Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[ldchristopher]

3 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Prairie Bluff was a go.  Bit chilly,  cart path only,  both solved by walking.   Course was in expected condition,  driest we've seen this year.   3 hour round thanks to a mostly empty course.  No complaints with the game,  4 bad bogies,  2 birds for a 74.

I’ve gotta say, I’m really loving Mountainking’s full face turn from cart guy to walker. 

[DavePelz4]

12 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Prairie Bluff was a go.  Bit chilly,  cart path only,  both solved by walking.   Course was in expected condition,  driest we've seen this year.   3 hour round thanks to a mostly empty course.  No complaints with the game,  4 bad bogies,  2 birds for a 74.

MK, did you book online, call or just show up? The booking engine showed zero tee times available.

[MountainKing]

10 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

I’ve gotta say, I’m really loving Mountainking’s full face turn from cart guy to walker. 

 

My health and size has gotten embarrassing.  I used to be a marathon runner/ hockey player etc and over a 10 year period ballooned myself up to 377 pounds.  Some of that is a result of new found info with my body not wanting certain types of food,  but most of it was just neglect on my part.    To sum it up,  the people in my life deserve better,  especially my daughter.   Being a 45 year old Dad, I need to do what I can to try and be around as long as I can and not be embarrassing to her.    I'm down to 240 today, and my goal this year is to walk 75% of my rounds.  A lot of my playing partners switched to walking last year for health,  and I'm pumped to be joining them! 

 

1 hour ago, DavePelz4 said:

MK, did you book online, call or just show up? The booking engine showed zero tee times available.

 

I booked online.    Tee sheet yesterday wasn't full,  but I was shocked that it was steady given it was only in the 40s.   Might be worth a call

[propman]

On 3/21/2025 at 6:40 PM, DavePelz4 said:

What a difference 10ish miles makes.  The pic below was my backyard this morning. I called Silver Lake to see if the round was still happening and to my utter surprise, they said yes.  The Real Feel for our 10:20 tee time was supposed to be 23 degrees with winds up to 30MPH. Eh, I played the K Club in Dublin the week before the 1996 Ryder Cup in 34 degree temps, with a freaking driving rainstorm, sans rain gear, and at some point in the round, I'm sure my testicles had found warmth around around my pancreas, so today is a piece of cake, let's go build a handicap!

 

Wait, where in the Cheese Whiz is the snow in Orland? Other than perimeter areas with shade, there was no snow.  Wet, sure, but not terrible except for very low spots..  Lots of mud balls, definitely. Greens? Shockingly quick if you were putting down wind and obviously slow on putts the other direction. Kudos to the grounds staff who did a great job of making the course playable.

 

And much to my chagrin, was paired with the guy who runs the league (super nice guy), someone who is probably the longest hitter in the league (flew one 355 down wind, all carry) and the infamous Art B. All were wonderful guys to play with, no one displayed their best, but you pretty much saw everyone's ability. 

 

By the 5th hole, I dumped the winter golf attire, and played the rest of the round in a polo over an Under Armour compression shirt. It was that nice out.

 

To be honest, my short game up to today was Dave Pelz effective. Borderline crazy good. Today, it was more David Hasselhoff like with great results from the beach, but the rest was, um, ah, like my NCAA pool, crashing and burning. 

 

Compared everyone's score to their handicap post round, no one was less than 12 shots over their index, some way worse. But, totally great guys, they hit the ball and literally go. Although we waited on a 2 some for the last 5 holes, it was still a 4 hour round. Compared to the 2 hour and 30 minute rounds of this week, my level of tiredness is basically non-existent.

 

Learned a lot today about the league, Silver Lakes, etc., looking forward to this competitive season.

 

 

 

Yep, Art loves to play fast. Imho, only way to go.

[Marlo989]

9 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

My health and size has gotten embarrassing.  I used to be a marathon runner/ hockey player etc and over a 10 year period ballooned myself up to 377 pounds.  Some of that is a result of new found info with my body not wanting certain types of food,  but most of it was just neglect on my part.    To sum it up,  the people in my life deserve better,  especially my daughter.   Being a 45 year old Dad, I need to do what I can to try and be around as long as I can and not be embarrassing to her.    I'm down to 240 today, and my goal this year is to walk 75% of my rounds.  A lot of my playing partners switched to walking last year for health,  and I'm pumped to be joining them! 

 

Good for you man. Congrats on the progress and keep it up. That's great. Do it for you and for her

[MountainKing]

16 hours ago, Marlo989 said:

Good for you man. Congrats on the progress and keep it up. That's great. Do it for you and for her

 

Thanks dude -  the rest aside, didn't realize how difficult I was making this game by being the size I was.  I lost a huge step with the swing when I had back surgery 5 years back now, but this year with being stronger and fitter I'm about 15 yards longer, and close to making up those yards I lost!

[ldchristopher]

Day one in the books. Piper Glen was okay. The greens were phenomenal. They were stimping at a 10 and were ultra smooth. The front is a fun challenge. Miss the green and end up with all kinds of goofy lies. Give me bunkers over that stuff any day. It was made a lot more difficult by the 15-25 mph winds we dealt with the entire round. The back nine was pretty pedestrian. It’s a pretty open housing development course that kind of reminded me of Timber Pointe without the waste areas. Would I drive to Springfield explicitly to play PG? Nah. But it’s solid as a course on the way to or from St. Louis. 
 

I enjoyed Spencer T. Olin’s setting. There are no homes, it’s located within a huge park complex, and the walk is pretty easy at about 6.5 miles. The greens were also incredible. They moved a touch faster than Piper Glen and were equally smooth. It has the offset boxes and ravines that cut in front of greens that Arnold Palmer designs all have but the layout was generally pretty fun. I’m aware there are higher rated courses in the area but, once you get past the funny optics of bright green bent grass greens and rough and dormant yellow zoysia fairways (something that all courses down here have except for Gateway National), it’s a solid challenge and worth a play. 

[ldchristopher]

Day 2 is a wrap and Annbriar really delivered. The setting is outstanding and the course itself is both very playable (some of the widest fairways I've ever seen) and a fair test around the greens. I can see why Annbriar shows up on lists of best public courses in IL. Personally, I have always enjoyed Michael Hurdzan course designs. He is very much the anti-Arnold Palmer. Everything is right in front of you and he uses the natural terrain. The front is prairie style and was a pretty easy walk. The back made us really question our sanity since that's the hardest walk either of us have ever attempted on a golf course. I may very well feel some lactic acid buildup tomorrow in my hamstrings and quads. To anyone who plays Annbriar and says, "Well, it's very pretty but lacking in distance and difficulty," I say: walk it and get back to me. The greens were once again really, really good. It wouldn't surprise me if the greens at a lot of St. Louis courses are very good though, since the bluegrass we see at so many non-top tier courses likely wouldn't grow well down there and most use bent grass. 

 

On to Gateway National, which is in a setting that reminded me of Lost Marsh/Harborside/Highlands of Elgin. I got big time Hammvegas vibes with the course crunched in between a canal and an industrial park. I generally really enjoy courses designed by convicted felon Keith Foster and HOE and Shephards Crook are fair comps given the prairie/faux links layouts and nearby industry. I prefer both courses in our area over Gateway though. I loved playing on something that was entirely bent grass (zoysia stinks; it feels like hitting off a mat on long irons but grabs wedges on the backswing) but it was pretty ragged. Lots of crab grass and splotchy rough. Yeah, yeah, it's not even April. I know. But things get lush much earlier down there. After the challenge of walking Annbriar, we took the cart we were paying for anyway. This was a mistake, since Gateway is an extremely walkable, pancake-flat facility. We should've played there first and taken the cart at Annbriar. It was an enjoyable round, don't get me wrong. I’m just not sure why it’s pretty much universally viewed as among the best courses in St. Louis. Does it get the Harborside treatment, where proximity to downtown factors in? I also played very well at Gateway, as it was easily my lowest round of the four courses (73; 1 birdie on 18). 

Edited March 26 by ldchristopher

[MountainKing]

7 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Day 2 is a wrap and Annbriar really delivered. The setting is outstanding and the course itself is both very playable (some of the widest fairways I've ever seen) and a fair test around the greens. I can see why Annbriar shows up on lists of best public courses in IL. Personally, I have always enjoyed Michael Hurdzan course designs. He is very much the anti-Arnold Palmer. Everything is right in front of you and he uses the natural terrain. The front is prairie style and was a pretty easy walk. The back made us really question our sanity since that's the hardest walk either of us have ever attempted on a golf course. I may very well feel some lactic acid buildup tomorrow in my hamstrings and quads. To anyone who plays Annbriar and says, "Well, it's very pretty but lacking in distance and difficulty," I say: walk it and get back to me. The greens were once again really, really good. It wouldn't surprise me if the greens at a lot of St. Louis courses are very good though, since the bluegrass we see at so many non-top tier courses likely wouldn't grow well down there and most use bent grass. 

 

On to Gateway National, which is in a setting that reminded me of Lost Marsh/Harborside/Highlands of Elgin. I got big time Hammvegas vibes with the course crunched in between a canal and an industrial park. I generally really enjoy courses designed by convicted felon Keith Foster and HOE and Shephards Crook are fair comps given the prairie/faux links layouts and nearby industry. I prefer both courses in our area over Gateway though. I loved playing on something that was entirely bent grass (zoysia stinks; it feels like hitting off a mat on long irons but grabs wedges on the backswing) but it was pretty ragged. Lots of crab grass and splotchy rough. Yeah, yeah, it's not even April. I know. But things get lush much earlier down there. After the challenge of walking Annbriar, we took the cart we were paying for anyway. This was a mistake, since Gateway is an extremely walkable, pancake-flat facility. We should've played there first and taken the cart at Annbriar. It was an enjoyable round, don't get me wrong. I’m just not sure why it’s pretty much universally viewed as among the best courses in St. Louis. Does it get the Harborside treatment, where proximity to downtown factors in? I also played very well at Gateway, as it was easily my lowest round of the four courses (73; 1 birdie on 18). 

 

 

Had to look up where GN was, odd I've driven through that area numerous times and never knew there was a course back there.  I can't imagine a more un-scenic area to put a golf course.   The whole ranking thing is nothing but BS, as most of us suspect.  My buddy purchased and turned around a pretty highly talked about course in the state, he feels he's gotten it to a point where it deserves to be ranked, but has had numerous struggles getting that process going.   It's not exactly pay to play, but it's close enough.

[psygolf]

Has anyone played Winnetka since they re-opened from the massive renovation last July?

 

impressive videos of the work online

[B-Man]

1 hour ago, psygolf said:

Has anyone played Winnetka since they re-opened from the massive renovation last July?

 

impressive videos of the work online

Played it in October. I had never played there before but I found it rather boring. Only the last 2 holes were decent. The 9th was terrible. It appeared they want to be a country club but they tried too much.

Edited March 26 by B-Man

[MountainKing]

2 hours ago, psygolf said:

Has anyone played Winnetka since they re-opened from the massive renovation last July?

 

impressive videos of the work online

 

 

Unless they blew the course up and started over, no makeover would make it better.

[underwaterDMS]

3 hours ago, psygolf said:

Has anyone played Winnetka since they re-opened from the massive renovation last July?

 

impressive videos of the work online

I played it once the week after they re-opened.

 

The renovation was badly needed.   Many of the issues that made it borderline unplayable (like drainage) have been significantly improved. I'm used to my drives hitting the fairway there and backing up... whereas I actually had 10-20 yards of roll out.   They layout is more or less the same... if you didn't like the layout before, you won't like it now.  A few holes have some new tightly mown area around the greens.  The water hazard adjacent to 18 has been dramatically expanded.  But every hole plays the same as it did.

 

What they were asking for the experience was borderline obscene.  I think it was ~80$ to walk on a weekday.  There are plenty of other public options around the north shore that provide a much better value.  I grew up playing with my grandparents here, so it will always provide a bit of nostalgia, and for that reason alone I usually make my way on property at least once per year.  But it's not a place I will happily hit on repeat, like Sunset Valley.

[MountainKing]

Going in Friday to tweak the lofts a bit more on the new irons.   The short irons are still flying to far so I need to get another degree added in, I think, and take a bit of loft off the 5 iron so I can close the gap with my hybrids.  Once I'm done there I should be good to go, and hopefully Saturday the weather holds off, we have a time at Prairie Landing and want to get the loft adjustments tested out, as well as give the Cybercart I ordered a spin (as long as Fedex doesn't mess this up). 

[VNutz]

Sorry for your loss @DavePelz4

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/dave-pelz-renowned-short-game-coach-inventor-author-dies-at-85

[mci711]

15 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Day 2 is a wrap and Annbriar really delivered. The setting is outstanding and the course itself is both very playable (some of the widest fairways I've ever seen) and a fair test around the greens. I can see why Annbriar shows up on lists of best public courses in IL. Personally, I have always enjoyed Michael Hurdzan course designs. He is very much the anti-Arnold Palmer. Everything is right in front of you and he uses the natural terrain. The front is prairie style and was a pretty easy walk. The back made us really question our sanity since that's the hardest walk either of us have ever attempted on a golf course. I may very well feel some lactic acid buildup tomorrow in my hamstrings and quads. To anyone who plays Annbriar and says, "Well, it's very pretty but lacking in distance and difficulty," I say: walk it and get back to me. The greens were once again really, really good. It wouldn't surprise me if the greens at a lot of St. Louis courses are very good though, since the bluegrass we see at so many non-top tier courses likely wouldn't grow well down there and most use bent grass. 

 

On to Gateway National, which is in a setting that reminded me of Lost Marsh/Harborside/Highlands of Elgin. I got big time Hammvegas vibes with the course crunched in between a canal and an industrial park. I generally really enjoy courses designed by convicted felon Keith Foster and HOE and Shephards Crook are fair comps given the prairie/faux links layouts and nearby industry. I prefer both courses in our area over Gateway though. I loved playing on something that was entirely bent grass (zoysia stinks; it feels like hitting off a mat on long irons but grabs wedges on the backswing) but it was pretty ragged. Lots of crab grass and splotchy rough. Yeah, yeah, it's not even April. I know. But things get lush much earlier down there. After the challenge of walking Annbriar, we took the cart we were paying for anyway. This was a mistake, since Gateway is an extremely walkable, pancake-flat facility. We should've played there first and taken the cart at Annbriar. It was an enjoyable round, don't get me wrong. I’m just not sure why it’s pretty much universally viewed as among the best courses in St. Louis. Does it get the Harborside treatment, where proximity to downtown factors in? I also played very well at Gateway, as it was easily my lowest round of the four courses (73; 1 birdie on 18). 

 

Spot on for Annbriar and Gateway.

 

I used to work at Gateway. It was the premier public course in the area. It is right across the river from downtown. So golfers traveling to cardinals games would pair it up. Walters Golf Management kind of destroys everything it touches. Other than Far Oaks, which has a different kind of "management" with Walters, all of their courses are run to the ground and very little put back into them. Gateway used to be pristine, those days are over. Back in the day it felt much higher end, Ozzie Smith played in a weekly money game, other athletes would join. I think it still has that reputation. I'd play Annbriar, Pevely Farms, Far oaks over it for sure.
When I first moved to Chicago I told my friends that Harborside was my new gateway. Harborside is better, more elevation, and more interesting overall. 

[TheBear95]

26 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

Spot on for Annbriar and Gateway.

 

I used to work at Gateway. It was the premier public course in the area. It is right across the river from downtown. So golfers traveling to cardinals games would pair it up. Walters Golf Management kind of destroys everything it touches. Other than Far Oaks, which has a different kind of "management" with Walters, all of their courses are run to the ground and very little put back into them. Gateway used to be pristine, those days are over. Back in the day it felt much higher end, Ozzie Smith played in a weekly money game, other athletes would join. I think it still has that reputation. I'd play Annbriar, Pevely Farms, Far oaks over it for sure.
When I first moved to Chicago I told my friends that Harborside was my new gateway. Harborside is better, more elevation, and more interesting overall. 

 

That makes a ton of sense on Gateway. The feeling I got was things were nicer there in the past. What I call the Oak Grove vibe!

 

Annbriar was terrific. We had the second time of the day and basically had the back 9 to ourselves. Great weather too. Really couldn't ask for much more. 

 

It was a bit jarring to go from the beauty and quiet of Annbriar to the Rust Belt industry zone of Gateway. 

[mci711]

3 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

 

That makes a ton of sense on Gateway. The feeling I got was things were nicer there in the past. What I call the Oak Grove vibe!

 

Annbriar was terrific. We had the second time of the day and basically had the back 9 to ourselves. Great weather too. Really couldn't ask for much more. 

 

It was a bit jarring to go from the beauty and quiet of Annbriar to the Rust Belt industry zone of Gateway. 

 

Was there anything going on at the race track? It gets incredibly loud. There have been rumours for years that the course is going to get shut down to expand the track offerings I guess.. Nothing has happened, obviously, but it may not be around all that much longer. 

 

[TheBear95]

37 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

Was there anything going on at the race track? It gets incredibly loud. There have been rumours for years that the course is going to get shut down to expand the track offerings I guess.. Nothing has happened, obviously, but it may not be around all that much longer. 

 

 

Nothing at the track yesterday. LD was commenting what it would be like playing when a race was happening. We had enough noise from all the freight trains, trucks and forklifts. 

[DavePelz4]

3 hours ago, VNutz said:

Sorry for your loss @DavePelz4

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/dave-pelz-renowned-short-game-coach-inventor-author-dies-at-85

 

Saw that this morning, and did a post. Wasn't aware that he had cancer. The original DP would have been proud of his student's wedge play today. 

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Nothing at the track yesterday. LD was commenting what it would be like playing when a race was happening. We had enough noise from all the freight trains, trucks and forklifts. 

 

I played Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis in 2015. Three holes are in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While it wasn't a race weekend, there were a few cars out on the track. Pretty cool if you're a race fan teeing off with Indycars flying past. 

 

 

 

 

[mci711]

34 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I played Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis in 2015. Three holes are in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While it wasn't a race weekend, there were a few cars out on the track. Pretty cool if you're a race fan teeing off with Indycars flying past. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am running a half marathon in about a month, and 2 miles are on the track. 

[Symphonize]

35 minutes ago, mci711 said:

 

I am running a half marathon in about a month, and 2 miles are on the track. 

I’ve had a lot of friends run that, everyone says the track is the worst part. 
 

 

Got out for the first round of the year today. Didn’t keep score, but very happy with the play after not swinging a club for 3 months (not counting one hour on the sim). Pitching and chipping definitely need the most work. Putting can’t really make out as the greens are obviously still coming in. 

Edited March 27 by Symphonize

[mci711]

4 minutes ago, Symphonize said:

I’ve had a lot of friends run that, everyone says the track is the worst part. 

 

It is hot and on an angle. So I get that

[Symphonize]

3 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

It is hot and on an angle. So I get that

Enjoy your run, and hopefully get some golf in on your trip down there! 

[psygolf]

10 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Going in Friday to tweak the lofts a bit more on the new irons.   The short irons are still flying to far so I need to get another degree added in, I think, and take a bit of loft off the 5 iron so I can close the gap with my hybrids.  Once I'm done there I should be good to go, and hopefully Saturday the weather holds off, we have a time at Prairie Landing and want to get the loft adjustments tested out, as well as give the Cybercart I ordered a spin (as long as Fedex doesn't mess this up). 

Don’t forget…every degree weaker means more bounce

[ldchristopher]

8 hours ago, mci711 said:

 

Spot on for Annbriar and Gateway.

 

I used to work at Gateway. It was the premier public course in the area. It is right across the river from downtown. So golfers traveling to cardinals games would pair it up. Walters Golf Management kind of destroys everything it touches. Other than Far Oaks, which has a different kind of "management" with Walters, all of their courses are run to the ground and very little put back into them. Gateway used to be pristine, those days are over. Back in the day it felt much higher end, Ozzie Smith played in a weekly money game, other athletes would join. I think it still has that reputation. I'd play Annbriar, Pevely Farms, Far oaks over it for sure.
When I first moved to Chicago I told my friends that Harborside was my new gateway. Harborside is better, more elevation, and more interesting overall. 

I get that the setting is the setting and the course is what matters but Gateway was very strange. It has a Madison, IL address but it’s basically in Cahokia, which is just abject poverty. And while Harborside has the funny visuals (intermodal yard just off a tee box, staring at the Port Authority building while walking down a par 5), with the exception of holes that go along the Dan Ryan, it’s not super loud and a large enough piece of property that I feel relatively removed from all the nearby industry. There was no escaping the forklifts, dump trucks, and freight trains at Gateway. On Google Maps, I couldn’t figure out how they even crammed 18 holes into that footprint, let alone a course that plays over 7000 yards. So kudos to Keith Foster for using the entire property while keeping the target golf to a minimum. He definitely got creative with a front nine that’s over 3700 yards and a back nine that’s under 3300. My lasting memory of Gateway will be the hundreds of thousands of golf balls burned up in between holes. They literally lined every hole from the tee box to the green. I also loved the sign in the carts that said, “If you never see the group in front of you but always see the group behind you, you’re the slow group.” 

[MountainKing]

9 hours ago, psygolf said:

Don’t forget…every degree weaker means more bounce

 

Well aware  - that's what grinding is for

[ssp]

Annbriar is a gem!  I contend that back 9 is as good as any I have played.  Just straight up fun.

 

Just need to watch for sinkholes.  Man survives golf course sinkhole – GolfWRX

 

[psygolf]

8 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Well aware  - that's what grinding is for

Then lead tape