Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[B-Man]

Played Cog #1 yesterday afternoon for a birthday outing. Firm and fast all over the course with lots of run out. Surprisingly in great condition overall but there were 3 stupid pin positions on major slopes on the 10th, 11th and 18th.

[MountainKing]

Been playing a lot at Village Greens, taking advantage of not having to pay to play. I’ll be running the Coyote Crossing and Kampen at Purdue this Friday, really looking forward to that.

 

[ssp]

Yes

[Argonne69]

Aren't tee times supposed to be 10 minutes apart? Why is Big Run sending out players at 9 minute intervals? I guess they're special. Oy.

Why do courses only allow one to book a prepaid round that includes the price of a cart when walking is allowed? Why the extra hassle? FFS Cog.

 

[ldchristopher]

Oak Grove had the tee sheet alternating between 7 and 8 minutes apart and every foursome only had two carts. In related news, yesterday was by far our longest round of the year. When no one bothered to actually make sure the 15 minute twosomes only, walking only rules were enforced, courses realized they could go back to business as usual with no repercussions.

[TheBear95]

I'm all for prepayment, but the amount should be based on the walking rate. Or, the option should be available to choose between the walking rate or cart rate. A number of the booking engines have this capability. Why only some courses use it, I have no idea. Overall, I find the vast majority of golf courses absolutely suck IT wise.

In looking at tee sheets the past two weeks, the amount courses following the 10 minute tee time interval seems to be about 50/50.

[Argonne69]

Yup. Each of the major booking engines allows the course to configure multiple prices points. Walking, cart, senior, member, etc. They're all possible. I have to assume that they're simply out for the money grab. No way it's a lack of knowledge.

[Symphonize]

Enjoy, was just down there Thursday and Friday. Courses are in great shape

[Symphonize]

Played Chapel Hill this morning. First time out there. Course is very dry. Pretty sure they were running 7 or 8 minute tee times. And were backed up from the morning, we teed off 15 minutes behind schedule at 8:30. And when we went to get the cart, they told us we had to take two people to a cart since they were booked up and would be out of carts. So much for following the covid rules.

[Gdane]

Played Seven Bridges early yesterday morning. Conditions were excellent, and the greens were the fastest I’ve played in years.

Unfortunately it will be my last time playing there. The ranger told us we needed to pick up the pace after we teed off on the 5th hole, and then followed us for every shot on the hole. I looked down at my watched as we putt out on 5 to see that we were just approaching the hour mark on our round. When I got to my cart I asked if a 3 1/2 hour pace wasn’t sufficient and he replied that we were 5 minutes off pace with the group in front of us. He continued to follow us until we finished the 6th and then drove off. We ended up finishing the front at about 1:50 and didn’t see another group the rest of the round. Finished in about 3:45.

Overall it was great to reconnect with some people I haven’t seen in months, and the course was absolutely beautiful. However, we are lucky to have so many great courses in the Chicagoland area, and I’ll pay $90 at a place that doesn’t have Ranger Dopey patronizing a group for being 5 minutes off pace.

[VNutz]

Prairie Bluffs Saturday, course was in great shape and pretty dry and fast, wind was up which was not expected. 5 birdies were offset by 4 terrible doubles, just one of those days to ruin what otherwise could have been a good round.

Oddly they have built in some time gaps according to the starter, I guess to keep the course from backing up too much in spots. So despite having a 9:45 time we went off at least 10 minutes early. I'm all for getting out there sooner if possible but it seemed to completely defeat the purpose, and of course we had to wait for the one guy that shows up last minute.

[mci711]

I have a "membership" to Seven Bridges and can vouch for this right now. Course is in great shape and the greens are the quickest they've been since I have been out here. They host more corporate outings than just about anyone, and I think the relief from not have 200 person scramble every other day is really helping out.

Sorry about the ranger issue, but in their defense at least they are having sub 4 hour rounds right now while everyone else seems to be pushing 5. I get it is annoying, but I'd rather be annoyed for a hole or 2 than play for 5 hours and wait on every shot. Didn't seem like you were the problem, but I'd take an over working ranger over one that doesn't push at all.

[VNutz]

What was the cart situation there? Lots of singles in carts? The only time I've ever had an issue with a ranger was a morning round on a holiday, and the course happened to be short on carts so the ranger road our a$$ all morning on a 3:45 round simply to get the carts in for the middle of the day rush. Can't help but wonder if that was the case for you.

[chisag]

 

... Absolutely no excuse to "follow every shot" of a group that is 5 minutes behind. Have the courtesy to tell the group they are a little behind and then drive to the next hole and wait there, or hide in the trees out of sight. Following for 2 holes when pace of play on the 5th was obviously good is reason enough to complain to the club house or never return. I remember when Joe J was alive at Cog Hill and would ask groups to pick up the pace once if behind, then ask them to pick up their ball and move to the next tee to close the gap if still behind and finally if still slow ask them to leave the course with a full refund. During all that the ranger never followed every shot. I will say my limited experience at 7B (10 rounds or so) has been the opposite, with the ranger going out of his way to be friendly and just hint at picking up the pace, along with asking did we need anything like tees or balls or anything else he could help us. And I was paired up with a slow group that lost site of the group in front but we had nobody backing up behind us. Ranger 101.

[mci711]

The 5th hole cart path has access of holes 2/3/4/5/6 up and down it. They usually don't even drive down holes 3 and 4 on the exterior of the property and stay in the interior path to have access to the whole loop. My guess is he was hanging out in that spot to see the majority of the front.

[chisag]

 

..,., I was taking Gdane at his word that he "followed" them for every shot on 2 holes, not watched from a cart path.

[AUTIGER07]

Got out this morning to Hilldale for the first time. Score wasn’t bad at +6 considering I played the par 5’s in +4 with 3 lost balls on those holes. Would definitely play the course very differently a second go around.

 

My view of the course is that it is slightly above decent but could be so much more. There was way too much sand in the bunkers and I would argue with COVID restrictions they hadn’t been raked in a week. They also sanded the greens but weirdly not every green was sanded and there was zero logic as to which ones were or were not sanded. A few of the sanded greens received a ton of watering as well which caused shots into the green to skid long. Just difficult to judge putts / spin into the green with that going. The below is what my ball looked like after missing a 10 footer on one of the watered greens.

I wanted to play Hilldale so I could get to PGASS for another round of “wedge-looking” this morning. Unfortunately after today and the previous two rounds the driver may also be on the chopping block.

[Zac1321]

Hi All, recently moved to the area and curious if anyone knows of any dog friendly ranges in the NW suburbs? thanks!

[Gdane]

He didn't drive out to the fairway, but he was right there watching us. What's worse, we played 6 so fast I forgot about the par 3 completely. In reality he followed us longer, as he was still with us while we were putting on 7. He was kind enough to tell us we did a nice job keeping pace as we were going to the 10th box.

To be honest, I'm not sure if 7 am is their first time and he just wanted to make sure the first group isn't going slowly, but either way it was overkill and I don't plan on going back to place that will babysit a group like that.

[DrWalterWhite]

Yeah I gotta be honest, this anecdote makes me want to play Seven Bridges more not less. If they legitimately push a sub 4 hour pace I would play there every weekend.

[DavePelz4]

As food for thought, you might want to call/email Don Ferreri, the GM/Super and share your experience. His email is dferreri@sevenbridgesgolfclub.com. Several times we've been chastised for being 5 minutes behind the group in front of us and the "ranger" wasn't a golfer and didn't understand what pace of play really is.

Have shared the story way too often but at Whistling Straits as the second group out on a Friday morning, we followed a 2some as a 4some. At the turn, we were b******* out by the ranger for being 15 minutes behind the group in front and also followed on the back with the threat of being tossed from the course. Post round, which was 3 hours and 40 minutes, I went and talked to the GM, shared our plight and he comped that round entirely and another round.

 

[geochitown]

not that I know of...

Probably best to find an empty field.

may not be officially dog friendly, but Sunset Meadows might be (just north of Arlington Lakes.

might let you have your dog nearby.

[Symphonize]

Welcome to the area! You could try giving Deacons in Wauconda a call. They are a restaurant with a driving range, so not a course, might be more relaxed there.

[Argonne69]

Another splendid day. I was out at Arlington Lakes for just the 2nd time. I played it a few years back in some nasty conditions, so I thought I'd give it another go. It's a short par 68 course, but there is plenty of trouble to keep one on their toes. The course was in very nice condition. Bunkers had groomed sand. The rough was cut to a good height. Fairways very getting good roll. The greens were excellent, and rolling a good 10. Pace was just shy of four hours.

How does one follow up one of their best days ballstriking? Why, having one of the worst naturally. Lol. Good lord, what a train wreck. Five fairways, and 4 balls in the water off the tee. A nasty case of the pulls all day. Only 9 greens. 'Definitely a round to forget.

First trip out to Bliss Creek in Sugar Grove tomorrow.

 

[Zac1321]

thanks! its been fun getting out to new (to me) courses and planning out future rounds.

i was thinking that might be a good option. My girlfriends family goes there often enough and its fairly close.

to clarify, looking to just see if i can bring my dog to hang out and be leashed up to my bag or right by the stall im hitting at. I was fortunate that there was both a course with a range as well as a stand alone range near my old place that was fine with people doing that and it was nice to be able to bring him along

[DavePelz4]

Have only played BC once and if I recall properly, it had the shortest par 5's in the history of mankind...or Sugar Grove. My favorite aspect of the course was the bar which takes you directly to central Wisconsin based on the decor. Interested in hearing if you'll want to play it a second time.

[geochitown]

gonna keep it close to home and play Pine Meadow late this afternoon.

Should be a big change from when I played it last, in the second week of May monsoon season.

[ldchristopher]

Shorter than the 420 par 5 at Prairie Woods in Southern Wisconsin? Okay, I checked the scorecard. If you’re referencing the first hole as a 384 par 4/5, then yes, that’s shorter. But I’m guessing that’s a 4 for men and a 5 for women. The dumb second hole at PWoods remains the winner of a contest no course architect would ever want to win.

[Argonne69]

'Very nice morning at Sugar Grove Pitch 'n Putt, or as it's official known, Bliss Creek GC. My 75th round of the year. Yeah, three par 5s at 450, 464, and 449. 'Birdied two of the three. It was my first visit, and my last. No. 178 on the Chicagoland courses played list. Not a bad little practice facility at 5632 yds, but certainly nor worth the drive out there from downtown. The fairways are narrow, and the greens are small, so it's not entirely a pushover. A few quirky holes, and many that just are plain uninspiring. I was expecting much, so I wasn't disappointed. 'Reasonable value for $30. Conditions were generally good. There were a handful of bare patches in the fairways, and a few wet spots, but for the most part they were fine. Rough was cut to a decent length. Bunkers had enough sand to be playable. The greens were in very nice shape, and rolling 10 at least. I was happy about that. I went out as a single, and played through a handful of groups. 'Not going to argue about the three hour pace.

Much better day ballstriking. Even though I managed only 6/13 fairways, the misses were just off the short stuff. 14 greens led to four birdies.

I'll be out walking everybody's favorite course on Thursday, Big Run.

 

[DavePelz4]

Have never heard of PW but sheesh, that's a short hole for a par 5 unless the layout is like the ANACONDA at Oak Grove.