Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Argonne69]

A long, but pleasant day at Brighton Dale Links. I'm beat. The courses were practically empty, and with a greens fee of $26 to walk, and an $18 replay rate, I figured I'd save myself the long drive back and played both courses.

 

I started on the White Birch course. Very nice parkland layout with a few fairly wide open holes. There is a bit of elevation change, but a lot of the course is relatively flat. Good mix of holes allowed me to work the ball both ways. Par 3's were tough. Conditions tee to green were spotty. As noted earlier, the fairways were in rough shape. It looks like they lost them a while back, so there are a lot of bare patches. Luckily they didn't really come into play for me, so other than looking bad, it was pretty much a non issue. The bunkers looked great, and had a nice layer of fresh sand. Greens looked nice, but were a little slow, rolling 9 at best. The pace was excellent, as the course was wide open. I teed off with another single that was only playing nine holes, and I wound up finishing in 2:40. 

 

Another spotty day with the driver, leading to 10 greens. Even though the greens were slow, my putter really bailed me out. Three birdies, and six bogies. The highlight of the round/day was the birdie on the long par 3 12th. It was playing 230 yds into a bit of a headwind, and the green looked like a postage stamp. I hit a high draw with my mini driver that looked like it was going to miss left, but it took a weird bounce in front of the green, and wound up on the putting surface 24 feet from the pin. A nice lag putt for a tap in par would have been great, but I slammed the ball into the flagstick, and it stayed in. 

 

Next up was the Blue Spruce course. A lot of similarities, but it did seem to be the easier of the two. There were a few tight driving holes, though. Unfortunately the greens had been recently aerated, and putts were spending more time in the air than on the putting surface. It really didn't matter though, as I was out of gas by the turn. I haven't walked 36 in one day since my trip to Bandon years ago. The fairways were also in rough shape. The bunkers actually looked fairly decent, but there was much less sand than on the White course. They weren't hardpan, but you had to use a low bounce wedge to avoid sculling it out. Pace was fine. I played through two groups early, and had clear sailing the rest of the round.

 

Overall I enjoyed the two courses. I don't think you can beat the value. Two rounds of golf for $44? I don't think I'd make the trip up there again, but I'm glad I got a chance to play it. If I lived in the area I could certainly see making it a regular stop.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

5 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

They need a few Leinenkugel's and cheese cruds to complete the setup.

 

Spotted Cow FTW.

[chisag]

4 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

I can't think of anything that better encapsulates Wisconsin than guys riding dirt bikes across a golf course. 

 

... and riding those bikes in the far left lane with the mini vans at 5 mph under the speed limit. 

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... and riding those bikes in the far left lane with the mini vans at 5 mph under the speed limit. 

 

While wearing cheesehead hats.

[ldchristopher]

28 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

While wearing cheesehead hats.

The cheesehead hats all say “Owner” on them. 

[VNutz]

Had somebody I don't often play with ask about playing on a weekend sometime in the near future. For anybody that's been out during the football season thus far, have the courses been fairly empty on Sundays after 12 for the Bears game as they have in the past? Past falls that was a guarantee, just not sure if that's holding true this year as well.

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, VNutz said:

Had somebody I don't often play with ask about playing on a weekend sometime in the near future. For anybody that's been out during the football season thus far, have the courses been fairly empty on Sundays after 12 for the Bears game as they have in the past? Past falls that was a guarantee, just not sure if that's holding true this year as well.

 

It is a bit more open compared to a Saturday, but still very, very busy. Not like past years were courses would be wide open with the Bears on. As long as the weather is good, I think this continues. Once it gets colder, I would say that things will calm down a bit.

[ScottF]

Played Whitehawk in Crown Point IN today, black and silver nines. First time there. Just showed up with a friend at 10am no reservation. They were booked up through noon on the red/grey nines, but there was almost nobody on the black/silver course. I didn’t know anything about any of the 4 nines and asked why nobody was on the silver side. The woman at the counter said nobody likes to play that 9!  I thought it was fine. I don’t mind holes that take the driver out of your hand. The pins on the black 9 were often on mounds where no matter which direction you putted from, the ball would break away from the cup when you were within a foot. Add that to the fact they were pretty fast made it hard to make any thing. I just couldn’t read the breaks at all. Other than that the course is in good shape. $32 with a cart for a senior was a good price too. I’ll be back soon.

[mci711]

Got out to The Preserve this morning. They aerated recently, but the greens have healed well. Can still see the evidence of aerating, but the greens rolled fine. Decently quick today as well. Pace wasn't great. Played in 4:15 walking threesome. Waited every hole on the back. The 2 groups ahead of us were slow, I will never understand the point of have on course marshals if they aren't going to manage pace of play. Should be their 1 job every day. Back took 2.5 hours after a pretty quick front. $50 bucks to play there is a great deal though and the weather was very good as well. 4 (!!) double bogeys and a birdie 79. Not sure how I managed no bogies and 4 doubles.. Oh well. 

[TheBear95]

21 minutes ago, mci711 said:

Got out to The Preserve this morning. They aerated recently, but the greens have healed well. Can still see the evidence of aerating, but the greens rolled fine. Decently quick today as well. Pace wasn't great. Played in 4:15 walking threesome. Waited every hole on the back. The 2 groups ahead of us were slow, I will never understand the point of have on course marshals if they aren't going to manage pace of play. Should be their 1 job every day. Back took 2.5 hours after a pretty quick front. $50 bucks to play there is a great deal though and the weather was very good as well. 4 (!!) double bogeys and a birdie 79. Not sure how I managed no bogies and 4 doubles.. Oh well. 

 

At most courses it seems, the marshal or marshals only exist so the course can pretend that pace of play is a concern. In reality they don't care, hence why the marshals do nothing. It is simply an illusion. 

[geochitown]

Considering mount prospect next week. Has anyone played there lately?

 

i know they aerated their greens recently 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Ugh. A rather unpleasant day at Silver Lake (South). Talk about do nothing rangers. For the vast majority of the round we were waiting on the teebox with the group in front of us. We made the turn in 2:20, but we still had a wait. Since we had time to kill I walked over to the 15th hole. Of course it was empty, and I couldn't see anyone on the par 4 16th. Whoever was backing things up was at least two holes behind. The ranger was near the 15th green, and I asked him why there was a huge gap. He mumbled something about a group holding things up, and it took everything I had not to rip him a new a## hole. We wound up finishing in 4:45. W. T. F. If a course is going to pay a ranger, even if it's paid in free golf, at least get something out of it. 

 

Not that it matters, but the course was in decent shape. Greens were only rolling 9 at best though 

 

Crappy round. Can't really call it golf when one is waiting up to 10 min to hit a shot. Nice day for a walk I guess. 

 

[geochitown]

5 hours ago, geochitown said:

Considering mount prospect next week. Has anyone played there lately?

 

i know they aerated their greens recently 

 

 

 

Greens were aerated 10 days back and probably need another week to heal up.

[Apindara]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Ugh. A rather unpleasant day at Silver Lake (South). Talk about do nothing rangers. For the vast majority of the round we were waiting on the teebox with the group in front of us. We made the turn in 2:20, but we still had a wait. Since we had time to kill I walked over to the 15th hole. Of course it was empty, and I couldn't see anyone on the par 4 16th. Whoever was backing things up was at least two holes behind. The ranger was near the 15th green, and I asked him why there was a huge gap. He mumbled something about a group holding things up, and it took everything I had not to rip him a new a## hole. We wound up finishing in 4:45. W. T. F. If a course is going to pay a ranger, even if it's paid in free golf, at least get something out of it. 

 

Not that it matters, but the course was in decent shape. Greens were only rolling 9 at best though 

 

Crappy round. Can't really call it golf when one is waiting up to 10 min to hit a shot. Nice day for a walk I guess. 

 

When I was a kid we used to call that place “the home of the six hour round” Guess things haven’t changed in 40 years.

[Symphonize]

Finally felt like things are back on track, shot my normal 95 at Kish today after the last 4 rounds being in the low 100’s. Then spent 2 hours 

with the trackman at Terra Cotta trying to work on my irons. Followed that up with some short game practice at Kemper in preparation for an event their tomorrow. All in all a good day, though long and tiring. Hoping I didn’t over do it for tomorrow. 

[Argonne69]

Another beautiful fall day in Chicago. Nice day for a walk in the (Jackson) Park. I know it's not much, but I don't recall seeing the course looking this nice. We're early enough in the fall that the geese haven't become a problem. Yet. Fairways were cut, and you could actually see the line separating them from the rough. Bunkers weren't good, but there was enough dirt/sand to make a little splash. The greens looked great, but unfortunately they were still healing from aeration, probably 10 days ago. It will be interesting to see if the course gets bulldozed along with South Shore. Pace was reasonable at 4:10. 

 

Good day scoring, but it's not much of a challenge. This was my home course when I lived in the South Loop, so it's nice to see how my game has changed over the years.

 

Had a visitor near the 1st tee. After a few minutes he/she disappeared into the thick brush that's adjacent to the 3rd hole. When we were on the 18th green he/she was back out near the practice green. Might explain why there were so few geese.

 

[geochitown]

Had a real nice morning at stonewall orchard today 

 

greens were running fast, as usual, and we played in just over 4 hours

 

good to get back there, as I hadn’t played there in a couple of years 

[taylorx300]

Well the McHenry Senior Am finished today. What happen to sunny and 85? More like 70 and windy. Played like crap the first day but had a bounce back today for a 3rd place finish in the A flight.

[mci711]

Made the drive to Lawsonia today and played the links with the wife. Her first time being there. I told her all about the hyperbole around it, some people say it is the best course in the state, some (you know who you are) say it is the best in the country. I just can't see it. It is good, really good. The layout is classic, it was conditioned really well today. But man, it is so overrated. It needs to stop being compared to Erin Hills, Whistling Straits, either course at Sand Valley etc. It does it a disservice to the course. No one should ever be let down by Lawsonia, but with those comparisons it is very easy to be. If I had 10 rounds in Wisconsin I'd play 4 at Mammoth Dunes, 2 at Erin Hills, 2 at SV and 2 at the Straits course and well that leaves 0 left. 

 

That being said, while I just ranted, I do really enjoy the course and being out there. I love the corner of 6 thru 9.  It is worth the drive, but if you have to choose between it and SV there is really no discussion. But everyone in the CHI area should play it once, tie it in with a SV trip or bigger WI trip.

[TheBear95]

57 minutes ago, mci711 said:

Made the drive to Lawsonia today and played the links with the wife. Her first time being there. I told her all about the hyperbole around it, some people say it is the best course in the state, some (you know who you are) say it is the best in the country. I just can't see it. It is good, really good. The layout is classic, it was conditioned really well today. But man, it is so overrated. It needs to stop being compared to Erin Hills, Whistling Straits, either course at Sand Valley etc. It does it a disservice to the course. No one should ever be let down by Lawsonia, but with those comparisons it is very easy to be. If I had 10 rounds in Wisconsin I'd play 4 at Mammoth Dunes, 2 at Erin Hills, 2 at SV and 2 at the Straits course and well that leaves 0 left. 

 

That being said, while I just ranted, I do really enjoy the course and being out there. I love the corner of 6 thru 9.  It is worth the drive, but if you have to choose between it and SV there is really no discussion. But everyone in the CHI area should play it once, tie it in with a SV trip or bigger WI trip.

Oh man, get ready... Lol. 

[mci711]

6 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

Oh man, get ready... Lol. 

 

At least I didn't give it a 1 star review. 

[DavePelz4]

Played Randall Oaks yesterday. Course is playing fast and in good shape. Greens were punched, sanded and rolled probably a couple of weeks ago and the greens are fully recovered. A wacky group of 20 somethings in front of us.  All dressed in Sparty green, they walked into the fairway we were on to play shots without even asking and on two occasions, they picked up my ball and walked away with it until I politely asked them to put it back. On the 17th hole, my tee shot was 10 yards over the green and I watched a guy walk from the tee box, pick up the ball and go back to the tee. Once I got to where the ball should have been, I asked him why he picked it up and he said he thought it was his ball.  Um...you have a white ball in your hand and this is a yellow ball. He graciously conceded and put the ball back.  

[Shriner]

How does this stuff keep happening to you!!!  Nothing more infuriating then losing a ball because another golfer picked it up.

[Phreddy]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:50 PM, ldchristopher said:

The cheesehead hats all say “Owner” on them. 

It can be confusing.  Does the hat suggest that this fans owns shares in the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL?  Or is he simply stating the obvious:  Green Bay owns the Bears?

 

Phred

[DavePelz4]

3 hours ago, Shriner said:

How does this stuff keep happening to you!!!  Nothing more infuriating then losing a ball because another golfer picked it up.

 

Just lucky I guess.

[ldchristopher]

The courses up North were all jammed today but beautiful Joliet is apparently loaded with your prototypical meathead Bears fans and Wedgewood was pretty open on the front. We caught groups on the 10th tee because the number of rangers (3) hanging around at the first tee matched the number of groups on the 10th tee but still finished in 3:30. The new holes are still as uninspiring as before and the beautiful views of Hawk Auto, Jewel and Kohl’s don’t really add much. However, it was playing very firm, the greens were surprisingly good, and - gasp! - there was sand in the bunkers. I played really well, had two birdies on 2 and 16 and lipped out two other very makeable birdie putts on 11 and 14. The parking lot was jammed and I was worried the locals had wised up. Nope. The bar was jammed, the video poker had lines (so...many...jokes...must...hold...back) but the course was wide open. 72. 

[DavePelz4]

6 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

The courses up North were all jammed today but beautiful Joliet is apparently loaded with your prototypical meathead Bears fans and Wedgewood was pretty open on the front. We caught groups on the 10th tee because the number of rangers (3) hanging around at the first tee matched the number of groups on the 10th tee but still finished in 3:30. The new holes are still as uninspiring as before and the beautiful views of Hawk Auto, Jewel and Kohl’s don’t really add much. However, it was playing very firm, the greens were surprisingly good, and - gasp! - there was sand in the bunkers. I played really well, had two birdies on 2 and 16 and lipped out two other very makeable birdie putts on 11 and 14. The parking lot was jammed and I was worried the locals had wised up. Nope. The bar was jammed, the video poker had lines (so...many...jokes...must...hold...back) but the course was wide open. 72. 

 

"THE" Jewel is lovely this time of year.

[ldchristopher]

3 hours ago, Phreddy said:

It can be confusing.  Does the hat suggest that this fans owns shares in the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL?  Or is he simply stating the obvious:  Green Bay owns the Bears?

 

Phred

Phred, you’re a good dude and one of the few people in the Wisconsin thread that doesn’t play the same 8 courses. But it’s not a “stock” if it pays no dividends, benefits from no earnings, isn’t tradeable, and has no securities laws protections. Then it’s more like a $250 piece of paper that a bunch of dopes got suckered into buying. 

[Phreddy]

58 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

Phred, you’re a good dude and one of the few people in the Wisconsin thread that doesn’t play the same 8 courses. But it’s not a “stock” if it pays no dividends, benefits from no earnings, isn’t tradeable, and has no securities laws protections. Then it’s more like a $250 piece of paper that a bunch of dopes got suckered into buying. 

True, so true.  That's why I only own one share.  It looks nice on the wall.  Once upon a time I managed a trading desk in the Chicago area.  Keeping up with you guys is a great reminder of some of the fun tracks we used to play.

[@_the_crook]

2 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

"THE" Jewel is lovely this time of year.

 

do not exclude 'Da Jewels' as it has been and will be, referred to by many in the area. tyvm.