Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[geochitown]

Nice Dh, I need to get my index down a bit because I'd like to participate in some of those tournaments.

[dhartmann34]

Nice Dh, I need to get my index down a bit because I'd like to participate in some of those tournaments.

Yeah my goal is to play in a few bigger tournaments this year. Just ordered new irons so those will be fun as well

[DavePelz4]

Venturing to the Hills of Bartlett tomorrow...

I've never played there but I was thinking about playing the Illinois Open qualifier there.

 

Kind of an old school track...a bit back and forth. A couple of very tight holes and a couple of holes that are wide open. Par 3 finishing hole which is unique for Chicago. Generally in good condition although who knows what we'll see tomorrow.

[B-Man]

Venturing to the Hills of Bartlett tomorrow...

I've never played there but I was thinking about playing the Illinois Open qualifier there.

 

Kind of an old school track...a bit back and forth. A couple of very tight holes and a couple of holes that are wide open. Par 3 finishing hole which is unique for Chicago. Generally in good condition although who knows what we'll see tomorrow.

 

Bring your gumboots.

[Argonne69]

'Just got an email from Ravisloe. They'll be open this weekend. $42 walking only.

[KaBoom21]

Prairie Landing is $35 walking only this weekend.

[Soxfan21]

Played George Dunne on Wednesday. Course was in ok shape. A few wet spots, and sort of soggy fairways, but it was nice to get out in February. It was also nice to play Dunne in less than 5 hours. Shot a 78 for the first round of 2018, so I'll take that.

[Argonne69]

A pleasant start to the season at Ravisloe this morning. I was apparently the first player to tee it up this season, getting an early start at 9:15 am. The temps were a bit cool, but with little wind, it was very nice. The course is in playable shape. The fairways are squishy. The greens were soft and slow. The bunkers were wet. However, for early March it wasn't unexpected. I literally had the course to myself for most of the morning. When I made it to the 10th tee, I could see that no more cars were in the parking lot. It wasn't until I was hitting my approach on the 17th that I saw two other players on the 2nd.

 

Pretty poor day ballstriking, hitting only 6 fairways and 6 greens. 'Gotta get used to the four layers of clothing. I had six scrambles for par, and made some decent length putts, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

 

1st hole:

 

 

2nd approach:

 

 

Tee shot on the par 3 11th playing at 180 yards. If this had been the summer, it would have rolled in I'm sure.

 

 

They're clearing the trees behind the 12th teebox to lengthen the hole into a par 5.

 

[ldchristopher]

Bear and I played Heritage Bluffs and Sanctuary today. We were the first ones out at HB because I made a tee time earlier this week but had to wait out an hour+ frost delay because of two greens (2 and 10). Whatever. I was worried about some excess moisture after 24 hours of off-and-on rain last week but HB had no standing water and was not even particularly squishy. When he's not working with a clay-capped dump, Dick Nugent knows how to design a course so that water runs off fairways. The greens were super bumpy but it's March 3 so I wasn't expecting anything other than slow and bumpy. Also, for $20 complaining about conditions should not be allowed. It was weird that all the pins were on the front of the greens. The starter pointed it out in advance so at least it wasn't a surprise but I still don't think I've ever seen that. I eked out a 79 but that place is tough to score at when the ball isn't going anywhere so I'll take anything sub-80. I did manage a par on 12, which is a hole I always bogey.

Sanctuary was in great shape, which has been said over and over but bears repeating considering how much play it gets. The greens with lots of sun exposure are starting to green up already and, with no fescue grown in, it's among my favorite early season courses to just bash driver at. We played from the garbage cans because there wasn't any roll and I had a 77. They're pretentious as he!! but I chipped great with my new wedges. Thanks eBay!

Bear and I were contemplating a short trip to Indianapolis next weekend to meet up with a friend. Purgatory can be walked for $30 and most of the courses there opened on March 1. The weather looks pretty bad though. We should've gone this weekend. So it goes.

[SpeedKills7]

Going to play Indian Boundary again tomorrow. A bunch of other courses have opened but have a small window and it’s close to home.

[Argonne69]

Purgatory in Indy is a tough course. I really liked it.

[Argonne69]

It's not looking good for this weekend. Morning lows below freezing, highs of 40 degrees, and winds 10 to 18 mph. Bummer. I might consider hitting the range.

[ldchristopher]

We're making the trek to Indianapolis this weekend. Purgatory will be closed until Monday (bummer) but Bear Slide is open, the Trophy Club and Southern Dunes are leaning towards being open, and a lot of the good but not great courses (Ironwood, Grey Eagle, Hickory Stick) are open. We were ready to bail on the trip but Bear and I both sensed the desperation in the tone of the emails we exchanged with our friend from Pittsburgh. With a second kid coming shortly, he's running out of time to do this stuff. Is it kind of dumb to drive 3+ hours to play on semi-frozen greens? Sure. Have I done stupider things in the name of golf trips? Absolutely.

[DavePelz4]

FYI for those considering booking a round at St. Andrews...their online reservations are still through Golf Now, however, they've added a new chat function and you are talking with someone in the St. Andrews pro shop. Very easy to book a tee time and you avoid the golf now fees.

 

It would be great if other courses added this functionality!

[Argonne69]

We're making the trek to Indianapolis this weekend. Purgatory will be closed until Monday (bummer) but Bear Slide is open, the Trophy Club and Southern Dunes are leaning towards being open, and a lot of the good but not great courses (Ironwood, Grey Eagle, Hickory Stick) are open. We were ready to bail on the trip but Bear and I both sensed the desperation in the tone of the emails we exchanged with our friend from Pittsburgh. With a second kid coming shortly, he's running out of time to do this stuff. Is it kind of dumb to drive 3+ hours to play on semi-frozen greens? Sure. Have I done stupider things in the name of golf trips? Absolutely.

 

The Ackerman-Allen course at Birck Boilermaker in Lafayette is open tomorrow starting at 11:45 am (EST).

[B-Man]

FFS, hurry up and get here already Spring!

[dhartmann34]

Anyone play in this? http://www.golfsanctuary.com/i-80am/

[ldchristopher]

I realize this is the Where Are You Playing Chicago thread and I played in Indianapolis today but the Indy thread isn't nearly as thorough. Six pages? C'mon guys, get with the program. Anyway, a bunch of courses were closed or were not opening until later in the day so we started at Hickory Stick, which is a wide-open bulldozer-created prairie-style facility. I enjoyed it for what it was, but since there weren't many defenses the greens were all gimmicked out. The Indianapolis crowd must be waiting for warmer weather because the course was completely empty. My wedge game was on and the pace was tough to beat. 74.

Southern Dunes was open and, for $10(!) I can't criticize much. There aren't a lot of par-70s that have six par threes so that was...something. Gary Player took a break from his daily push-up/sit-up routine to design a housing development layout with a vastly different front and back, though it would have been nice if the guy in the clubhouse told us they had flipped the nines. So it goes. 75. Bear Slide tomorrow.

[Ryan3773]

Driving down from Milwaukee to play lake bluff. Gonna be nippy out lol

[dhartmann34]

Driving down from Milwaukee to play lake bluff. Gonna be nippy out lol

Yeah it is. Bring your long johns!

[geochitown]

it's chilly.

no play to report, but we did a family errand that took us to zion, which warranted a quick drive-by at shepherd's crook.

 

I hadn't driven russell rd (state line) where the 13th green and 14th tee (brute - long par 5) are.

I've always struggled on the the 13th, so it was good to have a long look at the green and approach.

To the north, is Big Oaks(?) and I saw a cart and some guys playing (I think)

 

That's all I got...

[dhartmann34]

it's chilly.

no play to report, but we did a family errand that took us to zion, which warranted a quick drive-by at shepherd's crook.

 

I hadn't driven russell rd (state line) where the 13th green and 14th tee (brute - long par 5) are.

I've always struggled on the the 13th, so it was good to have a long look at the green and approach.

To the north, is Big Oaks(?) and I saw a cart and some guys playing (I think)

 

That's all I got...

I just hit 30 balls at the range.... Well, probably only 15. I decided I'll pass on being cold. Someone else can hit the rest. Maybe next weekend!

 

In good news though, I picked up my new irons and am getting them, along with some wedges, ready to ship out to be reshafted and set to my fitted specs. Should have them back in a couple of weeks.

[Argonne69]

Getting ready for the season, I picked up a new shaft for my Ping G400 LST driver (Fujikura Pro 65 X), a stiffer shaft for my G400 5 wood (Alta CB 65 S), three G400 hybrids (4, 5, and 6), three new wedges (Vokey SM6 - 52-12F, 56-14F, 60-12K), and a new pair of Footjoy Contours.

[DavePelz4]

Played St. Andrew's yesterday. Very comfortable with the sunshine and minimal wind. Got around in just over 3 hours. The course is in spring conditions and needs a bit of cleanup. They've taken more trees down. Missed a double eagle on 8 by a couple of inches.

[ldchristopher]

Bear Slide is hard in normal conditions. In 38 degree weather with 15-20 mph winds, it's a whole different animal altogether. The layout is cool, with a faux links front and a back that goes in and out of the trees. I'll definitely return and it's the type of place that would be $100 in the Chicago area. I was really impressed with the greens, which were smooth, had been cut and rolled, and, redundancy aside, were very green already. The bunkers were rock hard early on but with really fine sand that was bound to happen. Master of the Obvious reminded me that the course wasn't designed with early March in mind. I was a little off on the front but got it together after a while, which coincided with the breeze no longer coming off of cold water and blasting me in the face. It was nice to finish the weekend at a good course.

[Scratch2Plus]

Leaving Wednesday for RTJ and staying .5 mile from UAB...Hall pass baby!

6 rounds and hotel for $550 and weather looks like its going to cooperate.

[St Jimmy]

Leaving Wednesday for RTJ and staying .5 mile from UAB...Hall pass baby!

6 rounds and hotel for $550 and weather looks like its going to cooperate.

 

 

Stay off 280. It's worse than the Stevenson during rush hour. Takes an hour to drive two miles.

 

Farmlinks was awesome so I hope you're playing there.

[Scratch2Plus]

Leaving Wednesday for RTJ and staying .5 mile from UAB...Hall pass baby!

6 rounds and hotel for $550 and weather looks like its going to cooperate.

 

 

Stay off 280. It's worse than the Stevenson during rush hour. Takes an hour to drive two miles.

 

Farmlinks was awesome so I hope you're playing there.

 

Playing all 3 at Capitol Hill then up to Birmingham for Oxmoor Valley/Ridge and Ross Bridge then back home.

[mci711]

Are there any good courses SW of Chicago? Like the Kankakee area.

[Atrayn]

Are there any good courses SW of Chicago? Like the Kankakee area.

 

Elks is decent:

http://www.elksgolf627.com/