Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[B-Man]

Cog #2 yesterday. Don't bother playing there for a few months. Greens still haven't recovered from aeration sometime last year and were absolutely wretched. Even with the decent weather last week, there was no maintenance at all attempted. Looking forward to playing real golf courses soon, not goat tracks. Sorry to all goats I may have offended.

[mci711]

That is actually just the norm now for all Cog courses that aren't #4.

[chisag]

 

... Joe Jemsek must be turning over in his grave. He would not allow cart paths on any of the courses, aerated 1/2 of the green leaving the pin on the smooth half, then coming back 2 weals later and aerating the other half with the pin on the recovered half. Joe also had a pretty strict pace of play rule. One warning to keep up, second time move ahead one hole. If you still fall behind a 3rd time rangers would ask them to leave the course with a full refund. Frank doesn't let rangers even address pace of play. The week Joe died Frank put in cart paths and stopped the 1/2 green aeration procedure. Joe was about golfers and his courses. Frank is about money only. Considering #2 was a Pro Tournament course when it was first built, Frank turning it into a goat track is such a travesty.

[TBone0576]

Played Bonnie Brook in Waukegan yesterday. $20 for 18 holes, walking only. Other than the expected fallen branches the course was in great shape. Even appeared they sprayed the greens and tees a light green color.

For early March it was a really nice experience out there.

 

[cpeck12]

Tanna Farms was good time, but wind was absolutely horrible and got worse as the round went on. Was definitely a chilly start at 930am. Greens were a bit dicey and beat up and most traps were in rough shape. Hole #13 had an insane amount of standing water... a perfect drive resulted in you not finding your ball since the water covered the entire landing area (but you couldn't see this was the case from the tee box).

All in all, always fun to get out with buddies and play a round in early March. The bar/restaurant wasn't open and they "didn't have any beer in stock yet".

[mci711]

Not sure where I heard it but I heard that TPC was interested in Cog. They would have it renovated in hopes to having it be a PGA stop. I would love for this to happen. Only down side would be TPC courses are all very overpriced, so I'd imagine Cog would go up as well.

[VNutz]

I heard the same talk a while back, haven't heard much else lately though.

[Dashfast]

Thinking of playing tomorrow around 11am... What's my best bet? (I live in Chicago, so the closer to the city, the better).

[Norbe5]

I’ll be visiting Chicago this Saturday-Tuesday. I wasn’t considering playing due to the weather but now that I’m seeing this thread it seems maybe I can get away for 9 at least. I try to golf on all my vacations just for the experience and to see different courses than in Texas! so any recommendations near downtown Chicago or close by?

[mci711]

If you are just visiting and looking for a quick in and out I'd suggest Harborside. 2 pretty solid 18s with city views. If your are truly just looking for 9 and want to experience something a little different then sydney marovitz is a 9 hole course in the city on the lake. It isn't fancy, but I enjoyed playing it if it wasn't packed and I lived in the city. It could be a really cool place if they put some more $ and love into it. That is probably the best option if you don't have a car.

[Bubs23]

Wilmette was in really good shape for March 8th. Zero roll out, shaggy tee boxes, and the traps were a mess but we didn’t care. Had a blast.

30 mph gusts were offset by incredibly forgiving greens that bailed me out all day. Anything you hit into a green on the fly looked like it splashed because of all the sand on it. Super slow. I was trying to avoid getting used to carrying everything to the hole and hammering putts, we'll see how that goes.

Because it’s 10 minutes away and they let you play unlimited weekday golf (I'm a teacher) that's going to be my home course unless I find something else comparable. Very open to suggestions, membership is $1575 for me but I'll make that back by the end of June.

[Norbe5]

Awesome thanks for the suggestions! Yeah I believe 9 holes is probably the better bet with my gf. Especially if I will probably be using a rental set, so a nice 9 would be fun just to be golfing.

[mci711]

Someone else will have to chime in, but I don't even know if Syndey Marovitz has rental sets. Chicago isn't great for getting a quick anything in if you are staying in the city. I moved out of the city for that exact reason.

[Dashfast]

Also, only one of the Harborside courses is open (Starboard).

[Holy Moses]

How will the coronavirus affect golf in Chicago? Yes, it seems like such a non-essential thing to talk about, but this is a Chicago golf forum and I respect everyone who posts in this thread.

If people are off work or don't want to be in large groups of people indoors, I could see them playing golf. Then again if the economy grinds to somewhat a halt, disposable income goes down and golf takes the hit.

[DavePelz4]

Our group, which starts a week from Sat, has issued our protocols for dealing with this. Some of course, are inside protocols.

No handshakes pre or post round. They will be replaced with a curtsy at a distance of 12 feet or more.No hugging before or after a round. If you need to hug anyone, especially XXXXXX, do it mid round and preferably where no one can see you. Please.Do not touch or lick anyone’s balls including your own. Fill in your own joke here.In lieu of hand sanitizer, alcohol is suggested, but obviously not Corona, Corona Light or Corona Premier.Do not exchange bodily fluids for any reason. Because COVID 19 can be transmitted to humans from animals, do not come in close contact with any animals during a round, especially geese.Because the COVID 19 virus can be acquired if you are within 12 feet of an infected person or animal, do not throw your golf club bag at geese as your clubs can become infected.Even though flasks/bottles contain alcohol, refrain from sharing any alcoholic beverage that you don’t bring to the course.Because exposure is a concern, do not expose yourself to anyone in your group or any other group.If you’ve been in Italy, Wuhan China or Berwyn, you can’t play in The Cup until you are medically cleared.

[cpeck12]

Played Village Links yesterday. Given the rain from the previous day and sub 50 temps with cloud cover, we had the course to ourselves. Course was certainly wet, but no standing water and nothing that created any issues. I was only in 2 traps, but they all seemed to be in good shape. Greens were slow, as expected, but in good shape. Walking only. $25 for 2 beers and 18 holes (@ 3:30pm). Tough to beat!

[Symphonize]

Well took four days of PTO next week to watch March Madness, the best time of year, and now left with nothing. Working on putting together an impromptu 4 day trip to the Robert Trent Jones golf trail next week now with a bud. Any course recommendations for there, or are they all good? I am pretty busy this week so won't be able to get to do all the research I might normally do for a trip like this.

[St Jimmy]

 

If you're going to Alabama, do yourself a favor and hit Farmlinks. It's just south of Birmingham and can be played after Oxmoor Valley and Ross Bridge. Imo, it was the best course of those four.

[Bubs23]

Well, it happened. I have a month to work from home and almost zero expectations while I'm there.

Where my teachers at? Let's play 25 times before I have to go back on April 13

[St Jimmy]

They’re shutting my kid’s school down. Extended spring break (McHenry Co).

 

Closing schools will bring the country to a halt. The number of people that will have to stay home now will shut a lot of places down.

[mci711]

I played Seven Bridges yesterday, the course was in fine shape for March. It was wet obviously in places, but no complaints overall with condition. I was shocked and worried though about the amount of flies. I also got mosquito bites, I didn't even think this was possible. It is March, hasn't touched 70 degrees. It is alarming and makes me think the bugs are going to be awful this year. We need another freeze/snow to end march and kill everything again.

 

Secondly, I, like many people, will be working much less the next few weeks. I sell to schools and obviously with them getting shut down left and right I am going to have a bunch of time on my hands. Wish it was warm enough to take a trip up to Wisconsin or somewhere. Stay healthy everyone!

[VNutz]

There's no worry for anybody that's been in Berwyn, as even coronavirus doesn't want to go there.

[geochitown]

That Berwyn crack reminds me of the old Saturday show, Son of Svenghoulie.

They had a short sketch called the Dukes of Berwyn (a riff on the Dukes of Hazard), with a Boss Hog with a skeleton head, and a model Gen E Lee car.

Good stuff.

As a elementary school kid in the northwest suburbs I was unaware of the Berwyn they were talking about...

[cpeck12]

I hope to take advantage of the $50 rate Seven Bridges is running. I think it's through the end of March?

[mci711]

I believe so. I am not positive, as I have an annual pass there. Pretty decent deal though. Seven Bridges isn't worth the $115 or whatever they charge at peak but $50 is still a bargain if you catch nice weather.

[cpeck12]

Yeah I did the Twilight Club from the beginning (my brother and I actually pitched the idea to Don and Autumn back in the day), but I haven't done it for a few years now. I think one year I got my per round cost down to like $30-$35 with how much I was playing. Agreed the cost at peak times isn't worth it.

[Gdane]

I've played Seven Bridges once at a deeply discounted rate and had a fantastic time. That said, for a course without a practice facility that rack rate of $100+ has to be the most outrageous in the Chicagoland area.

[mci711]

I agree. There are a lot of overpriced courses in the area. I think Seven Bridges is better than a lot of them. I think it would be fair for them to charge $75-$80. I live on the course, people are still out there Sat-Sun, but they make their money from outings. I don't think they rely on "general" play so they keep the price up.

[chisag]

... Adding to that I think most will agree Seven Bridges is a tale of 2 nines. I love the front 9 but don't care for the back 9. At the prices they charge, I expect to at least like both 9's. That said, I would guess some like having 2 different 9's, as would I if they we're different and I liked them both. It is the closest course to my house but I rarely ever play there. I feel the same way about WhiteTail Ridge and love the back 9 but other than #8, I find the front flat and boring but under $30 to play I will make the drive and put up with the front.