Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Marlo989]

Calumet CC this morning. Was about the 4th car in the lot with about 8 when I left. Was it just too hot or is it really like this all the time? This was my first trip and I really enjoyed it. Will be sad to see it go, but I'll be sure to visit again. It's clearly not at it's peak but damn you can see the greatness.

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, Marlo989 said:

Calumet CC this morning. Was about the 4th car in the lot with about 8 when I left. Was it just too hot or is it really like this all the time? This was my first trip and I really enjoyed it. Will be sad to see it go, but I'll be sure to visit again. It's clearly not at it's peak but damn you can see the greatness.

 

I've played it a few times, and it's been more or less empty each time.

[Shriner]

The quest to rate the top 100 IL continued yesterday...my first time playing Ravisloe.  Wow, that was, ummm, strange?  Two par 5's in a row, then two par 3's in a row!  I thought the course was fair, it was never too narrow but the bunkers in the dead center of the fairway were a little silly.  The clubhouse was amazing and fairways/tee boxes were nice.  Greens were not very good...slow, bouncy and putts did not roll true.  However, I would go back as you dont see courses like this very often, loved the deep greenside bunkering.  Rating came out to 7.55.

[Argonne69]

31 minutes ago, Shriner said:

The quest to rate the top 100 IL continued yesterday...my first time playing Ravisloe.  Wow, that was, ummm, strange?  Two par 5's in a row, then two par 3's in a row!  I thought the course was fair, it was never too narrow but the bunkers in the dead center of the fairway were a little silly.  The clubhouse was amazing and fairways/tee boxes were nice.  Greens were not very good...slow, bouncy and putts did not roll true.  However, I would go back as you dont see courses like this very often, loved the deep greenside bunkering.  Rating came out to 7.55.

 

There are a number of area courses that have back to back par 5's. Glencoe (17 and 18) comes to mind. A few have b2b par 3's, e.g Glenview Park (9 and 10).

 

Why do you find it odd that there's a bunker in the middle of the fairway? It's not common, but it's not uncommon either.

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by Argonne69

[Shriner]

30 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

There are a number of area courses that have back to back par 5's. Glencoe (17 and 18) comes to mind. A few have b2b par 3's, e.g Glenview Park (9 and 10).

 

Why do you find it odd that there's a bunker in the middle of the fairway? It's not common, but it's not uncommon either.

 

 

I dont mind when it is strategic, where it prevents you from running a ball up to a green or forces a layup, etc..  I forget the hole, but it was on the back 9.  Straight hole, bunker dead center of fairway right at driver distance.  Ball is on the upslope, dead.  That is silly to me but there is no perfect course...

[ldchristopher]

Arthur Hills called. He wants to know why you don’t care for one of his key design elements. Personally, I don’t care for Ravisloe. It’s great for going low and I get that there aren’t many public Ross courses but if a course is going to play as a par 70, it should have some teeth. Instead, Ravisloe gives players extra scoring holes. Also, the routing is conducive to backups.

[mci711]

There need to be more center line fairway bunkers. Tour pros hate it too, makes you think off the tee and have a strategy. 

[TheBear95]

35 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

Arthur Hills called. He wants to know why you don’t care for one of his key design elements. Personally, I don’t care for Ravisloe. It’s great for going low and I get that there aren’t many public Ross courses but if a course is going to play as a par 70, it should have some teeth. Instead, Ravisloe gives players extra scoring holes. Also, the routing is conducive to backups.

 

More than most courses, pin positions will dictate how challenging or not Ravisloe is on a given day. I like the funky layout of the front 9. But, do agree, that the layout of par 3, short par 4, par 3, par 3 on the front is not the most conducive to good pace of play on a busy day.

Edited August 28, 2020 by TheBear95

[DavePelz4]

2 hours ago, Shriner said:

The quest to rate the top 100 IL continued yesterday...my first time playing Ravisloe.  Wow, that was, ummm, strange?  Two par 5's in a row, then two par 3's in a row!  I thought the course was fair, it was never too narrow but the bunkers in the dead center of the fairway were a little silly.  The clubhouse was amazing and fairways/tee boxes were nice.  Greens were not very good...slow, bouncy and putts did not roll true.  However, I would go back as you dont see courses like this very often, loved the deep greenside bunkering.  Rating came out to 7.55.

 

We're playing Ravisloe on Sunday morning...first time playing it. Saw the scorecard and would agree that's a bit unique but will reserve judgement until playing it.

[Shriner]

Curious to see what you think as a first timer.  I would hit different clubs off the tee on alot of the holes having played it once now.  Definitely a unique experience for a public course...

[TheBear95]

8 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

We're playing Ravisloe on Sunday morning...first time playing it. Saw the scorecard and would agree that's a bit unique but will reserve judgement until playing it.

 

Yes, a bit odd thru #7. After that, very conventional routing for a par 70, 35/35. 

[geochitown]

12 hours ago, DeeBee30 said:

Edgewood Valley was in in very good condition today. The tee boxes and fairways were immaculate. the bunkers - which I visited way too often - were very nicely groomed with just the right texture and depth of sand.  The greens, while pretty quick and true, had several battle scars still showing from recent play.  I can't say that the multitude of residual ball marks had much of an effect on putts, but it did detract a little bit from the visual  appeal of the course. Call me spoiled, but...

 

Overall, the course had a enough of a mix of holes with varied shapes and lengths to keep it interesting from a golfing perspective. And the grounds, the staff and the food were all top-notch and made this a fantastic day!

 

I should say it was amazing to play a course whose greens didn't look like the moon with unrepaired ballmarks.

 

That was Cog Hill #4 on Wednesday.  Have to give kudos to them.

 

 

[B-Man]

2 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Yes, a bit odd thru #7. After that, very conventional routing for a par 70, 35/35. 

12th is a short 480yd par 5 now. Par 71.

[Holy Moses]

Made the drive up to Arcadia Bluffs from Benton Harbor. Once I got my clubs out of my car and saw the clubhouse, it was like the first time I went to Disney World as a kid and you are in awe of the place. For the first time in a long time I was nervous at the first tee. I hit a big drive, but found a huge bunker that is in the left center of the fairway. Luckily I didn't find another bunker until the 18th hole because there are some mammoth bunkers here. The course is pretty incredible - the most picturesque I have played. I believe there's 7 holes that play right next to Lake Michigan. I've been pounding my driver lately and I only missed a few fairways. The hay that borders the fairways is not unplayable, but you still don't want to find it. I heard it's been really dry there, but you'd never know. My ball got no roll on the fairways and from what I saw, it doesn't play like a links course. I heard there is some erosion issues on 12 and they might be moving the green inland to guard against losing the green or the surrounding area. Greens were surprisingly slow; rolling a 10 at best and probably a 9. I shot +3 on the front and even on the back. Great round for me on a new course. Some people call Arcadia Bluffs the Pebble Peach of the midwest. I don't know if I would say that, but it's as close as you can get. Highly recommended and I got to play it on a beautiful day. 

[VNutz]

36 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

Made the drive up to Arcadia Bluffs from Benton Harbor. Once I got my clubs out of my car and saw the clubhouse, it was like the first time I went to Disney World as a kid and you are in awe of the place. For the first time in a long time I was nervous at the first tee. I hit a big drive, but found a huge bunker that is in the left center of the fairway. Luckily I didn't find another bunker until the 18th hole because there are some mammoth bunkers here. The course is pretty incredible - the most picturesque I have played. I believe there's 7 holes that play right next to Lake Michigan. I've been pounding my driver lately and I only missed a few fairways. The hay that borders the fairways is not unplayable, but you still don't want to find it. I heard it's been really dry there, but you'd never know. My ball got no roll on the fairways and from what I saw, it doesn't play like a links course. I heard there is some erosion issues on 12 and they might be moving the green inland to guard against losing the green or the surrounding area. Greens were surprisingly slow; rolling a 10 at best and probably a 9. I shot +3 on the front and even on the back. Great round for me on a new course. Some people call Arcadia Bluffs the Pebble Peach of the midwest. I don't know if I would say that, but it's as close as you can get. Highly recommended and I got to play it on a beautiful day. 

 

Congrats on getting up there, truly an awesome place. Good info on the 12th green, I've been wondering if the course and that green and ravine have had any issues given all the problem the rest of the Michigan coast has been having. I'd hate for that to happen, but better that than it falling into the lake like cottages have been doing.

[Argonne69]

6 hours ago, Shriner said:

 

I dont mind when it is strategic, where it prevents you from running a ball up to a green or forces a layup, etc..  I forget the hole, but it was on the back 9.  Straight hole, bunker dead center of fairway right at driver distance.  Ball is on the upslope, dead.  That is silly to me but there is no perfect course...

 

That's the par 5 12th. It used to be a par 4, and the center bunker was very much in play. Now that they've lengthened the hole into a par 5, the bunker doesn't come into play for the majority of players. 'Not sure what they're going to do there, but the bunker obviously needs to be moved towards the teebox 50 to 75 yds to be a factor once again. 

 

[Argonne69]

 

'Very enjoyable round at Cog Hill #3 today. As noted earlier, it's been quite a while since I played the course. Primarily because they wouldn't give a tee time to a single for over a decade. I forgot how hilly the course is in areas. The finishing two holes are boring as heck, as are a handful of the interior holes, but there are a number of solid holes, e.g. #12. Conditions were excellent. I was a bit surprised. Fairways were lush, and recently cut. There was even a nice edge to them. The greens looked great, and were rolling a good 10. A number of bunkers were washed out. The pace was excellent. Teed off with another single, and we had an open course until playing through a foursome on the 5th hole. We finished the front nine in 1:30. We finally caught the other groups on the 11th hole, but things were moving fine, and we finished in 3:30.

 

A day off yesterday seems to have cured the driving woes for the most part, at least until late in the round when the pain in the foot started flaring up. 10 fairways and 11 greens. I got around in even par on the front nine with two birdies, but the driver got a little wild coming home, and wound up three over for the day. 

 

The Preserve on Monday.

[TheBear95]

2 hours ago, B-Man said:

12th is a short 480yd par 5 now. Par 71.

Oof. It's been a few years since I've played the course. Don't get making that hole a par 5.

[Argonne69]

31 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

Oof. It's been a few years since I've played the course. Don't get making that hole a par 5.

 

They cut down some trees behind the original tee box, and added 100 yds to the hole. It's a tight tee shot coming out of the new chute. It was originally a 400 yd hole from the back tees, but now plays 484. 

Edited August 28, 2020 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Anybody ever play Nettle Creek in Morris? It looks pretty flat from satellite images. The course is private, but allows public play on the weekends. I'm thinking about skipping a round next Friday for a round there on Saturday. 

 

[MountainKing]

Nettle is pretty mundane and boring.   

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

Nettle is pretty mundane and boring.   

 

Thanks. It's so close to the Illinois River, I thought it might be built on a nice piece of river valley terrain. Going to take a pass, and look towards Southeast Wisconsin. 

[chisag]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Anybody ever play Nettle Creek in Morris? It looks pretty flat from satellite images. The course is private, but allows public play on the weekends. I'm thinking about skipping a round next Friday for a round there on Saturday. 

 

 

... I took my PAT at Nettle Creek. Played from the white tees it was pretty easy with little wind. I would not call it mundane and boring as there are some interesting and fun holes but overall certainly not worth the drive imo. 

[Dashfast]

Well, I was fortunate enough to play Butler today. Conditions were immaculate, operations were flawless, and the course didn't disappoint. I had one of the worst ballstriking days of the season (likely mental, trying to impress our host, hearing how tough it is, yada yada yada) and managed to hit 0 greens in reg. The greens were quick, but it was the slope and contours together with that that made them particularly difficult. Perhaps it was my poor shotmaking and bad approach angles, but it just seemed like no matter where I landed a chip, it would roll far beyond where I'd anticipated. You really had to think and be careful. Landing something an inch too far made a huge difference.

 

Pins were often tucked, bunkers were often in play, and approach angles left little room for error. 

 

I feel like the more I reflect on the experience, the more I realize the genius of the course. It's not "spectacular" in the same way that some other courses are (Straits or Sand Valley or Mammoth Dunes come to mind), but it's a true and special test. 

[DeeBee30]

@mci711 how’s the condition of Seven Bridges these days? Thinking of playing next week but just heard from a guy that it wasn’t good today. Don’t know if that’s factual or if he’s making an excuse for his score. For $90 riding, I’d hope they’re maintaining it well.

[ldchristopher]

Scherwood this morning. The pickings were slim for an early morning round since we waited to book until Thursday. It’s not in great shape but it’s never in very good condition there so that wasn’t a shock. The greens were quite smooth. That was balanced out by the Jackson Park-caliber tee boxes. I think a body was buried on every box. It was really humid for the front nine before the winds temporarily picked up and a front came in. The moisture then got basically sucked out of the air and we had perfect mid-70’s temps. 
Ball striking was fine everywhere except off the tee. I had a lot of makeable birdie putts but only got one to drop and that was a tap in. Did I torture myself and then make the putt on a second try that didn’t count? You know it. So dumb. My putter still bailed me out on a couple of longer par putts though. 75. 

[MountainKing]

20 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... I took my PAT at Nettle Creek. Played from the white tees it was pretty easy with little wind. I would not call it mundane and boring as there are some interesting and fun holes but overall certainly not worth the drive imo. 

 

I swear that's the place everybody does their PAT.  I've caddied for a few guys there and played a few times.   Maybe my assessment was a bit harsh, I always viewed it as a half-a**** version of Carillon.  

[chisag]

17 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

I swear that's the place everybody does their PAT.  I've caddied for a few guys there and played a few times.   Maybe my assessment was a bit harsh, I always viewed it as a half-a**** version of Carillon.  

 

 

... Of the courses we were able to pick from, Nettle Creek was by far the easiest. Kinda funny, although not at the time, the first time we took the test nobody passed. It was early may and the temps were in the mid 30's with 20 mph winds AND rain. Most of us didn't even go back out for our 2nd 9. I was advised to book at least 2 PAT test days and thankfully took the advice so about 3 weeks later it was a nice day in the upper 60's with sunshine and light winds so quite a few passed that day. 

... Yea, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I do think it has a few interesting and fun holes and personally would not call it a half Word not allowed Carrillon but think Carrillon is a good comparison although agree if I got to play either for free I would choose Carillon. 

[DavePelz4]

A very interesting weekend of golf.  Stonewall Orchard on Saturday backed up with Ravisloe on Sunday.  This was the first time playing each and talk about a contrast in styles.

 

Check in was easy at SO and the range is good.  Not a lot of targets necessarily and for some reason, they had a limited number of hitting stations.  Yellow Titleist balls, which we found pretty much everywhere on the course.  Maybe their range balls need to be pink so people wouldn't play them on the course. On #2 my yellow Bridgestone was in the mix of yellow Titleists which littered the hole.

 

A nice mix of hole and they do a pretty good job with incorporating the terrain into the design. Didn't really understand the bunker in the fairway on 8. Very much out of place. On 10, there were a pair of sand hill cranes that were tearing the area around the green up.  Not sure if they were grub hunting but they were probably p****** the groundskeeper off. I know people don't like 18 but the hole that I thought was a misfit was 17.  I think when they Arthur Hills did they design, he only ended up with 17 holes and had to squeeze that par 3 in.

 

Conditions were OK, unrepaired ball marks were a plenty. 

 

Post round we were having a beverage and there were wasp hounding some of our guys.  Turns out there was a nest on the corner of the clubhouse facia, there's a lawsuit coming if they don't fix that. 

 

Would play it again but it's a once a year course.

 

Going into Ravisloe I had really high expectation.  My mistake. Tony who was the check in person was beyond gracious and shared a couple of stories of the facility, and gave a course book with me being a Ravi virgin. 

 

The range was beyond underwhelming. While a range isn't a make or break, it's conditions are usually a good indicator of what you're going to see on the course and this one set the exact example.

 

Thought there were some awesome hole designs but the conditions of the course mitigated the Ross layout. Tee boxes were weed infested. And I mean infested. On 15, which is a great designed short hole, the tee box was either unfilled divots or weeds, take your choice. Fairways were also a bit rough and the greens, which had so much potential with the slopes in the complex, were a haven for unrepaired ball marks. On #9,  some wonderful person took a divot about 4 feet from the hole with a wedge and he/she was gracious enough to leave the divot on the green, thank you.

 

Some of the bunkers had sand, others were probably last filled with sand during the Calvin Coolidge administration. The back to back par 5's and 3 were unique to say the least.

 

The walking rate for Ravisloe was higher than Stonewall and other great courses like the Highlands of Elgin and that's just wrong. In the current conditions, it's maybe a $45 course.

 

We won't incorporate Ravisloe into our group's competition, we like to play courses with good conditions and Ravisloe is just eh. Reminded me of my prom date, high expectations going into it, major disappointment coming out of it. 

[Shriner]

Yep, was curious what you would think as a first timer like me at Ravisloe.  Pretty much same thoughts.  

 

Agreed on Stonewall layout, I have no problem with 18 but 17 does not seem to fit.  Other than that and the 240 yd par 3 on the front, I think this layout is amazing and one of the most fair, demanding public courses in IL.  Did you play the backs?  The tee boxes are 1000% different on hole 8 and the bunker is perfectly placed for the back tees.  Take the dangerous route to the left to make it a two shot hole or conservative to the right, I love that hole.  The conditions have been perfect when I have been there but the weather is wreaking havoc on every course right now.