Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[DavePelz4]

57 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

Note to self: threaten putter more often. Inanimate objects will respond when threatened. Some truly putrid conditions today at Delbrook and Glen Erin. The dew point never got below 75° which made Southern WI feel like North Florida. This was my second round ever at Delbrook and I really enjoy it. I was told it was basically a long country course but they’ve spent some money on it, let the native areas grow in, and they keep it up. There was plenty of rain last night up here but not a drop was still sitting on the course. Bunkers included. They were starving for rain here but anyway, I liked the course. Don’t think this is a top tier facility or anything. But very, very playable. The four birdie, 27 putt, even par round helped impact my opinion. 
Glen Erin was great but my God were the conditions oppressive. Temps in the low 90’s, real feel around 100° and dew point making it feel so much worse. Janesville got like 2 inches of rain but the course was immaculate sans some wet bunkers. The humidity coming off the fescue was rough. One birdie on 7, four bogies (3 on the back as I tired out) for a 74. Back over 30 putts but I was gassed. 

 

When a putter misbehaves, it goes in the time out corner in the golf club room.  Then after it watches its friends go out and play a few times, a lesson is learned and things normalize.  Putters have feelings too.

[chisag]

23 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

When a putter misbehaves, it goes in the time out corner in the golf club room.  Then after it watches its friends go out and play a few times, a lesson is learned and things normalize.  Putters have feelings too.

 

 

... I have always thought that in the right hands an animated feature on golf equipment would be highly entertaining. The conversations they could have when away from their owners would be priceless. The Kool Putter in a timeout while the Nerdy putter finally gets another chance, then returns to "the rack" with a drooping head as the Kool Putter goes back in the bag, humbled and appreciative of the Nerdy Putter for the very first time and promises to give it his/her all and not just skate through the round. Shafts too stiff and MB's that perform well below the GI's they replaced arguing non stop. The possibilities are almost endless. 

[Springsteennut]

8 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

Played Redtail on Saturday and don't remember it ever being in better conditions.  The course was immaculate and the greens were almost ball mark free and rolling fast.  Not sure what it is about Redtail but it brings out some incredibly rude people.  We had a foursome in front of us and although they were a bit slow, the front was played in a few minutes over 2 hours.  Now it gets interesting.

 

We stopped to get water and saw that the guys in front of us were just getting to the 10th tee, but we hadn't seen them in the clubhouse.  By the time we rolled up they were in the middle of the fairway but now there were 3 of them.  And apparently they changed shirts, too.  As we waited in the 10th fairway for them to clear the green, it became apparent that it was a different group of guys who were putting the o in slow. We waiting on every shot on 11 and caught them on the 12th tee.  I asked them very politely what their tee time was and it was 30 minutes before ours.  They apparently had something to eat, grabbed beverages and decided they could jump in whenever they felt like it.  One of the youths wanted to get into it which was just hilarious. 3 guys in their 20s against guys in their 60s/70's. Fortunately, they appeared to skip 3 groups to get back into position so I'll give them that.

 

Yesterday played Randall Oaks and it was also in perfect condition.  The greens might have been rolling 12 and I don't remember seeing them that smooth.  Kudos to the Super on a job well done. Played with 2 gentlemen and I'm guessing they were COVID players.  They went to the back tee and after 3 shots, one had found the fairway and was still 240 out.  Yikes.  This is going to be fun!  Nice enough guys, just playing the wrong tees and the funny part is one of the guys was like watching the PGA Tour as he waived after making a putt, first pumped on good shots and was just entertaining to watch.  

 

Thankfully the driver kept me in play and the chipping/putter kept the score to a reasonable number.  In between, I couldn't hit an iron consistently for anything. It was either chunky or flushed and flew long. 

 

Need to get some range time this week as our comp plays Deere Run on Saturday.

I play Redtail regularly and you’re right the last few weeks it has been in really great shape. It’s kind of an under the radar course but we have run into some slow groups too. They do try to push slow groups when we have asked them but people just don’t listen. Played Chevy Chase today and it was in pretty good shape but not like Redtail.

[ldchristopher]

2 hours ago, Markrip said:

I play Redtail regularly and you’re right the last few weeks it has been in really great shape. It’s kind of an under the radar course but we have run into some slow groups too. They do try to push slow groups when we have asked them but people just don’t listen. Played Chevy Chase today and it was in pretty good shape but not like Redtail.

Redtail can be kind of a pit in certain spots but when the area dries out the conditions get really good. During the drought last year it was in amazing shape. 

[psygolf]

Nice feedback from a friend who recently played Hilldale...nice course/value ($40 riding) that always flies under the radar.

[dhartmann34]

For those of you interested in playing Bull Valley Golf Club and supporting a great charitable cause, my firm is putting on a scramble August 8th. Great day and a fantastic playoff format for the top 5 teams!

 

https://app.eventcaddy.com/events/fraser-youth-foundation-6th-annual-golf-outing

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by dhartmann34

[MountainKing]

Back to Willowcrest for another after work round.  No real changes to conditions from last time.  Course was empty and we got around in a cool 2:40.

 

Game was awful, not sure why I seem to be on this every other round struggle thing.  I was randomly missing everything off to the right, which is an odd depature from the snap hooks I normally battle.  I probably need to get out and practice a bit.  Highlight of the day was going driver/3W on hole 11 to get to pin high in two, never been up by that green in two before.  Lowlight was not making the birdie.  8 bogies, a double and no birdies for a lousy 80 on a course that I consider to be fairly easy..especially with how well I know it.

[MountainKing]

Cog #3 today.   Beautiful day for golf.   Other than the bunkers,  the course was in shockingly great shape.  Fairways were nice,  greens were smooth with decent pace and minimal ballmarks. Pace was a shock as well,  normally it's a mess at midday but today, 4 hours.  Props to the group on front of us who were terrible golfers,  but played the forward tees and moved!  They're a great example of what we need. 

 

Nothing to really ride home about with my game.   Two 3 putt pars, a 3 putt double on 9.  Did birdie one after driving it so I got that. Ended up with a 78, always feel like #3 is a course i should go super low on,  but never seem to be able to get it done.   

[DavePelz4]

Our comp played Deere Run on Saturday and the course was still in tournament conditions. Per the staff, the rough had not been cut since before the tournament, so it was easily 6 inches in some places.  On 2 occasions, balls were lost in the rough and no more than 10 feet off the fairway.  Unless you found an area where the gallery had trampled the grass down, you were going to be lucky to advance the ball maybe 30-40 yards.  Although we were playing 1 up from the tips, quite a few tees were actually all the way back, which added a fair amount of length to the course.  There were still tents and pavilions up, especially around 17 and 18, and after getting up and down from 40 yards out, I gave a wave to the (invisible) skill admiring fans.

 

It's easy to see why the pros are so adept at bunker play as the silica in the bunkers always provided for the perfect lie.  Even someone who can be bunker-challenged like me was able to spin the ball from perfect lies.  The greens were in wonderful shape but played a bit less break that it appeared.  Left too many putts on the high side expecting some break or gravity to take over.

 

Pace was a bit disappointing at 4:45 as the twosome in front of us was playing the wrong tees and good golly, they took their sweet time.

 

Deere Run has nearly doubled in price from the $89/round that we used to play to $179. Not sure if that was because of playing it the week after the Classic or if that's their current rate structure. Regardless, it's always a great time to play a Tour course in near tour conditions.

 

[ldchristopher]

I went back to White Hawk this morning. After going low there a couple weeks ago I decided to play the tips. I was fully prepared to get my teeth kicked in by Silver’s back tees but they were top dressing Red and Silver (BOO!!!) so they sent everyone off Grey to Black. That’s not nearly as daunting as it plays a shade over 7000 yards. I got stuck behind a twosome that was moving at a glacial pace but they waved me through on 6. A foursome let me through on the first hole on Black and after that I was home free. Two birdies on 2 Silver and 3 Black with four bogies mixed in for a 74. Wedges were very sharp and I had a couple longish par saves as well. The pins were all tucked in corners from a tournament they had over the weekend. Overall the conditioning was very good.  

[MountainKing]

4 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

Our comp played Deere Run on Saturday and the course was still in tournament conditions. Per the staff, the rough had not been cut since before the tournament, so it was easily 6 inches in some places.  On 2 occasions, balls were lost in the rough and no more than 10 feet off the fairway.  Unless you found an area where the gallery had trampled the grass down, you were going to be lucky to advance the ball maybe 30-40 yards.  Although we were playing 1 up from the tips, quite a few tees were actually all the way back, which added a fair amount of length to the course.  There were still tents and pavilions up, especially around 17 and 18, and after getting up and down from 40 yards out, I gave a wave to the (invisible) skill admiring fans.

 

It's easy to see why the pros are so adept at bunker play as the silica in the bunkers always provided for the perfect lie.  Even someone who can be bunker-challenged like me was able to spin the ball from perfect lies.  The greens were in wonderful shape but played a bit less break that it appeared.  Left too many putts on the high side expecting some break or gravity to take over.

 

Pace was a bit disappointing at 4:45 as the twosome in front of us was playing the wrong tees and good golly, they took their sweet time.

 

Deere Run has nearly doubled in price from the $89/round that we used to play to $179. Not sure if that was because of playing it the week after the Classic or if that's their current rate structure. Regardless, it's always a great time to play a Tour course in near tour conditions.

 

 

I looked during the week last week and I think it was $119 for 18 and $199 for all you can play.  Guesing $179 is the weekend rate for 18?

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, ldchristopher said:

I went back to White Hawk this morning. After going low there a couple weeks ago I decided to play the tips. I was fully prepared to get my teeth kicked in by Silver’s back tees but they were top dressing Red and Silver (BOO!!!) so they sent everyone off Grey to Black. That’s not nearly as daunting as it plays a shade over 7000 yards. I got stuck behind a twosome that was moving at a glacial pace but they waved me through on 6. A foursome let me through on the first hole on Black and after that I was home free. Two birdies on 2 Silver and 3 Black with four bogies mixed in for a 74. Wedges were very sharp and I had a couple longish par saves as well. The pins were all tucked in corners from a tournament they had over the weekend. Overall the conditioning was very good.  

 

Even tho it's almost 3800 yards, I never felt like Silver from the tips felt that way.   Both par 3's are under 200 yards, with the par 4's seem to play shorter than the cards yardage since they dog leg a bit and you can cut a bit off by playing the inside track.  Most of the yardage I think ends up being hole #8.  I need to get back out there, I'm a huge fan of the entire facility and the mix of holes that you can score on and get beat up on. 

[TheBear95]

35 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

Even tho it's almost 3800 yards, I never felt like Silver from the tips felt that way.   Both par 3's are under 200 yards, with the par 4's seem to play shorter than the cards yardage since they dog leg a bit and you can cut a bit off by playing the inside track.  Most of the yardage I think ends up being hole #8.  I need to get back out there, I'm a huge fan of the entire facility and the mix of holes that you can score on and get beat up on. 

 

The first hole on Silver Hawk is the ultimate throw-away par 3. Given how expansion White Hawk is as a facility and how much space the Silver Hawk 9 takes up, this is the best Dick Nugent Designs could do? I find it to be high comedy. 

 

In case you hadn't notice, LD is a huge fanboy of White Hawk. So, I love to needle him on just how uninspiring #1 on Silver is. 

[MountainKing]

5 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The first hole on Silver Hawk is the ultimate throw-away par 3. Given how expansion White Hawk is as a facility and how much space the Silver Hawk 9 takes up, this is the best Dick Nugent Designs could do? I find it to be high comedy. 

 

In case you hadn't notice, LD is a huge fanboy of White Hawk. So, I love to needle him on just how uninspiring #1 on Silver is. 

 

I'm a fanboy of it myself.  Oddly I always thought the 9th was the weakest hole on that 9...maybe because I somehow always seem to screw up 10 despite it being one of the easier holes back there. 

[ldchristopher]

4 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

I'm a fanboy of it myself.  Oddly I always thought the 9th was the weakest hole on that 9...maybe because I somehow always seem to screw up 10 despite it being one of the easier holes back there. 

I always thought the ninth was okay as a closer. Nothing special but it’s a wide fairway with a little bit of trouble. The hole on Silver that gets me is 6. Driver is way too much and 3 wood is also sometimes too much. If it’s playing firm I have to go 5 wood/6 iron. But that’s all from the white tees. 

[taylorx300]

Played Flossmoor today in the CDGA day and wow is that a nice course. First time there after growing up on the SS of Chicago. Too bad it’s so far away from me now, otherwise I would be there often. Good tune up for the member guest at Evanston this weekend. Next weekend is the McHenry County Am if anyone is interested, format is open to anybody. Pinecrest is the course this year.

[chrisf60526]

Schaumburg Golf Club is the best conditioned course I have played this year.  For the price and the conditions, i havent found anything better. 

[propman]

Yesterday, played the east and north courses at broken arrow. Approx. 6 of the greens were flat out destroyed by some chemical applied to them. Just a heads up.

 

[DavePelz4]

1 hour ago, chrisf60526 said:

Schaumburg Golf Club is the best conditioned course I have played this year.  For the price and the conditions, i havent found anything better. 

 

Where have you played in addition to SchaumVegas?

[ldchristopher]

Pine Meadows with Bear this morning then a solo round at Chalet Hills. 17 of the 18 holes at Pine Meadows were in excellent shape. The greens had been top dressed but were smooth and tee to green the course was its usual solid self. Except on 10, which had standing water all over the place. The entire fairway was soaked and there was a huge puddle along the left side. It sucks to hit a great drive that splits the fairway only to see a splash. Ball striking was excellent with 14/18 greens but I only got one birdie to drop (a six footer on the 8th hole). I couldn’t get the speed right with the top dressing combined with the fact that, well, I’m not a consistent putter. Still, only 2 bogies for a 73. 
 

It felt like every course in the area was booked hard today except for Chalet. Normally I avoid a late morning round there but the tee sheet was wide open. I figured that meant the members would be zooming around but, nope, not the case. I played through one group on 15 but otherwise essentially I had the course to myself. They had gotten a lot of rain recently and the course was very lush but it wasn’t too wet and had no standing water. The greens were a touch slower than Pine Meadows but hadn’t been sanded and the bunkers were fine. I know the course is kind of funky and has a couple of bad holes (5 and 7 are pace killers with all that OB along the right side) but I was still shocked to see it so empty on a beautiful day. I played the two nines very different but had almost the same result. On the front, I was super efficient with 5/7 fairways and 7/9 greens, one birdie (3) and no bogies. On the back I did a ton of scrambling but my wedges were really sharp and I only needed 13 putts. Another 73. Good golf day. Rest day tomorrow. I can’t keep waking up at 4:15 AM during my summer break. 

[ldchristopher]

58 minutes ago, propman said:

Yesterday, played the east and north courses at broken arrow. Approx. 6 of the greens were flat out destroyed by some chemical applied to them. Just a heads up.

 

Thanks for this. I haven't played Broken Arrow all year. They upped the rate but have never taken very good care of the place. The bunkers are always trash and now apparently a bunch of the greens are dead. Maybe next year. 

[Shriner]

17 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

Pine Meadows with Bear this morning then a solo round at Chalet Hills. 17 of the 18 holes at Pine Meadows were in excellent shape. The greens had been top dressed but were smooth and tee to green the course was its usual solid self. Except on 10, which had standing water all over the place. The entire fairway was soaked and there was a huge puddle along the left side. It sucks to hit a great drive that splits the fairway only to see a splash. Ball striking was excellent with 14/18 greens but I only got one birdie to drop (a six footer on the 8th hole). I couldn’t get the speed right with the top dressing combined with the fact that, well, I’m not a consistent putter. Still, only 2 bogies for a 73. 
 

It felt like every course in the area was booked hard today except for Chalet. Normally I avoid a late morning round there but the tee sheet was wide open. I figured that meant the members would be zooming around but, nope, not the case. I played through one group on 15 but otherwise essentially I had the course to myself. They had gotten a lot of rain recently and the course was very lush but it wasn’t too wet and had no standing water. The greens were a touch slower than Pine Meadows but hadn’t been sanded and the bunkers were fine. I know the course is kind of funky and has a couple of bad holes (5 and 7 are pace killers with all that OB along the right side) but I was still shocked to see it so empty on a beautiful day. I played the two nines very different but had almost the same result. On the front, I was super efficient with 5/7 fairways and 7/9 greens, one birdie (3) and no bogies. On the back I did a ton of scrambling but my wedges were really sharp and I only needed 13 putts. Another 73. Good golf day. Rest day tomorrow. I can’t keep waking up at 4:15 AM during my summer break. 

 

All my friends call it Pine Meadows as well and every time I correct them, I realize it just means they will keep doing it.  Pine Meadow 😉  Kind of like everyone calls Abt... "ABT" when it is actually someone's last name...lol.  And yes, I agree...hole 5 at Chalet Hills is funky to say the least.

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, Shriner said:

 

All my friends call it Pine Meadows as well and every time I correct them, I realize it just means they will keep doing it.  Pine Meadow 😉  Kind of like everyone calls Abt... "ABT" when it is actually someone's last name...lol.  And yes, I agree...hole 5 at Chalet Hills is funky to say the least.

I called it Pine Ghetto. No "s".

[propman]

3 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Thanks for this. I haven't played Broken Arrow all year. They upped the rate but have never taken very good care of the place. The bunkers are always trash and now apparently a bunch of the greens are dead. Maybe next year. 

To add insult to injury, the clubhouse had a pipe burst last winter closing it down. 

Sounds like it's been a tough year for them

[VNutz]

15 hours ago, propman said:

To add insult to injury, the clubhouse had a pipe burst last winter closing it down. 

Sounds like it's been a tough year for them

I don't play there often, maybe a handful of times the past 5-10 years, but I played there last fall and was left with a really weird vibe. To me it felt like a course just trying to scrape by to keep themselves open. Pro shop/clubhouse was pretty much empty and wide open with nothing for sale, no person working the food counter, which was in the same room. The beverage cart girl was taking in the carts post round, just a complete bare bones feel, like a course that was soon to go under and was just hanging on to get whatever money they could, completely counter to the boom other courses had seen over the past 2 years.

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, VNutz said:

I don't play there often, maybe a handful of times the past 5-10 years, but I played there last fall and was left with a really weird vibe. To me it felt like a course just trying to scrape by to keep themselves open. Pro shop/clubhouse was pretty much empty and wide open with nothing for sale, no person working the food counter, which was in the same room. The beverage cart girl was taking in the carts post round, just a complete bare bones feel, like a course that was soon to go under and was just hanging on to get whatever money they could, completely counter to the boom other courses had seen over the past 2 years.

 

The Oak Grove treatment. Not a surprise, given that Broken Arrow is also run by GolfVisions. Agree 100%, weird vibe these days at BA. Very similar to the weird vibe that Oak Grove has had for the last 6+ years.

[DavePelz4]

17 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The Oak Grove treatment. Not a surprise, given that Broken Arrow is also run by GolfVisions. Agree 100%, weird vibe these days at BA. Very similar to the weird vibe that Oak Grove has had for the last 6+ years.

 

Oak Grove continues to cut back on spending big time.  Last time we played there it was 1 person doing everything. Check ins, running the bar, cooking, She was also the person who said I couldn't have a scorecard because they were on the carts.  When I said I was walking she still said no card.

[TheBear95]

16 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Oak Grove continues to cut back on spending big time.  Last time we played there it was 1 person doing everything. Check ins, running the bar, cooking, She was also the person who said I couldn't have a scorecard because they were on the carts.  When I said I was walking she still said no card.

 

The same happened to me last year. So, I now bring a past Oak Grove scorecard with me these days. I was just telling LD last week about how barebones Oak Grove has become, which is pretty incredible given how lean it was running the past few years. He has yet to play the course this season. 

 

I have a lot of vacation time coming up in August, so I'm sure I will be back at Oak Grove soon. I'm morbidly curious to see the other ways they have "right sized" their operation since my last round there in May.

Edited July 13, 2022 by TheBear95

[Shriner]

2 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The same happened to me last year. So, I now bring a past Oak Grove scorecard with me these days. I was just telling LD last week about how barebones Oak Grove has become, which is pretty incredible given how lean it was running the past few years. He has yet to play the course this season. 

 

I have a lot of vacation time coming up in August, so I'm sure I will be back at Oak Grove soon. I'm morbidly curious to see the other ways they have "right sized" their operation since my last round there in May.

 

We play Oak Grove every year in August or September as part of our "Day in Heaven" 36 hole day.  It is the only course we do not rotate since it is so gorgeous.  That being said, it has almost always been one person as the cashier, bartender, food service.  We always joke that we will save our receipt for the starter, which is non-existent.  Is it possible it has somehow gotten worse?

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

The same happened to me last year. So, I now bring a past Oak Grove scorecard with me these days. I was just telling LD last week about how barebones Oak Grove has become, which is pretty incredible given how lean it was running the past few years. He has yet to play the course this season. 

 

I have a lot of vacation time coming up in August, so I'm sure I will be back at Oak Grove soon. I'm morbidly curious to see the other ways they have "right sized" their operation since my last round there in May.

 

Rightsized? I think the term is capsized.