Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[taylorx300]

Agreed on the above- I will play one shot at a time tomorrow and whatever happens happens. It’s just I expect more out of myself. Thanks for the reply!

[chisag]

9 minutes ago, taylorx300 said:

 It’s just I expect more out of myself. 

 

 

... Live in the moment. Not trying to sound too much like Yoda, but have no expectations. It works both ways as you can play better than you might think. And if you are playing worse than you think you should be playing, as you said just focus on the next shot which of course is all you can control. 

[ldchristopher]

2 hours ago, taylorx300 said:

Ok gents, talk me off the ledge. Played at the Evanston member guest last week. Did ok with an avg score of 42 for 9. Player with the Callaway reps yesterday at the Grove. First time on that course and in windy conditions, shot a 89 with four 7’s on the card. The last four tee shots with the driver were dead pull lefts with 2 ob’s.

Tomorrow is day 1 of the McHenry Co Am and I’m not sure why I’m even playing? Any thoughts, wisdom or advice? My playing partner/ coworker told me to start drinking NOW and keep going till I tee off at 11:48. Haha

EVERYONE goes through these bizarre stretches where nothing seems to be working and the frustration builds. Personally, I would bench the driver for a few holes. Hit some fairways and give myself a chance to make pars and rebuild confidence. But I’m not gonna club another player, especially one I’ve never seen play. Also, wind messes with golfers’ minds sometimes. They start to swing harder than normal to cut through the breeze and then bad things happen. Trust your swing. It’s just a game after all. 

[propman]

Went out to Cinder Ridge in early afternoon today. Felt like I was the only one on the course. Excellent condition esp the greens. Well worth the $42 riding rate 

[DavePelz4]

Yesterday, VNutz, a guy from our comp group, the NIU Women's Golf coach Kim, and I played Rich Harvest Farms. Definitely the hottest and muggiest round of the year.  We've done this for 3 years now, and in addition to purchasing the foursome, my biz puts up some type of money as a comp. Yesterday it was skins/par 3's with a $2,400 prize pool.  VNutz went home with some cash and a nice donation was made to the NIU Women's Golf team, thanks to skins from both Kim and me.  On to RHF.

 

Huge fan of the practice facility.  It's simple but enough target greens to add some variety.  The short game area is great and the practice green replicates what you're going to see on the actual greens.

 

To be honest, the course is in less than favorable condition.  Considering that it's not a high traffic facility, there were tons of unrepaired ball marks, fairways were showing major signs of burn out, some bunkers had minimal sand or were inconsistent, and they lost 2 greens this year. Although I've only played RHF 4-5 times now, previously it was always a 10, and this was a 6-7 at best. There is some work being done to prepare the course for the upcoming LIV event but that's mostly creating spectator paths, viewing areas, etc. For some unknown reason, our round was pushing 5 hours as well, again, not something you'd expect on a low volume course.

 

Unlike other rounds at RHF, we had a forecaddie, and he was probably the cockiest caddie I've seen.  To make matters worse, he didn't clean clubs (first world problem, right), I'd need to ask him to clean the ball, and his total lack of effort just brought it to the point of where I stopped asking for anything.  I read my own putts because no one knows if you're planning on going firm or dying a putt at the hole.  Listened to a few of his reads and green reading skills is not his strength.

 

As tough as the conditions were, the staff at RHF is all beyond top notch.  Every little detail is cared for flawlessly, from the bag drop, locker assignment, post round beverage, pro shop, etc. Overall, the service staff is an A+++.

 

Had to ask Kim questions about Mr. Rich's choice to host the LIV event.  These comments are being repeated, not judged, so these are not my comments nor my opinion on LIV.  Per Kim, the course is being paid "Millions and Millions" to host the event, and Mr. Rich has already indicated that he's giving all the proceeds to 3 charities, including the Harvard of the Midwest, NIU.  Kim couldn't comment on whether or not the school is going to accept the donations.  Kim has ties into the PGA and LPGA and said there are now 6 LPGA players who are being sponsored by LIV Golf, including Anna Norqvist, Carlotta Ciganda, Bronte Law, and others I don't remember. I checked Norqvist's IG and she does indeed have Saudi Golf on her profile.

 

All in all, a great day with great people, the occasional good shot and definitely a fun time.

 

Tomorrow a non-comp round at Crystal Woods, the RHF of McHenry County.

 

EDIT - they have indeed stopped work on the additional 9 holes and nature has already restored things to the previous condition.

Edited July 22, 2022 by DavePelz4

[propman]

Hey, the real "Harvard of the Midwest" is Western Illinois University.😃

[VNutz]

Once again I was very honored and grateful to tag along with @DavePelz4 at RHF. Always a fun time there and a truly beautiful and unique experience.

 

I'll agree with DP4 that RHF felt a bit different this time around. This was the 3rd time there for myself, and from the first putts on the practice green I noticed they definitely had less pace than the past 2 times I'd been there. Generally when you play a private course there's an adjustment from the speed of public greens I'm so accustomed to, not so much this time. Practice green felt like a good public course speed to me, not that there's anything wrong with that, just different than before and what I anticipated. Chipping green was the same as several chips checked up fast, again not what I was expecting. In my opinion they were clearly making efforts to save the course from drying out to much to the point of it getting away from them. On the course this played out as well, although not to the same extent. The greens were noticeably more receptive this time than before, and the ball marks deeper and more abundant. Another curious thing was you could see somebody on the course earlier in the day clearly had an issue with dragging their feet on the greens, which goes to show how soft they were and how long the grass was in that it doesn't happen on firm and fast greens. But perhaps all of that that could have been attributed to the 2 groups directly in front of us playing a scramble and hitting up the bev cart at every opportunity.

 

I will say it was pretty surprising to see a high end private course lose 2 greens, and had at least one other green (the first) that had a portion that had either been clearly re-sodded or reseeded sometime recently. One of those greens had just opened and the other had a temp green in the fairway, as a previous re-sodding job didn't take as it was the wrong type of grass due to supply shortages. Who knew that had hit sod as well? I was told that the 6 weeks or so they had until the tournament was enough for the greens to take and be normal, but while I'm no expert I find it hard to believe, and that no pros would notice. I truly hope that the upcoming event goes off without a hitch for them. I'm sure Mr. Rich is deeply concerned with the state of the course and the timing of it all. Hopefully their efforts will allow them to hold the course at a decent condition for now, and be able to firm it up as needed.

 

As to the round, play was decent but certainly not at the same level as last weekend. Had some good stretches on the front with a few blowups mixed in for a 39, until a stretch of 5 lipouts on 4 holes put me onto a long bogey train. The wind was blowing pretty strong and felt a little tricky as to how to play it. If I were to play the course again I'd definitely play it a little differently off the tee, as a few times I pulled driver and just got into bunkers where the 4w would have still left me with a short iron in. Then again, I could be just as inaccurate with that as the driver.

[DavePelz4]

3 hours ago, propman said:

Hey, the real "Harvard of the Midwest" is Western Illinois University.😃

 

Well, there must be smart people at WIU.  Or at least one.  We loved having Clint Ratkovich play football for the 2021 MAC Conference Champs, NIU.  Sad that he got hurt at a workout, in Green f***** Bay of all places.

[MountainKing]

Snuck out for some Woodside/Lakeside action at Cantigny.  As usual,  course was pristine all around.   Pace was great at 4 hours, they did a nice job spacing the groups, never saw the groups in front or behind.   I do think I've finally decided Lake and Hill are the better 9s.  The par 5s on Wood are what kill it for me.

 

I hit the ball great today,  had 4 birdie putts inside of 15 feet to start out, converted zero.  Ended up with a 77, the putter was ice cold.   A couple three putts and a total of 7 good looks at birdie with only one converted.   Still a great day!

[propman]

Back in the day chi-town residents referred to NIU as the "suitcase school ".

[taylorx300]

MK , Chi and LD -

wanted to give you an update. I opened at Pinecrest with a double and finished with a bogey for a 78. Really liked the advice you sent and kept it in play. Missed one makeable birdie and left about 7 shots out there but a great bounce back round from Wed. 
fairways and greens tomorrow and we’ll see how this plays out.

Thanks again!

[@_the_crook]

9 hours ago, propman said:

Hey, the real "Harvard of the Midwest" is Western Illinois University.😃

Cambridge on the prairie.

 

Chicago to MacComb. ...the stretch on I-67 featured a lot of high speed driving on weekend afternoons/evenings.

 

 

[Argonne69]

19 hours ago, propman said:

Hey, the real "Harvard of the Midwest" is Western Illinois University.😃

 

Not to be confused with "Harvard on Halsted", UIC.

 

[@_the_crook]

washout at SV - it is lightning like mad.

some fairways flooded out before dawn . a few surrounding streets will be impassable or might be already.

course is in a low lying area so that compounds the issue. 

all dressed up and no place to go. wonder if Sportsman's will drain by lunchtime.......

 

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

5 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

washout at SV - it is lightning like mad.

some fairways flooded out before dawn . a few surrounding streets will be impassable or might be already.

course is in a low lying area so that compounds the issue. 

all dressed up and no place to go. wonder if Sportsman's will drain by lunchtime.......

 

 

After the renovation, Heritage Oaks should be bone dry by 10 am. 🙄

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Argonne69

[ldchristopher]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

After the renovation, Heritage Oaks should be bone dry by 10 am. 🙄

 

We’re really calling it that? I mean, I always thought Sportsman’s was lame but Heritage Oaks is just lazy. Like “Heritage” became available when The Bluffs rebranded and, sure, there’s Oak trees on the course. PRESTO! 

[MountainKing]

Went out to Countryside this morning and played the Traditions 18.  First time playing.  We went off right after the big storm went through so it was super wet to start out, but shockingly dried out nicely as we moved into the back 9.  The wet greens with those slopes made it tough, a lot of shots would hit pin high and just spin right back to the front and off.  Given how wet the greens were, they rolled with some good pace and rolled true.  Impressive conditions overall, especially for $65. Fun layout.

 

Interesting day game wise.  I drove the ball great hitting 12 fairways and the 2 misses were about a foot off the fairway.  That only resulted in 9 greens hit, and I was out there looking to set a record on how many shots I can take inside of 50 yards.  On numerous holes I'd have myself in a place where I'm licking my chops only to walk away with a bogey.  Things kind of came together a bit more on the 13th when I finally hit a decent chip and started hitting some shots.  41-38 split. Highlight was on the 18th, pin in the back left, I dropped a great shot by the pin that spun back all the way to the front of the green, and I drained the putt for a birdie.  Two days in a row ending on a birdie.

[DavePelz4]

Casual round at Crystal Woods Saturday.  You wouldn't have known the course took on 1.8 inches of rain in the previous 24 hours, it was in amazing condition.  Greens were just about perfect and amazingly fast, all things considered.  There was no standing water in the bunkers although they were more than firm.

 

Pace sucked, like it never has sucked before at CW.  There were 2 6somes on the back that they did nothing with.  I'm sure they all started as 3somes, probably a bachelor party from the noise and booze you could see.

 

To make the day more entertaining, we were paired with "Bob" who told us he'd been playing CW for 45 years.  He was actually a decent player who was middle of the fairway and middle of the green on holes 2 through 9.  Pretty sure he played those holes 1 under as he told us everything we could ever have needed to know about everything, including the changing of his college mascot and him not approving as it "forced" him to buy a new umbrella. Not sure why that's the case.  Bob had a tendency to just leave in the middle of a hole, drive to a different hole, and then return, hit a shot, and bolt again. On 12, Bob hit a great drive and then dumped his second in the water. That was the literal end of Bob and he was so pissed off that he left the course and blamed the pace for his terrible second shot on 12.

 

To add to the humor, we were having a post round beverage and the guys next to us were talking about "Bob."  Yep, guess he's a known character who plays in a regular group, until he hits a bad shot and then he leaves usually without saying anything.  They were all telling Bob stories, so we listened and laughed.

 

Next round is Saturday in Hawaii.  Not looking forward to the flight but looking forward to playing golf in my 40th state.

 

EDIT - Forgot to add that my street in Naperville, was visited by a tornado on Saturday morning.  Not sure how it missed my house but considering it to be a huge blessing.  Trees uprooted throughout the area, and other and some branches in the drive, we did really well.

Edited July 25, 2022 by DavePelz4

[ldchristopher]

Palmira and Balmoral Woods today. My summer break is coming to an end and I'm trying to get in 20 rounds in July. It's going to be very close. The South suburbs got over three inches of rain. I'll bet you assumed Palmira would be cart path only. Hah! No. You guys are funny with your "logic" and "reasoning" and "wanting the course to be in decent shape." With all the rain it was very soft and playing its max 6900 yard length today. There were ponds in the bunkers but very little standing water. The fairways were better than I expected but it would be nice if they got the dew off the greens. No birdies but I was happy with my ball striking. 74. 

Balmoral Woods was CPO and as a result there were a fair amount of walkers out there. Warmed my heart. Another very, very wet course but again, no standing water. Tee boxes were a bit of a mess, especially on the par 3's. Greens were okay. Smoothish and rolling at about a 9. I had very good birdie looks on 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8 on the front but only got one to drop (3). On the back, I had more lag putts but did make bird on 12. I botched a shot at an even par round by missing the green on 18 and misreading my chip. Aargh. Still, finished with a 73. I'm at 15 rounds in July so far with 4 more on Thursday and Friday. Like I said, the quest for 20 in a month is gonna be close. 

[mci711]

Going to be back in Chicago in August. Decided I'd get back to Cog and play #4.. $200+ ($185 + $18 for cart) to ride 18 now. Kind of shocking. $150 flat is what I paid for years. I guess everything goes up. 

[MountainKing]

3 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

Casual round at Crystal Woods Saturday.  You wouldn't have known the course took on 1.8 inches of rain in the previous 24 hours, it was in amazing condition.  Greens were just about perfect and amazingly fast, all things considered.  There was no standing water in the bunkers although they were more than firm.

 

Pace sucked, like it never has sucked before at CW.  There were 2 6somes on the back that they did nothing with.  I'm sure they all started as 3somes, probably a bachelor party from the noise and booze you could see.

 

To make the day more entertaining, we were paired with "Bob" who told us he'd been playing CW for 45 years.  He was actually a decent player who was middle of the fairway and middle of the green on holes 2 through 9.  Pretty sure he played those holes 1 under as he told us everything we could ever have needed to know about everything, including the changing of his college mascot and him not approving as it "forced" him to buy a new umbrella. Not sure why that's the case.  Bob had a tendency to just leave in the middle of a hole, drive to a different hole, and then return, hit a shot, and bolt again. On 12, Bob hit a great drive and then dumped his second in the water. That was the literal end of Bob and he was so pissed off that he left the course and blamed the pace for his terrible second shot on 12.

 

To add to the humor, we were having a post round beverage and the guys next to us were talking about "Bob."  Yep, guess he's a known character who plays in a regular group, until he hits a bad shot and then he leaves usually without saying anything.  They were all telling Bob stories, so we listened and laughed.

 

Next round is Saturday in Hawaii.  Not looking forward to the flight but looking forward to playing golf in my 40th state.

 

EDIT - Forgot to add that my street in Naperville, was visited by a tornado on Saturday morning.  Not sure how it missed my house but considering it to be a huge blessing.  Trees uprooted throughout the area, and other and some branches in the drive, we did really well.

 

Where in Naperville?  

[MountainKing]

3 hours ago, mci711 said:

Going to be back in Chicago in August. Decided I'd get back to Cog and play #4.. $200+ ($185 + $18 for cart) to ride 18 now. Kind of shocking. $150 flat is what I paid for years. I guess everything goes up. 

 

Most courses in this area are now in the $90 to $110 range.  Golf is ridiculously expensive here. 

[m052310]

Hello all. I'm moving to Buffalo Grove in a few weeks. Anywhere I need to be sure to play sooner than later (or avoid)?

[Hammy2424]

All, looking at a round at Stonewall this Wednesday.  Has anyone played recently? How is the condition?  I only ask because I was having a discussion with a guy in my league and was told he heard some of the greens were in rough shape.  This is not the type of thing I am used to hearing.

Edited July 26, 2022 by Hammy2424
Spelling

[ldchristopher]

8 minutes ago, Hammy2424 said:

All, looking at a round at Stonewall this Wednesday.  Has anyone played recently? How is the condition?  I only ask because I was having a discussion with a guy in my league and was told he heard some of the greens were in rough shape.  This is not the type of thing I am used to hearing.

Grayslake got 6 inches of rain over the weekend. Stonewall drains well but it’ll still be swampy in spots. They also almost never punch their greens so, while they are very quick they’re not the smoothest and over the last 2-3 years they’ve gotten progressively more chewed. 

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, Hammy2424 said:

All, looking at a round at Stonewall this Wednesday.  Has anyone played recently? How is the condition?  I only ask because I was having a discussion with a guy in my league and was told he heard some of the greens were in rough shape.  This is not the type of thing I am used to hearing.

 

We got over a month's worth of rain here in Grayslake in the span of 6 hours Friday night/Saturday morning. So, it's going to be wet.

 

Looks pretty dry in the extended forecast, so I would likely hold off on Stonewall until next week if you are able to.

[DavePelz4]

12 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Where in Naperville?  

 

I live in White Eagle.  The course was impacted and it went down Sable Oaks, among others. Hit the strip mall on 59 and 95th as well.

[MountainKing]

2 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

I live in White Eagle.  The course was impacted and it went down Sable Oaks, among others. Hit the strip mall on 59 and 95th as well.

 

No kidding...I grew up over by where Traversos is on Naper-Plainfield.  My parents still live there, which I've been trying for years to get them to give up the house.

[DavePelz4]

18 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

No kidding...I grew up over by where Traversos is on Naper-Plainfield.  My parents still live there, which I've been trying for years to get them to give up the house.

 

Always enjoyed Traverso's, great food and good people.  Hosted a rehearsal dinner there a few years back.  The tornado happened so quickly, and there were no warnings from the City of Naperville at all which is getting a ton of scrutiny now.  Fortunately, while there was a fair amount of damage, it was nowhere near as bad as the one the destroyed all the houses on the east side of Naperville and Woodridge a year ago.  That leveled a number of houses.

[ldchristopher]

14 hours ago, m052310 said:

Hello all. I'm moving to Buffalo Grove in a few weeks. Anywhere I need to be sure to play sooner than later (or avoid)?

Depends on what type of course you prefer and what you try to avoid. The best high end course near Buffalo Grove is The Glen Club (it hosted a Korn Ferry event and is Northwestern’s home course). The next tier would be Stonewall Orchard, Thunderhawk, Pine Meadows, Shephard’s Crook, and White Deer Run. The two courses run by the Buffalo Grove Park District are Buffalo Grove Golf Club (standard muni) and The Arboretum Club (a housing development course that’s pretty tight and kinda gimmicky). There’s lots of decent North Shore munis (Glencoe, Sunset Valley, Winnetka, Wilmette), Steeple Chase and Deerfield are pretty solid munis that are off 94, Bittersweet is, umm, polarizing, and Countryside is a good 36 hole facility. That should be enough to get you started. I’m missing plenty.