Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[ldchristopher]

Calumet CC today. I wanted to play there before it gets turned into industrial space but I saw the tee sheet (wide open and cheap) and was very concerned they’d already decided to scale back the maintenance. That’s basically what has happened. The first few holes were in really good shape but as the round went on I saw a lot of weeds in the fairway bunkers and on tee boxes that have tree coverage as well as several dead spots in fairways that either flooded or dried out during the drought. I like the layout and it plays more challenging than Ravisloe down the street. It actually felt a lot like Winnetka with all of the elm tree overhang. The greens were smooth but slow because of the recent rainfall. I remember reading that last season they were stimping very quickly. That’s definitely not the case right now, though that’s not a bad thing. When really old courses with normal sized greens get above a 10, pace of place slows to a crawl. Anyway, I hope Homewood and Hazel Crest can keep it open for a little while longer. One birdie on 10 that I gave right back on 11. 75. 

[B-Man]

12 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

When really old courses with normal sized greens get above a 10, pace of place slows to a crawl.

 

Yep.

[Argonne69]

14 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

Funny you mention this. It was my first time at Bolingbrook as well. I'm telling LD during our round that I think Prairie Bluff is better. And, I'm not a guy that really loves PB either. By the time we finished on #18, I was convinced. And, I was not even factoring in the price difference, which is significant.

 

What a blah course. I liked #7, the par 4 with the creek in front. For the par 3s, only #8 and #15 stood out. The par 5s were as forgettable as any course I've played. We paid $63 to walk, which wasn't terrible, but not a deal either. It was a Monday afternoon, with somewhat poor weather. I saw their weekend rates, good lord, lol. I will say, if you love fake fairway mounding, this is your course. The only feature that really stood out. 

 

 

 

Lol. What's wrong with fake mounding? That pretty much describes Harborside and Prairie Landing. Imagine if it was flat farmland. 

 

[DavePelz4]

17 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

Funny you mention this. It was my first time at Bolingbrook as well. I'm telling LD during our round that I think Prairie Bluff is better. And, I'm not a guy that really loves PB either. By the time we finished on #18, I was convinced. And, I was not even factoring in the price difference, which is significant.

 

What a blah course. I liked #7, the par 4 with the creek in front. For the par 3s, only #8 and #15 stood out. The par 5s were as forgettable as any course I've played. We paid $63 to walk, which wasn't terrible, but not a deal either. It was a Monday afternoon, with somewhat poor weather. I saw their weekend rates, good lord, lol. I will say, if you love fake fairway mounding, this is your course. The only feature that really stood out. 

 

 

 

The only aspect of Claar Memorial that I enjoy is the practice facility.  Not sure there are any better in the Chicago area.  Agree with Bear 100% that it's a course you play once to check off the list and forget it.  

[TheBear95]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. What's wrong with fake mounding? That pretty much describes Harborside and Prairie Landing. Imagine if it was flat farmland. 

 

I'm ok with some, but Bolingbrook was too much.

 

The problem I have with too much fake mounding around here is that when the fairways are wet, you end up with all sorts of awkward lies in the fairway because the ball does not roll off/away from the mounding. Given how wet our springs are (in a typical year) and the desire of many courses to be bright green throughout the summer, that basically leaves the month of September when balls will be funneling to intended flatter collection areas. Just not a fan.

[Argonne69]

Caught a break with the weather this morning, as heading north to Wilmette turned out to be the right call. A few very light sprinkles at times, but no serious rain. Conditions were wet, but playable. I'll never get used to looking at the multiple varieties of turf grass in the fairways there. I guess they've basically given up trying to get a uniform strain. If it's green, it's good enough. The rough was very dense, but at least it was cut. Bunkers were wet, but had been groomed recently. The greens looked great, and boy were they speedy. Rolling 11 at least. I caught a break with the pace. I was supposed to go out with a threesome, but they were no-shows. There were a number of foursomes in front of me, so the starter was kind enough to let me go off on the 10th. I'd take my chances when I made the turn. Luckily the threat of rain seemed to have scared away the mid-morning groups, as it was mostly clear sailing on the front until I reached the 8th. 'No complaints.

 

That said, I should have stayed in bed. Ugh. Probably the worst round of the season. I stopped keeping score after the first few holes, because I seem to have left my swing at home. Duck hooked my opening teeshot on the 10th into the trees, Bogie. Duck hooked my teeshot on the 11th into the PA on the 11th. Double. Duck hooked my drive on the 13th into some tall grass that probably has never seen a golf ball. Double. Hooked my drive on the 14th, and couldn't find the ball in the rough. Double. Pffftttt. Things got a little better after that, but the damage had been done. The worst part was that I was actually trying to hit a fade on every teeshot, so no idea where the lefts came from. C'est la vie.

 

[MountainKing]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. What's wrong with fake mounding? That pretty much describes Harborside and Prairie Landing. Imagine if it was flat farmland. 

 

 

Something about the way they do it at Bolingbrook just makes it look very unnatural.  I don't really have a good way to describe it, but it's off looking, and the hole designs just aren't good.  

[Woodridge]

Played the White 9 at Carillon in Romeoville yesterday.   They are doing some work on the power lines, so they have you start on the 7th hole. You play 7, 8, 9 and then 1-6. Kind of funky, but they have the cart path from 6 to 7 fenced off while they're working. I'm guessing 5G towers, but not sure. 

 

The course was pretty soft. The greens were decent except for unrepaired ball marks and guys dragging their feet. No rakes in the bunkers yet, which was odd. They had an event on the Red and Blue courses, so our twosome never waited on the white 9. $25 for 9 holes with a cart. 

 

[MountainKing]

Got Phillips Park on tap tomorrow if the weather holds out, and Sunday hitting the Highlands of Elgin.  Been a while since I've been out to either. 

[VNutz]

8 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. What's wrong with fake mounding? That pretty much describes Harborside and Prairie Landing. Imagine if it was flat farmland. 

 

I don't hear a ton of praise being heaped on Harborside though, and Prairie wasn't without some heavy criticism for a while either until they removed some bunkers.

 

I've played Bolingbrook a couple of times and to be honest cannot remember more than a hole or two. Maybe a par 5 towards the end and the par 3 over water, other than that nothing. The holes just aren't unique IMO, at least Prairie Landing or Bluff have some unique holes or ones that worked with the natural landscape (or airport) to be more interesting. For my money I know for sure what I wouldn't choose.

[ldchristopher]

3 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Something about the way they do it at Bolingbrook just makes it look very unnatural.  I don't really have a good way to describe it, but it's off looking, and the hole designs just aren't good.  

Yeah, I usually like the Arthur Hills courses around here but Bolingbrook didn’t do much for me. Three of the four par 3s were good but the par 4s all sort of blended together and, while the 5s had variety they weren’t particularly challenging. Maybe it was the absurdly wide fairways. I dunno. And it’s so pretentious with the wannabe country club vibe they try to create. The waterfall, the “golf academy” (it’s a driving range, call it a driving range), the name of the course on 8. Just stop. It’s a municipal golf course. And it’s not on the level of some other munis in the area like Bowes, HOE, Harborside, Thunderhawk, and The Preserve. 

[DavePelz4]

1 hour ago, ldchristopher said:

Yeah, I usually like the Arthur Hills courses around here but Bolingbrook didn’t do much for me. Three of the four par 3s were good but the par 4s all sort of blended together and, while the 5s had variety they weren’t particularly challenging. Maybe it was the absurdly wide fairways. I dunno. And it’s so pretentious with the wannabe country club vibe they try to create. The waterfall, the “golf academy” (it’s a driving range, call it a driving range), the name of the course on 8. Just stop. It’s a municipal golf course. And it’s not on the level of some other munis in the area like Bowes, HOE, Harborside, Thunderhawk, and The Preserve. 

 

And just to think, Rog's original plan was to build 2 golf courses.  Double the yawn.

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, VNutz said:

I don't hear a ton of praise being heaped on Harborside though, and Prairie wasn't without some heavy criticism for a while either until they removed some bunkers.

 

I've played Bolingbrook a couple of times and to be honest cannot remember more than a hole or two. Maybe a par 5 towards the end and the par 3 over water, other than that nothing. The holes just aren't unique IMO, at least Prairie Landing or Bluff have some unique holes or ones that worked with the natural landscape (or airport) to be more interesting. For my money I know for sure what I wouldn't choose.

 

We may not have a lot of love for it, but Harborside has been ranked in the top 10 in the state since it opened.

 

[VNutz]

3 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

We may not have a lot of love for it, but Harborside has been ranked in the top 10 in the state since it opened.

 

True, but I don't think we need to reopen the debate of the ridiculousness of some of those ratings.

[Argonne69]

4 minutes ago, VNutz said:

True, but I don't think we need to reopen the debate of the ridiculousness of some of those ratings.

 

Yes, there's room for debate, but I don't see how Harborside Port and/or Starboard can't be considered a top 10 public course in the state. 

 

[geochitown]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Got Phillips Park on tap tomorrow if the weather holds out, and Sunday hitting the Highlands of Elgin.  Been a while since I've been out to either. 

Phillips Park looks interesting.

One of Greg Martin's works...

[mci711]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Yes, there's room for debate, but I don't see how Harborside Port and/or Starboard can't be considered a top 10 public course in the state. 

 

It is close. Cog, Deer Run, cantigny, Blackstone, HoE, Bowes, Metamora, Mistwood, The Preserve, Aberdeen (southern il), in shape weaverridge, stonewall... I think you can argue it is better than a few of those and it is personal opinion,  but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't ranked ahead of those. 

[MountainKing]

2 hours ago, geochitown said:

Phillips Park looks interesting.

One of Greg Martin's works...

 

It's nothing to rush to, but it's a fun short course that's cheap and generally in decent shape.  

[geochitown]

13 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

It's nothing to rush to, but it's a fun short course that's cheap and generally in decent shape.  

 

When I was younger and a bit more centrally located in Arington Heights area, my dad and I would travel all over the metropolitan area to play.

 

Orchard Valley was the main reason we'd travel down Aurora way (up until 10 years ago).

 

Now with kids and living up by Six Flags, my golf is kept closer to home.

 

Have a good round.

 

I'm looking forward to what Martin will get done at Settler's.

[@_the_crook]

9 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

I'll never get used to looking at the multiple varieties of turf grass in the fairways

I haven't been there in a few years, but that sounds like the back nine at Crane's Landing.

the floods there play havoc with all the turf.

[ldchristopher]

2 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

I haven't been there in a few years, but that sounds like the back nine at Crane's Landing.

the floods there play havoc with all the turf.

Just a byproduct of courses built on floodplains. Different types of grass is always better than crab grass. 

[taylorx300]

FYI reminder if interested,

McHenry  County Am is the 23/24th Friday and Saturday at McHenry CC. Sign up ends Sunday. Fun flighted tourney.

 

Played a practice round Tuesday there and now have a strategy. Have a round as a guest at Black Sheep on Sunday but I think that will be all I can get in before Friday’s starting time.

Good luck to anyone else who entered!

[MountainKing]

13 hours ago, geochitown said:

 

When I was younger and a bit more centrally located in Arington Heights area, my dad and I would travel all over the metropolitan area to play.

 

Orchard Valley was the main reason we'd travel down Aurora way (up until 10 years ago).

 

Now with kids and living up by Six Flags, my golf is kept closer to home.

 

Have a good round.

 

I'm looking forward to what Martin will get done at Settler's.

 

Some of the best golf in the state is up your way, and you can quickly venture into Wisconsin to get some of that good golf on the cheap.

[Argonne69]

Waterlogged morning at White Pines West. At least there was no rain today. Hopefully things will dry out next week, and we can all enjoy a little rollout with our drives. Lol. The course was playable for the most part. The fairways and rough were cut, but that simply meant my shoes and legs were covered with fresh grass clippings. The fairways looked great, minus the handful of small puddles, and a few bare patches. Rough was thick. Bunkers were a mess. Wet compacted sand with more than a few small lakes in them. The greens looked great and were quite receptive, but were only rolling 9 at best. Pace was not an issue. I teed off early as a single, played through two groups on the front nine, and had a clear course on the back. I could see a couple of singles ahead, but I never caught them.

 

Much better round today. A few errant drives, but thankfully no snap hooks. One birdie and four bogies. 

 

WP is never going to be anywhere near my favorite course in the area, but for $33 it's hard to pass up for the occasional round, especially on a Friday. It's certainly better than Indian Boundary or Meadows of Blue Island  in the "cheap" category. 

 

[geochitown]

3 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Some of the best golf in the state is up your way, and you can quickly venture into Wisconsin to get some of that good golf on the cheap.

 

For sure.

 

We played a lot up this way even before;

Steeplechase, Stonewall, White Deer Run, Pine Meadow, Thunderhawk, Shepherd's Crook

 

No complaints...

 

I love golfing up here (Pine Meadow and White Deer Run are 7 miles away).

I'm 2 miles away from Merit Club, if I ever get the chance to play there.

 

It's all good.

[Symphonize]

Made another return to Bittersweet today. Had a solid 47 front, with a 7 on 1 and 6-6-6 to round out front nine. But the back 9 wasn’t so hot, 56 for a 103 on the day. Granted, after 3 bad holes to start the back, I had kinda given up focus and was just out their enjoying the round.
 

Also have a driver in my bag for the first time ever, had one set of lessons last week, and a half hour on the range with it today so still trying to figure that out. And BS isn’t a very driver friendly course. That being said, I used it 6 times today and had 5 fairways with it. I’ll take that all day. 
 

Meeting a bud in Woodstock tomorrow, thinking either Oak Grove or Crystal Woods. Hopefully the driver works out there.
 

If I can get it more consistently in play, will definitely make it easier vs teeing off with my 4H all day. 

[TheBear95]

3 hours ago, Symphonize said:

Made another return to Bittersweet today. Had a solid 47 front, with a 7 on 1 and 6-6-6 to round out front nine. But the back 9 wasn’t so hot, 56 for a 103 on the day. Granted, after 3 bad holes to start the back, I had kinda given up focus and was just out their enjoying the round.
 

Also have a driver in my bag for the first time ever, had one set of lessons last week, and a half hour on the range with it today so still trying to figure that out. And BS isn’t a very driver friendly course. That being said, I used it 6 times today and had 5 fairways with it. I’ll take that all day. 
 

Meeting a bud in Woodstock tomorrow, thinking either Oak Grove or Crystal Woods. Hopefully the driver works out there.
 

If I can get it more consistently in play, will definitely make it easier vs teeing off with my 4H all day. 

Yeah, Bittersweet is not the best course for the first-time out with a new driver.

[@_the_crook]

30 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

Yeah, Bittersweet is not the best course for the first-time out with a new driver.

Ain't that the truth - said everyone that's ever played BS.

 

[stasek]

Got out to Ruffled for an after work quick  9, or as it turned out, 13.  Course is in surprisingly good shape, with only one hole (6) being noticeably wet.  With the exception of a chunky chip on 1 (resulting in bogey), everything else worked as well as ever.  After the aforementioned bogey on 1,  proceeded to play 2-8 in 3 under.  Hit a perfect drive on 9, only to push fade the approach 8i way right.  Third shot - the Philly Mick special - went over the green on the other side. Chip, putt, putt - double 🤬.  So much for going under par on front - 36.  What happened on back 9 …. will stay on back 9.  
Mistwood tomorrow early afternoon, and Broken Arrow on Sunday.  

[MountainKing]

Phillips Park in Aurora yesterday after work.  The city championship is this today and tomorrow, so the course was in fantastic condition,  maybe the best I've played all year.  Greens weren't super speedy, but they rolled smooth and it looks like they probably spent the week fixing up the ball marks on them.  Rough was insanely long and thick.  Place was booked solid but we still got through it in under 4 hours.  The course isn't going to ever wow anybody, but it's a fun little course with some cool holes.

 

So first I gotta mention this fourth guy we got paired with.  This guy could steal some money from people.  He played the back tees with us, which isn't anything impressive since I think it's 6000 yards.  He steps up and makes his swing, it's awful, off plane, he has a reverse pivot and falls back on the shot and dumps his drive about 200 yards.  I said to my buddy he should move up.  Next shot, same terrible swing, dumps a hybrid about 10 feet from the pin, okay lucky shot.  The par 3 second, same thing.  The next hole, the same thing.  His putting and short game were fantastic. He didn't make much but his second putt was always a tap in.  This dude somehow made his swing work, I'm guessing he probably shot a 75. 

 

Now the group behind us, it was a group of college kids who were just bombing the hell out of the ball.  One guy in the group had to be hitting drives over 320, and not one of those "holy crap that was 320" that was actually 260.  It was fun to watch, I sat back on a couple of the holes to watch him hit drives just shy of the green on the shorter par 4s.  I'm guessing he probably put up something in the mid 60's.

 

Now my game.  I suck.  Still battling the snap hooks and the high rights.  My buddy told me after the round that I'm not firing my hips at all and just letting my shoulders do all the work.  That kind of fits with how I feel after I finish a swing, we'll see tomorrow.  I managed to hold on for a 79, but this is a course that is easy to score on, lots of opportunity for birdies ect, so that 79 was probably a 85 on another course.  I think I only hit 2 fairways, multiple penalty strokes from offline tee shots.   My first birdie free round of the year, a real let down on a course like this.  

 

Highlands of Elgin tomorrow.