Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round2)

[apprenti23]

haha well I guess there are more Dye designs in IL (two in basically St. Louis and one in Iowa). Looks like Ruffled is the only one really near anything though.

Thanks for the info!

[VNutz]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438817501' post='12085860']
Big Run today. It's in great shape, even though some of the trees need a little TLC. I used to play here all the time, it needs to get back into the rotation. I love this place.
[/quote]

I need to get out there sometime, it's on my list of courses I haven't tried yet. Every time I plan on it, something else gets in the way, like massive rain storms.

[jimwgt26]

Isn't RF Pete Dye's son PB?

[apprenti23]

Just went to their website to see if I got that wrong too...

Here's what their site says LOL - crap hope you can read it.

"We are the [i]only Pete Dye designed golf course in Illinois[/i]...and a must-play for any devoted golfer.

[jimwgt26]

I haven't played there in a while,years actually, but I remember having this discussion way back when. My recollection is its PB... Doesn't really matter, I like the course either way, only wish it was set up better to walk.

[Waterboy]

I got out to 7 Bridges yesterday for an outing. It was good. It was the first time I got to touch my clubs in a few weeks, except to move them out of the way to get to other things. I messed around with my driver shaft recently and think I like the change. I put in something lighter then I am used to 50g instead of a 70g and have been working on just slowing everything down. I started noticing that when I try to get after it, the ball goes anywhere and I don't really get much. I'm also working on it with irons and wedges.

The course was in what I thought was pretty good shape. Minimal goose crap but plenty of geese. There was a lot of play by the time I had got out there but it was still good. I feel like that course is starting to turn into an outing course since I rarely hear anyone talk about how they played it outside of a few outings.

Might get out this weekend, not sure yet though.

On a side note, I saw that Patrick Kane is under investigation. That's not good. Anyone hear anything?


EDIT:
Never mind about my Kane question. That's a discussion that doesn't need to happen on this forum.

[geochitown]

Thinking about some north side golf close to home for tomorrow mid-day...
thinking Mundelein all the way up to Zion...
an extended practice session might be a better call, we'll see

friends played Big Run on Tuesday, and said it was in good shape, greens a bit spongy was the quote

group tourney next Friday at Bowes Creek...looking forward to playing there after a 5 year hiatus

[stasek]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438873183' post='12089398']
Isn't RF Pete Dye's son PB?
[/quote]
I heard from a guy who's been living in RF subdivision for quite some time that Pete MIGHT have stopped by the course, but it was his son P. B. that did all the work. Either way, great layout which is suffering from generally sub standard conditions.

[MountainKing]

[quote name='stasek' timestamp='1438881820' post='12090328']
[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438873183' post='12089398']
Isn't RF Pete Dye's son PB?
[/quote]
I heard from a guy who's been living in RF subdivision for quite some time that Pete MIGHT have stopped by the course, but it was his son P. B. that did all the work. Either way, great layout which is suffering from generally sub standard conditions.
[/quote]

I heard very similar from a few people. It sounds like he consulted and helped PB out to an extent but had very little to do with the design, it sounds like he threw his name on it to help the kid out.

[stasek]

Speaking of RF... Tee time in 30 minutes...?

[apprenti23]

Just got a call- trecking down to play Mistwood tomorrow morning. First time down there this year.

[Scratch2Plus]

I forgot about Mistwood already. I need to get down there!

Playing Schaumburg tomorrow morning, Foxford Hills Sunday and Flossmoor CC next Thursday or Friday.

[zer0]

[quote name='stasek' timestamp='1438893825' post='12091670']
Speaking of RF... Tee time in 30 minutes...
[/quote]


There's no way you finished. I teed off at 3:24, they were then delayed 10 minutes so didn't really tee off till 3:35. Finally finished the death march at 8:00. Pace of play was awful. On #14 there were 4 groups on the tee waiting. The course itself is pretty crazy. As others have said, condition is sub standard. tee boxes were a bit spotty, greens were beat to crap and a tad slow. I thought the layout was odd bordering on annoying. Played the second set of tees (green) and found the Par 4s were either way too long or too short. Front nine was 3300 yards and back was 3000. Some really annoying blind tee shots. Definitely need to play this course more than once to figure out how to attack holes. Had one hole I thought was a dogleg right only to find out it was a dogleg left after I put my tee shot way right thinking that was safe. Guess I should've glanced at the scorecard on that one lol. 2 par3s over 200 yards, one all carry over water.

Guy in my foursome said it was rated one of the 100 hardest courses in the USA. I found that hard to believe, but it was definitely a tough track. Was not unhappy going 44-41-85. Birdied 4 and 13. Got to 18, another 440 yard par 4 and said f*** it and moved up to the gold tees...hit a good drive (for me) and was still 185 out.

Next time I'll invent a combo tee set and move up on the 440 yard par 4s and balance it out by moving to the tips for the 300 yarders.


Willow Crest tomorrow for an outing. Should be fun, but I always play terrible in this outing. Hoping to break that trend.

[apprenti23]

Hahaha I actually worked at RF when I was in high school, so it's one of the courses I really learned to play on. There are a couple difficult holes, but for the most part it's really benign as long as you don't try and over power the course. Plenty of holes where you can take advantage of, especially on the back! Have to play there a couple times to know what to tee off with and where to miss!

Four groups on 14 tee box?!?!? How does that even happen??? I could see two groups on the tee because it is short and drivable but four groups on one tee box?!? That doesn't even happen in XYZ fundraiser outings!
Pace must've been great except for that one hole though considered you played in under four and a half hours though? Must've taken you at least 40 minutes to play just that one hole with that many groups!

Really a shame what's happened to that place over the last ten plus years or so. I guess they were just greedy when the going was good, eh?

[stasek]

Ha! We teed off little late (4:20) and actually managed to "finish", if you call playing 17 and 18 in almost total darkness.
As you mentioned - the conditions were blah. They water the crap out of the course, making the greens soft - lots of ball marks. I guess for $32 it's fine, but it's definitely not a premier course like it used to be. They actually started putting sand in all the bunkers - a LOT of sand. I sank up to my ankles couple times I had a privilege to visit them. We also played the green tees. Funny you should mention 18 - I hit a solid drive and found my ball in the right fairway bunker. Hit a good second and actually found my ball on the fringe by the lake and 2 putted for 79. You're right - the course definitely plays much easier once you've played it few times - which I have probably 70-80 times by now.

[Argonne69]

Company outing at Harborside yesterday. 'Had a fantastic round on the Port course in nearly ideal weather conditions. It doesn't get much better than that. It was a shotgun start, and our group started on #12, the dastardly "Treachery" hole. 'Not a fun hole to start on, and I hooked my drive left. I was happy to walk away with a bogie. The next three holes were par, bogey, bogey, and I'm thinking it's going to be another one of those days. I simply fold like a house of cards at these types of outings. However, I manage to par 16, 17, and 18. #18 was sweet because I put my drive into the right side bunker, which really should have a plaque on it with my name, given that I seem to find it every time I play it.

On #1 I hooked my ball into the ditch on the left, but luckily it came up 2 feet short of the reeds. I was able to get a wedge on it, and move it 30 yards forward, but still in the ditch. I then had a blind wedge to the green, and pushed it right. However, I got a great member's bounce off the right mound, and the ball bounced left to within 2 feet of the flag. 'Sweet par. On #2 I lipped out a par putt, which would come back to "haunt" me. I then proceeded to par the rest of the front 9, so the lip out on #2 was my only blemish on the front nine. 'Frustrating. Heading to #10, I found the right fairway bunker, and the right greenside bunker, and managed a bogie. A par on #11 was the cherry on top for a nice 5 over.

At the awards dinner they announced the winning gross scores, and the winner for the Port course came in at 76. Argh! That lip out on #2 cost me a tie. Well, not really. They then announced that the 76 was on the Starboard course, and that 70 was the low score on the Port course, which made me feel better.

I spoke with the course manager after the round, and I have some very good news. He told me that they will start reconstruction on the bunkers in October! He doesn't have the full plan yet, but it's likely that they'll close 9 holes at a time and operate as a 27 hole facility. The bunkers yesterday were trash, with standing water in many of them, and little to no sand in the vast majority of them. 'Can't happen soon enough.

[jimwgt26]

Winettka yesterday. For a number of reasons I really hate it. Mostly, I think it's too tight, and pace of play is always slow. I also spend a lot of time coaching on the adjacent fields, so playing golf in the area is the last thing I want to do. Yesterday, I played with a kid I used to coach who's now one of my assistants, and his dad. I used to stand near his dad in The Bond Futures Pit. I was looking forward to having a fun day with them. Unfortunately, they paired us with the single from hell. We walked and he took a cart. Every hole he drove his cart slowly on our heels as we walked down the fairway. He'd also idle the cart while we hit our shots. On the greens and tee boxes he stood way too close, making really loud lip smacking noises. Add to that a constant excuse riddled commentary about why he has no game. I wanted to kill myself. Worst of all, we were the miserably slow foursome holding up the course. My friends dad's a season pass holder, he refused to let twosomes play through. Lastly, I know some of you do like to play there, be aware they punched the greens.

[Argonne69]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438962763' post='12095918']
Winettka yesterday. I really hate it for a number of reasons. Mostly, I think it's too tight, and pace of play is always slow. I also spend a lot of time coaching on the adjacent fields, so playing golf in the area is the last thing I want to do. Yesterday, I played with a kid I used to coach who's now one of my assistants, and his dad. I used to stand near his dad in The Bond Futures Pit. I was looking forward to having a fun day with them. Unfortunately, they paired us with the single from hell. We walked and he took a cart. Every hole he drove his cart slowly on our heels as we walked down the fairway. He'd also idle the cart while we hit our shots. On the greens and tee boxes he stood way too close, making really loud lip smacking noises. Add to that a constant excuse riddled commentary about why he has no game. I wanted to kill myself. Worst of all, we were the miserably slow foursome holding up the course. My friends dad's a season pass holder, he refused to let twosomes play through. Lastly, I know some of you do like to play there, be aware they punched the greens.
[/quote]

Agreed. Besides the soft, soggy conditions, the course needs a tree trim.

I had the opposite problem last Sunday at Highland Park. My buddy and I were walking, and the third single in an electric cart was constantly in front of us in the line of fire. It's one thing to be ahead and off to the side, but he was often between us and the flag.

[Scratch2Plus]

Schaumburg GC super...Either Cut OR Roll the greens! Come on Mannnnnn...

[apprenti23]

First time out at Mistwood this year- what a beautiful day we had to play, eh?

Course was in great shape, greens are very soft and receptive, could not BELIEVE the amount of old ball marks I had to fix. I'm talking at least two on every putt I had. Played with three buddies from HS/College who never played there before and they all struggled a bit more than normal. You know it's going to be a good time when you show up for a 7:20 tee time and your three buddies are already drinking and have six packs in the cart! We played it all the way back, but the markers weren't all the way back on every hole. Card said 7k but I think it was more like 6850/6900. IMO the course always plays short though. Pretty tight on some holes, but shorter than stated. Only time they "got to me" was when The bastards goaded me into trying to take a serious shortcut on 15. The result: One in two out, three. Three in four out, Five. Five in six out, Seven. Seven through the fairway, eight on, and two putts for a Ten. One of the guys actually said "Hey dude, nice birdie." I said ehhhh actually that was a ten, dude. haha! I played pretty boring, over reading putts, stupid penalties, all in all it was a crowd pleasing 77, one off trombones.

Can't wait to play there again!

[Argonne69]

First time out at Mistwood this year- what a beautiful day we had to play, eh?

 

Course was in great shape, greens are very soft and receptive, could not BELIEVE the amount of old ball marks I had to fix. I'm talking at least two on every putt I had. Played with three buddies from HS/College who never played there before and they all struggled a bit more than normal. You know it's going to be a good time when you show up for a 7:20 tee time and your three buddies are already drinking and have six packs in the cart! We played it all the way back, but the markers weren't all the way back on every hole. Card said 7k but I think it was more like 6850/6900. IMO the course always plays short though. Pretty tight on some holes, but shorter than stated. Only time they "got to me" was when The bastards goaded me into trying to take a serious shortcut on 15. The result: One in two out, three. Three in four out, Five. Five in six out, Seven. Seven through the fairway, eight on, and two putts for a Ten. One of the guys actually said "Hey dude, nice birdie." I said ehhhh actually that was a ten, dude. haha! I played pretty boring, over reading putts, stupid penalties, all in all it was a crowd pleasing 77, one off trombones.

 

Can't wait to play there again!

 

I took this photo of #15 last season.

 

[stasek]

[quote name='apprenti23' timestamp='1438981365' post='12097678']
First time out at Mistwood this year- what a beautiful day we had to play, eh?

Course was in great shape, greens are very soft and receptive, could not BELIEVE the amount of old ball marks I had to fix. I'm talking at least two on every putt I had. Played with three buddies from HS/College who never played there before and they all struggled a bit more than normal. You know it's going to be a good time when you show up for a 7:20 tee time and your three buddies are already drinking and have six packs in the cart! We played it all the way back, but the markers weren't all the way back on every hole. Card said 7k but I think it was more like 6850/6900. IMO the course always plays short though. Pretty tight on some holes, but shorter than stated. Only time they "got to me" was when The bastards goaded me into trying to take a serious shortcut on 15. The result: One in two out, three. Three in four out, Five. Five in six out, Seven. Seven through the fairway, eight on, and two putts for a Ten. One of the guys actually said "Hey dude, nice birdie." I said ehhhh actually that was a ten, dude. haha! I played pretty boring, over reading putts, stupid penalties, all in all it was a crowd pleasing 77, one off trombones.

Can't wait to play there again!
[/quote]
They usually don't have the back-back tees setup... The 14th par 3 plays oh, about 250 from way back to back pin location. So 15th got you too . Damn Kelpie's corner...

[DavePelz4]

[quote name='stasek' timestamp='1438983622' post='12097812']
[quote name='apprenti23' timestamp='1438981365' post='12097678']
First time out at Mistwood this year- what a beautiful day we had to play, eh?

Course was in great shape, greens are very soft and receptive, could not BELIEVE the amount of old ball marks I had to fix. I'm talking at least two on every putt I had. Played with three buddies from HS/College who never played there before and they all struggled a bit more than normal. You know it's going to be a good time when you show up for a 7:20 tee time and your three buddies are already drinking and have six packs in the cart! We played it all the way back, but the markers weren't all the way back on every hole. Card said 7k but I think it was more like 6850/6900. IMO the course always plays short though. Pretty tight on some holes, but shorter than stated. Only time they "got to me" was when The bastards goaded me into trying to take a serious shortcut on 15. The result: One in two out, three. Three in four out, Five. Five in six out, Seven. Seven through the fairway, eight on, and two putts for a Ten. One of the guys actually said "Hey dude, nice birdie." I said ehhhh actually that was a ten, dude. haha! I played pretty boring, over reading putts, stupid penalties, all in all it was a crowd pleasing 77, one off trombones.

Can't wait to play there again!
[/quote]
They usually don't have the back-back tees setup... The 14th par 3 plays oh, about 250 from way back to back pin location. So 15th got you too . Damn Kelpie's corner...
[/quote]
Stan if you're ever enjoying a post round libation and see a beautiful, tanned bartender named Jen, tell her I said hi.

You're welcome.

[stasek]

[quote name='DavePelz4' timestamp='1438984084' post='12097844']
[quote name='stasek' timestamp='1438983622' post='12097812']
[quote name='apprenti23' timestamp='1438981365' post='12097678']
First time out at Mistwood this year- what a beautiful day we had to play, eh?

Course was in great shape, greens are very soft and receptive, could not BELIEVE the amount of old ball marks I had to fix. I'm talking at least two on every putt I had. Played with three buddies from HS/College who never played there before and they all struggled a bit more than normal. You know it's going to be a good time when you show up for a 7:20 tee time and your three buddies are already drinking and have six packs in the cart! We played it all the way back, but the markers weren't all the way back on every hole. Card said 7k but I think it was more like 6850/6900. IMO the course always plays short though. Pretty tight on some holes, but shorter than stated. Only time they "got to me" was when The bastards goaded me into trying to take a serious shortcut on 15. The result: One in two out, three. Three in four out, Five. Five in six out, Seven. Seven through the fairway, eight on, and two putts for a Ten. One of the guys actually said "Hey dude, nice birdie." I said ehhhh actually that was a ten, dude. haha! I played pretty boring, over reading putts, stupid penalties, all in all it was a crowd pleasing 77, one off trombones.

Can't wait to play there again!
[/quote]
They usually don't have the back-back tees setup... The 14th par 3 plays oh, about 250 from way back to back pin location. So 15th got you too . Damn Kelpie's corner...
[/quote]
Stan if you're ever enjoying a post round libation and see a beautiful, tanned bartender named Jen, tell her I said hi.

You're welcome.
[/quote]
Are you saying Danielle is oh so 2014?
I might actually get a chance to do that - pretty good chance of playing Mistwood next week.

[jimwgt26]

Anyone ever play Aberdeen in Valparaiso?

[B-Man]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438995670' post='12098738']
Anyone ever play Aberdeen in Valparaiso?
[/quote]

Yes. Save yer money. Too far for too little.

[Chicago Lefty]

Heading east into Indiana I recommend Blackthorn.

[apprenti23]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438995670' post='12098738']
Anyone ever play Aberdeen in Valparaiso?
[/quote]

Worked there in 2003- sure is a great layout and back then times were good, money flowing, economy, etc.
Now? Not so much... Major cutbacks, last time I played it was in bad shape. Used to be worth the drive, now you just have to pass too many better value courses to get there.

[quote name='Chicago Lefty' timestamp='1438997229' post='12098876']
Heading east into Indiana I recommend Blackthorn.
[/quote]
I'll second that if you're near South Bend.

[jimwgt26]

My friend really wants to go to the 18th St Brewery in Gary. We were going to play Balmoral Woods, then go there afterwards. We play Balmoral regularly, so I was looking for something different. Any suggestions (other than Lost Marsh)?

[apprenti23]

[quote name='jimwgt26' timestamp='1438999917' post='12099086']
My friend really wants to go to the 18th St Brewery in Gary. We were going to play Balmoral Woods, then go there afterwards. We play Balmoral regularly, so I was looking for something different. Any suggestions (other than Lost Marsh)?
[/quote]

I really like BW, awesome layout. Haven't been down there in awhile.

How far is Sandy Pines from the brewery you want to go to?