Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[DavePelz4]

The upcoming rain is only going to allow me to play one round tomorrow so I figured I'd better get in 18 holes after work today. I played Stonewall Orchard, which was in excellent shape, though it's been in great condition every time I've played there. I shot a 74 with birdies on 9 and 12. My driver was only so-so but my iron and wedge play was really crisp. Up at 4:15 am tomorrow for an early tee time at HOE.

 

Nice round at Stonewall, that course always gets me.

Love your enthusiasm for golf but the only way Im getting up at 4:15am to play HoE is if Danielle is back on the beverage cart!

The upcoming rain is only going to allow me to play one round tomorrow so I figured I'd better get in 18 holes after work today. I played Stonewall Orchard, which was in excellent shape, though it's been in great condition every time I've played there. I shot a 74 with birdies on 9 and 12. My driver was only so-so but my iron and wedge play was really crisp. Up at 4:15 am tomorrow for an early tee time at HOE.

 

Nice round at Stonewall, that course always gets me.

Love your enthusiasm for golf but the only way Im getting up at 4:15am to play HoE is if Danielle is back on the beverage cart!

 

You and Danielle are just getting going about 4:15AM.

[Waterboy]

Made the pilgrimage to Blackwolf Run yesterday. Played the River course. What a great course. Didn't really feel like anything was tricked out. Just made you hit a good shot followed by a good shot, and sometimes even another good shot.

 

Course was CPO and still needed some maintenance done to be ready for the non spring deal play. One of the par 3 on the back made that very evident. Tees were playing about 200 overgrown tree on the left blocking any line at the green and river on the right. Needless to say, that was a wet result. Turns out I don't have the ability to draw a hybrid 20 yds around a tree.

 

I'd play it again.

 

[fanofsaosin]

By any chance anyone have a titleist 910,913 or 915 head for sale in the area.

[Waterboy]

By any chance anyone have a titleist 910,913 or 915 head for sale in the area.

 

Loft?

[fanofsaosin]

9.5 or 10.5

[ldchristopher]

Playing conditions at HOE were absolutely brutal this morning, with gale force winds and temps in the 40s but I managed a 75. It was so windy the balls were oscillating on the greens and approach shots pretty much had to stay on the putting surface because chipping was extremely difficult. I had birdies on 3 and 14 and ball striking was great. Courses in the Chicago area are the only ones charging Summer rates despite 40 degree weather (courses in Wisconsin have Spring rates until early June) but if I'm gonna pay full freight, I might as well do so at a place as well-conditioned as HOE. The greens had recently been punched but they used the small tines so they were rolling very smoothly.

[Waterboy]

9.5 or 10.5

 

I'll go look.

[Argonne69]

Walked 18 at Fresh Meadow this morning. There were more players out than I expected, but I still managed a 2:30 round while playing through three groups. The course was in OK shape. The fairways were green, but needed a cut. The greens are still healing from an early aeration, but playable. Bunkers are trash, no surprise. I can't say it was a particularly pleasant round. Cold temps and strong winds made me question my sanity a handful of times. 'Still, a quick round, cold round is probably better than no round this time of the year.

 

I had a decent day with the driver, but the winds were playing havoc on the distance, leaving me with too many long clubs into the greens. 8 GIRS is probably acceptable for the conditions, but it made scoring tough. The highlight of the day was a birdie on the par 3 13th. I left the tee shot a good 5 yards short of the green with a front pin position. I grabbed a hybrid and putted the ball from off the green. I probably should have walked up and taken a look at the green, as it needed a bit of TLC. A yard or two onto the green the ball jumps ~10 degrees to the right after hitting a ball mark. Still moving it rolls another yard or two and jumps left after hitting another ball mark, and tracks into the hole. Lol. 'Never seen anything like it. Bumper pool at its finest.

 

It's not looking good for tomorrow. I was hoping there would be an open window in the morning, but right now it looks like heavy rain throughout the day.

[ldchristopher]

The stupid rain and rotten temps today kept me off courses today. It's looking good for next weekend though. Mid 60s and sunny with no rain in the forecast the rest of the week except for tomorrow (gotta go knock on wood now) should mean every course is in play. Some places in Northwest Indiana and Southern Wisconsin are still on Spring rates so I'll be in one of those two locations.

[hogans71]

Weather definitely looks suspect. I've got a time booked at Mount Prospect Sunday mid-day it might be a wash. Temps looked better Sunday (60's) but fingers crossed it's not another drenching.

 

Just played Mt. Prospect for the first time ever on Friday with my brother. REALLY liked the golf course...

[Buddha]

Weather definitely looks suspect. I've got a time booked at Mount Prospect Sunday mid-day it might be a wash. Temps looked better Sunday (60's) but fingers crossed it's not another drenching.

 

Just played Mt. Prospect for the first time ever on Friday with my brother. REALLY liked the golf course...

 

I quite enjoy the course, but during peak season, I won't pay $61 with a cart. I will look for hot deals or twilight times though, and hopefully, later in the summer, be walking most of my rounds.

[VNutz]

Stopped by Oak Meadows last night just to have a gander at the course given the recent rains, just to see how it held up. Have to say I'm less than impressed by what I saw. Kind of hard to tell in the pics, but the water accumulation wasn't all that different from prior to the work done to it, IMO. Significant water coverage of the course. I will say that towns downstream like Villa Park, Elmhurst and Westchester did have less flooding where they might have had it previously, so that's a bonus, but from a golf perspective I'm a bit disappointed.

 

 

[Waterboy]

Stopped by Oak Meadows last night just to have a gander at the course given the recent rains, just to see how it held up. Have to say I'm less than impressed by what I saw. Kind of hard to tell in the pics, but the water accumulation wasn't all that different from prior to the work done to it, IMO. Significant water coverage of the course. I will say that towns downstream like Villa Park, Elmhurst and Westchester did have less flooding where they might have had it previously, so that's a bonus, but from a golf perspective I'm a bit disappointed.

 

 

Not surprised by this. The course may drain faster and open within 3-4 days where before is it was 5-7 days.

 

The amount of water that goes to through the course can't be managed by the improvements the course made.

[geochitown]

Before the course would have been closed for much longer, because of silt accumulation that typically killed fairway grass...

 

I can't see the photos here at work, but I know that the gauge at salt creek shot up very fast from saturday to monday.

 

The creek level isn't higher than it has been, but may be the rate of water accumulation was faster with this storm than previous storms?

 

It will be interesting to see how high the water actually got on the course.

 

I think 7th fairway (old number 3) is the lowest point on the course, and during the biggest rain events, some of its fairway might be under water.

 

http://dupagegolf.com/golf/emailer2020/img/dupagegolf/Oak_Meadows_Rendering_W.jpg

 

On my phone, I see that your first and second photos show the 10th green with water close to it.

 

The third photo looks like you are looking more northwest, to 9th hole and 13th behind it.

 

4th and fifth also show par 5 13th I think, with its two fairway bunkers.

 

I agree, it looks like a lot of water flooding, and I think it looks worse from the parking lot than it probably is.

 

If I can get some details on water levels on course, I'll share them here.

[geochitown]

looks like salt creek hasn't been this high since July 2015

 

here are two more links.

 

First, is the gauging station for Salt Creek at Irving Park Rd (Creek level only)

https://waterdata.us...date=2017-05-01

 

Second is Salt Creek at Elmhurst with flow, gauge height and something else, (precipitation)

 

I don't think the rain gauge is reading correctly for this last storm (only 1/4" rain over the weekend)

 

https://waterdata.us...date=2017-03-24

[VNutz]

 

On my phone, I see that your first and second photos show the 10th green with water close to it.

 

The third photo looks like you are looking more northwest, to 9th hole and 13th behind it.

 

4th and fifth also show par 5 13th I think, with its two fairway bunkers.

 

I agree, it looks like a lot of water flooding, and I think it looks worse from the parking lot than it probably is.

 

 

I was standing at the main entrance as the parking lot is chained off, and it was raining sideways so I didn't want to venture too far. So the pics are about what you're referencing, the first 2 are of what is probably the new #10 green, a little left of where it was before, the others are looking northwest towards the old #9, 3, 5, etc and towards the previous east 9. It was hard to see from where I was standing, but if you look at the pic you linked of the new routing, you can see where most of the wetlands and retention areas are built in, and they were pretty much filled completely and then some. Driving down Villa you could see a lot of the course in the area of the old #15 and 16 were covered as well. I could see a couple of the greens looking like islands in the lake, so some have been elevated which is smart. Basically it did what they intended it to, but I'm sure there are areas of the course under water right now, which to me was disappointing given the amount of work put into it. I'm sure it's better than before and likely will recover better than before, but part of me was hoping to show up and see some mild flooding rather than the lakes I saw here.

[geochitown]

I understand.

Thanks for posting the photos and your observations.

 

Sorry if I jumped on you a bit with my post.

I got a bit defensive.

 

I'm not involved with the project, but have been following it closely as an interested golfer/observer.

 

It's good to have the discussion.

[Waterboy]

I understand.

Thanks for posting the photos and your observations.

 

Sorry if I jumped on you a bit with my post.

I got a bit defensive.

 

I'm not involved with the project, but have been following it closely as an interested golfer/observer.

 

It's good to have the discussion.

 

I enjoy the passion for stormwater!

 

 

 

 

[VNutz]

No, no, no, not feeling that way at all. I like hearing from you guys on the topic as you guys know more about this topic than I do. I knew the work wouldn't fix everything, but as I said before was hoping that it was robust enough to handle the recent rains a little better. We did receive a LOT of rain this weekend, although over a longer spread of time instead of a rush so I thought it might flow through a little better.

[ldchristopher]

I understand.

Thanks for posting the photos and your observations.

 

Sorry if I jumped on you a bit with my post.

I got a bit defensive.

 

I'm not involved with the project, but have been following it closely as an interested golfer/observer.

 

It's good to have the discussion.

 

I enjoy the passion for stormwater!

Greg Martin knows how to design a golf course that drains well. He's working with a flood plain that used to turn into a swamp after a moderately heavy rainfall so I'm not expecting the new Oak Meadows (my bad, The Preserve at Oak Meadows) to magically turn into a facility that can handle huge rainfall without some standing water. Re-routing Salt Creek isn't really an option. That said, I'm pretty confident it won't take nearly as long for Oak Meadows to be playable because of the redesign. If anything, maybe they err on the side of caution and make it cartpath only for longer than they need to in order to allow for the course to recover fully. That would drive away the cart users and open up the course for more walkers.

[Waterboy]

I understand.

Thanks for posting the photos and your observations.

 

Sorry if I jumped on you a bit with my post.

I got a bit defensive.

 

I'm not involved with the project, but have been following it closely as an interested golfer/observer.

 

It's good to have the discussion.

 

I enjoy the passion for stormwater!

Greg Martin knows how to design a golf course that drains well. He's working with a flood plain that used to turn into a swamp after a moderately heavy rainfall so I'm not expecting the new Oak Meadows (my bad, The Preserve at Oak Meadows) to magically turn into a facility that can handle huge rainfall without some standing water. Re-routing Salt Creek isn't really an option. That said, I'm pretty confident it won't take nearly as long for Oak Meadows to be playable because of the redesign. If anything, maybe they err on the side of caution and make it cartpath only for longer than they need to in order to allow for the course to recover fully. That would drive away the cart users and open up the course for more walkers.

 

I don't doubt one bit that Greg Martin knows how to design a golf course the drains well. I know a little bit about floodplain, at least the basics, and agree that re-routing Salt Creek isn't an option nor is filling in all the floodplain areas to keep the course dry during these larger rainfall events.

 

See the attached image. This is FEMA Regulatory Floodplain and Floodway based on hydraulic analysis. What is shown on the image is the limits of the 100-year floodplain boundary. Now I understand this is pre-project, but I don't anticipate these limits to change very much because whatever is filled in, must be compensated at a 1.5:1 ratio (based on my limited knowledge of the Dupage County Stormwater Ordinance). Its basically paying a tax for keeping an area dry.

 

 

 

 

The course will drain much faster once floodwaters recede and will get back to playable conditions much quicker. More golf, more greens fees.

[Scratch2Plus]

Kids are great. They're so honest and don't hold back. My daughter told me that maybe I should start walking more instead of riding a cart when I play golf...as she poked at my tummy. She' 6.

[Scratch2Plus]

The upcoming rain is only going to allow me to play one round tomorrow so I figured I'd better get in 18 holes after work today. I played Stonewall Orchard, which was in excellent shape, though it's been in great condition every time I've played there. I shot a 74 with birdies on 9 and 12. My driver was only so-so but my iron and wedge play was really crisp. Up at 4:15 am tomorrow for an early tee time at HOE.

 

Nice round at Stonewall, that course always gets me.

Love your enthusiasm for golf but the only way Im getting up at 4:15am to play HoE is if Danielle is back on the beverage cart!

The upcoming rain is only going to allow me to play one round tomorrow so I figured I'd better get in 18 holes after work today. I played Stonewall Orchard, which was in excellent shape, though it's been in great condition every time I've played there. I shot a 74 with birdies on 9 and 12. My driver was only so-so but my iron and wedge play was really crisp. Up at 4:15 am tomorrow for an early tee time at HOE.

 

Nice round at Stonewall, that course always gets me.

Love your enthusiasm for golf but the only way Im getting up at 4:15am to play HoE is if Danielle is back on the beverage cart!

 

You and Danielle are just getting going about 4:15AM.

 

Shhhhhh...

[adschus]

By any chance anyone have a titleist 910,913 or 915 head for sale in the area.

 

I have a 915 D2 head I could sell you. Looking for $115, with headcover and wrench. If you're interested, it's set up with a fujikara fuel masters edition stiff shaft. I'll sell the head separately but throwing out the shaft option.

[Argonne69]

Ugh. The cold weather gear is certainly getting a workout this Spring. The weekend looks dry, finally, but the morning temps will once again be in the low 40's, and the winds will be from the north at 20 mph on Saturday, and a little lighter on Sunday. 'Probably going to stick close to downtown until after the Memorial Day weekend.

[ldchristopher]

Ugh. The cold weather gear is certainly getting a workout this Spring. The weekend looks dry, finally, but the morning temps will once again be in the low 40's, and the winds will be from the north at 20 mph on Saturday, and a little lighter on Sunday. 'Probably going to stick close to downtown until after the Memorial Day weekend.

The further away from the lake, the warmer it will be. As long as you steer clear of courses off of 41 you should be fine on Saturday and Sunday. Just need to veto Glencoe, Winnetka, HPCC, Shephard's Crook, etc. and stick to courses off 90 and 94.

[Argonne69]

Ugh. The cold weather gear is certainly getting a workout this Spring. The weekend looks dry, finally, but the morning temps will once again be in the low 40's, and the winds will be from the north at 20 mph on Saturday, and a little lighter on Sunday. 'Probably going to stick close to downtown until after the Memorial Day weekend.

The further away from the lake, the warmer it will be. As long as you steer clear of courses off of 41 you should be fine on Saturday and Sunday. Just need to veto Glencoe, Winnetka, HPCC, Shephard's Crook, etc. and stick to courses off 90 and 94.

 

 

I'm actually thinking about heading down to Balmoral. I haven't played it in years, and the tee sheet looks very wide open in the early AM (no surprise).

[@_the_crook]

Shepherd's has a scramble this Saturday morning at 8:00 am. Plan for an afternoon round there.

It's right off the lake. Bring a sweater.

[ldchristopher]

Ugh. The cold weather gear is certainly getting a workout this Spring. The weekend looks dry, finally, but the morning temps will once again be in the low 40's, and the winds will be from the north at 20 mph on Saturday, and a little lighter on Sunday. 'Probably going to stick close to downtown until after the Memorial Day weekend.

The further away from the lake, the warmer it will be. As long as you steer clear of courses off of 41 you should be fine on Saturday and Sunday. Just need to veto Glencoe, Winnetka, HPCC, Shephard's Crook, etc. and stick to courses off 90 and 94.

 

 

I'm actually thinking about heading down to Balmoral. I haven't played it in years, and the tee sheet looks very wide open in the early AM (no surprise).

Smart. The further South the warmer. Balmoral's gotta be the only par 38/34 layout but least it's a par 72 overall. I always get a kick out of the scorecards at Villa Olivia and Chalet Hills. The Par 73 looks like a typo.

[stasek]

Big Run tomorrow morning (should be fun - 40s and 20mph wind). George Dunne Sunday morning....