Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, stasek said:

Dubsdread yesterday.   Course was in ok condition tee to green - my only beef was with the bunkers.  Not sure when was the last time they were groomed, but despite having plenty of sand in them, they felt like hard pan (bounced the wedge couple times, resulting in screamers over the green).  What a start to the round, though. Hit the opening tee shot OB right (didn’t think it was possible to hit the ball that far off line, but I managed).  Reload wasn’t that much better, but playable.  Once the dust settled, carded a smooth 9.  Note to self - if you’re going to miss at Dubs, miss short,  Added another triple on 8 and a bogey on 9 would have put me at 50 for a first time in a VERY long time.  Luckily, my driver woke up and hit driver /4W pin high into the green side bunker, almost holed out for an eagle and had to settle for a birdie - 48 - yikes!  
Things did get better on the back and if it weren’t for couple bad club choices should have shot even par or maybe 1 under. 2 birdies and an all world par save on 18 - 38.  The tale of 2 very different 9s continues.  
Oh - did I mention the weather?  PERFECT!

 

I had the same beef with the bunkers when I played Dubs a few weeks ago. Plenty of sand, but compacted. The maintenance guy I ran into said they'd been groomed the day before, but if that's their idea of grooming they're in need of a little training. Gotta put some back into it to must up the sand. 

 

[Shriner]

Played Oak Grove / Prairie Isle yesterday.  Oak Grove was gorgeous as always.   Morning dew kept it pretty wet for the front 9 but conditions were really good.  Greens were rolling at a good speed and smooth.  I have no idea how we finished in 3:30 minutes teeing off at 730am but we did, usually a 4 hour minimum round with the tough course and packed tee sheet but it was moving!  Scenery was so picturesque as usual.

 

First time at Prairie Isle and I liked it.  Conditions were good and I thought the layout was fun/fair.  Leaves were a gigantic issue but I guess it is coming to that time of the year.   Very difficult to find balls off the fairway but I wouldn't mind playing here again.

[VNutz]

HOE Saturday for our group's year end event. There was about 20-30 minutes of rain Friday night, not a drizzle but not a downpour and there was a differing opinion from course employees as to whether or not it had rained at the course, but as always the course was surprisingly damp and wet. It was a bit inconsistent though which made things confusing at times. Some drives ran out like crazy in the right spots, others stopped where they landed. You could tell parts of the course were dry from the general lack of rain lately but others were still getting watered heavily. Greens ran pretty true and sneaky quick though, although they were a bit damp as seen in crater-like ball marks. I could not get a chip to check for my life, and had multiple chances from 60 yards and in that I failed to get within 20 feet for bird. Lowlight of the day was simply losing a ball at the 14th green. Had 230 in from the right rough and the green opens up from the right instead of the deep bunkers guarding the front left. Hit my hybrid on a perfect line right in the gap between the left bunkers and the one on the right, saw it bounce once, then couldn't find it. Walked the line 50 yards short of the green to the rough thru the green, nothing. Simply vanished. We had 3 guys looking and found nothing. The only thing I could think of in hindsight was that the run up to the green was quite wet and perhaps it hit and plugged and what I thought was a bounce was actually water spray. Pretty frustrating going from thinking I'd be putting for eagle to suddenly out of the hole.

[Mandatory Golf Friday]

USGA Four-Ball qualifier tomorrow in Vernon Hills - playing White Deer Run.  Couldn't get away from work for a practice round so going in blind...

[Argonne69]

Wet morning at Wilmette. Nothing severe, but off and on sprinkles kept things from drying out. Course is in nice shape. Bunkers were quite wet. Rough was manageable. Greens were rolling quite nice at 10 or so. I'd love to see them if they were dry. Pace was fine. I went out as a single, played through a couple of groups, and then had clear sailing other than the occasional maintenance worker cutting the greens.

 

Nice round, but not quite as interesting as my last round here. One birdie and five bogies. Not much in the way of highlights. 'Just tried to keep the ball in play and hit some greens.

 

I asked the starter if he knew when they'd aerate, and he said he didn't know. However, he said the course was going to close for the season on October 8th, as they're going to intall cart paths. Whereas Glencoe has slowly been putting in paths over the past few seasons, it looks like Wilmette is going to take the big bang approach. 'Seems a little severe to lose at least a month's play. 'No idea why they didn't put in the cart paths when they renovated the course a few years ago. Dumb.

 

[Holy Moses]

Call me Mr 400. On the 10th at Blackstone, I hit the cart part that cuts across the middle of the fairway. The ball rolled up on a foursome ahead of me after taking a gigantic bounce. 400 yards, my first ever400

yarder! I had a SW in, but missed the green left. Ended up with a par 😈. I shot 71, my best ever at Blackstone. I can’t seem to ever birdie the 18th hole. 
 

Blackstone was rock hard and fast. Lots of brown. The retention ponds were very low. I wonder if they ran out of water for everything but the greens. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Holy Moses

[TheBear95]

4 hours ago, Holy Moses said:

Call me Mr 400. On the 10th at Blackstone, I hit the cart part that cuts across the middle of the fairway. The ball rolled up on a foursome ahead of me after taking a gigantic bounce. 400 yards, my first ever400

yarder! I had a SW in, but missed the green left. Ended up with a par 😈. I shot 71, my best ever at Blackstone. I can’t seem to ever birdie the 18th hole. 
 

Blackstone was rock hard and fast. Lots of brown. The retention ponds were very low. I wonder if they ran out of water for everything but the greens. 

How were the greens since they punched last Monday?

[MountainKing]

Anybody here hear anything about Willow Crest becoming a 9 hole course after this season?

[Holy Moses]

1 hour ago, TheBear95 said:

How were the greens since they punched last Monday?

They weren’t too bad. A little slow, but I didn’t get any terrible bounces. Healing up nicely.

[Argonne69]

Hmmm, sure didn't take fall very long to arrive. Lol. Looked at the radar early this morning, and thought I might slip in a quick round at Jackson Park, as it appeared the rain was clearing out. Nope. Unfortunately when the rain did return, I was far enough from the clubhouse that returning to my vehicle wasn't going to do much good. The light rain passed quickly, though, and then it was back to the slog. The course was in decent shape for JP. Pace was perfect, as there were only a couple of diehards out there.

 

Another round hitting irons off most tees to allow me to work on my mid irons. Three birdies and three bogies. Those par 3s keep chewing me up.

 

[Argonne69]

18 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Anybody here hear anything about Willow Crest becoming a 9 hole course after this season?

 

Nope. Normally I'd say I'd have to see it to believe it. Indian Lakes was supposed to become a subdivision, but local oppositions seems to have derailed it. 

 

However, WillowCrest only has a handful of adjacent homes along the eastern edge, and is primarily bordered by Cass, 35th, and Blackhawk. The southern boundary is adjacent to a commercial strip. I'd say the odds are good.

 

[@_the_crook]

6 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

sure didn't take fall very long to arrive.

this week appears to be the wet and cooler of the next two.

weekends appear to be favorable.

enjoy grabbing a pullover for a change.

that's what those side panels on the bag are for, not three foot long hoagies.

 

😄

 

[Symphonize]

Had some time to practice at Kish this afternoon and made some big discoveries today, I think. I’ve always struggled out of bunkers. Like can’t even get out of them, or blade/shank it way right. I think at set up, I was opening my club way too much. The face was basically parallel to the ground. I closed it up a little bit, and I was getting just about every shot out of the bunker cleanly. Granted the sand was more compact from all the rain and not fluffy, but it felt good getting out. 
 

Then been working again with the driver. Working with a friend who had me setting up with the ball outside my left foot to try to get me hitting up on it. It seems to be working. Minus the first hole where I topped a few drives, every other hole I made good contact and put them in play. Was only planning on playing 3-6 holes, but I kept hitting good drives so I ended up playing 12. After the first hole, played the next 11 (2-8, and 15-18) at a great (for me) 9 over 51. 
 

playing Kemper Friday, hope the good drives carry over and our team does betting than we did last year’s DFL. 

[VNutz]

Took yesterday off to make the trek up to Kohler and watch the first practice round for the Ryder Cup. I've never played Whistling Straits but had watched the tournaments closely, but holy cow the images on screen do zero justice to how visually intimidating that place is. Basically hit the fairway or you're F'd, on every hole. Oh and by the way it's windy. Unreal.

[BTee17]

13 hours ago, Symphonize said:

Had some time to practice at Kish this afternoon and made some big discoveries today, I think. I’ve always struggled out of bunkers. Like can’t even get out of them, or blade/shank it way right. I think at set up, I was opening my club way too much. The face was basically parallel to the ground. I closed it up a little bit, and I was getting just about every shot out of the bunker cleanly. Granted the sand was more compact from all the rain and not fluffy, but it felt good getting out. 
 

Then been working again with the driver. Working with a friend who had me setting up with the ball outside my left foot to try to get me hitting up on it. It seems to be working. Minus the first hole where I topped a few drives, every other hole I made good contact and put them in play. Was only planning on playing 3-6 holes, but I kept hitting good drives so I ended up playing 12. After the first hole, played the next 11 (2-8, and 15-18) at a great (for me) 9 over 51. 
 

playing Kemper Friday, hope the good drives carry over and our team does betting than we did last year’s DFL. 

 

I've had the same disastrous history with bunkers as well.  I've had some lessons recently and my PGA pro said the same thing to actually not open it very much, keep it more normal with a 54 or 56 and make an outside take away steep swing.

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, VNutz said:

Took yesterday off to make the trek up to Kohler and watch the first practice round for the Ryder Cup. I've never played Whistling Straits but had watched the tournaments closely, but holy cow the images on screen do zero justice to how visually intimidating that place is. Basically hit the fairway or you're F'd, on every hole. Oh and by the way it's windy. Unreal.

 

Like most Pete Dye designs, if one plays the right tees, and is reasonably accurate, the course is more open than it appears to the eye. 

 

[VNutz]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Like most Pete Dye designs, if one plays the right tees, and is reasonably accurate, the course is more open than it appears to the eye. 

 

Then from my watching Berger is either inaccurate, playing the wrong tees, or both. 😆

[Shriner]

15 minutes ago, VNutz said:

Then from my watching Berger is either inaccurate, playing the wrong tees, or both. 😆

 

LOL!  Yes, it looks intimidating and you are screwed once you get into the junk BUT like most PGA type courses, the fairways are rather wide compared to the local public courses we play.  Same as Erin Hills for example.  As a 7 handicap, I played the front with 7 bogies, 1 par and a 9 on the lovely hole 5.  I was well on the way to breaking 90 but darkness came in on hole 16.  You nailed it though, when the wind is up, it gets brutal. 

[chisag]

2 hours ago, VNutz said:

Took yesterday off to make the trek up to Kohler and watch the first practice round for the Ryder Cup. I've never played Whistling Straits but had watched the tournaments closely, but holy cow the images on screen do zero justice to how visually intimidating that place is. Basically hit the fairway or you're F'd, on every hole. Oh and by the way it's windy. Unreal.

 

 

... I was shooting a commercial as a spokesman for bathroom fixtures and the CEO hears me talking about Dubs and asks if I would like to play a new course he built that wouldn't be ready for another year but was playable now and would like my opinion. I figured what does a guy that sells toilets know about golf courses and since it was on the lake I knew it would be very windy. Thanked him but said I only had my suit and no clubs or clothes, although I did have sneakers. He said he had clubs and shorts and shirts he could provide and again I am thinking I am not interested in playing a windy goat track with Tour Edge (guessing) clubs. So again I passed on Herb's invitation. 

... Had he said he was building a championship quality course and was hoping to attract a Major I would have taken him up on his offer. But the flip side is I didn't ask and just assumed so I deserved to miss out on one of the 2 best opportunities in my acting career. The other was in my late 20's I did a live show for Hitachi at McCormick place and at the conclusion I was invited to a closing party at a hotel near OHare where the CEO was flying in his personal Sushi Chef with an all fresh Japanese catch that morning. I thought "Raw fish? No thanks".  🙄

[VNutz]

19 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

 

... I was shooting a commercial as a spokesman for bathroom fixtures and the CEO hears me talking about Dubs and asks if I would like to play a new course he built that wouldn't be ready for another year but was playable now and would like my opinion. I figured what does a guy that sells toilets know about golf courses and since it was on the lake I knew it would be very windy. Thanked him but said I only had my suit and no clubs or clothes, although I did have sneakers. He said he had clubs and shorts and shirts he could provide and again I am thinking I am not interested in playing a windy goat track with Tour Edge (guessing) clubs. So again I passed on Herb's invitation. 

... Had he said he was building a championship quality course and was hoping to attract a Major I would have taken him up on his offer. But the flip side is I didn't ask and just assumed so I deserved to miss out on one of the 2 best opportunities in my acting career. The other was in my late 20's I did a live show for Hitachi at McCormick place and at the conclusion I was invited to a closing party at a hotel near OHare where the CEO was flying in his personal Sushi Chef with an all fresh Japanese catch that morning. I thought "Raw fish? No thanks".  🙄

When I was in high school my coach encouraged our team to play this brand new course in WI before it fully opened, at a bargain rate. We said no thanks, not gonna give up my Saturday and drive 2.5 hours for golf. Still kick myself.

[geochitown]

17 hours ago, Symphonize said:

Had some time to practice at Kish this afternoon and made some big discoveries today, I think. I’ve always struggled out of bunkers. Like can’t even get out of them, or blade/shank it way right. I think at set up, I was opening my club way too much. The face was basically parallel to the ground. I closed it up a little bit, and I was getting just about every shot out of the bunker cleanly. Granted the sand was more compact from all the rain and not fluffy, but it felt good getting out. 
 

Then been working again with the driver. Working with a friend who had me setting up with the ball outside my left foot to try to get me hitting up on it. It seems to be working. Minus the first hole where I topped a few drives, every other hole I made good contact and put them in play. Was only planning on playing 3-6 holes, but I kept hitting good drives so I ended up playing 12. After the first hole, played the next 11 (2-8, and 15-18) at a great (for me) 9 over 51. 
 

playing Kemper Friday, hope the good drives carry over and our team does betting than we did last year’s DFL. 

 

Good idea to work on bunker practice before Kemper.

Sounds like you have played there before.

Jacobson did a nice job with the bunker re-design there years back.

 

supposed to be warmer Friday, with some moderate winds.

Sounds like a great time, enjoy!

[geochitown]

I played the Irish last fall, so just got a few glimpses of Whistling Straits over the dunes.

 

Caddy said that you basically have to aim at certain points on your drives, with some being blind.  Like aim at the darker bush on the left out there.

 

I guess that's why the have their caddies.

 

[Symphonize]

2 hours ago, geochitown said:

 

Good idea to work on bunker practice before Kemper.

Sounds like you have played there before.

Jacobson did a nice job with the bunker re-design there years back.

 

supposed to be warmer Friday, with some moderate winds.

Sounds like a great time, enjoy!

my friend told me they are adding another 3-400 yards in length this off-season with some new tee boxes. And I want to say he said they are doing more with bunkers too. Maybe in hopes of getting some tournaments there again would be my guess. 
 

Can’t wait. Hopefully my game comes with me. 

[Woodridge]

I played the Irish and the Straits courses in May a few years ago in a hickory golf event. The most miserable two days weather-wise I have ever spent on a golf course. It was 45 and rained all day on Saturday for the Irish course and Sunday it was so cold on the Straits that we had snow flurries. Any other situation and I wouldn't have played either day, let alone both days.

 

Played Nettle today. No one on the course. Played through a twosome on the 3rd hole and finally caught another twosome on the 14. I had my 3rd hole out of the year with my 60 degree wedge. All from 35-50 yards. I'm trying let go and to enjoy the game more.

 

 

[Argonne69]

An enjoyable fall morning out on the course today. I wasn't quite sure what the wind and rain was going to be doing this morning, so I wound up heading over to Marovitz for 18 holes. It was much nicer than I expected. Winds were brisk, but not crazy. Heck, we even got a few peeks at blue sky. Tee to green the course was in OK shape. Fairways had a few bare patches, and the rough was scruffy on spots. Greens were soft, and look like they had been aerated a few weeks ago. However, they were 95% healed, and rolling 7 to 8. Ballmarks were few. The bunkers were surprisingly good. They dumped a load of new sand in most of them. Unfortunately too many players decided it was too much effort to pick up a rake, so lies could be problematic. Pace was very good. The first trip around took just under two hours as there were a lot of diehards out there. The second time was a bit faster as the crowds had thinned out by mid-morning.

 

Solid round with 1 birdies and four bogies. Even downwind the 4th was playing tough with a back pin. Greens were too slow to have serious birdie chances. It felt like I was smashing the ball to get it to the hole.

[geochitown]

I'm looking forward to play Strawberry Creek on Sunday.

Another Rick Jacobson course.

 

I know that course is sort of in the IL/WI gray zone, but I'm posting in this thread anyway!

[Argonne69]

Absolutely gorgeous morning today at Glencoe. Plenty of sunshine. Light winds. Cool temps. Days like today are why I love fall golf. The course looked fantastic. Fairways were lush. Rough was thick, but cut to a nice height. Sand was groomed. Greens look like they were aerated a week or more ago using the small tines, and were nearly healed. Speed was a little inconsistent, running between roughly 9 and 10. Pace was great once the threesome in front of my group quit after nine holes. We played the front in 2 hours, and 1:35 on the back.

 

Good day with the driver, but the irons and wedges were off. One birdie and seven bogies. 'Had a few nice par putts, but otherwise struggled with the speed. A few pin locations were tricky with a little more slope than I've seen before. Highlight of the day was my drive on the 18th. With a helping wind I hit a high straight ball that barely missed the big tree on the right, and finished 280 out. One of my better drives on the hole in a while.

 

[@_the_crook]

6 hours ago, geochitown said:

I know that course is sort of in the IL/WI gray zone, but I'm posting in this thread anyway!

 

all good - most of us are border friendly.

[Symphonize]

Fun day at Kemper Lakes today. Wind was brutal, pretty good 10 mph winds most of the day I’d say, probably got to 15-20 a few times with maybe a 30mph gusts. Driver was hit or miss, had a few great drives that left me with 110-130 in but couldn’t get my wedges to connect. Great day on the par 3’s, except the famous 17th. That has my number every time there.
 

Big fan of the way they do the closest to the pin contests. Two of the holes are for handicaps 14 and up. 2 of the holes are for handicaps below 14. On the par 13, had 151 into a right to left wind, hit my 8 iron to 8’6” which, at that time, was good for closest to the pin for us 14+ handicappers. Just missed my birdie putt on the left edge, but made the 3 foot comebacker. Unfortunately, It didn’t hold up, and one more guy got closer, only by a foot. But on the par 3 3rd, playing 130 with a strong wind at our back, put it to 6’7”, which did hold up for a closest to the pin. Woulda been nice to have both of them. And I drained the birdie putt. Also had a GIR and 2 putt par on 6, our last hole of the day, hit it pin high to about 20 feet from 161. 
 

overall a 103 on the day, but that was with about 7 or 8 balls in the water or OB so I was pretty satisfied with my play. Especially considering how windy it was. 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Symphonize

[ldchristopher]

The Oakmont of Beecher today. Cardinal Creek for those not in the know on the finest of South Suburban courses. Actually, the greens on 16/18 holes at Cardinal Creek were very good. There were tire marks through one and another were very chewed up but the rest were good. Probably running at 9 once the moisture came off. The tee boxes there are comparable to Jackson Park so that hasn’t changed since I was there last. Most of the course was in good shape, but bunkers were hit or miss. Some just looked like mud while others had a lot of sand in them and were well groomed. Ball striking was excellent, with 9 fairways, 13 greens, 2 birdies (7 Center and 7 North - both are par 3’s) and only one bogey on 9 Center (also a par 3 but I was in the bunker and couldn’t get up and down to save par). Great weather. Mid 50’s and sunny with no wind. 71.