Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Argonne69]

49 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

Last week was quite the week with top notch courses. Our group was hosted on Saturday at Flossmoor.  Great weather and the ball was flying. The course was in amazing condition, the rough penal as my wrist will attest to and Flossmoor's greens could very well be the toughest in all of Chicago. They had to be rolling at least 13 and if you were above the hole, see ya. There isn't a hole that disappoints at Flossmoor although several people said the uphill, into the wind, 461 yard 17th fit that bill.  I just think it's a tough hole.

 

If you have the chance to play Flossmoor, do it.  Think it was $110 for the round and it's worth every penny of that.

 

The 17th is definitely a tough hole, and even tougher when playing into the wind. 

[Argonne69]

 

Edgebrook GC in Sandwich this morning. 'Definitely not worth the drive out there. 'Nice piece of property with a few elevation changes and a few nice holes, but otherwise a generally ho hum layout, and very iffy conditions. Did we get significant rain last night, or did they simply manage to set the sprinkler system to the 'Noah's Flood' setting? There was standing water in a lot of the fairways, and the bunkers were mud. Tee boxes were mostly crabgrass. The greens were wet, littered with crabgrass, and rolling 7 at best. Pace was nice at 2:30. I played through two groups on the 3rd and 4th holes, and then had clear sailing. Can't say it was worth the $25 to walk considering the amount of gas needed to get out there.

 

Decent round with two birdies and four bogies. 

 

One of the strangest things to happen to me on a course today. I walked up to my ball in the 9th fairway, and I noticed a maintenance worker standing behind the green with a blue flag. The pin was center cut with a white flag. I hit a wedge to what appeared to be 2 ft or less, setting up a nice tap in birdie. As I start walking towards the green the worker walks on to the green and pulls the white flag and cup, and then proceeds to put the cup and the blue flag at a new back pin location. As I walk on to the green he's putting the soil core in old center hole. FFS. He couldn't have waited until I finished the hole, especially given that there was nobody behind me? Birdie denied. Total wanker.

 

Tough par 4 7th with maybe 20 yds of gap. Chainsaw anyone?

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Argonne69

[mci711]

@chisag Not Will County, but I was shocked to see Harborside had nothing in the cups and rakes in the bunkers. I didn't even know that was legal right now ?‍♂️. 

 

@Argonne69 In that situation I am putting at the old hole 100% of the time. What the hell? 

Edited August 18, 2020 by mci711

[stasek]

Played Palmira on Sunday as well.  Agree with @ME27 - course is in pretty rough shape.  We played in the morning and the fairways were still soaked and the greens were definitely rolling in single digits. After almost driving the first green (playing down-wind), I completely lost my driver swing for few holes (army golf - lost 3 balls) - 42 ?.  Found the swing on 8 and never looked back.  Collected just enough $$$ for the longest drive on 12 to offset the latest addition to the bag - Maltby KE4 TC driver.  Came to 17th 1-under on the back, smoked the driver down the middle and promptly laid up.... in the forest.  1 punch out, mediocre wedge, and 3 putts later - double ?.  1-over 38 on the back for a rather terrible 80.  

I might be able to sneak out to RF after work today - otherwise it looks like our club tournament on Friday at Old Oak.  

[stasek]

45 minutes ago, mci711 said:

@chisag Not Will County, but I was shocked to see Harborside had nothing in the cups and rakes in the bunkers. I didn't even know that was legal right now ?‍♂️. 

 

@Argonne69 In that situation I am putting at the old hole 100% of the time. What the hell? 

 

For it to be illegal, it would have to be an actual law (instead of a mandate).

 

And heck yeah, I'm putting at the old hole!  

[@_the_crook]

On 8/17/2020 at 8:08 PM, TheBear95 said:

On a unrelated note, do you know how the construction is going at Sportsman's? I feel that the weather for most part has been pretty good this summer for a construction project. Not too wet. Hopefully, they are on-pace. Don't know if they have been slowed by COVID restrictions though.

As we move quickly towards the end of summer, I have found myself missing the course the past few weeks. While I wasn't a regular, I would play Sportsman's around 3-5 times a season.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

Hey Bear, the best description would be - torn asunder.

Clubhouse down - and new foundation poured. They raised it up a bit so the course can be better viewed from the building.

Driving range is stripped to bare dirt and is being redone from all sides. West end should have grass tees and East end a chip and putt area plus traps.

Some of the main course is being fitted for drainage and the 18 hole greens are being rebuilt.

Odd to see the sprinklers running on East nine holes, but they have to keep the turf alive and trimmed, even though there are construction fences nearby.

 

I am really looking forward to seeing (and playing) after the re-do is completed.

must take another walk over to perform an amateur inspection.

 

best to you.

 

 

 

[ldchristopher]

Oak Grove and Glen Erin today. We weren’t originally targeting Oak Grove to open but when walking 36 we can’t afford to chase a cart for the first round. Luckily, no one is ever at Oak Grove, especially at 6:20 AM. It’s the same as always (firm fairways and rough, decent greens on the ones that had the dew removed, and awful bunkers), though they did put some actual sand in the traps on the first few holes. Maintenance got the dew off about 6 of the greens but apparently just decided to let the sun clear off the other 12. Thanks Golfvisions! Professional as always. I was up until 1:00 AM with my daughter and woke up at 4:00 to make the drive to Harvard. My swing matched that lack of sleep, though while I lacked any semblance of pop off the tee I was accurate enough to eek out a 75. We walked in 2:50 so mission accomplished for round one. 
 

Glen Erin really doesn’t need any more hype from me but I’ll give it anyway. The greens were outstanding, the fairways were firm, the bunkers were outstanding, and not a blade of grass was out of place. All for $27. The course was also weirdly empty. Compared to how difficult it is to get a time in IL, saying that was unexpected is an understatement. Thanks to some caffeine and food, my swing came back, though the pins at Glen Erin were in some very tough spots. Given today’s setup, I was happy with a second 75. 

[AUTIGER07]

It's amazing how much a little confidence early in the round can boost an area of your game that has been struggling. After my #$%@show of a round at HoE ~2 weeks ago I decided to take PGASS up on taking back the SIM under the playability guarantee. For the 1 out of 5 shots I would absolutely crush, 3 out of 5 would end up in deep grass, the woods, the next county, etc. I ended up hitting the Mavrik SZ, SIM MAX, Speedzones, TS3 / TS4, and G410 LST but I told the fitter that I didn't care if I lost 10-15 yards as long as my dispersion was significantly reduced. I ended up walking out with the LST but given the price difference I still had ~$160 to blow so I picked up a Sigma 2 Valor putter purely on a whim.

 

That all being the back story, I ended up playing the Jemsek 18 at St. Andrews for the first time late yesterday afternoon on a day that felt more like early fall than the blistering heat we've been experiencing over the last few weeks. 10/14 fairways, 11/18 greens, 29 putts and finished with a 71, which was honestly as bad as the score could have been. My comment above on the confidence came from both the new driver and putter early in the round. I hit a poor 2nd shot into #1 that egged in the bunker and almost made the 30 footer coming back for par. On the 2nd hole, I missed the green short but made the 12 footer for par and from then on the putter just felt locked in. The driver felt as close to "point and shoot" since I was in college with a 975J in the bag. I wanted to give it a workout so I hit it on #3/4/5/7/8/9/10/12/15/16/17 and only missed 2 fairways with it. I normally would never hit the driver that much in a round but when it's working why not. I ended up almost driving #7 (3 feet short) and then annihilated a drive on #10 which left me with a PW in and I made the putt for an eagle. I closed with an absolute idiotic bogey on #18 as I incorrectly read the distance as 265 to the pond but with blue tees being up 20 yards or so my 4W end up in it. All in all just a really enjoyable day and the honeymoon phase for the new sticks is definitely in full effect.

 

Now comes the hard part of seeing how much I can get out over the next few weeks without totally pissing the wife off.

 

[Argonne69]

 

Wilmette tomorrow, and Canal Shores (1st visit) on Friday. Walking four rounds a week has taken a toll on my feet. I have a bruise on my right heel, so hopefully a pitch and putt before the weekend will reduce the pain. 

[VNutz]

As @DavePelz4 mentioned, I had the spoiled pleasure to play both Rich Harvest Farms and Flossmoor last week. Rich Harvest definitely checked off a (local) bucket list course for me. It's such a cool story, such an amazing property, and with what I felt was a very classy yet unpretentious vibe. There was a meeting in the car museum so we didn't get to see that, probably the only negative on the day. The peacefulness and general lack of noise there was just unmatched, I felt like I was in northern Michigan or something with nobody around. The NIU facilities were incredible; I'm not sure how any recruit could walk away from that place and choose another school over it with what is offered to them. Maybe 10 groups play there per day, no reservations for times, just show up and go. I can see where some could call the design quirky, and in some ways I agree, but when realizing what the owner had in mind when he began his project I totally get it, a couple of holes to be played multiple ways to give some variety and not get bored. As to the golf, I started hot with 3 birdies in 6 holes, then a 27 hole adjustment kicked in as I lost my driver completely. It started fading and as a drawer of the ball I was lost. But the course itself was phenomenal, greens absolute perfection and impossible if in the wrong position. Such a fun challenge and a round I'll not soon forget.

 

To follow that up we had Flossmoor on Saturday, probably one of my favorites in the area. If you like cool old classic courses this should be on your list as well. Great classic layout, lots of big old trees that create a feel you don't find much anymore. Beautiful condition and fast greens as well, the new ownership there is doing a fantastic job. Unfortunately my struggles from Rich Harvest continued, this time with the lefts, and hard lefts, and I had a rough go. This is not an easy course if you plan to try to scrap together some pars from the rough. But it's such a great place that you don't care.

 

Now back to public golf where I belong... ??

[geochitown]

got a friend considering Calumet for this saturday.

Anyone recent report on conditions there?

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by geochitown

[mci711]

What is the best way of getting on Flossmoor? Boxgroove? 

[geochitown]

you know anyone who is a New Club member?

Boxgroove may not work anymore, might be worth contacting them though.

That seems to always be the first step.

 

The Walking Golfers Society is playing there this coming Saturday, but event if full.

 

Might want to get on their mailing list as they have a lot of events at cool courses around the country.

Edited August 19, 2020 by geochitown

[geochitown]

When the CDGA's Tee Time program was active (last year, no schedule posted for this year), Flossmoor was in the rotation.

[VNutz]

32 minutes ago, mci711 said:

What is the best way of getting on Flossmoor? Boxgroove? 

 

One of the guys in our group/league is a member there and got us on. Just have to find the right connections as it seems they're fairly open to guests.

[btork]

Playing Mistwood in Romeoville tomorrow. Heard it's in very nice condition. Any tips?

[thanson1990]

On 8/18/2020 at 8:06 AM, DavePelz4 said:

Last Wednesday a 20 year golf friend who I've play all over the country with, our own VNutz and I played Rich Harvest farms with the golf coach of my beloved NIU Huskies. Rich Harvest Farms is more like a resort with a world class golf course in the middle of it. In addition to golf which I'll get to in a sec, we toured the outdoor and indoor practice facilities and they are world class along with the study area, game areas, etc. What an incredible recruiting advantage to have something like that to draw in recruits in addition to the course.

 

We were a bit rushed on the range and instead of a normal warm up period, we maybe had 15-20 minutes so that we could get in front of several groups playing together which the NIU Golf coach acknowledged could be a bit slow.

 

On to the course. Having been bless to play Chicago Golf Club, all the Medinah courses, Erin Hills, Sand Valley and some of the other top public and private clubs in the country, I'd put RHF in the top 10 as far as a fun course to play.  We played it around 6,800 yards but because of the conditions and how fast it played, it was more than manageable. It's definitely a course you need to play a couple of times to understand the lines of play. The conditions as you'd expect were very good and how nice is it to play a course where there are no ball marks. Mr. Rich  is trying to let the course become a little more "natural" as opposed to a manufactured design so the traps had more old fashioned sand, and plenty of it. On the majority of the holes there is an ample area to hit driver. The par 3's were magnificent and just visually stunning as they incorporated natural features into the design.  Big fan of the green complexes and by no means were they easy.  You had to hit the ball in the proper spot to have a legit chance at making a putt. 

 

We had a forecaddie named Dave and he was a riot. He went out of his way to make the day fun; he had a lot of stories about the course of his loops etc. Dave and VNutz hit it off very well. Dave would tell V where to hit a shot or the line of a putt and V would execute. I'm sure he'll chime in but I think he was -3 going into hole 8 and had at least 4 if not 5 birdies for the round. There were a couple of other putts that could have gone in as well. 

 

For a perceptually high end club, it was very down to Earth and the entire staff went out of their way to be gracious and accommodating.  The clubhouse appeared to be smallish but in reality it was huge and you could have easily spent an hour going through all of the mementos and displays.  We also spent a bit of time in the car museum which has a huge meting area, gym and Mr. Rich's office. There are several other houses on the property where guests stay and I would have LOVED to toured those. The houses fit in so naturally with the overall visuals of the course.

 

Here's a couple of pics. Will share that on Silver #5 which we played around 170, my long time friend missed a hole in one by about 2 inches.  An amazing shot and memory.

I was waiting for the forums to come back online so you could post about this. Your "longtime golf friend" gave me the recap last week, but the pictures of the indoor practice facility are even cooler than he described it. Glad you guys had a great day out there!

 

He also didn't forget to mention his near ace! ?

[btork]

16 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

 

Hey Bear, the best description would be - torn asunder.

Clubhouse down - and new foundation poured. They raised it up a bit so the course can be better viewed from the building.

Driving range is stripped to bare dirt and is being redone from all sides. West end should have grass tees and East end a chip and putt area plus traps.

Some of the main course is being fitted for drainage and the 18 hole greens are being rebuilt.

Odd to see the sprinklers running on East nine holes, but they have to keep the turf alive and trimmed, even though there are construction fences nearby.

 

I am really looking forward to seeing (and playing) after the re-do is completed.

must take another walk over to perform an amateur inspection.

 

best to you.

 

 

 

 

I'm watching this project as well. I live in Northbrook and find myself missing Sportsman's this season. Hopefully the updates are worth the wait, they certainly missed out on a very busy season this year.

 

[@_the_crook]

3 hours ago, btork said:

 

I'm watching this project as well. I live in Northbrook and find myself missing Sportsman's this season. Hopefully the updates are worth the wait, they certainly missed out on a very busy season this year.

 

 

While Sunset Valley is a good and convenient replacement , it's the flattest piece of land I've played in a long time., notwithstanding the green complexes.

They are super nice.

 

[DavePelz4]

Finished the week of private golf today at Elgin CC. If you've played HoE and/or Bowes, you'd never believe this course is in Elgin. The elevation changes and shaping of the holes are just fun. It's pretty rare that you'll find yourself with a flat lie so most shots are unique.  Having come off of RHF and Flossmoor, the greens were comparatively slow but in reality, they were probably 10-11.  Nice to play another course with no ball marks, you sincerely appreciate that.  

 

Elgin has a nice range and short game area, multiple targets, and the practice green is reflective of what you'll see on the course. 

 

Without getting too deep into the story, I brought the son of one of my long terms golf buds, and 2 other guys from our season long comp as guests. One the short par 5 first, my friend's son hit a drive about 310 that drifted into the left rough. With 170 going in he hit a 7i that never left the flag and ended up 2 inches right of the cup. As we went up, he kept asking who was close and it was him. In 25+ years of playing, he made his first eagle with a 2 inch putt, and yes, we did make him putt it which was only right. Sad his Dad missed it but he'd have been  proud of his boy. 

 

Elgin isn't long with the tips being around 6,500 but the defense of the course is the green complexes and we all saw more than a few chips/pitches come back to our feet off the false fronts. Easy up and downs turned into doubles too often.

 

If you haven't had the chance, play Elgin. It's worth it.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by DavePelz4

[Holy Moses]

Playing The Glen Club for the first time tomorrow. Looking forward to it. 

[Holy Moses]

Really annoyed when electric golf carts have a low humming the entire time the cart is on. Highlands of Elgin has this issue on their new carts. 

[Argonne69]

Another pleasant day on the course. Wilmette today. Conditions were a bit spotty. Tee boxes looked great. Greens were in very nice shape, and rolling a good 10. Bunkers were excellent. However, a number of the fairways were sanded. Don't recall seeing that before. If you looked closely you could see what appeared to be weeds under the sand. Infestation of crabgrass perhaps? We were the first group out following the morning league play, and thought we'd be in for a slow round. We were more than happy with the 3:50 pace. 

 

Pretty bad day ballstriking. The pain the my heel was causing me to walk with a limp, which managed to strain my arch, and finally my back said enough. 'Only hit 5 fairways, and 9 greens. I did get two birdies, and a handful of scrambles, but otherwise it was a lost cause.

 

I'm going to limp around Canal Shores tomorrow, and then decide what to do. We've had such a great stretch of good weather that I'd hate to sit out for any period of time, but the 'ol heel doesn't seem to be getting any better while I'm playing on it.

[ldchristopher]

With all this talk of playing high-end private courses, Bear and I knew we needed to play the best of the best so we teed it up at Ives Grove. Conditions were a little sketchy in some fairways but the bunkers all had lots of sand in them and the greens were smooth, though no faster than 8.5 or 9. We played the front in 75 minutes but Ives sent a group off the same nine we were playing for our second nine. Things ground to a halt and we waited on most shots for the first six holes of the back. Then the twosome quit and we finished the last three smoothly. Weird, and not cool by Ives. Ball striking was okay and I drove the ball well. Third straight 75. 
 

Since I go back to work next week, today was likely my last day of weekday golf for some time so I picked up a second round at Arboretum. They had the most open tee sheet but I should’ve known that would be meaningless. Midday remains a bad time to play unless someone likes to wait to around on every shot. The course was a little chewed in some fairways but the greens were smooth. The bunkers looked great but they had very little sand in them. It was really compressed and thin so it was easy getting out of fairway bunkers but a pain around the greens. I usually use my 58 but had to open up my 54 and rely on my putter. The front played normal but the back, which is short anyway, was playing like a pitch and putt. The par 3’s were playing 121 and 127 and I was hitting mostly PW, 50 or 54 into every green. 73. 

[ME27]

Cog #1 today. Course is nothing special but maintained pretty well. Close to work for me and an easy last minute round. Putter has been dead for me last Few rounds and cannot hole anything lately. 78 blah. 

[btork]

On 8/19/2020 at 4:52 PM, @_the_crook said:

 

While Sunset Valley is a good and convenient replacement , it's the flattest piece of land I've played in a long time., notwithstanding the green complexes.

They are super nice.

 

 

Yes, Sunset is worthy of a couple rounds each summer. Conditions are usually great. Gets really busy though. I'll be playing it again next week.

[Argonne69]

Interesting round at Canal Shores this morning. First, and very likely last visit. It pretty much met my low expectations. A few fun holes, but otherwise meh. With the tiny greens it's not a particularly easy course despite the yardage. The par 4s are quite narrow, with dense jungle on both sides. The longer par 3s are no pushovers with the micro greens. 

 

Conditions were spotty at best. By the 3rd hole I stopped trying to get a tee in the ground. There was little turf, and the dirt was hard as a rock. Greens were in decent shape, but only rolling 7 at best. The majority of the fringes were dirt. I was expecting a little better for $35. Oh well. 

 

Good day to work on chipping, as I managed only 7 greens. Two birdies, and another birdie denied. Lol. I knew it was only a matter of time before the pool noodles mixed with overwatering would cause grief. 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Argonne69

[psygolf]

8 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Interesting round at Canal Shores this morning. First, and very likely last visit. It pretty much met my low expectations. A few fun holes, but otherwise meh. With the tiny greens it's not a particularly easy course despite the yardage. The par 4s are quite narrow, with dense jungle on both sides. The longer par 3s are no pushovers with the micro greens. 

 

Conditions were spotty at best. By the 3rd hole I stopped trying to get a tee in the ground. There was little turf, and the dirt was hard as a rock. Greens were in decent shape, but only rolling 7 at best. The majority of the fringes were dirt. I was expecting a little better for $35. Oh well. 

 

Good day to work on chipping, as I managed only 7 greens. Two birdies, and another birdie denied. Lol. I knew it was only a matter of time before the pool noodles mixed with overwatering would cause grief. 

 

 

C’mon now...CS has to be one of the ultimate urban golf experiences out there.

 

 It’s a blast...definitely not your “golf, rinse, repeat” type courses the most play on a monthly basis.

[stasek]

Our annual golf tournament at Old Oak yesterday.  With 144 players/2 foursomes per hole it was always going to be slow, and it surely didn’t disappoint.  Played well enough to win the whole thing, but unfortunately bad double on 14, combined with couple 3-putts and not taking advantage of 1st hole ultimately proved costly.  73 won the whole thing and my 75 was good enough for 2nd place.  Course was in good shape but the greens were quite slow.  Ruffled Feathers tomorrow morning.

[chisag]

... I am cleaning out the basement and have some carts I need to get rid of because I know there has been a shortage. The push carts are in great shape and both have rubber inflatable tires and roll great, much better than current plastic wheeled carts imo. So if anyone is interested here is what I have:

Clic Gear push Cart  SOLD
Sun Mountain push cart.  SOLD


I also have a Remote Controlled MotoCaddy S7 that is several years old but has a newer battery and was only used for 1 season before switching to a MGi Navigator. Charger included. Best sale price I could find is $1489 so I am selling mine for $499. 
https://www.sunrisegolfcarts.com/remote-control-golf-carts-lithium-motocaddy-p/mtc-s7-li.htm 

Since I won't be shipping any of these, I thought I would offer them here first for local pick up. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by chisag