Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[ldchristopher]

16 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

You're not wrong. I do like #7 and I think #15 is a good hole, but too many meh holes as mentioned. And, the greens have sucked pretty much every time I have played it.

 

LD played it back in the spring and came back raving about how the good the greens were. I still don't believe him.

The greens on March 9th were phenomenal. Now, were the greens on March 10th pure trash? Highly likely. 

[MountainKing]

12 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... As nice as the guys at Prairie Bluff were to me, folks at Naperbrook were even better. I played there 2-3 times a week in season and some weeks more than that. The starters knew me and took great care of me, squeezing me in whenever possible and/or sending me off the back. Same for the staff in the clubhouse "Hold up the high school kids, I got Sam running down there".  The funny thing about the guy that paid for me (I wish I remembered his name) is when I paid him back he didn't initially remember as I handed him a $20. I had to remind him about pulling the money out of his wallet and got the "OH Yea, now I remember"  Great folks ...

 

Scott, who runs the show at PB used to work at Naperbrook in the 90's and early 2000's.  Fun guy to work with.   I'm guessing we probably interacted, small world. 

[MountainKing]

16 hours ago, Shriner said:

Interesting, I guess we caught it on a good day because those greens were nearly perfect.  Truthfully, we may be the only ones who played the course yesterday.   I'll take an ok layout with no houses, I just hate playing through subdivisions.  

 

Either way, based on everyone else's opinions, I'll caulk it up to getting lucky and won't expect the same conditions next time.

 

Maybe not - I've heard a lot of good things regarding #2's conditions this summer.  #4 was incredible, it was on par with Erin Hills and all the private clubs I've been at this year.  I get the feeling with the money/effort they've put into the place in the last year they are aiming for something (maybe a regular PGA event back in Chicago??).  Just a guess but it seems odd to put that much effort/money into the course when they were just surviving fine as a cash cow.  Green fees did jump a bit, but they did everywhere else too.

 

14 hours ago, Shriner said:

 

That is insane by the way, we had multiple GPS and their own carts tell us it was 240 and 251 to the back of the green.  With the gully and depth perception, we had no way of knowing otherwise.  No wonder we didn't hear anything...

 

I gave up on GPS carts - I just use my own GPS and rangefinder.  I've had enough occasions the last two years where the GPS was off by a lot, or they didn't update the pin placements so you're getting yardage to a back pin from yesterday when the pin is up front.  With all the tech being readily available to us, I'm really shocked courses still bother with putting this into carts.  I'm not sure what the total costs are to the course, but I'd rather see those costs be put into the course.

 

[thedunedain]

19 hours ago, Shriner said:

Am I missing something about Cog Hill no. 2?  First time getting out there and was shocked. Granted circumstances were unique...we teed off at 2pm and a Bears game was going on, not to mention a day full of rain.  However, we saw no other golfers, paid $65, legitimate 9/10 course conditions with nearly perfect greens and I thought the layout was really good.  Decent variety in holes and no houses, just pure golf.  I was worried after first three holes were super short but it got more difficult after that.  Was this an anamoly?  This appears to be the best value in the suburbs.

 

Also, what is the deal with hole 4?  We had GPS's showing dofferent yardages and finally we settled on 240.  I hit three wood right at the flag, we didnt hear a sound and can only surmise it flew over into the woods.  I wonder if the distance was acurrate.

I've had the same feeling lol it gets a lot of bad rep for some reason.  I've played there a ton since last October and have been impressed with the conditions the whole time.  I played a round Saturday morning and was shocked at how pure the greens were for being the last day of summer.  The only time I can think of being upset with conditions was last fall when the greens still hadnt really healed from their aerification after 1 plus months.  I do think they mainly only cut them on weekends though because I've played a round on a Thursday and they werent as fast

 

Also not sure about the slop comments, its one of the more well drained courses I've seen.  Usually didn't have to worry about too much mud ever and I played rounds in December, February and through March

[thedunedain]

Also yes neither of the par 3 4th holes play longer than 160 from the tips so you definitely air mailed it into the woods.  Possibly onto the 7th hole somewhere

[stasek]

Cart GPS had to have been set to 4L and you played 4R (only way to get that distance).   The other way the yardage should have been closer.  Regarding greens - I've been pleasantly surprised the couple times I played there this year.   Past few years, though, they were by far worst of the 4 courses - by a country mile.  

[RGlaze978]

Anyone have thoughts on conditions at Mt. Prospect? I’ve never played the course but the layout looks great and it seems it’s a high quality public track. Playing this weekend. 
 

Regarding Cog, played #2 last year in May and conditions were terrible, greens were beat to s***. Also second some other comments that it’s usually sloppy and doesn’t drain well. Played #4 in late June and it was exceptional - conditions and greens were outstanding. I don’t think anyone plays #4 - tee sheet is wide open pretty much every weekend. 

Edited September 26, 2024 by RGlaze978

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, RGlaze978 said:

Anyone have thoughts on conditions at Mt. Prospect? I’ve never played the course but the layout looks great and it seems it’s a high quality public track. Playing this weekend. 
 

Regarding Cog, played #2 last year in May and conditions were terrible, greens were beat to s***. Also second some other comments that it’s usually sloppy and doesn’t drain well. Played #4 in late June and it was exceptional - conditions and greens were outstanding. I don’t think anyone plays #4 - tee sheet is wide open pretty much every weekend. 

 

Mt. Prospect is a fun old school type course.  It's pretty right in front of you tee to green, the greens are where it gets you, they can be brutal if you end up in the wrong spot.  It was in great condition when I was there earlier this year.   We are in fall so check for punching, and it's a course that gets a ton of play so it potentially could be showing some wear at this point. 

[mikes919]

19 hours ago, RGlaze978 said:

Anyone have thoughts on conditions at Mt. Prospect? I’ve never played the course but the layout looks great and it seems it’s a high quality public track. Playing this weekend. 
 

Regarding Cog, played #2 last year in May and conditions were terrible, greens were beat to s***. Also second some other comments that it’s usually sloppy and doesn’t drain well. Played #4 in late June and it was exceptional - conditions and greens were outstanding. I don’t think anyone plays #4 - tee sheet is wide open pretty much every weekend. 

Mt. Prospect is in great shape. I played a couple weeks ago, and practice at the range & short area a couple times per week. The rain over the last week helped a lot, I think. Practice greens are rolling very nicely.

 

It’s a fun course. Lots of trouble around the greens, your wedge game will make or break your round. Greens are quick and complex, lots of multi-tiered greens and funky shapes. So you need to put it close, or you’ll have some really difficult lag putts.

 

It’s the kind of course where as a 13 handicap, I will have a bunch of pars and also a bunch of complete blowups.

[mikes919]

Conway Farms tomorrow. I went to the BMW Championship back in 2013 and 2015, have always wanted to play it. Got the chance and jumped at it!

 

Hoping the wind doesn't get too crazy. Looks like it will mostly be to the south, and probably later in the afternoon.

[MountainKing]

Blackstone yesterday afternoon.  A beautiful day for golf, course was in great shape.  Greens were looking a little beat up from the day but they still rolled nice and had some good pace to them.  Bunkers were perfect, just a nice layer of sand with a little bit of moisture in them from the rain.  We teed off just after 2pm so figure plenty of time  to get around before the sun goes down.  Of course the 4some in front of us decided the tips were a good play for them. These guys are living proof that tee box selection can 100% impact pace of play.   Don't think any of them hit a single tee shot over 200 yards so it was resulting in an extra shot on every single hole for them to get up by the green.  It was awesome watching them hit drivers on 5 and nobody coming within 100 yards of the green, then on 17 not a single person came close to clearing the water.  We managed to play 18 in the last bit of light, but thanks to these guys taking 4:30 to get through, nobody behind us would finish with any daylight, when at least a handful of groups should have. 

 

Speaking of 17, the group behind us was clearly sick of the situation and as I'm walking to the cart a tee shot lands about 5 feet from me.  Once again, getting hit into with zero yell.  We gave them some choice words, not that it'll fix things.   I also got to thank the group in front of us for backing the place up ruining the afternoon for a handful of groups behind us.  I don't think they grasped it, not shocking there either.   Regardless of the idiots, still a good day, but man these covid golfers sure do the most to try and ruin things.

 

Came out fairly hot with 3 birdies on the front and 2 bogies but had a pretty rough collapse on the back with 4 bogies.  They had the pins in some gnarly places and every green I missed proved to be an impossible up and down, short sided with everything running away from me so you just do what you can to keep the ball on the green so you don't make more than a bogey.  Ended the day with a 75. 

[Argonne69]

Just now, MountainKing said:

Blackstone yesterday afternoon.  A beautiful day for golf, course was in great shape.  Greens were looking a little beat up from the day but they still rolled nice and had some good pace to them.  Bunkers were perfect, just a nice layer of sand with a little bit of moisture in them from the rain.  We teed off just after 2pm so figure plenty of time  to get around before the sun goes down.  Of course the 4some in front of us decided the tips were a good play for them. These guys are living proof that tee box selection can 100% impact pace of play.   Don't think any of them hit a single tee shot over 200 yards so it was resulting in an extra shot on every single hole for them to get up by the green.  It was awesome watching them hit drivers on 5 and nobody coming within 100 yards of the green, then on 17 not a single person came close to clearing the water.  We managed to play 18 in the last bit of light, but thanks to these guys taking 4:30 to get through, nobody behind us would finish with any daylight, when at least a handful of groups should have. 

 

Speaking of 17, the group behind us was clearly sick of the situation and as I'm walking to the cart a tee shot lands about 5 feet from me.  Once again, getting hit into with zero yell.  We gave them some choice words, not that it'll fix things.   I also got to thank the group in front of us for backing the place up ruining the afternoon for a handful of groups behind us.  I don't think they grasped it, not shocking there either.   Regardless of the idiots, still a good day, but man these covid golfers sure do the most to try and ruin things.

 

Came out fairly hot with 3 birdies on the front and 2 bogies but had a pretty rough collapse on the back with 4 bogies.  They had the pins in some gnarly places and every green I missed proved to be an impossible up and down, short sided with everything running away from me so you just do what you can to keep the ball on the green so you don't make more than a bogey.  Ended the day with a 75. 

 

I'm sure the group ahead enjoyed their case of Coors Light, though. Oy.

 

[Gdane]

10 hours ago, mikes919 said:

Conway Farms tomorrow. I went to the BMW Championship back in 2013 and 2015, have always wanted to play it. Got the chance and jumped at it!

 

Hoping the wind doesn't get too crazy. Looks like it will mostly be to the south, and probably later in the afternoon.

 

I caddied out there for a decade growing up but haven't seen the property since the renovation.   Wind to the south makes that closing stretch a bear.  Enjoy!

[TheBear95]

40 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I'm sure the group ahead enjoyed their case of Coors Light, though. Oy.

 

 

They sound more like White Claw guys to me.

[Argonne69]

Honestly, I know it stinks to skip a hole, but there's no way I'd be waiting on a clown parade if there were open holes ahead and they refused to let me play through. If you're playing a comp, agree to tie the hole and get around the bozos.

 

[TheBear95]

9 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Honestly, I know it stinks to skip a hole, but there's no way I'd be waiting on a clown parade if there were open holes ahead and they refused to let me play through. If you're playing a comp, agree to tie the hole and get around the bozos.

 

 

Yep. If there's open holes in front, no reason to wait behind clowns. Also much easier to do when riding, but I have walked right past groups before. Some guys get all bent out of shape by this, but I don't give a rat's a**.

[MountainKing]

30 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

Honestly, I know it stinks to skip a hole, but there's no way I'd be waiting on a clown parade if there were open holes ahead and they refused to let me play through. If you're playing a comp, agree to tie the hole and get around the bozos.

 

 

We had a tight money game going and my buddy was on track for a personal best round -  it was solid 4somes, they fell behind a couple holes but it was a bit of an awkward fall behind in that it was about a 1/4 of a hole at a time.  By the time they were far enough behind to jump it was hole 12.  From the 16th fairway I took video of them on the 17th tee box, cause I just had to have a real record of it.   

Edited September 27, 2024 by MountainKing

[DavePelz4]

2 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Blackstone yesterday afternoon.  A beautiful day for golf, course was in great shape.  Greens were looking a little beat up from the day but they still rolled nice and had some good pace to them.  Bunkers were perfect, just a nice layer of sand with a little bit of moisture in them from the rain.  We teed off just after 2pm so figure plenty of time  to get around before the sun goes down.  Of course the 4some in front of us decided the tips were a good play for them. These guys are living proof that tee box selection can 100% impact pace of play.   Don't think any of them hit a single tee shot over 200 yards so it was resulting in an extra shot on every single hole for them to get up by the green.  It was awesome watching them hit drivers on 5 and nobody coming within 100 yards of the green, then on 17 not a single person came close to clearing the water.  We managed to play 18 in the last bit of light, but thanks to these guys taking 4:30 to get through, nobody behind us would finish with any daylight, when at least a handful of groups should have. 

 

Speaking of 17, the group behind us was clearly sick of the situation and as I'm walking to the cart a tee shot lands about 5 feet from me.  Once again, getting hit into with zero yell.  We gave them some choice words, not that it'll fix things.   I also got to thank the group in front of us for backing the place up ruining the afternoon for a handful of groups behind us.  I don't think they grasped it, not shocking there either.   Regardless of the idiots, still a good day, but man these covid golfers sure do the most to try and ruin things.

 

Came out fairly hot with 3 birdies on the front and 2 bogies but had a pretty rough collapse on the back with 4 bogies.  They had the pins in some gnarly places and every green I missed proved to be an impossible up and down, short sided with everything running away from me so you just do what you can to keep the ball on the green so you don't make more than a bogey.  Ended the day with a 75. 

 

Are the greens recovered from the aeration?  We have our comp finals there next Saturday.

[MountainKing]

Just now, DavePelz4 said:

 

Are the greens recovered from the aeration?  We have our comp finals there next Saturday.

 

Fully recovered - never would have known they had holes in them.

[DavePelz4]

1 minute ago, MountainKing said:

 

Fully recovered - never would have known they had holes in them.

 

Thanks MK.  We intentionally pushed our finals back a week to give them enough time to properly heal.

 

I should add that our penultimate comp round is tomorrow at the West Chicago home of golf, the St. Andrews course.

Edited September 27, 2024 by DavePelz4

[MountainKing]

5 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Thanks MK.  We intentionally pushed our finals back a week to give them enough time to properly heal.

 

I should add that our penultimate comp round is tomorrow at the West Chicago home of golf, the St. Andrews course.

 

I have not played out at St Andrews in ages, maybe I'll check it out again next year.

[TheBear95]

6 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Thanks MK.  We intentionally pushed our finals back a week to give them enough time to properly heal.

 

I should add that our penultimate comp round is tomorrow at the West Chicago home of golf, the St. Andrews course.

 

I played the Jemsek course last Friday. It was in nice shape!!

[TheBear95]

6 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

I have not played out at St Andrews in ages, maybe I'll check it out again next year.

 

St. Andrews is an ELITE option when the temp is below 35.

[DavePelz4]

1 minute ago, TheBear95 said:

 

St. Andrews is an ELITE option when the temp is below 35.

 

Not only ELITE, but only option below 35. We played there a couple of January's ago when the ground was frozen, still some snow present, and we brought a hammer to put the tees in the ground.  Think I went through 20+ tees that day.

 

Any who, hit a low bullet on the first hole that kept going and going and going. Ended up 8 feet from the pin. First time I ever felt GolfWRX long.

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, TheBear95 said:

 

St. Andrews is an ELITE option when the temp is below 35.

 

Going outside before 35 is something I avoid!

 

[MountainKing]

Highlands of Elgin yesterday afternoon,  a round I didn't think we'd get in with the predicted weather.   Turned out to be a decent afternoon,  no rain and winds not nearly as bad as they were predicting.   Tee to green course was in fine shape,  but as usual they have some of the worst greens for a highly regarded course.   Easily the worst I've seen all season.   Bumpy, inconsistent speed,  putts that took the same line but each ball a different way.     Pace was also dismal at 4:40, resulting in 18 being playedon darker conditions.  

 

HoE was one of my favorite courses when it first opened,  but as the years go by and I keep playing it I find I like it less and less.   Not related to the complaints, but I think the wow factor of the quarry holes has worn and im realizing how weak a lot of the other holes are, or don't fit in with the links style holes.   1,2,5,6,9,14,16-18.   While it probably won't fall out of the rotation,  it's probably going to be a once a year visit moving forward.

 

Decent round,  irons were on point but hard to get putts to drop on those greens.   2 bogies,  a double, 3 birdies for a 73.

[ldchristopher]

Brighton Dale White today with Bear. We were booked for 10:52 on White and there were four groups on the first hole. The starter asked if we wanted to go off Blue instead. Sure. Open tee. I made birdie and then we promptly slammed on the brakes. Three generations of bad golfer were in one foursome in front of us (two grandparents, a dad and a teenager) and the best (relatively speaking) of the group was giving an on course lesson to the junior. The lessons were…not working. They gave no indication they were going to let us play through so on four we just kind of announced we were going through. It moved a little better and we ended up playing the front in 2:10. But we got to 10 and saw a line of carts. At least three groups were backed up on the 10th tee. The ranger saw the line and promptly turned his cart around and drove in the opposite direction. 
Rather than wait 45 minutes on 10, we played the front nine on White Birch. There was a threesome in front of us who moved well so we went in and paid for 9 more to finish up White. In all, we ended up playing 27 holes in 5:20. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon. Thanks NFL. 
BDale was in good shape. The greens on White were a touch faster than the ones on Blue and the bunkers on White are much better. That’s another course that pulls water up from way underground and dumps it back on all 45 holes. However, it wasn’t overly saturated. 
I drove the ball well, my wedge play was sharp, and my irons got better as the round went on. 3 birdies on White (8, 10, and 17) and two bogies (12 and 18) for a 71. 

[Chanceman]

17 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Highlands of Elgin yesterday afternoon,  a round I didn't think we'd get in with the predicted weather.   Turned out to be a decent afternoon,  no rain and winds not nearly as bad as they were predicting.   Tee to green course was in fine shape,  but as usual they have some of the worst greens for a highly regarded course.   Easily the worst I've seen all season.   Bumpy, inconsistent speed,  putts that took the same line but each ball a different way.     Pace was also dismal at 4:40, resulting in 18 being playedon darker conditions.  

 

HoE was one of my favorite courses when it first opened,  but as the years go by and I keep playing it I find I like it less and less.   Not related to the complaints, but I think the wow factor of the quarry holes has worn and im realizing how weak a lot of the other holes are, or don't fit in with the links style holes.   1,2,5,6,9,14,16-18.   While it probably won't fall out of the rotation,  it's probably going to be a once a year visit moving forward.

 

Decent round,  irons were on point but hard to get putts to drop on those greens.   2 bogies,  a double, 3 birdies for a 73.

Agree on most of your points. But another thing that bugged me about HoE is the nightmare traffic going out there. All that construction work really slows things up.

[MountainKing]

5 hours ago, Chanceman said:

Agree on most of your points. But another thing that bugged me about HoE is the nightmare traffic going out there. All that construction work really slows things up.

 

I just take 88 out to 59 and cut over to Mclean from Stearns rd.  It's real easy to get to and avoids the nonsense of coming in from the north end, including the traffic.  McClean was closed for a stretch Saturday but we were able to detour around that without much issue. 

[RGlaze978]

On 9/26/2024 at 4:21 PM, mikes919 said:

Mt. Prospect is in great shape. I played a couple weeks ago, and practice at the range & short area a couple times per week. The rain over the last week helped a lot, I think. Practice greens are rolling very nicely.

 

It’s a fun course. Lots of trouble around the greens, your wedge game will make or break your round. Greens are quick and complex, lots of multi-tiered greens and funky shapes. So you need to put it close, or you’ll have some really difficult lag putts.

 

It’s the kind of course where as a 13 handicap, I will have a bunch of pars and also a bunch of complete blowups.

 

Played pretty accurately to what you said. I found the layout really fun and greens were great. A few greens were ball marked to s*** but overall it was in great condition. We played with another two some who were playing up a tee, so I did not play tipped out like I normally would. I don't think I hit more than a 5i more than 3x the whole round from the fairway. Pretty short but again you pay if you're not in the correct position on green. 

 

Also I got burned by a couple really crappy lies - one of the more unlucky rounds of golf I've ever played. 

 

On 9/26/2024 at 10:10 PM, mikes919 said:

Conway Farms tomorrow. I went to the BMW Championship back in 2013 and 2015, have always wanted to play it. Got the chance and jumped at it!

 

Hoping the wind doesn't get too crazy. Looks like it will mostly be to the south, and probably later in the afternoon.

 

 

Played twice this year in July / August. It has some teeth if you're spraying it off the tee. Immaculate conditions.