Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[propman]

Probably can't fit it in - but if you can and are driving to this area, check out Cinder Ridge. It's right off I-55 (approx. 60 miles s/w of Chicago). Fun, challenging course. Does not have a fancy clubhouse but for $45 can't beat it for pure golf.

I second taking time to go to Cinder Ridge. Played there Monday evening and had a good round. Greens are pretty quick too.

 

I was out there Monday (around noon) as well. Had a very strange round for me.

 

1st hole - good drive then topped my next 2 iron shots for a 6.

 

4th hole - triple bogey 6.on this easy par 3.

 

8th hole - birdie. Probably 1st time getting one of this monster par 5.

 

Front 9 total - 50.

 

Back 9 total - 40. Bridie on the 15th and on the last hole skipped a 3 wood clear across the pond and ended up with a par.

 

I get out to this course maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Just wish it wasn't so far away.

 

Does the website/pictures not do this course justice? I am playing weaverridge sunday morning and was thinking about stopping somewhere on the way back. I have never heard of Cinder Ridge, so I looked it up and it looks ok I guess?

No, it's a good course but I don't think of it as being particularly special. It has some nice holes and the greens are interesting without having tons of undulation. Personally, I think Heritage Bluffs in Channahon is a better course. In my opinion, I'd probably rank the courses off of I 55 like this:

1. Dubs

2. Mistwood

3. Heritage Bluffs

4. Bolingbrook

5. Ruffled Feathers

6. Big Run

7. Cinder Ridge

8. Cog 2

9. Prairie Bluff

10. Naperbrook

11. Springbrook

12. Cog 1 and 3

13. Getting hit by a bus

14. Carriage Greens

 

Personally, I'd recommend playing Coyote Creek in Bartonville if you've got the time. It was designed by Bruce Borland, who was Nicklaus' protege but died in the plane crashed that also killed Payne Stewart. There's a mix of really short and long, tight par 4s. The greens are very well-maintained and pretty quick. There's lots of ravines so I wouldn't recommend walking it. Overall, I was really impressed when I played it earlier this year.

 

Good list. Dubs is way too expensive and I like Cinder Ridge more than the Bolingbrook Golf Club. Cinder Ridge does not have all the bells and whistles like a real nice clubhouse etc.. It does have a plain jane driving range;

[deadsolid...shank]

Have not played many private courses. The most difficult course I have played in the Chicago area is Big Run.

 

That's what I was thinking. Don't hear of many that score well there.

 

74.6/142.

 

I really enjoyed that course.

[DavePelz4]

Probably can't fit it in - but if you can and are driving to this area, check out Cinder Ridge. It's right off I-55 (approx. 60 miles s/w of Chicago). Fun, challenging course. Does not have a fancy clubhouse but for $45 can't beat it for pure golf.

I second taking time to go to Cinder Ridge. Played there Monday evening and had a good round. Greens are pretty quick too.

 

I was out there Monday (around noon) as well. Had a very strange round for me.

 

1st hole - good drive then topped my next 2 iron shots for a 6.

 

4th hole - triple bogey 6.on this easy par 3.

 

8th hole - birdie. Probably 1st time getting one of this monster par 5.

 

Front 9 total - 50.

 

Back 9 total - 40. Bridie on the 15th and on the last hole skipped a 3 wood clear across the pond and ended up with a par.

 

I get out to this course maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Just wish it wasn't so far away.

 

Does the website/pictures not do this course justice? I am playing weaverridge sunday morning and was thinking about stopping somewhere on the way back. I have never heard of Cinder Ridge, so I looked it up and it looks ok I guess?

No, it's a good course but I don't think of it as being particularly special. It has some nice holes and the greens are interesting without having tons of undulation. Personally, I think Heritage Bluffs in Channahon is a better course. In my opinion, I'd probably rank the courses off of I 55 like this:

1. Dubs

2. Mistwood

3. Heritage Bluffs

4. Bolingbrook

5. Ruffled Feathers

6. Big Run

7. Cinder Ridge

8. Cog 2

9. Prairie Bluff

10. Naperbrook

11. Springbrook

12. Cog 1 and 3

13. Getting hit by a bus

14. Carriage Greens

 

Personally, I'd recommend playing Coyote Creek in Bartonville if you've got the time. It was designed by Bruce Borland, who was Nicklaus' protege but died in the plane crashed that also killed Payne Stewart. There's a mix of really short and long, tight par 4s. The greens are very well-maintained and pretty quick. There's lots of ravines so I wouldn't recommend walking it. Overall, I was really impressed when I played it earlier this year.

 

No Whitetail Ridge??? Not that far off 55.

[geochitown]

... Thanks again guys for the Marengo info. I am being comped by a friend that needed a 4th so I gotta hang around after the round for the food and awards. Not worried about pace of play as I have nowhere else to be and expect it too be a long day because my 3 pards are all high index players.

 

Chisag

 

If you can, drive by Blackstone, while yiu’re Out there

 

you can the first and last holes of the back nine from the road

 

I haven’t played Marengo ridge since Blackstone opened

 

Night and day courses

 

No offense

 

I’d play Marengo for an outing

[Justmuckit]

One of our foursome can't make the trip now, so we're heading to KC to play at his club. Thanks to all of you guys who have shared advice with me over the last two months planning this thing. I really appreciate it.

[ldchristopher]

I’ve never played Whitetail Ridge. Same with Carillon. I’ve been meaning to play Whitetail for a while now though. I also didn’t include the 355 courses like Broken Arrow and Sanctuary. I am, however, a big time apologist for both.

[chisag]

... Whitetail is an unusual course. Kinda reminds me of Seven Bridges reversed. The front 9 at WTR is flat, treeless and mostly boring with the exception of 4, 5 and 8. But I think every hole on the back is interesting and fun to play with a surprising amount of elevation and plenty of trees and then none until the awesome 17th, a straight downhill par 3 that is tough to club depending on wind. And speaking of par 3's, #14 is everything you want from the back tees. We have hit as low as a 5 iron and once in the fall with a good 25 mph wind in our face, both of us failed to clear the water with a driver.

 

... I am also a big Carillon fan. Nothing fancy but usually in pretty good shape, and only a few weak holes. Quite a few risk reward holes. #9 on White is probably may favorite hole in Chicago. I would call WTR and Carillon must play courses, although some may play Carillon once and be done. After playing WTR the first time, you will want to play it again both because you will better understand how to play certain holes and the back 9 is just so much fun.

[ldchristopher]

I played an early afternoon round at Ravisloe today. That has to be one of the few courses in America that costs less to play by calling the pro shop than by booking online. I started off really hot, with birdies on 2, 3 and 5. After a great up and down to save par on 7 and pars on 8 and 9, I made the turn at a career low 32. The fairway bunker on 12 got me ( by the way, I’m not seeing any progress on extending that hole) but I made up the lone bogey with a birdie on 15. I parred out for a 67. Career low for me, since I’m usually in the 72-76 range.

Conditions were really good. The fairways were green but gave plenty of roll. Bunkers were full but sand shots didn't feel too fluffy, and most greens were void of too many ball marks, with the exception of 5 and all of the par 3's.

[Argonne69]

I'd also add Wedgewood and Inwood to the I-55 list. I haven't played either, but I don't expect that they'd be ranked high on the list.

 

Tamarack might also be stretching the boundaries, but it's only a mile from Naperbrook.

[Schley]

I'd also add Wedgewood and Inwood to the I-55 list. I haven't played either, but I don't expect that they'd be ranked high on the list.

 

Tamarack might also be stretching the boundaries, but it's only a mile from Naperbrook.

 

Thank you! I love the Joliet courses myself as I admit I’m totally biased and was going to put down both myself, but was waiting for some other great mind to throw it out there! Grew up on Innwood golf course and Wedgewod is the toughest of the three for sure. Woodruff doens’t have any par 5’s but heavily wooded.

 

Innwood has good greens, not long, as well as about a half dozen holes with tree framing and an island green for a short par 4.

[ldchristopher]

I'd also add Wedgewood and Inwood to the I-55 list. I haven't played either, but I don't expect that they'd be ranked high on the list.

 

Tamarack might also be stretching the boundaries, but it's only a mile from Naperbrook.

 

Thank you! I love the Joliet courses myself as I admit I’m totally biased and was going to put down both myself, but was waiting for some other great mind to throw it out there! Grew up on Innwood golf course and Wedgewod is the toughest of the three for sure. Woodruff doens’t have any par 5’s but heavily wooded.

 

Innwood has good greens, not long, as well as about a half dozen holes with tree framing and an island green for a short par 4.

That's more courses I haven't played. I haven't played Old Oak either. I forgot about beautiful Glen Eagles as well as Village Greens of Woodridge. I guess Seven Bridges is also not far off 55.

[chisag]

... Always interesting hearing about courses some like or don't like. We are blessed to have so many really nice courses near almost anywhere you live. But here is my list of course in this area I will not play either because of design or typical condition:

 

Inwood

Glen Eagles

Tamarack

Big Run

Village Greens

Carriage Greens

Springbrook (5+ hour rounds during the week has been the norm whenever I played there)

 

... That leaves:

 

Prairie Bluff

Mistwood

Carillon

Bolingbrook GC

Naperbrook

Wedgewood

Heritage Bluff

White Tail Ridge

Cog Hill 1, 2 &4 (until this year and their horrendous greens)

[propman]

Chisag, Any reason you left off Old Oak or Cinder Ridge?

[chisag]

... Cinder Ridge is a long drive (right past Heritage Bluff and a lot farther) and although I have only played there maybe 4 times, 2 or 3 of those the conditions were pretty spotty and pace pf play was very slow. I do like the lay out though. Old Oak I only played once and it was really shaggy in the fairway and rough was just silly and my wife and I lost several balls just off the fairway, some funky holes I did not know where to hit the the shot and of course pretty chewed up greens. One of my pet peeves when walking is having to meet a hole halfway between tee and green, leave your cart and make the long walk to the tee then the same walk back to my cart.

[propman]

Well I agree Cinder Ridge is not too walker friendly. Conditions there this week were very good and there was hardly anyone out there - on Monday.

 

Old Oak - Played a few times there this year and conditions were good. Rounds here (esp. on the weekends) can be very slow. Definitely walkable. I like this course alot - just an old fashioned tree lined course.

[chisag]

... Yup, that is why I said it is so interesting hearing which courses people like/dislike. If we all loved the same course we would never get a tee time LOL! I absolutely love Prairie Bluff because every day it is different depending on the strength of the wind and the direction. Always in good to great shape. Some easy holes, some really tough holes and a lot of medium difficulty holes. I probably play Naperbrook as much or more because it is only 10 minutes from my house and $19 to walk during the week. I don't care for the front 9 but enjoy every hole on the back 9, especially for the price and pace of play. I am usually done in 3 hours or less by myself or with a pard. Never seen a course where so many people play the front 9 so even if the pace is a little over 2 hours on the front, the back loses at least 50% of the players during the week and I can just fly thru the back.

[Scratch2Plus]

Back to HoE on Sunday...

[stasek]

Cog #1 and their “lightning” quick greens tomorrow afternoon. At least it’s only 4 miles from my house.

[mci711]

Went to cog tonight to play #4. Par'd 1 hit my tee shot on the par 3 #2. Hit a foot in front of pin, hit it and sat about 4 inches from the hole then the skies opened up and put the course under water. Better luck Sunday at Weaver Ridge I guess.

[Eagleman]

Well I agree Cinder Ridge is not too walker friendly. Conditions there this week were very good and there was hardly anyone out there - on Monday.

 

Old Oak - Played a few times there this year and conditions were good. Rounds here (esp. on the weekends) can be very slow. Definitely walkable. I like this course alot - just an old fashioned tree lined course.

What time were you out there Monday? I played there around 330-4ish after work. They were closed yesterday because of flooding. The guy said they got three inches of rain yesterday.

[propman]

Well I agree Cinder Ridge is not too walker friendly. Conditions there this week were very good and there was hardly anyone out there - on Monday.

 

Old Oak - Played a few times there this year and conditions were good. Rounds here (esp. on the weekends) can be very slow. Definitely walkable. I like this course alot - just an old fashioned tree lined course.

What time were you out there Monday? I played there around 330-4ish after work. They were closed yesterday because of flooding. The guy said they got three inches of rain yesterday.

 

We teed off at noon and played 4 extra holes and got done around 3:40. Just 2 of us.

[ldchristopher]

Ledges and Glen Erin tomorrow. Gonna be nice to get back to scenic Rockford and Janesville.

[@_the_crook]

Had a great round this morning as we were paired with two Irish gentlemen from Chicago's north side playing for a local club match.

 

what fun to be able to see two pretty darn good players grind it out.

match ended on sixteen, three and two.

hope to see these gents again.

 

with the morning's haze and hearing the inflections of my Australian partner and the brogues of the shooters, I felt transported for a good little while.

 

you put a nice finish on that.

just heaven.

good strike.

grand.

the best.

 

heard these and more all morning.

and a couple of gut busting curses we shall not mention.

just grand.....

[B-Man]

The Preserve was a joke this morning. Everywhere was over-watered and soaking. Greens were soft but rolling okay but heaps of badly fixed pitch marks. Fairways looked uncut for days and were shoddy overall. But for the biggest absurdity of the day were the atrocious pin positions. We thought it was pretty cool getting a pin sheet for the day but it only took us two holes to realize that the attached indicated "feet", not yards from the edges. Seriously WTF? Photo of the 11th green attached too with pin on a slope about 8' from the back right edge. No one enjoyed playing out there today.

 

 

 

[ldchristopher]

The Preserve was a joke this morning. Everywhere was over-watered and soaking. Greens were soft but rolling okay but heaps of badly fixed pitch marks. Fairways looked uncut for days and were shoddy overall. But for the biggest absurdity of the day were the atrocious pin positions. We thought it was pretty cool getting a pin sheet for the day but it only took us two holes to realize that the attached indicated "feet", not yards from the edges. Seriously WTF? Photo of the 11th green attached too with pin on a slope about 8' from the back right edge. No one enjoyed playing out there today.

 

 

 

The last thing that course needs is more water. I’ll keep rooting for it but I just get a feeling it’ll always get the same feedback: “Great layout and tons of potential, but it’s alway either too soggy or rock hard.” I don’t blame the super (though the pin thing is stupid), I just feel sorry for whoever is in charge. He’s been given basically the impossible job of maintaining a “championship” course that seems best suited to just be a flood plain.

[matt70286]

Has anyone played Sunset Valley since it re-opened? Supposed to play there tomorrow AM and curious if there are any initial thoughts on the redesign.

[Holy Moses]

Played Makray Memorial. Was there once last year and they used the same pin locations as the last time I played - impossible ones. The pins are in tight corners or on crazy slopes or on tabletops. Course was in good shape though even though it was soaking wet at 10 AM for some reason. Hit some mammoth divots as a result and I usually don't leave beaver pelts behind. Makray is one of the hardest courses I've played in Chicago when they put the pins in these types of places. With that said, I was paired with some cool guys and we had a great time.

[stasek]

Cog #1 was as expected. Tee to green solid, greens slow(ish) but true. Had the best driving day of the year, but putting was/is still borderline unacceptable. 1 birdie, 3 bogies, 4 putts under 5’ missed. 2 over 73, but it could have been so much better.

[Eagleman]

Well I agree Cinder Ridge is not too walker friendly. Conditions there this week were very good and there was hardly anyone out there - on Monday.

 

Old Oak - Played a few times there this year and conditions were good. Rounds here (esp. on the weekends) can be very slow. Definitely walkable. I like this course alot - just an old fashioned tree lined course.

What time were you out there Monday? I played there around 330-4ish after work. They were closed yesterday because of flooding. The guy said they got three inches of rain yesterday.

 

We teed off at noon and played 4 extra holes and got done around 3:40. Just 2 of us.

We must of passed each other in the parking lot

[games]

On Friday, I traveled to Bull Valley CC in Woodstock, IL for a Wright Balance fitting with Matt Jones. Matt is an Edel Master Fitter, an Aimpoint Express instructor, and a Level 5 Wright Balance fitter. Matt comes across as very knowledgeable, and was genuinely engaged in the fitting.