Course to play after Ryder Cup

[mauiman]

My brother and I are planning on going to Ryder Cup Saturday and will stay the night down in Kenosha. We’re hoping to play somewhere fun Sunday morning. I have thoughts of Hawk’s View or back north to Brown Deer? Anybody have any suggestions or which one between the two? Geneva National is a bit out of our budget.

[Symphonize]

Check out Shepherds Crook right on the Illinois Wisconsin border, or Thunderhawk just a bit further south.

[hatch91]

Hi there - I come in peace from the UK - I have tickets available for the Friday and Sunday if you'd like to attend all 3 days. Drop me a message. 

[mauiman]

16 hours ago, hatch91 said:

Hi there - I come in peace from the UK - I have tickets available for the Friday and Sunday if you'd like to attend all 3 days. Drop me a message. 

We can only do the one day. Thanks for the offer. Shepherd’s Crook might be good for us.

[OGrads13]

19 hours ago, mauiman said:

We can only do the one day. Thanks for the offer. Shepherd’s Crook might be good for us.

Personally, I'd recommend Thunderhawk before Shepherd's Crook. I've played both a handful of times and I enjoy the rounds at Thunderhawk much more. Granted, these came during tournaments, so getting your teeth kicked in at Shepherd's Crook for 5+ hours with a landfill stinking up a corner of the course leaves me hesitant to recommend. 

[mauiman]

4 hours ago, OGrads13 said:

Personally, I'd recommend Thunderhawk before Shepherd's Crook. I've played both a handful of times and I enjoy the rounds at Thunderhawk much more. Granted, these came during tournaments, so getting your teeth kicked in at Shepherd's Crook for 5+ hours with a landfill stinking up a corner of the course leaves me hesitant to recommend. 

Thanks for the tip! 

[Apindara]

1 hour ago, mauiman said:

Thanks for the tip! 

As a counter proposal, I always found the greens at Thunderhawk a bit ratty. And the pins at times get put in places that really didn’t make sense. Like right on the ridge on #2. Silly.

[geochitown]

Shepherd's is in amazing shape.  I played 2 weeks ago and it was fantastic.  I like Thunderhawk as well, but not as much as Shepherd's Crook.

 

Thunderhawk's greens can be a little hit or miss.

 

Some may not agree, but I think Shepherd's is more walkable than Thunderhawk.

[geochitown]

Shepherd's is also less expensive than Thunderhawk.

Only knock on Shepherd's is that they don't have a range, while Thunderhawk has an excellent range.

 

If you really want to hit balls before playing at Shepherd's you could stop by the range at the adjacent course, Big Oaks (or something like that).

[Chanceman]

Is Stonewall Orchard in that conversation with SC and TH?

[geochitown]

Good point with Stonewall, same price tier as Thunderhawk.

Generally better greens than Thunderhawk in my mind.

 

Nice range.

 

I have played SO quite a bit, and it's up there.

Only negatives are the number of forced carries on the front nine from the back tees.

 

Always a good challenge though

[mauiman]

Tough call, thanks for all the info. Leaning towards Shepherds but not crazy about the possibility of a dump smell and no range. 

[geochitown]

dump smell is really only an issue in the case of an easterly wind...

[Phreddy]

West Bend Country Club is a great Langford and Moreau design on the front 9 and an excellent back.  I am surprised that this offer is on the table.

 

https://westbendcc.com/golf/ryder-cup-2021

[Lefty96]

Hawks view is a great play in my opinion. Very fun layout and usually good condition from my experience. I like it better than brown deer, which is also a nice course but a bit bland. 

[zer0]

On 8/25/2021 at 4:10 PM, OGrads13 said:

Personally, I'd recommend Thunderhawk before Shepherd's Crook. I've played both a handful of times and I enjoy the rounds at Thunderhawk much more. Granted, these came during tournaments, so getting your teeth kicked in at Shepherd's Crook for 5+ hours with a landfill stinking up a corner of the course leaves me hesitant to recommend. 

 

That's not a landfill.   We call that the Bluffs of Zion.

 

 

Both are great courses, but Thunderhawk is about twice as expensive as Crook and it definitely isn't twice as good.

 

If you're coming from Ryder Cup you might enjoy Crook more since it is more similar to a links style course than T-Hawk.

 

 

[geochitown]

Note for all peeps playing now or post-Ryder cup.

 

Inquire about timing of aeration.

 

Shepherd's has done some good work to their drainage and their greens are in fantastic conditions.  

 

Also, their new patio/firepits are really nice.

 

I like Thunderhawk, but conditions can be a bit hit or miss on the greens (slow or fast).

 

 

[mauiman]

We had an awesome time at the Ryder Cup Saturday, and ended up playing Hawk’s View this morning. A bit windy, so we enjoyed the mostly wide open tee shots, short rough, and scenic views. Greens were perfect and pretty tricky. Great course if anyone hasn’t played it yet. We’ll play Shepherd’s next season.