Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[dhartmann34]

Got in 6 rounds in Florida... With beautiful weather. Lots of gators and wildlife around. Best day was seeing a friend hit a beautiful shot on a 152 yard par 3. Took one hop and spun backwards right into the hole! 

 

Weather was about 70 degrees cooler here when I got back off the plane. I don't know why I live here... Well I do. My wife says I have to and I don't want a divorce. But I despise winter. 🥶

[Wolfhammer]

3 hours ago, dhartmann34 said:

I don't know why I live here... Well I do. My wife says I have to and I don't want a divorce.

 

Same

[@_the_crook]

7 hours ago, dhartmann34 said:

I don't know why I live here... Well I do. My wife says I have to and I don't want a divorce. But I despise winter. 🥶

like you, I sometimes ponder why we remain here..

 

then again, I find it fulfilling to drive a 4X4 and plunge past the drifts.

 

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

15 hours ago, dhartmann34 said:

Got in 6 rounds in Florida... With beautiful weather. Lots of gators and wildlife around. Best day was seeing a friend hit a beautiful shot on a 152 yard par 3. Took one hop and spun backwards right into the hole! 

 

Weather was about 70 degrees cooler here when I got back off the plane. I don't know why I live here... Well I do. My wife says I have to and I don't want a divorce. But I despise winter. 🥶

 

The weather here in Florida is certainly nice, but I miss the inexpensive, walkable courses. Paying $100+ a round for a mediocre layout gets old, and the fights with the course staff about walking really tick me off. It's not bad for a vacation, but I just can't see myself living here.

 

[mci711]

5 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

The weather here in Florida is certainly nice, but I miss the inexpensive, walkable courses. Paying $100+ a round for a mediocre layout gets old, and the fights with the course staff about walking really tick me off. It's not bad for a vacation, but I just can't see myself living here.

 

 

Yes, there is no shot I could only play FL courses for my day to day golf. I don't even vacation there anymore because playing golf is a big part of what I do on vacation. The Chicago area is so great because you can play a different course every day for weeks and be pretty happy with what you are getting and also have a ton of variety. The public quantity is really unmatched, maybe Arizona? I felt this a lot when I moved away this past year.  

Edited January 14, 2022 by mci711

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

Yes, there is no shot I could only play FL courses for my day to day golf. I don't even vacation there anymore because playing golf is a big part of what I do on vacation. The Chicago area is so great because you can play a different course every day for weeks and be pretty happy with what you are getting and also have a ton of variety. The public quantity is really unmatched, maybe Arizona? I felt this a lot when I moved away this past year.  

 

Phoenix has roughly half as many public courses as Chicagoland. Don't think that the variety is as good, too. Phoenix has way too many mundane housing development courses. Like playing Klein Creek every day. The best stack up nicely to Chicago's best, but they're also $300 during the winter. Not the type of course you're going to play regularly. The locals wind up playing a handful of munis and inexpensive public courses for most of the winter if they don't want to break the bank. 

 

[mci711]

1 minute ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Phoenix has roughly half as many public courses as Chicagoland. Don't think that the variety is as good, too. Phoenix has way too many mundane housing development courses. Like playing Klein Creek every day. The best stack up nicely to Chicago's best, but they're also $300 during the winter. Not the type of course you're going to play regularly. The locals wind up playing a handful of munis and inexpensive public courses for most of the winter if they don't want to break the bank. 

 

 

Didn't know the numbers, that is interesting. I'd say the my biggest issue with Phoenix/scottsdale is what you said, housing developments. Even the "best" courses. People love Troon and it gets great reviews but I feel like I am being smothered by houses at some points. That is why We-ko-pa and AK-Chin are on another level to me. Quintero is pretty but just an ok layout. I've never played the lower tier courses there though, unless we count TPC lol. 

[chisag]

8 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Phoenix has roughly half as many public courses as Chicagoland. Don't think that the variety is as good, too. Phoenix has way too many mundane housing development courses. Like playing Klein Creek every day. The best stack up nicely to Chicago's best, but they're also $300 during the winter. Not the type of course you're going to play regularly. The locals wind up playing a handful of munis and inexpensive public courses for most of the winter if they don't want to break the bank. 

 

 

... Total number off courses is irrelevant to me. Living in Bolingbrook I never ventured far north because traffic is always a problem. Plenty of public courses near me when I lived there. Phoenix is very similar although I will venture farther away because 5 to 8 lanes of interstate traffic make non rush hour a breeze, and even rush hour ain't all that bad. But near me there are several public courses like Aguila (which I play 80% of the time in peak season for $24 walking with a Sr City Card) and Raven which both have virtually no homes. Papago and Grand Canyon are also city courses I can play for under $50 in peak season, so yea a handful of muni's in winter. I still may join a private club. 

... For me at least and the reason I moved here is the dry heat which is great for my health, abundant and constant sunshine and the amazing bargains in the off season. Playing $350 and up courses for $25-59 in the summer when the temps are in the 105-115* range is a trade off I am willing to make. So I find the opposite and have more public courses to choose from in Phoenix compared to Chicago. Raven is around $115-180 to play for a resident in peak season but I joined there last summer for $55 a month and "free" afternoon rounds when you pay $25 cart fee. Playing 4 to 5 times a week it was a bargain and then some. I am sure you know Raven is one of the few tree lined courses so plenty of shade in the summer heat unlike some other desert courses where shade is hard to come by and I learned the hard way to avoid them when the temps get above 110*. 

[Argonne69]

21 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

Didn't know the numbers, that is interesting. I'd say the my biggest issue with Phoenix/scottsdale is what you said, housing developments. Even the "best" courses. People love Troon and it gets great reviews but I feel like I am being smothered by houses at some points. That is why We-ko-pa and AK-Chin are on another level to me. Quintero is pretty but just an ok layout. I've never played the lower tier courses there though, unless we count TPC lol. 

 

The three top munis, Papago, Aguila, and Grand Canyon University get a lot of play, and are worthy of regular visits. With a City Card they're as close to a bargain as you're going to get in the winter. 

 

TPC Champions is a very good course, and one of the few that still offer discounts for locals. Talking Stick also offers a discount, but you're still looking in the $100 range. 

 

[ldchristopher]

On 1/13/2022 at 2:22 PM, dhartmann34 said:

Got in 6 rounds in Florida... With beautiful weather. Lots of gators and wildlife around. Best day was seeing a friend hit a beautiful shot on a 152 yard par 3. Took one hop and spun backwards right into the hole! 

 

Weather was about 70 degrees cooler here when I got back off the plane. I don't know why I live here... Well I do. My wife says I have to and I don't want a divorce. But I despise winter. 🥶

January and February are awful and the Winter misery sets in when we have stretches where it snows seemingly every day for several days in a row. However, that’s really only two months a year. I played 3 rounds in November and 3 rounds in December and would have played far more if I didn’t have a toddler. Bear played 12(!) rounds in November. Chicago isn’t that terrible for golf outside of two months per year if you’re willing to play in temps between 35° and 45°. 

[MountainKing]

I'll probably post in the SV thread - but who here has some SV experience?  Looking to book something in mid-May to play SV and Mammoth with an overnight stay.  We're being cheap and looking to just motel 6 it instead of staying on site.  Is there a benefit to staying on site other than not having to drive?  It doesn't appear there's a rate discount for staying there. 

[Holy Moses]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

I'll probably post in the SV thread - but who here has some SV experience?  Looking to book something in mid-May to play SV and Mammoth with an overnight stay.  We're being cheap and looking to just motel 6 it instead of staying on site.  Is there a benefit to staying on site other than not having to drive?  It doesn't appear there's a rate discount for staying there. 

I could be wrong on this, but unless you want a very late tee time, if you don't stay on site you will get off late because the early times are all reserved for guests who stay there. When I played in October, I also thought they said that the rooms and houses at Sand Valley were almost already fully booked for 2022. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Holy Moses

[Holy Moses]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:49 PM, MountainKing said:

 

We had it setup for 7 foot gimmies, that's the best you can get at X-Golf.  I can't tell you how hard it was to get something within 7 feet with how that sim read things.  It was by far the worst short game experinece on any sim, which is saying a lot considering how bad most are.

X-Golf uses their own brand of simulators? I've never tried theirs, but I recommend Legends Indoor Golf in Downers Grove. They have Foresight GC2. While I've only "made" one putt directly in the hole in 4 or 5 rounds, I didn't find it too hard to make putts in the area you set up. 

[MountainKing]

27 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

X-Golf uses their own brand of simulators? I've never tried theirs, but I recommend Legends Indoor Golf in Downers Grove. They have Foresight GC2. While I've only "made" one putt directly in the hole in 4 or 5 rounds, I didn't find it too hard to make putts in the area you set up. 

Legends is good,  I used to work with the owner many moons ago!

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

I'll probably post in the SV thread - but who here has some SV experience?  Looking to book something in mid-May to play SV and Mammoth with an overnight stay.  We're being cheap and looking to just motel 6 it instead of staying on site.  Is there a benefit to staying on site other than not having to drive?  It doesn't appear there's a rate discount for staying there. 

 

I stayed off-site, but was able to get the first tee time of the day. I went out as a single, so there were three empty spots open. Probably worth a call. I played pre-pandemic, so I assume it's a different animal now. 

 

[MountainKing]

23 hours ago, Holy Moses said:

I could be wrong on this, but unless you want a very late tee time, if you don't stay on site you will get off late because the early times are all reserved for guests who stay there. When I played in October, I also thought they said that the rooms and houses at Sand Valley were almost already fully booked for 2022. 

 

Yeah it looks like we waited to long, talked to them yesterday and 2022 is about all booked up.  Looks like we'll try for 2023.

[Holy Moses]

22 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

Yeah it looks like we waited to long, talked to them yesterday and 2022 is about all booked up.  Looks like we'll try for 2023.

If you want to stay offsite, PM me. I have a friend who rents a 4-5 bedroom house on Lake Arrowhead, which is less than 5 minutes away. 

[St Jimmy]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Yeah it looks like we waited to long, talked to them yesterday and 2022 is about all booked up.  Looks like we'll try for 2023.

 

I have 20 acres of hunting/recreational land between Coloma and Friendship if you want to sleep in your car for the ultimate budget SV trip!  

 

 

[MountainKing]

9 hours ago, St Jimmy said:

 

I have 20 acres of hunting/recreational land between Coloma and Friendship if you want to sleep in your car for the ultimate budget SV trip!  

 

 

 

Lol Motel 6 is as roughing it as i go!

[DavePelz4]

On 1/15/2022 at 11:40 AM, MountainKing said:

I'll probably post in the SV thread - but who here has some SV experience?  Looking to book something in mid-May to play SV and Mammoth with an overnight stay.  We're being cheap and looking to just motel 6 it instead of staying on site.  Is there a benefit to staying on site other than not having to drive?  It doesn't appear there's a rate discount for staying there. 

If VNutz hasn't responded, there are 2 benefits...and one is Bubbles.

[dhartmann34]

On 1/14/2022 at 5:38 AM, Argonne69 said:

 

The weather here in Florida is certainly nice, but I miss the inexpensive, walkable courses. Paying $100+ a round for a mediocre layout gets old, and the fights with the course staff about walking really tick me off. It's not bad for a vacation, but I just can't see myself living here.

 

Thankfully I haven't had any issues with wanting to walk and the courses I've been playing were all very reasonable. Only one, Eagle Creek, was up around $90. Everything else was under $50. 

[dhartmann34]

On 1/14/2022 at 11:15 PM, ldchristopher said:

January and February are awful and the Winter misery sets in when we have stretches where it snows seemingly every day for several days in a row. However, that’s really only two months a year. I played 3 rounds in November and 3 rounds in December and would have played far more if I didn’t have a toddler. Bear played 12(!) rounds in November. Chicago isn’t that terrible for golf outside of two months per year if you’re willing to play in temps between 35° and 45°. 

I'm not against playing in 35-35* but it's certainly not my preferred temps. Warmer the better for me. But I also keep the heat on 74* in the winter. 🙂 I also like getting out early to play which is harder during those months due to weather and sunlight. Two kids under 2.5 puts a little more stringent time frame on things. The spring rounds of muck, mud, ice, and wet are my least favorite... Even if 40* feels like shorts weather. I'm made for Arizona weather. 😎

 

 

[MountainKing]

Just talked to them again, aparently 2023 weekend loding is booked...back to the drawing board, maybe tomorrow I'll see how 2030 looks.

[VNutz]

2 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

If VNutz hasn't responded, there are 2 benefits...and one is Bubbles.

Yes, and Yes.

[@_the_crook]

Wonder how many forum members are buying permanent tee times for 2022?

 

[chrisf60526]

Nothing like getting an email just now from Flagg Creek telling me that "The course is calling.  Book now!"  It's 19 out

[VNutz]

Anybody else still get GroupGolfer emails? Was surprised to get one this morning for Mill Creek. I thought they were done for, several times.

[psygolf]

On 1/16/2022 at 11:46 AM, Holy Moses said:

If you want to stay offsite, PM me. I have a friend who rents a 4-5 bedroom house on Lake Arrowhead, which is less than 5 minutes away. 

The course at Lake Arrowhead isn’t too shabby either!

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, VNutz said:

Anybody else still get GroupGolfer emails? Was surprised to get one this morning for Mill Creek. I thought they were done for, several times.

 

It looks like Mill Creek is coming back courtesy of GolfVisions. Mill Creek is appearing as one of the options on their 2022 Player's Pass (first bulletin point, listed between Midlane and the always wonderful Oak Grove).

 

http://www.golfvisions.net/players_pass/

[DavePelz4]

7 hours ago, VNutz said:

Anybody else still get GroupGolfer emails? Was surprised to get one this morning for MILF Creek. I thought they were done for, several times.

 

FTFY