Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[chisag]

2 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Excellent point, but the focus of our conversation was walking.  It cracks me up though that the GM of a golf course, who has perceptually been at this for a while, would think that walkers are generally slower.  In 50+ years of playing, I can't think of a slow walker, although I can think of a lot of slow riders.

 

 

... I am always amazed at how many courses hire a GM that doesn't and or has never played golf. Some of the stuff coming out of their mouths is based in complete ignorance when it comes to actually playing the game. I mentioned this before but the GM of our winter muni, and excellent course that hosts many state wide tournaments, doesn't think twilite starting times should leave enough time to finish 18 holes. He would like to start it an hour later than they do now because "Why should we charge less if you can still play all 18 holes? It doesn't make financial sense". 

[mci711]

27 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

 

... I am always amazed at how many courses hire a GM that doesn't and or has never played golf. Some of the stuff coming out of their mouths is based in complete ignorance when it comes to actually playing the game. I mentioned this before but the GM of our winter muni, and excellent course that hosts many state wide tournaments, doesn't think twilite starting times should leave enough time to finish 18 holes. He would like to start it an hour later than they do now because "Why should we charge less if you can still play all 18 holes? It doesn't make financial sense". 

 

I think that the majority of courses have twilight rates starting with the expectation that 18 might not be possible.. I don't really disagree with this GMs thought process, and think it is pretty common. 

[chisag]

6 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

I think that the majority of courses have twilight rates starting with the expectation that 18 might not be possible.. I don't really disagree with this GMs thought process, and think it is pretty common. 

 

 

... Judging from your posts, you are not a muni guy. We are talking about 1/2 hour when you can reward regulars at muni's and those on fixed incomes. If a golf course loses money with rates $3-$5 less than pre twilite for about 4 groups of players at most, they have other problems. I always had time to finish starting twilite at Prairie Bluff, Cog Hill, Naperbrook, Carillon and Wedgewood. I certainly understand high end courses do not need to offer twilite rates that allow players to finish or even any twilite rates at all. 

 

[psygolf]

14 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

I think that the majority of courses have twilight rates starting with the expectation that 18 might not be possible.. I don't really disagree with this GMs thought process, and think it is pretty common. 

Agree. I think it comes down to simple supply & demand…if they have no issue getting people to use the available tee times, don’t give it away.

 

Tough to find a happy hour special in Wrigley before a night game.

[MountainKing]

23 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

I think that the majority of courses have twilight rates starting with the expectation that 18 might not be possible.. I don't really disagree with this GMs thought process, and think it is pretty common. 

 

Curious how you came to the conclusion of majority?  For the next few weeks a 4:30 time should still be able to finish 18, I haven't done any looking but I would think 3pm seems to be a very common time to start the twilight rates.

[chisag]

Just now, MountainKing said:

 

Curious how you came to the conclusion of majority?  For the next few weeks a 4:30 time should still be able to finish 18, I haven't done any looking but I would think 3pm seems to be a very common time to start the twilight rates.

 

 

... 👍 I pretty much have only played twilite my entire golfing life. As an actor in my prime I had auditions during the day so late in the afternoon was pretty much the only available times I had. I am not a morning person at all and don't like playing til at least 12 noon and in winter twilite starts at 1pm here. In summer it is 3pm. Everywhere I have played the first hour of twilite always had a chance of finishing but certainly the first 1/2 hour. 

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

 

... 👍 I pretty much have only played twilite my entire golfing life. As an actor in my prime I had auditions during the day so late in the afternoon was pretty much the only available times I had. I am not a morning person at all and don't like playing til at least 12 noon and in winter twilite starts at 1pm here. In summer it is 3pm. Everywhere I have played the first hour of twilite always had a chance of finishing but certainly the first 1/2 hour. 

 

Up until this year sort of the same boat.  Between after work rounds and just trying to take advantage of those cheaper rounds we would usually try to get off in the 3pm-4pm hour unless it was a 36 hole day.  This year with the baby I've become a dew sweeper to try and get back home before everybody is up and going.   Even at that, I still have a few twilight rounds this year and never had to walk off the course due to no daylight, or even been at risk of it.

[mci711]

4 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Curious how you came to the conclusion of majority?  For the next few weeks a 4:30 time should still be able to finish 18, I haven't done any looking but I would think 3pm seems to be a very common time to start the twilight rates.

 

I was a pga golf pro (I folded shirts) for years and worked for a golf course management company.  "Twilight" at every course I've worked with didn't guarantee 18 and no rain checks if you didn't finish. I finish 18 in two hours, I could tee off at 7pm and be fine, I am not saying you will never finish. But a 4some playing a 5 hour round, which happens all the time, won't finish if they tee off after 4:30. 

 

I also never said you shouldn't be able to finish 18 at twilight. My original post said "might not finish." Such a sensitive bunch on this page recently. 😂

Edited July 11, 2024 by mci711

[TheBear95]

5 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

I was a pga golf pro (I folded shirts) for years and worked for a golf course management company.  "Twilight" at every course I've worked with didn't guarantee 18 and no rain checks if you didn't finish. I finish 18 in two hours, I could tee off at 7pm and be fine, I am not saying you will never finish. But a 4some playing a 5 hour round, which happens all the time, won't finish if they tee off after 4:30. 

 

I also never said you shouldn't be able to finish 18 at twilight. My original post said "might not finish." Such a sensitive bunch on this page recently. 😂

 

You're not wrong. 

[TheBear95]

On 7/10/2024 at 11:54 AM, chisag said:

 

 

... Judging from your posts, you are not a muni guy. We are talking about 1/2 hour when you can reward regulars at muni's and those on fixed incomes. If a golf course loses money with rates $3-$5 less than pre twilite for about 4 groups of players at most, they have other problems. I always had time to finish starting twilite at Prairie Bluff, Cog Hill, Naperbrook, Carillon and Wedgewood. I certainly understand high end courses do not need to offer twilite rates that allow players to finish or even any twilite rates at all. 

 

 

Is it realistic to have the same twilight expectations when playing courses in a lower demand market during the longest days of the year in comparison to a higher demand market during the shortest days of the year?

 

[chisag]

45 minutes ago, mci711 said:

I also never said you shouldn't be able to finish 18 at twilight. My original post said "might not finish." Such a sensitive bunch on this page recently. 😂

 

 

... LOL, not sensitive but I have played twilite for over 35 years and haven't finished less than 5 times out of thousands of rounds. But yea, if someone is gonna take 5 hours with the first twilite round at my home muni, they might finish but nobody behind them will. But I find twilite golfers, at least the first several groups usually play quickly and more than 4 hours is pretty rare unless the course is already stacked up in front of us/them.

... And no courses I played has ever guaranteed finishing. Back in the 90's out in LA for pilot season I played Woodly Lakes quite a bit and booked the first twilite time often. That first twilite time everyone had to make the turn in under 2 hours or they couldn't book the first time anymore. And not for nuttin' but most of the muni's I play don't sell folded shirts. 🤷‍♂️

Edited July 11, 2024 by chisag

[chisag]

4 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Is it realistic to have the same twilight expectations when playing courses in a lower demand market during the longest days of the year in comparison to a higher demand market during the shortest days of the year?

 

 

 

... Nope. Exactly why we wake up or stay up til midnight to book the first twilite time December-February as soon as the digital clock reaches 12:00am. By 12:05 the first 5 times are gone. In December the first 2 or maybe 3 groups will finish but anyone playing over 4 hours won't finish after those first groups. By mid January it moves to the first 45 minutes and by February well over an hour. By June very few are playing when the temps are 110* or higher and courses can't give times away. This year The Raven, my summer course when I join Arcis for 4 months offers "free" twilite rounds after 3pm but you have to pay $39 for a cart, which is absolutely necessary with the heat. But so few are playing during the week this year, they dropped the time to 12noon Mon-Thur because middle of the day the course is empty but they get more players after 4pm when it starts cooling off. 

... I found back in Bolingbrook, Spring was always stoopid crowded but always finished at Naperbrook or Prairie Bluff. By June those initially cooped up all winter that weren't avid players aren't playing twilite anymore and the rest of the season was pretty easy to finish twilite rounds even starting up to 1 hour later. I know a lot of you guys play in the morning which is completely foreign to me 😜 so 90% of my experience playing golf the last 35 years has been twilite. 

[ldchristopher]

GCI this morning. Course was in great shape. And not just “great shape for GCI.” Fresh sand in the bunkers, greens had been rolled, rough had been cut, and with all the rain it was quite lush. The gnats were all over me with no wind in the morning but they’re just a harmless nuisance. Ball striking was solid, though sand play bailed me out on 4 and 11. One birdie on 2. 74. 

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, mci711 said:

 

I was a pga golf pro (I folded shirts) for years and worked for a golf course management company.  "Twilight" at every course I've worked with didn't guarantee 18 and no rain checks if you didn't finish. I finish 18 in two hours, I could tee off at 7pm and be fine, I am not saying you will never finish. But a 4some playing a 5 hour round, which happens all the time, won't finish if they tee off after 4:30. 

 

I also never said you shouldn't be able to finish 18 at twilight. My original post said "might not finish." Such a sensitive bunch on this page recently. 😂

 

I was a shirt folder also!   Our twilight was whatever you could play.  On empty days guys could easily get 27 in. 

 

I get where you're coming from, if you want 18 getting that first twilight time is key.   The benefit you also get is you'll often have a somewhat open course with people avoiding those full price times right before twilight kicks in.  

[Phreddy]

I've been invited to play in an outing/fund raiser at White Pines in Bensenville (not far from O'Hare).  Do you folks have a scouting report?  I skim this section for the humor and insights, but don't recall this course getting any mentions.

 

Thanks!

 

Phred

[Argonne69]

18 minutes ago, Phreddy said:

I've been invited to play in an outing/fund raiser at White Pines in Bensenville (not far from O'Hare).  Do you folks have a scouting report?  I skim this section for the humor and insights, but don't recall this course getting any mentions.

 

Thanks!

 

Phred

 

Meh. I prefer the west course, as it's a little more open. The east side is very tight. 

 

[ldchristopher]

27 minutes ago, Phreddy said:

I've been invited to play in an outing/fund raiser at White Pines in Bensenville (not far from O'Hare).  Do you folks have a scouting report?  I skim this section for the humor and insights, but don't recall this course getting any mentions.

 

Thanks!

 

Phred

It’s been 9 years but this will always be what I associate most with White Pines. https://golf.com/news/chicago-area-golf-course-ridiculed-for-strip-club-event/?amp=1

[mci711]

4 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

I was a shirt folder also!   Our twilight was whatever you could play.  On empty days guys could easily get 27 in. 

 

I get where you're coming from, if you want 18 getting that first twilight time is key.   The benefit you also get is you'll often have a somewhat open course with people avoiding those full price times right before twilight kicks in.  

 

Ours was similar, just no guarantee you'll finish. 

 

Funny story, I played Kelly Plantation years ago in Florida. I booked the first twilight time and was the only one out there. It was "play as much as you could." Well, I was 45 holes in and I got greeted by staff asking me what I was doing, it is as much as you could play up to 18 holes 😂 

 

 

[Symphonize]

My brother was up in the north part of Norway last month, where there is 24 hour day light. They stumbled on a golf course with 24 hour tee-times. No need for twilight rounds there. 

 

Edited July 12, 2024 by Symphonize

[zer0]

11 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

It’s been 9 years but this will always be what I associate most with White Pines. https://golf.com/news/chicago-area-golf-course-ridiculed-for-strip-club-event/?amp=1

 

Ha, that's the difference between here and Florida.   My buddy used to own a big Irish bar in Orlando.  every year they would have a stripper golf outing.  I flew down for it once.  it was crazy.  First you start out at the bar with the strippers.  Then everyone got on a bus and drove to the course with strippers getting naked on the bus and doing lap dances.  At the course every 3 holes there would be 2-3 strippers either on the green or on the tee box.  They would be completely naked.   They let the strippers take over the beverage cart and they would drive around offering up body shots etc.     Naked girls on the green sitting spread eagle around the hole while you putt so all you had to do was bank it in off the stripper and into the hole (I'm talking golf hole you sickos)

 

Best part was for $20 you could get a "cart ride".  One buddy did it and next thing you know he's driving a cart down a bumpy path with a naked stripper sitting on the steering wheel facing the driver.  The path was so bumpy alll you could see was the stripper's hooha ramming into my buddy's face over and over again and his head and neck jerking back.   First time I've ever seen someone get whiplash from a stripper.

 

 

[ldchristopher]

1 hour ago, zer0 said:

 

Ha, that's the difference between here and Florida.   My buddy used to own a big Irish bar in Orlando.  every year they would have a stripper golf outing.  I flew down for it once.  it was crazy.  First you start out at the bar with the strippers.  Then everyone got on a bus and drove to the course with strippers getting naked on the bus and doing lap dances.  At the course every 3 holes there would be 2-3 strippers either on the green or on the tee box.  They would be completely naked.   They let the strippers take over the beverage cart and they would drive around offering up body shots etc.     Naked girls on the green sitting spread eagle around the hole while you putt so all you had to do was bank it in off the stripper and into the hole (I'm talking golf hole you sickos)

 

Best part was for $20 you could get a "cart ride".  One buddy did it and next thing you know he's driving a cart down a bumpy path with a naked stripper sitting on the steering wheel facing the driver.  The path was so bumpy alll you could see was the stripper's hooha ramming into my buddy's face over and over again and his head and neck jerking back.   First time I've ever seen someone get whiplash from a stripper.

 

 

You could’ve stopped with “Florida.” I’ll bet if we were asked to fill in the rest of what happened it would be pretty close. 

[MountainKing]

17 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

It’s been 9 years but this will always be what I associate most with White Pines. https://golf.com/news/chicago-area-golf-course-ridiculed-for-strip-club-event/?amp=1

 

Sadly they weren't the first to hold such an event- Country Lakes did it before them, and the best part is Country Lakes ran through housing/apartments.

[chisag]

1 minute ago, MountainKing said:

 

Sadly they weren't the first to hold such an event- Country Lakes did it before them, and the best part is Country Lakes ran through housing/apartments.

 

 

... I played behind an outing at Carillon that was actually a wake and the deceased wanted a party on a golf course to remember him. Per his request and not naked, but Hooters girls were hired to drive the carts and alcohol was free. Some (most?) had never played golf and we played 2 groups behind them. Second hole was completely filled with goldfish crackers and as you can imagine it got out of hand very quickly. Rangers tried to slow down the mayhem but were greeted with "FU! This is the party our friend wanted!" Finally a twosome purposefully drove their cart into a lake, and yea they were absolutely hammered. The police were called, a few arrested and the others were escorted off the course.  We got a raincheck LOL. Craziest scene I have ever witnessed on a golf course.  

[Holy Moses]

First time playing at Settler’s since the renovation. 
 

Pros: I thought the grow-in looked better than I had heard it would be. Not too many thin or bare spots. Driving range was fine and a better practice putting green than before. I like the look of the new par 3 sixth hole over the ravine. $45 is a nice deal. 
 

Cons: Long walk from the clubhouse to the first tee; seems like it’s a half mile walk. Mosquitos and biting flies got me all day. This course is still very difficult and the par 5s are still brutal and they seemed to make the old 17th even harder with the new tee box. The greens are getting absolutely chewed up and they were very soggy and wet with all the rain or irrigation. I made numerous ball marks where the grass would separate off the surface and fly a few feet away on short chips. Wedge shots fared much worse. I saw a few people’s footprints from what must have been earlier in the day where they were standing and literally took the grass right off the green just by being on the green. The pin placement on the new par 3 sixth was right on a ledge. You could putt past the hole from below the hole and it would come back 6-10 feet down the hill off the ledge. Why design a new hole and put the pin on a ledge that can’t contain the ball? 

[MountainKing]

Phillips Park in Aurora today.  I haven't been there since pre covid,  but it was always a fun place with good pace,   cheap and in good condition.  Well,  it appears this is a popular spot now for covid golfers,  balls flying all over the place with no warning. Greens were awful as well,  shaggy, bumpy and rolling at like a 5.  Pace appeared to be brutal,  we were on pace for 5 hours but mother nature came through and everybody left.   We stuck out a 45 minute storm and ending up finish in 4:20 with the delay.  That delay saved us 40 minutes.   Rest of the course was in okay shape.   Doubt we'll go back anytime soon.

 

Weird round for me.   Phillips is a real easy course and I would expect even on a bad day to be around even.   5 birdies on the card, but I had 4 bogies and a double to balance that out.  Very frustrating I couldn't manage an under par round with that many birds. 

[Holy Moses]

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

Phillips Park in Aurora today.  I haven't been there since pre covid,  but it was always a fun place with good pace,   cheap and in good condition.  Well,  it appears this is a popular spot now for covid golfers,  balls flying all over the place with no warning. Greens were awful as well,  shaggy, bumpy and rolling at like a 5.  Pace appeared to be brutal,  we were on pace for 5 hours but mother nature came through and everybody left.   We stuck out a 45 minute storm and ending up finish in 4:20 with the delay.  That delay saved us 40 minutes.   Rest of the course was in okay shape.   Doubt we'll go back anytime soon.

 

Weird round for me.   Phillips is a real easy course and I would expect even on a bad day to be around even.   5 birdies on the card, but I had 4 bogies and a double to balance that out.  Very frustrating I couldn't manage an under par round with that many birds. 

How did the herbicide damage in the front look?

[MountainKing]

11 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

How did the herbicide damage in the front look?

 

It was fine,  looks like a lot of crab grass has set in,  hard to grow grass here in the summer.  None of it really should be in play, altho I guess after seeing some of the people there today......

[ldchristopher]

Oak Grove with Bear today. The course was drenched, standing water everywhere, but the carts were out with no restrictions. Golf Visions! There were ponds in all the bunkers and the greens had some good sized bumps but I was still able to play from the two fairway bunkers I was in. We played through three groups, including an eightsome on the second hole. Four bogies and three birdies for me (9, 12 and 18). 72. 

[DavePelz4]

40 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

Oak Grove with Bear today. The course was drenched, standing water everywhere, but the carts were out with no restrictions. Golf Visions! There were ponds in all the bunkers and the greens had some good sized bumps but I was still able to play from the two fairway bunkers I was in. We played through three groups, including an eightsome on the second hole. Four bogies and three birdies for me (9, 12 and 18). 72. 

 

How'd you play 11?

[DavePelz4]

The 18th fairway at Bowes took a bolt of lightening this morning.  Fortunately, the course was cleared before this happened.

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/405796525213915