I play(ed) Deere Run on Thursday AM

[ChipNRun]

I'm going to a weekend conference in the Davenport, Iowa. An early arrival in the Quad Cities will allow me to TPC Deere Run Golf Club, site of the annual John Deere Classic. Lucas Glover won it this year. Deere Run is a public course. Lots of John Deere Inc. employees play there.

 

An interesting point:  Deere Run is redoing its bunkers, so a couple of holes may be closed for play. Due to the disruption, the course has a $100 package deal: greens fees + cart + lunch.

 

My home course rebuilt its bunkers three years ago, and tweaked them again this summer. I'm really interested in what golfdom is doing with its sand pits the past few years.

 

I have seven Srixon Q-Star Tour golf balls at the ready, with three Calla Chrome Softs in backup. Hopefully this will be enough. Not sure if Quad Cities has had its fall leaf drop yet.

 

More later.

Edited October 27, 2021 by ChipNRun

[Gdane]

Last fall we had a few unseasonably warm days in early November so I made a last-minute weekday tee time at Deere Run.  Leaves had begun to fall at that point but the maintenance crew cleared all boxes, fairways & greens so they weren't a factor if you can keep the ball in play 🙂 

[ChaosTheory]

Will it be cart path only?

[MK7Golf21]

I've played the course a couple times in mid Oct. when they lower the rates for the year. It's around mid Oct early Nov depending on weather when they punch the course and lower the rates. Believe it gets down to like 70 for a round and lower later in the day.

[ChipNRun]

Sorry for the late reply. Real-world stuff hit my first week back...

 

 

Got to play Deere Run on Thursday, Oct. 14 on a fall Unlimited Golf special. All the golf you can play – range and cart and lunch included for $119. The special takes into account the renovation of all the bunkers on the course, and possible disruptions to play.

 

Although a TPC course, Deere Run is open to the public.  On Thursday, the back nine was closed, so lots of golfers played the front twice.

 

Part of the benefit of the round is a chance to use the top-notch practice range. Good quality balls, with a practice green that gave us an excellent preview of those out on the course.

 

It had been a rainy week, so play was cart path only. Given the hilly nature of the course, we got a double sports day – golf plus orienteering. Rule was lift-clean-replace. St. Louis area golfers who have played Annbriar in Waterloo would feel right at home at hilly Deere Run.

 

The fairways had been mown, but the rough was quite shaggy. On the first nine the rain drizzled and the sky was a bit overcast. Oddly, it was easier to find an offline ball because the rain tended to flatten down the rough grass.

________________________________________________

St. Louis area golfers who have played

Annbriar in Waterloo would feel right at

home at hilly Deere Run.

________________________________________________

 

I decided to play the White tees, set at 6059 yards with a 68.9 rating and a 130 slope.

 

First hole was 349 yards, sharp dogleg left. Hit fairway  but clipped leftside tree on first approach shot. Then, hit 8 iron out of light rough to six feet, sank putt for par!

 

The second hole is a short par 5 – a 90-degree dogleg right. The designer tempts golfers  - including me – to fly the fairway bunker and have a chance to get home in two. It didn’t happen! Both drives flew out over the bunker, and dropped like rocks at their apex when a wind gust came in off the lake. Smart money says aim to left of bunker, then lay up to within 100 yards of so for final approach. Unless you can hit a long bullet with a driving iron.

 

Probably my favorite hole was No. 8. When my wife and I attended the 2013 John Deere Classic, we spent most of the third round camped out by the green. The tee shot comes out of a chute of trees, but then the fairway opens up. The green is ringed with traps, but no real tree trouble past the landing area. A chip shot and a later wedge over a greenside bunker yielded two tap-in bogies.

 

Given the extra energy expended by cartpath only, many of us chose to eat lunch after the first nine rather than at end of round. I had a delicious beef and cheddar panini, chased with a lime Gatorade. Just what I needed prior to the second nine.

 

The greens are an exemplar of the course. Challenging, but not tricky. Very straightforward. My four 3-putts were all from long range. Also I managed six 1-putts. I didn’t get an exact read on all the greens, but they ran smoothly.

 

Despite the rainy day, DR was a very enjoyable experience. Anyone heading to the Quad Cities might look at the Deere Run GC web site and see if you can get a tee time.