Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[ldchristopher]

Countryside Traditional this afternoon. My in-laws showed up unannounced and took our daughter for the day so I got in my 20th round for the month of July. Perfect weather and an empty course. Bear and I teed off at 2:30 and were in the parking lot loading up our cars by 5:15. Didn’t stop once. The course was in very good shape. Greens were speedier than anything we played the last couple of days, bunkers were filled and groomed, and the fairways were lush. Again, where were all the people? The Prairie course at Countryside has some length but Traditional is mostly a pitch-and-putt with a few outlier holes. I ripped up the front. Shot -1 with birdies on 6 and 9 and a couple of easy looks that lipped out on 2 and 3. Lost my driver a bit on the back. Just a lot of swings over the past three days. Still scrambled for a 73. 

[Shriner]

What else can you say...gorgeous day for our annual trek to PrairieView. Was a little concerned with all the heat in recent weeks/lack of rain that it would be concrete but it was very playable.  Greens were receptive and fairways bounced a mile, but you were still able to hit down on the ball.  There are so many majestic views on tee boxes from this course and I LOVE the sounds of the cars launching at Byron.  The walk to the back tee box on hole 17 is awesome, feel like you are in the middle of nowhere but somehow in the middle of the course. 

 

As far as layouts, the only course in the area that I feel doesn't have a bad hole is Pine Meadow.  This may be the next closest thing for me...there is no hole that is awful.  If you want to nitpick the 11th for having a tree in the middle of the fairway, I understand but you can play around it.  It is essentially a perfect a layout.  Wow...

[TheBear95]

Not much to add to LD's always thorough round recaps. Lots of golf over the past few days.

 

I was curious about Tanna Farms simply from reading about it here. I always enjoyed the mocking and pot shots at it. After playing it, I get it. Though I did enjoy a few holes on it. Personally, I preferred it to Milf Creek. Suffice to say though, the Geneva Tango will not become a yearly tradition. 

 

WeaverRidge was a treat, especially holes 8-18. Very unique, nothing like that in the Chicago area. However, the new owners have a lot of work on their hands. You could tell that it was getting the Oak Grove treatment prior to them, which is always sad to see.

[geochitown]

 

 

This popped up about the planned renovation of Maple Meadows

 

will be interesting to see what Greg Martin and the DuPage  forest preserve come up with

 

history of Maple is that it and the old Maple Meadows East nine were formerly the Brookwood Country Club

 

The land where Holes 4-9 at Maple meadows are currently located was not part of Brookwood CC and was acquired later by the DuPage Forest preserve in a controversial move which halted townhomes which had been planned to be built on that land (see Draper property if interested).

Edited August 2, 2022 by geochitown

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, geochitown said:

 

 

This popped up about the planned renovation of Maple Meadows

 

will be interesting to see what Greg Martin and the DuPage  forest preserve come up with

 

history of Maple is that it and the old Maple Meadows East nine were formerly the Brookwood Country Club

 

The land where Holes 4-9 at Maple meadows are currently located was not part of Brookwood CC and was acquired later by the DuPage Forest preserve in a controversial move which halted townhomes which had been planned to be built on that land (see Draper property if interested).

 

Will be interesting. The property is not large with a footprint that leaves little to almost no room for expansion.

 

If this is a major reno, I wonder if Greg takes some cues from his other courses that feature a lot of par 3s and 5s. A good example is The Oaks outside of Madison. A par 71, with six par 3s and five par 5s. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by TheBear95

[ldchristopher]

I was supposed to play White Hawk today but my daughter was howling at 4:00 AM and I just didn’t want to wake up again at 5:00 to drive over an hour to NWI. Did the polite thing and cancelled. Played Odyssey again. Course was…fine. Greens were slow but smooth, rough varied from hardpan to lush so hitting fairways mattered, as it should. I played in 3 hours but was waved through by three groups. Had a lot of birdie looks but only got one to drop (13). Still felt I putted well. The usual assortment of lip outs, stopping juuuuuust short, burning edges, etc. Easy pars and only two bogies (2 and 14). 73. 

[Argonne69]

3 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Will be interesting. The property is not large with a footprint that leaves little to almost no room for expansion.

 

If this is a major reno, I wonder if Greg takes some cues from his other courses that feature a lot of par 3s and 5s. A good example is The Oaks outside of Madison. A par 71, with six par 3s and five par 5s. 

 

Does it really need a major renovation, or just a few tweaks? Drainage is generally good. Nothing majorly wrong with the design. I'd add a few bunkers, e.g. #1, #15, #17, and #18, and pinch the layup area or put a bunker on the 8th. A few greens could use a minor makeover. 

 

[TheBear95]

4 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Does it really need a major renovation, or just a few tweaks? Drainage is generally good. Nothing majorly wrong with the design. I'd add a few bunkers, e.g. #1, #15, #17, and #18, and pinch the layup area or put a bunker on the 8th. A few greens could use a minor makeover. 

 

 

Oh, I agree. I think a full scale reno would be a bit foolish. However, the vibe I got from watching that video is that they have big plans for the course, more than a few tweaks. Of course, it could just be marketing fluff. We will see.

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Does it really need a major renovation, or just a few tweaks? Drainage is generally good. Nothing majorly wrong with the design. I'd add a few bunkers, e.g. #1, #15, #17, and #18, and pinch the layup area or put a bunker on the 8th. A few greens could use a minor makeover. 

 

 

Some tree removal on 12 would be good.   I also wouldn't mind a rerouting of sorts,  17 and 18 are pretty weak holes to finish on.  Maybe redo 14, make it shorter/drivable so the 15th can be turned back into a par 5. 

[geochitown]

I think they are going to do a fair bit of work to bring infrastructure up to date 

 

I heard Greg say “add width, length isn’t as important to modern golfers

 

Greg Martin worked on the Oaks so wouldn’t be a stretch for some cues to be taken from there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[geochitown]

And Ed Stevenson said that Maple will have its own personality, distinct from the Preserve

 

 

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

 

Some tree removal on 12 would be good.   I also wouldn't mind a rerouting of sorts,  17 and 18 are pretty weak holes to finish on.  Maybe redo 14, make it shorter/drivable so the 15th can be turned back into a par 5. 

 

As much as I hated the trees on the 12th, they basically made the hole. Without them it's just another par 4. 

 

17 need a few bunkers, and a redo of the green. 

 

The 14th green doesn't really impact the 15th. I think there's enough room to lengthen the 15th into a short 5. 

 

[ldchristopher]

I hope no one thinks a renovation of Maple Meadows is going to mirror the reno of Oak Meadows in scale. It wouldn’t shock me at all if it’s just some tree removal, a handful of new bunkers, a widening of some fairways, and some updates to a few green complexes. On a personal note, I hope Greg doesn’t model anything after The Oaks. That course and I don’t get along well at all. For whatever reason it just rips me up. 

[Argonne69]

Take the 4th and 5th, and make it a par 5. Split the 11th into a par 4 and par 3. 

 

You'd then have 5 holes on the south side to make up the front. The par 4 17th becomes the 5th with a slightly longer hike along I-290. The 18th becomes the 6th. The 7th through 9th stay the same. 

 

With the 11th split into two holes, the par 3 16th is now the 17th, and the long par 4 6th becomes the finishing hole.

 

[Dinosaur]

on 8/03 2:30 p, Eagle Crest Golf Club,Escondido CA. 6035 69.9/125.

Course is pretty much wide open week days after 12 p.m.  That has been my venue for past 5 rounds.  Summer draught has taken its toll, but coming back nicely. I will more than likely be a single. Anybody in San Diego wish to join me, should not be a problem. Tee Time under J. Hunt.

 

gate code: 6226#

 

WWW.EagleCrestGC.com

[mci711]

9 minutes ago, Dinosaur said:

on 8/03 2:30 p, Eagle Crest Golf Club,Escondido CA. 6035 69.9/125.

Course is pretty much wide open week days after 12 p.m.  That has been my venue for past 5 rounds.  Summer draught has taken its toll, but coming back nicely. I will more than likely be a single. Anybody in San Diego wish to join me, should not be a problem. Tee Time under J. Hunt.

 

gate code: 6226#

 

WWW.EagleCrestGC.com

 

Think you may be in the wrong thread 😂

[Dinosaur]

6 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

Think you may be in the wrong thread 😂

cud be, I thot it said "Where You playing tomorrow". Prolly out of context.

 

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by Dinosaur

[mci711]

34 minutes ago, Dinosaur said:

cud be, I thot it said "Where You playing tomorrow". Prolly out of context.

 

 

 

This is the Chicago specific thread. You can find california though. Check out this link - https://forums.golfwrx.com/forum/162-california/ 

[VNutz]

13 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

I hope no one thinks a renovation of Maple Meadows is going to mirror the reno of Oak Meadows in scale. It wouldn’t shock me at all if it’s just some tree removal, a handful of new bunkers, a widening of some fairways, and some updates to a few green complexes. On a personal note, I hope Greg doesn’t model anything after The Oaks. That course and I don’t get along well at all. For whatever reason it just rips me up. 

I don't think the reno itself will mirror Oak Meadows, I just hope the rack rate doesn't skyrocket like The Preserve's have. Maple used to be my bargain option when I wanted a quick 18 close to home, I can't see them putting reno money into it just to keep the price tag the same.

[geochitown]

Email just came out saying that Settlers will open on August 5 (day after tomorrow).

[ldchristopher]

2 hours ago, VNutz said:

I don't think the reno itself will mirror Oak Meadows, I just hope the rack rate doesn't skyrocket like The Preserve's have. Maple used to be my bargain option when I wanted a quick 18 close to home, I can't see them putting reno money into it just to keep the price tag the same.

I’m sure the price will go up but unless they do a lot more than we’re expecting, I don’t think it will be priced to compete with Arrowhead and Village Links, as The Preserve is. Hopefully it’ll be more like a slight bump (something like weekday goes from $37 to around $45 and weekend from $54 to $65). It’s been basically staying open year round lately. I’m guessing that stops. 

[ldchristopher]

Played White Hawk this morning Black to Silver. I decided to play from the tips since in the humidity, the ball was absolutely flying and we talked about how White Hawk doesn't seem to play as long as the card lists. The playing conditions were oppressive throughout the round. I was drenched in sweat by the third hole and had to wear a rain glove the entire round. The greens were quick and after Odyssey it took a couple of holes to adjust to the pace. The rest of the course was in great shape as usual. 38 on Black with no birdies and two bogies (1 and 5). 37 on Silver with two birdies (1 and 5) and 3 bogies (3, 4, and 6). Good way to finish Summer Break before going back to work tomorrow.  

[MountainKing]

23 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

As much as I hated the trees on the 12th, they basically made the hole. Without them it's just another par 4. 

 

17 need a few bunkers, and a redo of the green. 

 

The 14th green doesn't really impact the 15th. I think there's enough room to lengthen the 15th into a short 5. 

 

15 used to be a par 5.  They stopped using the back tee area because any thinned tee shot towards the 14 green would end up back there.   I think it became a bit of a liability.  

 

I get what you're saying on 12, but it's almost too much with those trees.  If you're not in about a 10 yard landing area you're blocked out.  There's gotta be other ways they can make that hole better without trees, I'm not a huge fan of using trees to block out good shots.  If you're in the fairway you should have an opportunity to move the ball towards the green,  at least in my opinion, which means next to nothing. 

 

 

Settlers Hill on Sunday,  gonna see what they got going on there.

[Hammy2424]

Making my first trip out to Blackstone in Marengo tomorrow.

[chrisf60526]

On 8/2/2022 at 4:31 PM, Argonne69 said:

 

Does it really need a major renovation, or just a few tweaks? Drainage is generally good. Nothing majorly wrong with the design. I'd add a few bunkers, e.g. #1, #15, #17, and #18, and pinch the layup area or put a bunker on the 8th. A few greens could use a minor makeover. 

 

 

I like MM.  You can usually get on there and its reasonable cost wise.  It's a great course if you want to play some golf.  I think it needs more of an update.  

 

• Hole #3 with the severe downslope to the right needs a bit of work.  It's not because I always hit it in the junk to the right, the hole just needs some fine tuning.
• The walk from hole 3 to 4 is brutal.  If you are a walker, its a long walk through the parking lot.  I bet they add a path or something.  It can really slow things down if you have a cart following you.
• MM is a bit boring.  It needs some color or a bit of appeal.  There are really no holes that standout. 
• (that video is funny with guys in cargo shorts and less than text book swings) 🙂

Overall, its a good track that I am glad they are putting money into.  Golf courses and bike shops have to thank COVID for a few great years $$$ wise.

 

The Preserve, for all its excellence, is getting to be overpriced.

[Argonne69]

12 hours ago, MountainKing said:

15 used to be a par 5.  They stopped using the back tee area because any thinned tee shot towards the 14 green would end up back there.   I think it became a bit of a liability.  

 

I get what you're saying on 12, but it's almost too much with those trees.  If you're not in about a 10 yard landing area you're blocked out.  There's gotta be other ways they can make that hole better without trees, I'm not a huge fan of using trees to block out good shots.  If you're in the fairway you should have an opportunity to move the ball towards the green,  at least in my opinion, which means next to nothing. 

 

 

Settlers Hill on Sunday,  gonna see what they got going on there.

 

Maybe take out the trees on the inside corner of #12 and put in a huge bunker. At least one would have a shot at the green from the sand.

 

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, chrisf60526 said:

 

I like MM.  You can usually get on there and its reasonable cost wise.  It's a great course if you want to play some golf.  I think it needs more of an update.  

 

• Hole #3 with the severe downslope to the right needs a bit of work.  It's not because I always hit it in the junk to the right, the hole just needs some fine tuning.
• The walk from hole 3 to 4 is brutal.  If you are a walker, its a long walk through the parking lot.  I bet they add a path or something.  It can really slow things down if you have a cart following you.
• MM is a bit boring.  It needs some color or a bit of appeal.  There are really no holes that standout. 
• (that video is funny with guys in cargo shorts and less than text book swings) 🙂

Overall, its a good track that I am glad they are putting money into.  Golf courses and bike shops have to thank COVID for a few great years $$$ wise.

 

The Preserve, for all its excellence, is getting to be overpriced.

 

I like #3, but then again I play a low draw with a fairway wood off the tee, so the junk on the right never really comes into play. Now, those mounds on the left...Lol.

 

They should repair the tunnel under the residential access road between the 3rd and the 4th. The first time I played the course I followed that path only to find the tunnel blocked, and I wound up hiking on the road. 

 

I think there are a couple of holes that are excellent. The 14th is an excellent short risk/reward par 4 with good bunkering, and a tricky green. The par 3 16th is a tough hole with its narrow green, especially with the pin in the back. But yeah, overall it's uninspiring. A few more bunkers, and a few buried elephants in the greens would be nice. Of course you run the risk of turning the greens into Mt Prospect, which many don't particularly like.

 

[propman]

Went out again to Cinder Ridge on Tuesday. Greens were in great shape. They were rolling too fast for this crappy putter. $39 riding rate on Tuesday hard to beat. Just wish course wasnt so far out in the boondocks. Of course, less people, quicker the round.

[VNutz]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I like #3, but then again I play a low draw with a fairway wood off the tee, so the junk on the right never really comes into play. Now, those mounds on the left...Lol.

 

They should repair the tunnel under the residential access road between the 3rd and the 4th. The first time I played the course I followed that path only to find the tunnel blocked, and I wound up hiking on the road. 

 

I think there are a couple of holes that are excellent. The 14th is an excellent short risk/reward par 4 with good bunkering, and a tricky green. The par 3 16th is a tough hole with its narrow green, especially with the pin in the back. But yeah, overall it's uninspiring. A few more bunkers, and a few buried elephants in the greens would be nice. Of course you run the risk of turning the greens into Mt Prospect, which many don't particularly like.

 

I thought the tunnel went from the Maple 18 to the east 9? Basically was the connector between 9s at the old country club, and the walkway to it when the east 9 still existed. With Preserve being it's own course now it wasn't needed. I don't recall a tunnel leading out to 4 but I could be wrong.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what work can be done to Maple. I wish that over the years they were run properly to have had some tweaks made here and there rather than a more full and costly reno, but that's a forest preserve course for you. It may not have been an exciting course, but I always enjoyed it. A couple easy holes, a couple tough holes, and some risk/reward. Great course for a walker. Not many courses give you as much of an opportunity to be a couple under par over the first 3 holes if you get off to a decent start.

[geochitown]

Settlers opening tomorrow