Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[SpeedKills7]

I collect as well and have 2 separate cases. The first one was your standard case that the wife hated so she bought me a custom one made from a bourbon barrel. The one I bought is now in the garage. The one made out of the barrel I treat as the best courses I have played so it is sort of fun having to move one to the garage case after playing a good course.

[mci711]

That is really cool! I may look for a custom option as well.

[Argonne69]

Lol. We referred to #16 at Glenwoodie as The Devil Hole. One has to be positioned perfectly off the tee to have a good approach. I played it a few weeks ago, the first time in years, and it ate my lunch. I tried hitting a fade off the tee to get to the right side of the fairway, but pulled it dead left. I tried to hit a big draw out of the left rough, but the rough was so thick I didn't make it over the penalty area. Wound up making a double. That hole always gets me.

[SpeedKills7]

she got it on Etsy.

[SpeedKills7]

Makray yesterday and course was in pretty good shape. Greens were the fastest I’ve played this season and the starter said they were actually trying to slow them down. Bunkers were in great shape.

Played in a twosome and followed a father-son scramble going in front of us. They let us through on 6 and it was wide open after that. Got around in 3 hours.

 

[geochitown]

Had a very pleasant to round at a Thunderhawk yesterday.

the area courses are really benefiting from the drier weather

 

nice to have the cart at thunderhawk for some of the green to tee walks

 

Clouds and the easterly breeze keep conditions from being hit and humid

greens ran true, but a hair slow

 

plastic disks in cups looked to be down far enough in the cup so it didn’t cause anyone in our group a problem

 

 

 

[ldchristopher]

You gentlemen play your high-end, overpriced courses. As for me, I played Ives Grove this morning. Walked it in two-and-a-half hours and it was in great shape. Most Chicago-area courses that are $29 on the weekend are either goat tracks, 9 holes, or both. But Ives was enjoyable. Good ball striking and the aforementioned phenomenal pace of play help though. 74.

[AUTIGER07]

Don't understand why a course would go to no singles in this environment. Tried to book a time on Monday / Tuesday at Pottawatomie and they have moved to 2-4 bookings only. Tee sheet is completely open from 6AM-8:30AM. I called to confirm and it appears that the decision was reached to no longer allow singles.

Makes no sense, especially on a weekday.

[Argonne69]

As a single golfer in the area, I've been asking myself that same question for years. With over 90% of the 200+ courses in Chicagoland allowing singles to book in some form, why flip the bird to singles? The last time I checked my money was a green as a twosome's money. I can understand why they wouldn't want a single booking in an open four-slot, taking away a block from a foursome, but there's no reason why a single shouldn't be allowed to join a twosome or threesome. It's money left on the table.

 

[AUTIGER07]

Agreed. I don't disagree with holding back a few days before but I would think the day before being able to book as a single should be allowed. Otherwise they're just missing out on lost revenue.

[Argonne69]

The problem with holding back is that not everyone is looking for a last minute round, especially on weekend mornings. When I was playing weekend mornings, if I didn't have a round booked by Wednesday it was going to be difficult to get a decent time. I'm playing weekdays only now, and I'm surprised how crowded some of the courses have been. I'm booking three to five days in advance the vast majority of the rounds. If a course holds back spots, I'm very likely playing elsewhere.

[Holy Moses]

Played the Preserve yesterday as a single at 2:40. I don't get their practice putting green - small and ridiculously sloped. Courses in Chicago won't be wet for long; the Preserve's fairways were fast and firm already. The ball sits up really nicely on their fairways which I prefer. The greens weren't particularly hard or fast though. I was -1 through 9, but fell apart on the back even though I hit a drive 365 on 15 right to the end of the fairway. I drove the ball on the green on 16 - one of my best drives ever. Couldn't putt though, but a nice hot day where you can smoke the ball on a great track.

[B-Man]

Ravisloe this morning. Course was in pretty good condition with fairways firm with lots of roll out. Highlight of the day was driving the 5th hole but just missing a 15' eagle putt. Dangit! Pretty much couldn't buy a putt all day. Played the new tee on the 12th. Doesn't add much to the hole really. They need to shape the fairway and maybe add a bunker.

[DavePelz4]

Trekked to Timber Point on Saturday. Still a favorite courses in Chicago due to the total variety of holes couples with nearly aways being in great conditions. The greens on Saturday were a touch slow although the greens weren't holding well. There aren't too many quality courses with a price point of $34/walking. With 90 being 3 lanes, it's an easy drive now. The staff at TP actually likes and appreciates the people who visit their venue.

[St Jimmy]

Oak Grove bought new range balls!

[DavePelz4]

New used range balls or new new range balls?

[St Jimmy]

Lol

 

They looked new/new to me. Bright yellow without any range ball lines. Felt decent off my irons. I took a photo because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I’ll post it when I get home tonight.

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

A gorgeous morning at Glenview Park. Like many of the courses in the past week it was in great shape. We seem to have gotten past the wet conditions for the most part. Fairways had some roll to them. The rough was cut to a manageable length. The bunkers were a bit wet, but not compacted. The greens rolled fine at 8 to 9 at the start of the round, and closer to 10 by the end. 'Definitely too many unrepaired ballmarks. I'm guessing most of them were from late Sunday rounds. The pace was decent at 3:50. I'd say 85% of the players on the course were walking.

Got a chance to play with two old ladies. They were cracking me up. They had a skins game going, and instead of waiting until the end of the round to settle the bets they were demanding payment after winning a hole. Lol. Don't think I've ever seen that.

Decent round ballstriking with 11 fairways and 13 greens. After struggling with the driver for most of the past month I'm very happy with the results since I more or less adopted a fade. There's an occasional miss right, and a double cross now and again, but the mishits are far less frequent than my old swing. I still hit a couple of draws a round when the hole favors it.

Palatine Hills tomorrow. I take back what I said about allowing singles to book. There must have been a configuration problem with their booking engine. It's back to twosomes or more only except for two Hot Deals in the morning that allows a single to book. I'm going to head out early tomorrow, and hopefully they'll let me tee off before my regular time if the course is wide open.

[chrisf60526]

Agreed. I play a lot of single golf during the week as my job allows for it. I can't understand this either (looking at you Arrowhead).

[cpeck12]

Village Links, where I play most mornings solo during the week, is great about it. They'll allow you to book as a single to add on to a 2some or 3some, and if you just stroll in they'll usually take care of you. They do not allow booking as a single though if there's an opening for a 4some. Tee sheet was wide open this morning and was the 3rd golfer (all solo) out. Guy in front of me was walking and dreadfully slow. I enjoy walking and have zero issue with it, but I personally think if there are 3-4 holes open in front of you and you can see that I'm waiting every hole then you should give me a wave through. I ended up skipping a hole to get in front of him. Still a gorgeous morning and I got home before my wife and 11 week old woke up, so no complaints here!

[TheBear95]

I've been accumulating way too much vacation time at work, so I decided to take today off a few weeks ago. Great call me. Today was a postcard perfect weather day.

Was in the mood for a drive, so I decided to play Aldeen and Oak Grove. Aldeen was in phenomenal shape. Best course conditions I've played this year.

Oak Grove was Oak Grove. Other than the greens being a little slower than past rounds here, the course conditions were good. Of course, the bunkers were trash, but when is that not the case. I teed off around Noon and didnt see a soul on the front 9. When I left, there was no more than 15 cars in the lot. Hard to believe given how nice the weather was, but that's Oak Grove.

[Jazzmastafish]

Holy crap you drove 5?? I can't hit a reliable fade to save my life so that's probably not something I'll ever try. Must have been sick!

[Argonne69]

Actually, Village Links didn't allow singles to book for years. They changed the policy last year, thankfully. I played it late last year as a single, the first time since 2013.

The trend is actually moving in the right direction. Over the past two years a number of courses have changed their policy for the better, e.g. Cog Hill, Deerpath, Fox Bend, Naperville Park District courses. It's probably time for me to update and bump the single friendly thread:

[stasek]

Typical, last minute round at Gleneagles Red. Course was playing firm and fast! Had trouble holding greens, even with wedges. Greens were pretty smooth, considering we teed off at 4:15. Bunkers are borderline unplayable - hard pan and grass growing everywhere. Note to self - if you throw your clubs in the car before work, please don’t forget shorts and proper shirt. Playing in jeans and black tee shirt in almost 90 degree weather is not ideal.

 

Unless I get another last minute call, next round will be at Glenview Park on Saturday.

 

[cpeck12]

Ah, interesting. We just moved to Glen Ellyn last year, so I haven’t had much experience with the course beforehand.

[propman]

Traps are Gleneagles are( with few exceptions) always in bad shape.

[Drew_G]

Went to Calumet CC Sunday for the first time. Had a bit of an odd experience: greeted nicely in the pro shop upon check-in, guy asked if I had ever played here before, so he gave me a quick run-down of the layout. He happened to mention they had recently finally gotten the chance to cut and roll the greens so with that and Donald Ross, etc. best to stay below the hole! etc. So I go out to the putting green to get a feel and...it's completely burnt out and yellow! It did roll smooth but was very slick and fast. Get out onto the course and all the greens are like that. Made me wonder if the clubhouse guy had been out to actually SEE the course?? In any case, they probably looked worse than they played. They looked bad though. Maybe after a cut and roll you water them? I dunno, they looked thirsty and played like Scotland in August. Everything else is green and apart from a few chewed up tee boxes, was in fine shape. I had the week off last week and played in the area every day and this was the only course that had ANY kind of conditioning issue. Strange.

[stasek]

There have been rumors circling around for years that McNulty family wants to develop the area. Now that they’ve been annexed by Palos Park, I’m sure the path has been cleared.

[AUTIGER07]

Played St. Andrews #1 for the first time this morning. Really nice to be the first one out and get around in only 2 1/2 hours.

Overall my play was borderline strange and was definitely a case of the score (74) not matching up to how I played. I only hit 4 fairways, some were way offline, and only ended up with 10 greens. I didn't hit a single par 5 in regulation but made par on each one. Missed 6 putts inside 8 feet and ended up with 31 putts in total. The only good shot I hit all day led to my only birdie on the really long par 3 #12 as I absolutely flushed the fli-hi and hit it to 3 feet from ~235 yards.

In terms of the course I was really impressed with it, especially for only a $29 walking rate. The course was in really great shape all the way around and the greens were very solid, great shape and better than average speed. I'm still not a fan of this "cup noodle" business but I will say that they had the noodles consistently an inch below the cup.

[propman]

Heard same thing about Cog (at least for courses 1 & 3)