Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Argonne69]

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Ugh. 'Going to miss the sub-three hour rounds. Wilmette today. I can't recall seeing the course in nicer shape. Even the fairways that always seem to be lacking looked great, e.g. #5. The rough was cut, but still tough. Bunkers were compacted and wet. The greens looked great, but were rolling too slow early in the round. With a bit of sun and breeze they sped up by the end of the round, but were still only rolling 9 at best. The round took 4:10, but goodness it felt slower. The group four ahead of us was 2 1/2 holes behind when I saw them on the 15th green. The group ahead of them were walking off the 17th green when we were standing on the 13th tee. Pffftttt.

Finished the month with 17 rounds. 65 for the year so far. 'Definitely liking retirement.

 

[MountainKing]

It's probably been 20 years since I've played the River Course but I recall there being some pretty good stretches between green/tees and some pretty hefty elevation changes. Probably not the easiest of walks.

For the 9th and Preserve, I've tried the layup short option, managed to hook the 2nd into the water. I've tried to bomb it at the bunkers, which I've discovered are not very playable. This past time I tried to hit it over the bunkers for some reason (into the wind so I really had no chance but I get delusional at times) only to snap hook it in the water. My next approach maybe should be making it a three shot hole and play for bogey.

Heading out to Cantigny shortly, then out to Wedgewood tomorrow to see what the little redesign did to the place.

 

[Dashfast]

@geochitown how is Makray? Playing there Wednesday morning...

[Dashfast]

@mci711 I love walking, but I’d definitely ride at BWR. Serious elevation changes.

[B-Man]

FFS! What an absolute disaster this golf course is. I lost 4 balls in 9 holes. It was my 11 year old son's first time on the golf course and while he hit the ball surprisingly well, after 9 holes riding he said, "Dad, can we quit. My eyes hurt from looking for golf balls."

[geochitown]

Should be plenty of time for course to dry out. Greens already running fast and true

some helicopter seeds on greens

 

it was so soft after the rains last night, I hope it didn’t get trashed today. At least with sunlight and wind, it should have been good conditions for course to dry out

First plugged ball on a drive in a long time on 15. Lucky I found it

 

[MountainKing]

Can we go back to phase 2? Took 2:45 to get through 9 at Cantigny. Course was in good shape, game was solid, but we were looking to get through 15, not 9. Ridiculous.

[zer0]

Played Thunderhawk yesterday afternoon. 4:20 to get around with some waiting on shots. Walking 4-some in front of us was slowing us down. It looked like they had a whole hole open in front of them. Course in great shape, but greens were super slow, maybe cause of all the rain.

[zer0]

Forgot to mention. The COVID system they are using at Thunderhawk for the cups is horrible and cost me a birdie. They've got hard plastic lids in there, all at different heights. Some are way too high. On one of those I had an 8 foot birdie putt, hit the stick and then landed on the plastic part and bounced off and out. Would not have happened with a pool noodle in there.

[ldchristopher]

It boggles the mind that the better courses have the dumbest answer to the cup situation because of COVID while the dumpier courses have it figured out. Stonewall has a pool noodle that’s at surface level while Thunderhawk has this dumb plastic lid thing. Meanwhile, cheap options like Palmira, Chalet Hills, and Cinder Ridge just use the sunken pool noodle.

[ldchristopher]

Played Brighton Dale Blue Spruce this morning. The tee sheet was jammed and we were supposed to be paired up with a cart but they played the back. I didn’t complain or stop them. It was dried out since Southern WI only had about a half inch of rain last week. Some of the bunkers were still junk but the course itself was in fine shape. Greens rolled true but on the slow side. I got in a nice groove on the front nine. Had birdies on 2 and 6 and lipped out a 4 foot birdie putt on 9. Ball striking fell off a bit on the back but my wedge game was sharp enough to get up and down for par when I needed to. Played in 3 hours. Easy walk. 75.

[TheBear95]

Yep. It is pretty rare in life when the best solution to a problem is also the cheapest. By this point, the sunken pool noodle should be the universal COVID cup solution.

And, if courses are avoiding using it because it looks cheap, they need to get over themselves.

[geochitown]

Very disappointing to read this about the hard lids in the cups

 

i have a tee time on Friday at thunderhawk

the other 3 courses I’ve played so far; Chevy chase, pine meadow and Makray all used the pool noodles below cup level and that has been fine.

 

 

 

[MountainKing]

A great day at Wedgewood, weather was great, company was great. Course was impressive from a condition standpoint, greens were shockingly fast and rolled great, the fairways were well manicured. Game was so so, had a hard time with distance control despite driving the ball great. 3 or the par 3’s that were over 200 yards all played into the wind since wind was coming at an odd angle for the course. I don’t remember a lot of what the course looked like prior to re-design since it’s been 20+ years since I’ve played there, but you could tell the new holes for sure vs the old holes, and it seemed like a lot of trees were removed from the first couple holes on the back. For the price I’ll be back. Pace of play was dreadful at almost 5 hours on the dot, I really am wanting to go back to the way it was last week!!

[Symphonize]

Played a late afternoon 9 at countryside prairie today. Rough was pretty thick around the course, some damp spots but nothing too bad, And fairways were okay. But the greens had pitch marks all over they. Easily 10-15 per green, and a lot of them fresh too. It is unfortunate.

[chisag]

... Played Naperbrook today and you can certainly tell the rules have lifted with carts everywhere. Saw 4 carts parked right next to the fringe and after relatively excellent greens there were unprepared balls marks everywhere. I would fix 3 or 4 and not put a dent in the carnage. I already miss Covid golf.

[Dashfast]

Did Water's Edge today and was satisfied with the conditions. The course was fun and we got around as a foursome in 4 hours. Not much to say, missed some scoring opportunities, but would happily return. The service was great though we didn't see a cart girl until the 17th hole, which was unfortunate for our parched party.

[psygolf]

How many public tracks proactively hand out a .05 divot tool to fix pitch marks, or a starter that encourages it at the 1st tee?

...asking because I do not know of any/many that do.

[Hawkeye77]

Starter? Won't find those anywhere near here. But our course has free plastic divot tools available at the counter. Do they push them? No. I suppose they could.

It's a pretty basic part of etiquette and often printed right on the scorecard for encouragement in many places and on signs near the clubhouse, etc.

I don't think failure to fix pitch marks is usually ignorance, it's laziness or just a general could care less attitude and those folks generally just don't change.

[Argonne69]

I tried to book Water's Edge for a round on Tuesday. Their online booking engine won't allow a single to book, even though the teesheet was wide open. I called the course, and talked to the reservation person. They couldn't give me a tee time, and said she had to talk to the pro shop. I was on hold for nearly ten minutes when I hung up. I called back and selected the option to talk to the pro shop. No answer after several rings, and then I get voicemail. FFS.

Most of you know I'm a pretty vocal proponent for single-friendly courses. WE is certainly not one of them, F them. I booked a round at Mt Prospect instead. With courses struggling financially, why would any course make it nearly impossible for players to get out on the course?

[chisag]

 

... I almost understand the shallow divots that "maybe" came from a hybrid or fw or even a thinned iron from a high index player that may not know they made mark. But #16 is a short par 4 with the pin up front, into the wind so added spin and I hit a 9 iron to about 6 feet. Got to my ball and there were 3 other deep, spinning ball marks from good approach shots next to mine within 10 feet of the hole in a 3 foot circle. Those are the lazy could care less folks, but of course others did not fix them either. Had to be 25 more further from the hole but not fixing your own that close or others fixing them is just inexcusable. I also lay blame to those that think there are so many, fixing them won't make a difference. If everyone in our 4some fixed 2 or 3, that's 12 right there.

[Holy Moses]

Played Prairie Landing on Friday. Can't use the bathrooms inside, but they have a portapotty outside. Windy as always and although the course was in good condition overall, they have a lot of poa annua on the greens until it dies off in the heat of the summer.

Yesterday I played Settlers Hill. Settlers was the first course I've played that had the raised pin cup where the ball doesn't actually drop on the hole. I have no idea why you'd want to use that compared to the pool noddle spacer. Slow greens as usual, tons of unfixed ballmarks, a 5 hour plus round, but an enjoyable time nonetheless. Slow, sloped greens are the toughest for me to putt on.

[Jazzmastafish]

What time are you booked at MtP Tuesday? Maybe I can join you.I know it's last minute, but my buddy bailed on my twosome booked tomorrow, Monday morning 9:10 at Ravisloe. Anyone want to join? Spot is filled.

[Jazzmastafish]

Meant to add:

Played Winnetka again Friday. It was still soggy in certain places, but generally not bad in terms of wetness. However, the rough was still shaggy in places and even where it wasn't it was so plush and juicy, it was nearly impossible to put any kind of decent contact on it a lot of times. And this was literally inches off the fairway. Missed about 9 fairways by a combined yard and a half for the day. Pace of play bad. Can't remember exact time but somewhere around 4 and a quarter. Group in front of us quit somewhere on the back, (maybe ran out of balls?) and we still never saw the group in front of them, just because we were searchin for balls in the juicy rough under trees all day.

Today, I was at Calumet, and god damn they need to cut the friggin rough too. I know it's still damp out there in places, but unfortunately it seems to be the trend this year, with their reduced maintenance budget. Greens were medium speed, decent. Fixed a few extra ball marks, but nothing egregious. Pace decent. We were a threesome behind two foursomes and waited on a couple shots, but we had our own issues finding balls on several holes, so not flying by any means. So many variables go into pace of play, and rough height is certainly one of them!

Hopefully this weird neck pain that cropped up late Friday night goes away by tomorrow, or it might be another long day at Rav. Filled the spot. Thanks.

[Argonne69]

8:50 am. It looks like there's still one open spot.

[jcook10]

HoE this morning. Course was in fine shape. The greens were firm but on the slower side compared to the course normal. Also a warning for anyone that is interested in courses not practicing Covid prevention tactics, they are running a “wink wink everyone lives in the same household” rule so I saw plenty of foursomes in two carts today. I walked. Perfect weather can’t complain. Ho-hum 77.

[mci711]

I played Blackwolf Run today in Kohler. I dont think it is worth the rate and think it is highly overrated. Id rather play both Whistling Straits courses. The whole time holes slightly reminded me of other Pete Dye courses I'd rather be at. If I had to choose between Sand Valley and Kohler I'd got Sand Valley because both of the courses are so much better than anything other than the straits course. It wasn't a bad course, and I played ok, just no way it is 15th in the country. Specially with one of the worst par 3s/hole in general I've ever played. For anyone planning on making a Wisconsin trip this summer or in the future there is better golf and value at Sand Valley, Lawsonia, Erin Hills etc. I love the Straits course though.

[SpeedKills7]

Maple Meadows today and in pretty good shape. Got around just under 4.5 hours. Greens were in decent shape and course was packed.

[stasek]

Great time at The Brute yesterday and today. Game is still plagued by occasional “wtf was that” moments, but at least we’re playing golf!

[psygolf]

Does your course have a ball mark problem?