Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[jpaul155]

I noticed Praire Bluff has a mandatory cart rental when booking a tee time online . Is this just something with the online system they use or will they not allow you to walk ?  

[Holy Moses]

Was warming up on the practice holes at Prairie Landing today when I saw Monte giving a group lesson in the short game area. Nice to see one of our own out there. 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Holy Moses

[chisag]

57 minutes ago, jpaul155 said:

I noticed Praire Bluff has a mandatory cart rental when booking a tee time online . Is this just something with the online system they use or will they not allow you to walk ?  

 

 

... Just the online booking system. No cart required at least in the afternoon. I have never played in the mornings. 

[Argonne69]

6 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... Just the online booking system. No cart required at least in the afternoon. I have never played in the mornings. 

 

The rates page on their website show riding rates only. I assume one can walk, but you'll get charged the full riding rate?

 

[propman]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

The rates page on their website show riding rates only. I assume one can walk, but you'll get charged the full riding rate?

 

Suggest giving them a call. They are easy to get on with. No bs.

[chisag]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

The rates page on their website show riding rates only. I assume one can walk, but you'll get charged the full riding rate?

 

 

 

... Unless something has changed since last year, I always booked with a cart and then just paid the walking senior rate at the course. 

[Argonne69]

53 minutes ago, propman said:

Suggest giving them a call. They are easy to get on with. No bs.

 

Lol. It's 2021. I'm not calling a golf course and talking with Gomer in the pro shop while he puts me on hold to deal with a dozen players checking in, and then has me repeat my credit card number three times because he keeps fat fingering it. With 150+ courses in the area offering both walking and riding rates when booking online, I vote with mouse clicks.

 

Seriously, every booking engine can be configured to display multiple rates. If not, then display the walking rate, and note that carts are extra. Many courses do that.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Argonne69

[MountainKing]

On 6/5/2021 at 9:53 AM, Argonne69 said:

 

I try to strike a balance. I don't think the vast majority of golfers could break par if they moved up to 5000 yds, but I wouldn't recommend it. I'm sure most players wouldn't get a kick out of leaving the driver in the bag on the majority of holes.

 

What I like about the 36*6i rule of thumb is that it generally allows one to hit most clubs in the bag, while still being able to reach holes in regulation using everything from a lob wedge to a fairway wood. I see too many players hitting driver, fairway wood, hybrid/mid-iron on par 4s. Challenging, but is that really fun?

 

 

I like your method a lot.  Then again, you play so damn fast you can play wherever you like.  In fact most of this discussion on this forum is more or less preaching to the choir. 

 

Most of the time I want to tell people to pick the box they think they should play then move up two.  

[MountainKing]

There were walkers on the course yesterday, we  saw a group of walkers coming up 18 as we teed off - Prairie Bluffs 

 

It was a tough day on the course, the course was rock hard (in a good way) and the wind was up and howling in a direction that made the tougher holes on the course play even harder.  My game seems to be getting into a groove of getting off to a hot start then cooling down to finish.  For the 4th round in a row I found myself under par halfway through 9, 2 under through 6 this time.  Finished the front with a 35, then kicked off the back with a sweet double bogey on 10.  Finished with a quality 3 putt bogey on 17 and another double on 18.  It was a fun day, the conditions really tested the game.

 

The course was probably playing as close to true links conditions as you can get around here.  Tee shots were rolling out a good 30+ yards, the greens were tough to keep a ball on even with a wedge in the hand, yet it wasn't like playing on concrete if that makes sense.  Greens were slick, smooth and true, you didn't want to put yourself on the short side or with any sort of downhill chip or putt.  It was also shockingly empty out there, I'm not sure if it was the heat, or the rounds or down like I've been observing elsewhere.  I got there an hour prior to our noon time and one group went off within that time.  We went off as 2, and the next group behind us wasn't teeing off until we were on 3.  We got through in 3 hours flat with no waiting at all.  If this is the new norm, I like it.

 

 

[ldchristopher]

Fatherhood is killing my golf game. I was up all night with my rapidly growing daughter then had a 6:15 tee time at Brighton Dale with Bear. That went about as well as one would expect given no rest and no legs. 80. Felt like 95. 
 

The group ahead of us was a threesome and all three were playing from different tees. Ironic given the recent posts on here. I’ve never seen that at BDale or anywhere else for that matter. Also, if anyone is in the golf ball market, BDale is doing buy one get one on ZStars. 

[chisag]

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

There were walkers on the course yesterday, we  saw a group of walkers coming up 18 as we teed off - Prairie Bluffs 

 

It was a tough day on the course, the course was rock hard (in a good way) and the wind was up and howling in a direction that made the tougher holes on the course play even harder. 

 

 

... That wind is one of the defenses PB has built in. The prevailing wind always has the wind in your face for 7 and 16,  the two toughest holes when windy for all but long hitters. I have had my lowest scores playing PB with little to no wind as it is pretty defenseless. But of course no wind on that open land is very rare. Glad to hear they are not over watering their fairways, something they do from time to time and the course is playing fast. 

[propman]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. It's 2021. I'm not calling a golf course and talking with Gomer in the pro shop while he puts me on hold to deal with a dozen players checking in, and then has me repeat my credit card number three times because he keeps fat fingering it. With 150+ courses in the area offering both walking and riding rates when booking online, I vote with mouse clicks.

 

Seriously, every booking engine can be configured to display multiple rates. If not, then display the walking rate, and note that carts are extra. Many courses do that.

 

All my calls to them getting a tee time are quick and easy. No gomers or goobers, for that matter.

YMMV.

[psygolf]

8 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Fatherhood is killing my golf game. I was up all night with my rapidly growing daughter then had a 6:15 tee time at Brighton Dale with Bear. That went about as well as one would expect given no rest and no legs. 80. Felt like 95. 
 

The group ahead of us was a threesome and all three were playing from different tees. Ironic given the recent posts on here. I’ve never seen that at BDale or anywhere else for that matter. Also, if anyone is in the golf ball market, BDale is doing buy one get one on ZStars. 

I used to tell my friends that had newborns...golf doesn’t end when they are born, because you are just in the way in the beginning.

 

It ends when the start walking and you are needed to help keep them corralled.  🐎 

[stasek]

Home sweet home!  Survived 3 days of golf in Wisconsin - too bad my golf game didn’t travel with me - it would have been much more enjoyable.  Friday afternoon The Bull at Pinehurst Farms.   Excellent deal at ~$85 after 3pm.  Course is in great shape, and has some really cool holes.  Of the 3 courses we played, the Bull had the fastest greens.  Saturday - Blackwolf Run Meadow Valleys course. Nice course with superb conditions, but for almost $300 (riding), it left me wanting more.  The back 9 has some really interesting holes, but the course is definitely not 3X nicer than The Bull.  Sunday morning - Erin Hills.  What a spectacular piece of property!  We put our egos off to the side and played the combo white/green tees (~6400 yards).  I’m not sure what happened between Saturday (and range session before teeing off), and Sunday, but I completely lost my swing.   After obligatory snap hook off the first tee, proceeded to  push fade/slice every single tee shot on the front 9.  The only departure from these were the par 3s, where I dribbled one off tee into tall fescue AND snap hooked the other one 30 yards wide.  Thank heavens for above average putting day and serviceable short game, or it would have been even more embarrassing.  Did I mention the almost constant 2 club wind?  Of the 3 courses we played, the greens were probably the slowest (running maybe 10?), but also the purest.  We actually saw crews watering some of them during play.  
I’m more of a budget golfer and spending ~$450 on a round (including caddie tip - who btw was really cool and a stick himself (scratch))  hurts a bit, but in the end it was definitely worth it.  

[ldchristopher]

1 hour ago, psygolf said:

I used to tell my friends that had newborns...golf doesn’t end when they are born, because you are just in the way in the beginning.

 

It ends when the start walking and you are needed to help keep them corralled.  🐎 

Yeah, last year I played 50+ rounds despite taking a month off due to Covid. This year I don’t think I’ll get anywhere near that number. 

[DavePelz4]

Played the Elgin daily double this weekend.  On Friday, met up with Hawkeye77 who was in town for Monte's clinic.  Gotta brag on Hawkeye as he played some awfully great golf. On number 6, the first par 5 at Bowes, he hit a THREE WOOD 337 yards.  He'll say it was down wind (true) and firm (also true) but he absolutely nuked that shot and quite a few more. Even more impressive was his putting. In the 5 to 15 foot range, I'm not sure that he missed a putt over the entire round.  On number 2, which to me is one of the tougher par 4s on the course, he smoked a drive and then hit an iron to about 4 feet.  One of the other guys asked Hawk a very appropriate question when he inquired..."Did you literally birdie every other hole today?" While that wasn't the case, Hawkeye had his share. Have been fortunate to play with quite a few WRXers from all over and you'd be hard pressed to find many nicer than Hawkeye! Always a great conversation with someone who is passionate about the game and has a lot of stories to share.

 

On Saturday, our group had a competitive round at The Highlands. The course played very fast and firm and it seems they're intentionally putting less water on the course compared to previous years. Saturday was probably the windiest round I've played there and more than a few shots were ate up by the wind or moved dramatically. I had a very difficult time on the greens sadly, and on #2 for example, turned a 20 foot, uphill, birdie putt into a solid double.  Seriously.  Even on uphill putts I couldn't get the speed figured out so it might be time for the putter to go into the timeout corner and something to come out of the golf club room. Giving away too many points with faulty putting.

 

 

[TBone0576]

23 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Fatherhood is killing my golf game. I was up all night with my rapidly growing daughter then had a 6:15 tee time at Brighton Dale with Bear. That went about as well as one would expect given no rest and no legs. 80. Felt like 95. 
 

The group ahead of us was a threesome and all three were playing from different tees. Ironic given the recent posts on here. I’ve never seen that at BDale or anywhere else for that matter. Also, if anyone is in the golf ball market, BDale is doing buy one get one on ZStars. 

 

There was a two some behind my group Saturday on the Blue course, maybe that was you?   We had two walkers but a foursome playing from 3 tees.   Not our normal group.  The one walker was an older guy and he was really huffing and puffing, said he would be using a cart moving forward.   It is not much fun sometimes being the only walker with 3 guys in carts.    We had one of our regular guys pass away in his sleep two weeks ago and just cobbled this group together since we had the tee time.   I saw the deal on the Z Stars as well.   They must have a couple hundred boxes stacked up in front of the check in area.   I don't play them but have heard good things.  

[VNutz]

As DP4 said, HOE on Saturday. Hot and windy, but admittedly the wind helped make the heat more tolerable. Course definitely was more firm than seen in years past, more of a brownish hue than before. Course was in fine shape, greens perhaps a bit more bumpy than I'm used to them being, but they ran nicely. Pretty quick but I found them to be consistent, I think being into or down wind played into it quite a bit. On the par 3 5th I hit a punch 5i that landed 10 ft short of the pin in the dead center of the green, and instead of a decent look at birdie as expected it just kept rolling out and caught the bowl down to the back edge. Decent day as I may have gotten the driver back under control.

 

Three gripes: 1) courses are getting out of hand with nickling and diming. Range balls were $10 for 50 balls. I'm used to $10 or so for a bucket, but for that price I expect 70 balls or so; they had a bucket smaller than 50 which looked like just a handful sitting on the counter. 2) Water. When checking in I asked if there was water on the course, they said no, covid protocol, but they had a cart girl going around. So, if that's the real reason, there would be no rakes on the course (bunkers were full of them), they would have foam in the cups still (nope) and ball washers wouldn't be out (they were). Mind you the water stations were there, they just declined to go about filling them on a hot and humid day. Pure money grab. Generally I don't care as I bring my own water, but on a hot day I was trying to keep it light and refill as I went. 3) If you have a tee time, that is your tee time. If things are behind schedule that sucks and you adapt accordingly, but if you have an opening or groups don't show, don't start pushing the other groups forward so you can sneak more times in later in the day. I got to the box about 10 minutes before my time and was told I was holding things up, and subsequently rushed and hacked my way through the first hole.

 

Edit: 4) Yet another course charging walkers the riding rate.

Edited June 7, 2021 by VNutz

[Argonne69]

Damp, but otherwise enjoyable round at Oak Brook this morning. Not my favorite course, but I felt like mixing it up a little. It was rain free for nine holes, but a light rain started on the 10th teebox, and persisted the rest of the way. Enough to get everything wet, but not heavy enough to chase us off the course. Conditions were good. Fairways were wet on the surface, but a little brown in color, and quite firm. We were getting some good bounces and rollout. The rough is thick, but cut to a good height. Bunkers were heavy wet sand in need of serious grooming. Greens looked fine for the most part. There were a few rough spots, but nothing serious. Speed was 9 to 10 I'd say. Pace was solid at 3:35. I joined a threesome of regulars, and we never waited on a shot. Oh, and it was nice to see water jugs back on the course.

 

Couldn't buy a putt today. Couldn't buy a two-putt, either. After last week's quick greens in Michigan I couldn't adjust to the speeds. I put an old putter in the bag for my trip last week, and it's going back in the closet. I did manage one birdie on the 8th, but otherwise it was a poor round. Lowlight of the day was putting yet another teeshot in the water on the 9th. 'Hate that hole. Second lowlight of the day was getting my approach on the 10th stuck in the big tree on the left side of the fairway. After pulling my tee shot into the left rough I had a simple pitching wedge to the green, and hit a low bullet into the heart of the tree. The four of us never saw it come out. Pfffttt. Oh well, at least I got a few miles of walking in today.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Argonne69

[TheBear95]

38 minutes ago, VNutz said:

As DP4 said, HOE on Saturday. Hot and windy, but admittedly the wind helped make the heat more tolerable. Course definitely was more firm than seen in years past, more of a brownish hue than before. Course was in fine shape, greens perhaps a bit more bumpy than I'm used to them being, but they ran nicely. Pretty quick but I found them to be consistent, I think being into or down wind played into it quite a bit. On the par 3 5th I hit a punch 5i that landed 10 ft short of the pin in the dead center of the green, and instead of a decent look at birdie as expected it just kept rolling out and caught the bowl down to the back edge. Decent day as I may have gotten the driver back under control.

 

Three gripes: 1) courses are getting out of hand with nickling and diming. Range balls were $10 for 50 balls. I'm used to $10 or so for a bucket, but for that price I expect 70 balls or so; they had a bucket smaller than 50 which looked like just a handful sitting on the counter. 2) Water. When checking in I asked if there was water on the course, they said no, covid protocol, but they had a cart girl going around. So, if that's the real reason, there would be no rakes on the course (bunkers were full of them), they would have foam in the cups still (nope) and ball washers wouldn't be out (they were). Mind you the water stations were there, they just declined to go about filling them on a hot and humid day. Pure money grab. Generally I don't care as I bring my own water, but on a hot day I was trying to keep it light and refill as I went. 3) If you have a tee time, that is your tee time. If things are behind schedule that sucks and you adapt accordingly, but if you have an opening or groups don't show, don't start pushing the other groups forward so you can sneak more times in later in the day. I got to the box about 10 minutes before my time and was told I was holding things up, and subsequently rushed and hacked my way through the first hole.

 

Edit: 4) Yet another course charging walkers the riding rate.

 

Spot on about the coolers. Pure money grab. Clubhouse and dining rooms will be at full capacity come Friday, but water coolers are a health risk? Lol. Sadly, I bet they never come back at many courses. As a walker, it completely sucks.

 

#3 is totally ridiculous. Expect to see further shenanigans as the season continues. As I have been preaching, the demand is not what was expected.

[Argonne69]

Seems the demand has shifted to the weekdays. With a lot of people still working from home, I think a lot of players are either playing hooky from work, or taking advantage of flexible hours. I couldn't find a decent morning tee time this week at my "home" courses. You either tee it up before 7 am, or after 10 pm. I guess league play may have started after the holiday weekend.

 

[TheBear95]

21 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Seems the demand has shifted to the weekdays. With a lot of people still working from home, I think a lot of players are either playing hooky from work, or taking advantage of flexible hours. I couldn't find a decent morning tee time this week at my "home" courses. You either tee it up before 7 am, or after 10 pm. I guess league play may have started after the holiday weekend.

 

It looks like weekday morning league action is up and there's more guys with set weekday morning times. I'm looking at tee times for next Monday and that time period (7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.) is tough. Makes sense though, as guys would have been committing to a league or a tee time months ago. However, afternoon tee time availability on both weekdays and weekends is starting to look like 2019 again. 

[stasek]

Per our caddie - Erin Hills has already booked more rounds for this year than any full year before.  It’s a chit show out there.  

[Symphonize]

How is the Ravines course, #2 at Cog? Worth playing or nah for $50? I have a morning outing at Ruffled Fathers this Friday, and was thinking of a late afternoon round since I’m already right there. Don’t really want to spend the $140 for Dubsdread. 

[geochitown]

I'd probably go play Prairie Bluff in your situation.

[Argonne69]

Cog #2 isn't bad. I've seen it near $70, so $50 isn't bad. Conditions have been spotty in the past. There are a few low areas that seem to be persistently wet, but otherwise it was playable. There are a couple of meh holes, but many are challenging. Since it borders Dubs, it does share some of the topology at 1/3rd the price. I'd say it's worth a visit. 

 

[BTee17]

On 5/26/2021 at 1:21 PM, TheBear95 said:

 

LOL. For the most part, I find the golf course "industry" to be shockingly bad at business.

 

I figured they would overplay their hand because of 2020 and sure enough many courses have. 2020 was the definition of a short-term (very short) boom. There was nothing sustainable about it. The time to raise rates was last year, when the demand was there. These courses are a day late, and will definitely be a dollar short at the end of the season.

 

Inflated rates will drive away the pre-Covid golfer, at the time when the Covid golfer is going back to other activities. That's a solid recipe to miss your rounds played target, which I'm guessing for many courses was high going into 2021 to begin with. I have no doubt that by the fall we will be hearing "grow the game", "what's wrong with golf", etc., from many course operators, especially the large guys like Arcis. All-in-all, sadly predictable. 

 

Amen.  Too much of a good thing.  There were times last summer that a place like Carriage Greens was charging $75+ for a round at their dogtrack.  Ruffled is actually one of my favorite courses but gouging people for $99 is insulting and may cause me to avoid them now.

 

Cog is now doing "demand based" fees with rates shooting up if their algorithm deems in a high demand time period.  I've seen swings for courses #1 from $50-$70 due to this.

 

Then I play an old favorite like Broken Arrow last week.  $47.  In decent shape, decent layout, good length etc. and think yep this is priced right.  

 

The amount of courses that should be $40-50 now trying to get $70 is crazy.

[ReinyDays]

3 hours ago, Symphonize said:

How is the Ravines course, #2 at Cog? Worth playing or nah for $50? I have a morning outing at Ruffled Fathers this Friday, and was thinking of a late afternoon round since I’m already right there. Don’t really want to spend the $140 for Dubsdread. 

 

#2 and dubs are really the only courses worth playing there and for 50 bucks I would say that is a steal

[Holy Moses]

8 hours ago, VNutz said:

As DP4 said, HOE on Saturday. Hot and windy, but admittedly the wind helped make the heat more tolerable. Course definitely was more firm than seen in years past, more of a brownish hue than before. Course was in fine shape, greens perhaps a bit more bumpy than I'm used to them being, but they ran nicely. Pretty quick but I found them to be consistent, I think being into or down wind played into it quite a bit. On the par 3 5th I hit a punch 5i that landed 10 ft short of the pin in the dead center of the green, and instead of a decent look at birdie as expected it just kept rolling out and caught the bowl down to the back edge. Decent day as I may have gotten the driver back under control.

 

Three gripes: 1) courses are getting out of hand with nickling and diming. Range balls were $10 for 50 balls. I'm used to $10 or so for a bucket, but for that price I expect 70 balls or so; they had a bucket smaller than 50 which looked like just a handful sitting on the counter. 2) Water. When checking in I asked if there was water on the course, they said no, covid protocol, but they had a cart girl going around. So, if that's the real reason, there would be no rakes on the course (bunkers were full of them), they would have foam in the cups still (nope) and ball washers wouldn't be out (they were). Mind you the water stations were there, they just declined to go about filling them on a hot and humid day. Pure money grab. Generally I don't care as I bring my own water, but on a hot day I was trying to keep it light and refill as I went. 3) If you have a tee time, that is your tee time. If things are behind schedule that sucks and you adapt accordingly, but if you have an opening or groups don't show, don't start pushing the other groups forward so you can sneak more times in later in the day. I got to the box about 10 minutes before my time and was told I was holding things up, and subsequently rushed and hacked my way through the first hole.

 

Edit: 4) Yet another course charging walkers the riding rate.

Pretty sure the state rules don’t allow water coolers on the course. I haven’t seen a public drinking fountain anywhere in use yet. 

[propman]

Just got back from Plymouth, Indiana area. Played 2 decent courses where the greens were fast and there was actually fluffy sand in the bunkers. Cost to ride $26 and $29 (senior rate)

Put to shame alot of courses around here at about half the $$.