 yards of the green. Should have put the club in my bag ages ago. Of course I stumbled on 18 to blow my chance at an under par round. Argh.

 

Sitting at Goose Island enjoying the latest batch of Bourbon County Stout. It's going to be a nice afternoon, too. Lol.

[DavePelz4]

Beautiful fall day in Naperhell. Played Springbrook for possibly the last round of the year. The course is still very green and as you can imagine, the greens are slow with minimal maintenance being done now. A bit over 3.5 hours which isn't bad. They need to do a bit of leaf pick up or moving them off the fairways as there were a couple of holes that had significant amounts of leaves in the fairway. Stuck a wedge to 4 feet on 18 so just in case that was the last hole of the year, it was a birdie finish.

[Argonne69]

'Not quite the morning I was expecting at Wilmette. There was no frost delay again, so it was an early start. Perhaps too early. The winds were stronger than yesterday, so there was definitely a chill in the air with the temps in the upper 30's. I don't think it broke 40 before I was done. The course was in pretty poor shape. It looks like they're trying to kill the fairway grass to reseed it, so it a muddy mess of half dormant grass. The fairways at Sportsman's were much more playable. In addition, the goose sh*t was pretty awful. 'Took nearly 20 minutes after the round to clean up. This is the last day of the season there, so hopefully the spring will bring better conditions. The greens were actually in very nice shape, as were the bunkers.

 

So-so round. Things were just a bit off with the ball striking. Oh well.

[ldchristopher]

I played Sanctuary on Friday and Foxford Hills today. Sanctuary was in rough shape. The greens were very bumpy and beat up and the fairways were equally awful. It was a $20 round with $20 conditions, which stunk because I had about five or six otherwise makeable birdie putts that had no chance of dropping. Plinko putts rarely go in. I finished with a 76 but it could have been much lower. Foxford was in great shape, but the absurd role that I was getting the last time I was there is gone. The weatherman was way off, as the sun never even hinted at coming out and the mid-50s temps we were supposed to get never got above 37 or 38 degrees. I had one birdie on 11 but the pace slowed to a crawl when we caught a bunch of groups. The fact that two walkers were able to catch a few groups in carts is just sad. Another 76 but that's a much tougher course than Sanctuary.

 

Afterwards, I swung by the Schaumburg Golfsmith an hour and a half before it closed for good. There were some deals to be had but they wouldn't break apart a used set of MP-5s for me. I only need the 4-7 since my MP-4s aren't going anywhere, but I'm guessing whatever isn't sold will be shipped to the remaining open locations (Lincoln Park and Highland Park). It could be a real free for all at those places over the next month. Of course, I can probably also negotiate with the carnies at the golf expos in Lake County and Tinley Park.

[golfer912]

I capitalized on some of those great deals. Hyperflex 2 for $90, loaded up on socks, hats, and grips. Not going to find better deals

 

Afterwards, I swung by the Schaumburg Golfsmith an hour and a half before it closed for good. There were some deals to be had but they wouldn't break apart a used set of MP-5s for me. I only need the 4-7 since my MP-4s aren't going anywhere, but I'm guessing whatever isn't sold will be shipped to the remaining open locations (Lincoln Park and Highland Park). It could be a real free for all at those places over the next month. Of course, I can probably also negotiate with the carnies at the golf expos in Lake County and Tinley Park.

[VNutz]

I'm just surprised that Chicago Highlands is finally getting a clubhouse. That place has USGA-ready greens and the layout is awesome. I guess the only critique of the course is that since it's a former construction debris dump, it lacks water hazards. However, with no clubhouse they weren't really in the running for any events, and hosting is the most high-profile way to boost memberships. John Baxter is a massive tool but he's got balls (him showing up at LaGrange CC and offering to buy the club rather than build an entirely new course is one of the balliest a------ moves I can think of and opening a country club in the midst of a recession is just as gutsy) and he knows how to successfully build a brand. With that course and a decent clubhouse, I'll be very intrigued to see what happens with Highlands. They could very easily play it as a 7500-yard par 71 and make 18 a par 4. It's got plenty of other tour-length holes and the greens, as I mentioned, are like ice. I can see pros complaining incessantly about 9 (the Mount Vesuvius hole) and 13 (a 240-yard par 3 with a hidden green), and I interpret pros complaining as it being a sufficiently challenging course.

 

I can't see a PGA event being held at Highlands, but you never know. Access to the course is through a single choke point. There is absolutely no access to the grounds from the west and north, and dense residential due east. There is some commercial property to the northeast, but it would take a lot of cooperation with the property manager to grant additional access there, and to the southeast there is lightly developed residential, but would probably necessitate significant land acquisition by the club.

 

The course itself is enjoyable, save for the unfortunate green complexes on #'s 2, 13 and 15. Would they leave the green speeds at 13+ as they play for the membership? Slowed down a couple of notches, I just don't see the course having enough defense to make it very interesting for the tour pros.

 

I've not played the course myself, but I've heard nothing of it being a potential tour stop, nor would I imagine it worthy from pics. Given the location and setting I doubt the course was made with pro events in mind. IF it ever did happen I'm sure they'd open up an entrance on the northeast end with the business park complex and route them in through an opening there. They'd could easily just close off 31st street from Wolf to York as well and traffic people in from offsite, say nearby the McDonalds HQ just down the road, or the multiple business parks in the area. CCOB at 31st and York can hold a lot of cars as well. It might seem like an afterthought now, but they did hold a yearly PGA tour event about a mile from The Highlands with The Western Open at Butler, albeit that was in the 80s and the Tour is a different animal today.

[PuttCurseRepeat]

The logistic situation at Butler is far different than Highlands, even though they are close to each other. Logistically, Butler is a dream venue for the PGA/USGA. If they open their membership someday, a major event would be scheduled there immediately.

[VNutz]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

[Argonne69]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

[therider]

Beautiful fall day in Naperhell. Played Springbrook for possibly the last round of the year. The course is still very green and as you can imagine, the greens are slow with minimal maintenance being done now. A bit over 3.5 hours which isn't bad. They need to do a bit of leaf pick up or moving them off the fairways as there were a couple of holes that had significant amounts of leaves in the fairway. Stuck a wedge to 4 feet on 18 so just in case that was the last hole of the year, it was a birdie finish.

 

Played Naberbrook yesterday on a last minute twilight deal after dropping off the wife in Naperville. Shaggy fairways, shaggy greens but playing as late as I did the pace was refreshingly quick/ Teed off at 2.45pm and managed to walk thru 16 in just over 90 minutes before it got too dark to see.

 

Wedgewood in Joliet is still in surprisingly good nick. I played there Friday and conditions were more than acceptable for the time of year, though the back markers have been removed.

[VNutz]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

[ldchristopher]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

The greens are Highlands' biggest defense. They run at a legit 13+ and have lots of undulation. It's not fair to look at the relatively pedestrian slope of 142 and assume the course is not very challenging, since there is only one water hazard that plays into two holes. Is it challenging enough to host a U.S. Open? Of course not. It's not on par with places like Erin Hills in terms of difficulty. However, it definitely has the teeth to host an event like the BMW, where the winning scores have been -22 and -16 the last two times it was played at Conway Farms.

I agree that accessibility is an issue, but that can be a relatively easy fix. There were whisperings that Highlands had thrown their hats into the mix for the BMW in 2011 (probably to host in 2013 or 2015) but at that point the course had only been open for two years.

[preiter20]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

 

Parking will be the main reason I won't go next year.

[Argonne69]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

 

Parking will be the main reason I won't go next year.

 

I took Metra the first year, and the bus ride was a bit of a pain. Supposedly they opened an east entrance, so one can now walk a short distance to the train station. If I attend again, I'd certainly take the train.

[CMCSGolf]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

 

Parking will be the main reason I won't go next year.

 

It's super easy to take the metra in. Last time they had a shuttle picking up people at two different stops and it was very convenient. Didn't have to worry about parking at all and the metra is faster than most roads in Chicago.

[Waterboy]

Oh, I agree, just saying the area can handle it and has done so before, and a few small tweaks might make the Highlands a little more possible but it would be a challenge. It is in a funky location logistically. I keep holding out hope that Butler will change their policies, but that simply won't happen.

 

Is it any more challenging than Conway Farms? Can't say that the BMW is particularly fan friendly.

 

I haven't been there, but I've heard of the nightmares getting in and out. And the course doesn't seem like a challenge to the pros at all.

 

Parking will be the main reason I won't go next year.

 

Parking last year was bad but it wasn't the organizers fault. The area got a ton of rain early in the week and a huge grass lot across the tollway from the course was forced closed. So they had to move all the parking assigned to that lot to one of the others. I thought that was a priority lot that was closed.

[Argonne69]

Bah. The weekend forecasts for December look pretty bleak. This may be it for the local season. I'll be down in Dallas mid-December for 5 or 6 rounds, but locally it's time to think about an early Spring.

[DavePelz4]

Upper 30's, partly sunny and minimal wind on Saturday? That's shorts weather and 2.5 hour rounds!

[Argonne69]

Upper 30's, partly sunny and minimal wind on Saturday? That's shorts weather and 2.5 hour rounds!

 

Lol. I don't know about shorts, but it's certainly 2.5 hour rounds. Maybe I gotta get a pair of these insulated shorts. The knee-highs are a given.

 

[ldchristopher]

Playing HOE on Saturday. Should be balmy weather in the mid to high 30s.

[therider]

Played Wedgewood in Joliet again this morning. it's still in remarkably good shape with fairways tightly cut and the greens rolling smooth. I was quite literally the only golfer on the course. Walked it in a little over 2 hrs and on a cold blowy day was delighted with a 77.

 

To cap it all the sole groundskeeper out there, who was blowing leaves, rode up and gave me half a dozen mint Pro V1's which practically made the round free.

 

Now home watching Tiger holding his own. Working from home sure has it's benefits!

[propman]

Played Gleneagles white course with a buddy. Walked the course (best way to stay warm). Shot a 81 (43/38). Was one of my best (and luckiest ) rounds of the year. Finished in less than 3 hours. Needless to say, there weren't many golfers out there.

[St Jimmy]

Played Fox Lake CC this morning.

Course was in good shape considering the conditions.

Greens were very slow and it took awhile to get acclimated (I didn't bother warming up).

They wouldn't let me walk (course rules) even though I was the only one out playing so it was colder than it should have been.

Luckily, I brought a winter coat that I wore while driving then took off to shoot.

 

 

I played two balls.

ProV1x vs Taylormade Project A.

ProV1x consistently out drove Project A by 20+ yards, but it didn't help my scoring much.

I shot 83 and 85.

 

 

That is officially "it" for my golf season until I head south in March.

[ldchristopher]

I shot a 75 at HOE to finish off the season on a decent note. It never got above 33 degrees on the course but there were about 4 other groups out there. I was on in 2 on the 11th hole for the first time all year so it was nice to pick up a par on a hole that I usually bogey. With snow coming tomorrow and 25 degree temps next week, I think the season is over for me. Time to head to the dome.

[DavePelz4]

Closed out the season with 22 holes at Springbrook. With minimal wind and a bit of sun, it was a very comfortable walk. Hard to believe the season went by so quickly with so few rounds played.