Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[mci711]

5 hours ago, geochitown said:

Had a great time down at Kankakee Ells on Saturday. first time there Lightning stopped play for 45 minutes and there was some more morning rain on

the front nine but the afternoon was delightful

the greens are the real standout for me

 

tree removal sorely needed but I had a blast and will plan to make the 100 mile one way trip down to

Kankakee a part of my golfing future 

 

I am early on in playing L and M courses, with just having played Spring Valley earlier this summer

 

look forward to Lawsonia, culver, west bend and Harrison hills in the future  

 

 

 

Harrison Hills was kind of strange. Only a few of the holes are original, and I actually preferred the non L&M holes there. Good course though. 

 

How are you getting on Culver? 

[ldchristopher]

5 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

Harrison Hills was kind of strange. Only a few of the holes are original, and I actually preferred the non L&M holes there. Good course though. 

 

How are you getting on Culver? 

8 of the original 9 are still at Harrison Hills. It was only a 9 hole facility when it first opened and they did some re-routing when they brought in Tim Liddy to make it 18. He did an okay job but he had a lot of work to do to first restore the original holes then add his new ones. The 10th hole is very cool and there’s a beastly par 5 (I wanna say the 7th hole; it’s about 650 yards). Worth the trip but I’m not sure where they’re getting the “Ranked the Number 6 course in IN” claim on the website. Rankings are pretty absurd though. 

[Argonne69]

7 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

8 of the original 9 are still at Harrison Hills. It was only a 9 hole facility when it first opened and they did some re-routing when they brought in Tim Liddy to make it 18. He did an okay job but he had a lot of work to do to first restore the original holes then add his new ones. The 10th hole is very cool and there’s a beastly par 5 (I wanna say the 7th hole; it’s about 650 yards). Worth the trip but I’m not sure where they’re getting the “Ranked the Number 6 course in IN” claim on the website. Rankings are pretty absurd though. 

 

I believe HH was ranked as high as #6 on GolfWeek's Best in State list. It's currently #10.

 

[Springsteennut]

On 8/22/2022 at 2:55 PM, DavePelz4 said:

 

STAY BELOW THE HOLE.

 

Signed, 

 

The guy above the hole, who was then below the hole, above the hole, etc.

Okay I tried that and it didn’t work too well on 17. Flag was in the front and I had two chips roll back down to me. Great course though and had a lot fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve played at a course with contours like Elgin CC has. I played Bowes Creek a few days earlier and I’ve played the Highlands of Elgin quite a few times. Elgin has some fine courses.

[@_the_crook]

On 8/22/2022 at 8:51 AM, DavePelz4 said:

with a literal hump on the right side

anytime a good hump is mentioned - it's a Sipowicz.....

[B-Man]

Playing Bowes Creek for the first time tomorrow.

[taylorx300]

Has anyone had the chance to play the Dunes Club in New Buffalo?

[taylorx300]

Next question - if not the Dunes Club, would you choose Lost Marsh or the Warren course? I have not played any of these and these are on the table for the buddies trip.

Edited August 28, 2022 by taylorx300

[ldchristopher]

9 minutes ago, taylorx300 said:

Next question - if not the Dunes Club, would you choose Lost Marsh or the Warren course? I have not played any of these and these are on the table for the buddies trip.

The Warren Course 1000 times out of 1000. “Lost Marsh” and “Golf Course” are the oxiest (oxyest?) of morons. It’s a clown show that masquerades as a course. Okay, that’s too harsh. But Lost Marsh is objectively dumb. 

[ldchristopher]

Willow Glen National Veteran’s Memorial Golf Club and Brighton Dale White Birch today. WGNVMGC was in much better shape than we expected. The chewed up greens on 1 and 2 have healed, their LEGENDARY pro shop jockey was there swearing up a storm at 5:50 AM, and with all the dew the rough was extra thick. Greens were probably a little quicker than in the past but still in the 8-8.5 range. There were some grubs or something on the fourth fairway but I didn’t see that anywhere else. Ball striking was excellent with 9 fairways, 13 greens and 3 birdies (8, 10 and 15). Offset a handful of bogies for a 73. 
BDale was jammed. They had a 45 minute fog delay and the starter was going on and on about how it was like pea soup. Hooray for similes but, umm, that’s why orange balls exist. All I know is there were 12 people standing on the first tee when we got there🤢 🤮. The 4:35 pace from when we teed off sucked. The fact that we didn’t finish until 5:20 after our original tee time sucked worse. But the course was in very good shape. Greens were smooth and a little quicker than Blue was last week. Probably just the lack of early morning moisture. Ball striking was solid on the front but got sloppy on the back. Lots of swings and no rhythm. I got it together towards the end of the round. Two birds on 3 and 17 but six bogies. 76. 

[MountainKing]

22 hours ago, taylorx300 said:

Next question - if not the Dunes Club, would you choose Lost Marsh or the Warren course? I have not played any of these and these are on the table for the buddies trip.

 

Lost Marsh shoudn't even be in that conversation.  Lost Marsh is a course you go play on a Saturday/Sunday because there was nowhere else to play or you wanted a cheaper greens fee.

[ldchristopher]

I think some background on Lost Marsh is necessary for taylorx300. It’s down the street from Jack Binion’s (taking Senior citizens’ Social Security money for decades) and immediately west of the course is the BP refinery. The one that blew up a couple of years ago. The one that burns ultra nasty sour crude oil. The one that caught on fire like two days ago. There’s also methane torches close by because without them Hammvegas would be uninhabitable. The course itself opens with a peninsula par 4. It’s an easy hole (about 340 straight ahead) but a first timer would likely just see what looks like an island fairway. The second hole is a tough but fair 185 yard par 3 that goes over water and then uphill, the third is a tough 440 yard dogleg 4 with a marsh along the left and water along the right. The fourth is a short par 5 with not one but two forced layups. Then the course just gets comically easy until 10, which is a short dogleg par 5 where you can either layup with an iron or hit a power draw that starts over the 18th fairway. Very conventional. There’s also a zigzag par 5 that saw the other 5’s and said, “hold my beer.” That one is followed by a hole with BP tanks lining the left side and a visible white liner at the bottom of a water hazard. Most courses line their water hazards with rocks or mud. Not Lost Marsh. The clubhouse looks like a military fortress and the place is filled with patronage workers. Is there an indoor waterfall? I mean…duh. So yeah, that’s Lost Marsh. Pace of play is predictably terrible, the greens stimp between 4-7, and while the middle tees claim to be 6300 yards they play closer to 5800. The tips are a real challenge though. So that’s something. 

[taylorx300]

LD - your description is hilarious. So I guess you would vote for Whittaker Woods instead.

We only played once last year and that was Blackthorn.

im keeping options open but will cross LM off the list.

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

I think some background on Lost Marsh is necessary for taylorx300. It’s down the street from Jack Binion’s (taking Senior citizens’ Social Security money for decades) and immediately west of the course is the BP refinery. The one that blew up a couple of years ago. The one that burns ultra nasty sour crude oil. The one that caught on fire like two days ago. There’s also methane torches close by because without them Hammvegas would be uninhabitable. The course itself opens with a peninsula par 4. It’s an easy hole (about 340 straight ahead) but a first timer would likely just see what looks like an island fairway. The second hole is a tough but fair 185 yard par 3 that goes over water and then uphill, the third is a tough 440 yard dogleg 4 with a marsh along the left and water along the right. The fourth is a short par 5 with not one but two forced layups. Then the course just gets comically easy until 10, which is a short dogleg par 5 where you can either layup with an iron or hit a power draw that starts over the 18th fairway. Very conventional. There’s also a zigzag par 5 that saw the other 5’s and said, “hold my beer.” That one is followed by a hole with BP tanks lining the left side and a visible white liner at the bottom of a water hazard. Most courses line their water hazards with rocks or mud. Not Lost Marsh. The clubhouse looks like a military fortress and the place is filled with patronage workers. Is there an indoor waterfall? I mean…duh. So yeah, that’s Lost Marsh. Pace of play is predictably terrible, the greens stimp between 4-7, and while the middle tees claim to be 6300 yards they play closer to 5800. The tips are a real challenge though. So that’s something. 

 

Lol. Brutal. Just brutal. I guess LM is an acquired taste. In its defense, it's not the worst course in the Chicago area. 

 

[TheBear95]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Lol. Brutal. Just brutal. I guess LM is an acquired taste. In its defense, it's not the worst course in the Chicago area. 

 

 

I think LD was too SOFT on Lost Marsh.

 

Though I do like the Lost Marsh clubhouse, my only dissent from his review. And, I'm not a golf clubhouse guy either.

[zer0]

On 8/26/2022 at 3:47 PM, B-Man said:

Playing Bowes Creek for the first time tomorrow.

 

Like Bowes, but find it to be a tale of two 9s.  The front is really flat and boring and then the back has a lot of elevation changes and is much more interesting.       that said, its been several years since I was out there and I've consumed copious amounts of marijuana since then so my memory could be a little off on the course.   Used to love the member for the day plan out there.

[zer0]

Played Thunderhawk yesterday.  7am tee time, don't think anyone was in front of us on the course or if they were they were way ahead of us.   Got rained on hard for 20 minutes halfway through, but then it was beautiful the rest of the morning.

 

Course was in great shape.  Greens were a little slow due to the rain and the morning dew, but started to pick up towards the end of the round.

What is the consensus on Thunderhawk?  Do we like it?    Or do we think it's a little too hard with some very oddly designed holes in there?

 

I'm not a huge fan, but that has more to do with Shepherd's Crook being about 2/3 of the price and being 2 minutes away.    For me, the average 10 handicapper, I found T-Hawk to be a little too difficult for my liking.     Or maybe that is just me playing poorly.  Shot a 90, my first round all year that started with a 9.   But I lipped out 4 putts and didn't have the best day with the driver...so maybe I'm overstating the course difficulty as opposed to my own poor play. 

[Argonne69]

28 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

I think LD was too SOFT on Lost Marsh.

 

Though I do like the Lost Marsh clubhouse, my only dissent from his review. And, I'm not a golf clubhouse guy either.

 

Agreed. Harborside should sneak over one night and steal the clubhouse. Harborside has to have the worst clubhouse in the area for post round drinks. 

 

[DavePelz4]

Walked on Naperbrook Saturday afternoon.  Paired up with 2 other singles and the starter asked us to wait for a 4th single who was running late.  Not all bad, we should be able to play pretty quickly and not be waiting on anyone, right?

 

The 4th was the slowest player I've experience in a very long time.  He took 6-7 practice swings on every shot, including putts and you already know that some of those shots didn't go very far.  My cell rarely comes out of the bag during a round, but the 3 of us had phones out the entire time.  For kick and grins, I hit the stop watch function just to see how slow he really was.  A minute and 27 seconds from putting his tee into the ground until the ball was in the air...or on the ground. Nice enough guy but way beyond my level of patience.  On 4, he holed a 25 foot putt for par and that might have been the very first par of his life based on his celebration.

 

Naperbrook was pretty shaggy overall.  Not sure when the fairways were last mowed and the same for the greens. On 7 while waiting for our 4th to get it in gear, I fixed 20+ ball marks and that didn't really make a dent. 

 

Between playing like total crap, losing my rangefinder, and the 2 hour and 40 minute front, there was zero interest in playing the back.  Don't remember having done that before, but couldn't go through another 9 and holding the entire course up.

Edited August 29, 2022 by DavePelz4

[cpeck12]

On 8/24/2022 at 9:18 AM, zer0 said:

what's the facebook group called?

 

"Chicago Area Golfers" is the group I'm part of.

[cpeck12]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:19 PM, taylorx300 said:

Has anyone had the chance to play the Dunes Club in New Buffalo?

 

I've never played it, but a couple of buddies play it 1-2 times a year (one of their friends is a member) and they speak very highly of it. We pass it every time on our way to our house in South Haven, and it looks amazing.

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, zer0 said:

Played Thunderhawk yesterday.  7am tee time, don't think anyone was in front of us on the course or if they were they were way ahead of us.   Got rained on hard for 20 minutes halfway through, but then it was beautiful the rest of the morning.

 

Course was in great shape.  Greens were a little slow due to the rain and the morning dew, but started to pick up towards the end of the round.

What is the consensus on Thunderhawk?  Do we like it?    Or do we think it's a little too hard with some very oddly designed holes in there?

 

I'm not a huge fan, but that has more to do with Shepherd's Crook being about 2/3 of the price and being 2 minutes away.    For me, the average 10 handicapper, I found T-Hawk to be a little too difficult for my liking.     Or maybe that is just me playing poorly.  Shot a 90, my first round all year that started with a 9.   But I lipped out 4 putts and didn't have the best day with the driver...so maybe I'm overstating the course difficulty as opposed to my own poor play. 

 

I played ThunderHawk last Monday. Agree, the course is in nice shape at the moment.

 

I don't find it overly difficult. On the holes you need to hit driver, it is quite generous off the tee. The greens are pretty straightforward, especially compared to Shepherds. The back 9 is a little wonky if you have not played there before. 

[MountainKing]

15 hours ago, taylorx300 said:

LD - your description is hilarious. So I guess you would vote for Whittaker Woods instead.

We only played once last year and that was Blackthorn.

im keeping options open but will cross LM off the list.

 

Whittaker sounds like another avoid this year.  I've gotten reports of a budy who has a house up in New Buffalo that the course is in awful shape and charging over $100. 

 

 

3 hours ago, zer0 said:

Played Thunderhawk yesterday.  7am tee time, don't think anyone was in front of us on the course or if they were they were way ahead of us.   Got rained on hard for 20 minutes halfway through, but then it was beautiful the rest of the morning.

 

Course was in great shape.  Greens were a little slow due to the rain and the morning dew, but started to pick up towards the end of the round.

What is the consensus on Thunderhawk?  Do we like it?    Or do we think it's a little too hard with some very oddly designed holes in there?

 

I'm not a huge fan, but that has more to do with Shepherd's Crook being about 2/3 of the price and being 2 minutes away.    For me, the average 10 handicapper, I found T-Hawk to be a little too difficult for my liking.     Or maybe that is just me playing poorly.  Shot a 90, my first round all year that started with a 9.   But I lipped out 4 putts and didn't have the best day with the driver...so maybe I'm overstating the course difficulty as opposed to my own poor play. 

 

It's become one of, if not maybe my favorite public course in the state.  Scenic and challenging for sure. I have yet to put up a round there that I'm happy with, eats me up every time but I do love trying.  With both SC and Thunderhawk are an hour from me, if I'm driving up that way I'm playing Thunderhawk every time.  My issue with SC is the course doesn't really do anything until hole 5.  Then on the back 9 hole 10 and 11 are pretty mundane as well. There's probably a couple other holes I could lump into there, but based on that I don't think it's really a value, it's more appropriately priced for what you get, which is 11 or 12 decent holes and a handful of snoozers. 

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

 

Whittaker sounds like another avoid this year.  I've gotten reports of a budy who has a house up in New Buffalo that the course is in awful shape and charging over $100. 

 

 

 

It's become one of, if not maybe my favorite public course in the state.  Scenic and challenging for sure. I have yet to put up a round there that I'm happy with, eats me up every time but I do love trying.  With both SC and Thunderhawk are an hour from me, if I'm driving up that way I'm playing Thunderhawk every time.  My issue with SC is the course doesn't really do anything until hole 5.  Then on the back 9 hole 10 and 11 are pretty mundane as well. There's probably a couple other holes I could lump into there, but based on that I don't think it's really a value, it's more appropriately priced for what you get, which is 11 or 12 decent holes and a handful of snoozers. 

 

Yeah, SC is made by the green complexes and where the pins are located the day you play. Just one example is #18. If that pin is back left, that can be a birdie hole (assuming you're not playing into a strong W to NW wind). But, if it is front right.... I'm praying for a par, happy with a bogey. The greens keep the course interesting and fun for me. And, it definitely helps that SC does a good job with the conditioning of the greens. Always smooth with good pace. 

 

That said, tee-to-green SC doesn't do much for me either. As you state, too many snoozers. 

[MountainKing]

1 minute ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Yeah, SC is made by the green complexes and where the pins are located the day you play. Just one example is #18. If that pin is back left, that can be a birdie hole (assuming you're not playing into a strong W to NW wind). But, if it is front right.... I'm praying for a par, happy with a bogey. The greens keep the course interesting and fun for me. And, it definitely helps that SC does a good job with the conditioning of the greens. Always smooth with good pace. 

 

That said, tee-to-green SC doesn't do much for me either. As you state, too many snoozers. 

 

If I lived up that way I'd probably think more highly of the course, it'd be a great value course to have in a local rotation for a weekday round after work.   For the $75 weekend morning price, I'd rather pay another $20 and play Thunderhawk, or make an hour drive to many other numrous courses that are better for the same price bracket (Blackstone, Highlands ect)..IMO of course.  Just isn't worth the drive for me.  

[TBone0576]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:14 PM, ldchristopher said:

They did a bunker renovation on White three years ago and Blue is due for one. I don’t know if it’s on their actual agenda or not and I haven’t played White all year so I can’t comment on whether the bunker re-do has held up. I’m assuming it has. The way they’ve tweaked the 16th fairway on Blue to drain has been awesome. They used to just use the natural topography and the result was a pond in the middle of the fairway if there was more than a half inch of rain. Now, it’s bone dry regardless. 

 duplicate post

Edited August 29, 2022 by TBone0576

[TBone0576]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:14 PM, ldchristopher said:

They did a bunker renovation on White three years ago and Blue is due for one. I don’t know if it’s on their actual agenda or not and I haven’t played White all year so I can’t comment on whether the bunker re-do has held up. I’m assuming it has. The way they’ve tweaked the 16th fairway on Blue to drain has been awesome. They used to just use the natural topography and the result was a pond in the middle of the fairway if there was more than a half inch of rain. Now, it’s bone dry regardless. 

I should ask about the bunkers on Blue.   The White course has held up since they took some bunkers out and re-did the others.  A lot of times they aren't raked in the morning so we just play as a rake and roll and move along.   The work they did on 16 is nothing short of phenomenal.   Half the year that hole was out of commission with standing water in the middle of the fairway.  The other thing that has bothered some of us over the years is the uneven tee boxes on a number of holes.  Would be great if they could just even a bunch of them out.   I know they have plans to improve the practice area with a bunker you can practice sand shots and pitches.   I'll believe it when I see it.  

[TBone0576]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:00 PM, ldchristopher said:

BDale was jammed. They had a 45 minute fog delay and the starter was going on and on about how it was like pea soup. Hooray for similes but, umm, that’s why orange balls exist. All I know is there were 12 people standing on the first tee when we got there🤢🤮. The 4:35 pace from when we teed off sucked. The fact that we didn’t finish until 5:20 after our original tee time sucked worse. But the course was in very good shape. Greens were smooth and a little quicker than Blue was last week. Probably just the lack of early morning moisture. Ball striking was solid on the front but got sloppy on the back. Lots of swings and no rhythm. I got it together towards the end of the round. Two birds on 3 and 17 but six bogies. 76. 

Yikes....  we teed off in the fog and by the time we got to the 3rd it was starting to burn off.  Difficult but not impossible to find the ball off the first tee.   If I can't be one of the first off out at Brighton Dale I don't even bother.  I don't think we are even going to sign up for the 27 hole scramble this year.   Ends up being 7-8 hours of pure misery.   Winning team secures a free walking pass for the following year but you have to shoot -20 or better to even have a chance.  I think our group shot -19 the last time we played and were beaten by 3.   

[TBone0576]

5 hours ago, zer0 said:

Played Thunderhawk yesterday.  7am tee time, don't think anyone was in front of us on the course or if they were they were way ahead of us.   Got rained on hard for 20 minutes halfway through, but then it was beautiful the rest of the morning.

 

Course was in great shape.  Greens were a little slow due to the rain and the morning dew, but started to pick up towards the end of the round.

What is the consensus on Thunderhawk?  Do we like it?    Or do we think it's a little too hard with some very oddly designed holes in there?

 

I'm not a huge fan, but that has more to do with Shepherd's Crook being about 2/3 of the price and being 2 minutes away.    For me, the average 10 handicapper, I found T-Hawk to be a little too difficult for my liking.     Or maybe that is just me playing poorly.  Shot a 90, my first round all year that started with a 9.   But I lipped out 4 putts and didn't have the best day with the driver...so maybe I'm overstating the course difficulty as opposed to my own poor play. 

It's been a few years since I have played Thunderhawk.   Never had an issue with conditioning out there.   I've never shot particularly well out there but I don't attribute it to being overly difficult.  As others have mentioned there is a stretch of holes 12 thru 15 have always seemed goofy and shoehorned in there.  Not a fan of 16 either, the tee shot has always seemed really strange to me.   I'll play out there if invited for work but I haven't paid my own greens fees out there in over 10 years I'd bet.  

[jimwgt26]

Played Bowes with Rich on Saturday.  I like it a lot. While the front is flatter than the back, there're great holes on the front: both par 3's are solid and I like the par 4's, especially 2, 4, and 7.  The Bowes' par 5's are the weak spot, but not horribly so. The only downside for me is it's spread out and not great to walk.  The member for a day deal is also a plus.  

 

Personally, and I freely admit it I'm one of the only that thinks this, I hate Thunderhawk and will play Shepherds over it every time.  Too many holes are forced into weird locations, especially 14.  Except for #3, the par threes are weak.  For that price point and an hour driver from the city, I think better options are: Stonewall Orchard, Blackstone, Bowes Creek, Cantigny, and Prairie Landing.  

Edited August 30, 2022 by jimwgt26
Poor grammar