Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[Symphonize]

I got the E-1 last week. Was sitting at a 17.4 index and shot an 83 (differential of 10.4), exactly on that 7.0 difference for the exceptional score. Could have been better too, as I finished double-double with 2 three-putts. 
 

Now I started off the year slow with a few bad rounds that knocked off some okay ones from last year. But the exceptional score is hopefully going to be more of a norm. Previous Sunday was an 88, meh 92 on Tuesday, that 83 on wed, and an 86 on Friday. Ball striking has been a lot better, and working on my course management has definitely helped limit the blow up holes. 

[MountainKing]

1 hour ago, mci711 said:

 

Agree. 7-9 under your handicap should never happen. Maybe for super high handicappers that are learning and getting better quickly.. If this is happening weekly (which it sounds like it does to win this comp), then it is either sandbagging or a terrible handicap structure. 

 

 

If they're using their own system to calculate,  7 to 9 might make sense.  USGA as most know calculate potential, making going that far under, nearly impossible.   A lot of places that do their own,  tend to be on the higher side, making it a lot more possibly.

[DavePelz4]

12 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

 

So they're using their own system and not usga? 

 

Yep, only rounds played in tournaments are used for the handicap. Our comp group does the same. I also have a CDGA index, so I have 3.

[MountainKing]

2 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

Yep, only rounds played in tournaments are used for the handicap. Our comp group does the same. I also have a CDGA index, so I have 3.

 

That makes sense!  Prevents people with vanity caps from complaining and people who do sandbag from doing so.  If they do the standard basing it off of your scoring average to par, the handicap is probably a lot higher than the CDGA 

[DavePelz4]

10 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

 

If they're using their own system to calculate,  7 to 9 might make sense.  USGA as most know calculate potential, making going that far under, nearly impossible.   A lot of places that do their own,  tend to be on the higher side, making it a lot more possibly.

 

Went back to look at a couple of things. Like my round, several of the larger differentials have come from first year players. My index was established in rounds that were terrible conditions and compared to my CDGA index, it's 3 shots higher.

[DavePelz4]

2 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

 

That makes sense!  Prevents people with vanity caps from complaining and people who do sandbag from doing so.  If they do the standard basing it off of your scoring average to par, the handicap is probably a lot higher than the CDGA 

 

It's done off the differential.

[DavePelz4]

Retired fun golf round at Blackstone today. Couple of interesting things. Reseeding parts of the range and instead of just moving the area where you'd hit balls from forward, they basically filled in divots. So you're walking on seeding which can't be helping things.

 

The bunker reconstruction on holes 4 and 18 is done. They made them both smaller. Used a different color and type of sand which just looks and plays funky. Was in the bunker in front of the 18th green and would label it as more of finely pulverized beach shells vs sand.

 

And, the 13th green is unlike any other green on the course. It appears to have been punched recently, with huge holes. and good luck keeping any kind of putt on line.

 

As a 3 some, and our third was a single who joined us, and he was awesome, we waited multiple times on, not a foursome. Not a threesome, not a twosome, but a freaking single. Seriously. Still finished in 3:40, OK, but it could have been 3:15.

 

The worst part of the day was the return trip from Marengo to Lockport. Minutes under 2 hours as the 355/290 stretch from Schaumburg to just past Boughton, was 75 minutes. 

[TheBear95]

3 hours ago, DavePelz4 said:

Retired fun golf round at Blackstone today. Couple of interesting things. Reseeding parts of the range and instead of just moving the area where you'd hit balls from forward, they basically filled in divots. So you're walking on seeding which can't be helping things.

 

The bunker reconstruction on holes 4 and 18 is done. They made them both smaller. Used a different color and type of sand which just looks and plays funky. Was in the bunker in front of the 18th green and would label it as more of finely pulverized beach shells vs sand.

 

And, the 13th green is unlike any other green on the course. It appears to have been punched recently, with huge holes. and good luck keeping any kind of putt on line.

 

As a 3 some, and our third was a single who joined us, and he was awesome, we waited multiple times on, not a foursome. Not a threesome, not a twosome, but a freaking single. Seriously. Still finished in 3:40, OK, but it could have been 3:15.

 

The worst part of the day was the return trip from Marengo to Lockport. Minutes under 2 hours as the 355/290 stretch from Schaumburg to just past Boughton, was 75 minutes. 

 

Oh man. Better off taking 47 to 88 when headed back to the Port from beautiful Marengo.

[ldchristopher]

I was off today since my daughter’s school did a Kindergarten Signing Day. The principal is a college football fan so the kids had shirts for the nearby kindergartens. They put on the shirt of the school they were going to attend next year. Cute stuff. Anyway, I still had the rest of the day and my GolfVisions pass from the golf show hadn’t been used yet so I played Bittersweet. Only had to pay the “trail fee.” That’s code for, “Even walkers pay something.” Good course for $25 though. I love weather like today. I can feel the humidity coming off the reeds, had high 80’s temps the whole round, and the ball was flying. The greens at Bittersweet, however, were slooooooow. After last weekend when even Stonehenge felt quick with the wind, I was leaving everything short. But I played a very smart, efficient round. I committed to just hitting 3 wood or 4 iron off every tee. Hit 12 greens and shot a 38-37 75. 

[ldchristopher]

Tough round at Brighton Dale White today. The crazy winds on Thursday ripped through there and took down a ton of trees. Splintered timber everywhere. The Blue course is still closed so I’m guessing that’s even more of a mess. With the 25-30 mph winds and greens running at a 10.5, White B!tch was playing extra difficult. I made a couple birdies on 2 (long putt) and 6 (on in 2) to keep my score at a manageable 37 at the turn. But the back kicked my butt and I missed birdie putts on the two other par 5s. Had a back nine 40, but I felt like I played much better. This Spring has been the windiest I can remember. 
 

A real highlight was my putting. Speed control was excellent, I had a few nice par saves, the two birdies, and everything felt like it had a chance. Was this with my Lajosi or maybe a Bettinardi or a Cameron? Perhaps a Piretti? Nope. I re-gripped my wife’s TaylorMade Ghost Manta last week so I took that one for a spin. Sigh. Welp, guys on tour putt with some hideous looking putters. Whatever gets the ball in the hole I guess. 

[@_the_crook]

Strange weather this morning. Dark, windy as heck, clouds rolling overhead that looked like rain was coming. Two hours layer, sunshine and breezy. We still had a great time and wrapped in three and a half. Not too bad for a bunch of codgers.

[MountainKing]

Prairie Landing this morning,  not much to really add on the weather front.    it's getting old,  but on the other hand the course was empty, allowing us to get around in just under 3 hours.  I guess I'll deal with the weather if it keeps courses empty.  PL was in great shape as usual,  and they had slowed the greens up in anticipation of the winds.  Glad they recognize that slower greens in this weather is still tough.

 

My round was for sure a tale of 9s.  35 on the front, and another mess on the back with some doubles and a quad on 18 ffor 46, and 81 on the day.  Yuck.   My highest 9 holes in a long time.

[ldchristopher]

I wasn’t going to play today but yesterday was such a mess with the wind that I saw a 6:09 tee time available at Bonnie Brook and jumped on it. Guys don’t play early when it’s in the low 50’s I guess. Was shocked to see that time open. Anyway, it was great playing BBrook. It’s always in excellent shape as the crown jewel of the GolfVisions portfolio and courses lately have been really firm. It was nice playing softer conditions. The greens were a smooth 9, which is fine. They had some moisture on them so things could speed up later in the day. Ball striking was the same as yesterday but the results were much better. My wife’s Ghost lost its magic as I only had one birdie (5) and missed several other decent looks but it was good to get back on track with a 75. 

[TBone0576]

On 5/15/2025 at 7:23 PM, ldchristopher said:

I was off today since my daughter’s school did a Kindergarten Signing Day. The principal is a college football fan so the kids had shirts for the nearby kindergartens. They put on the shirt of the school they were going to attend next year. Cute stuff. Anyway, I still had the rest of the day and my GolfVisions pass from the golf show hadn’t been used yet so I played Bittersweet. Only had to pay the “trail fee.” That’s code for, “Even walkers pay something.” Good course for $25 though. I love weather like today. I can feel the humidity coming off the reeds, had high 80’s temps the whole round, and the ball was flying. The greens at Bittersweet, however, were slooooooow. After last weekend when even Stonehenge felt quick with the wind, I was leaving everything short. But I played a very smart, efficient round. I committed to just hitting 3 wood or 4 iron off every tee. Hit 12 greens and shot a 38-37 75. 

I’ll usually golf anywhere but Bittersweet I’ll never do again.  I hate that layout.   Can’t think of one good hole there. 

[TBone0576]

On 5/17/2025 at 11:51 AM, ldchristopher said:

Tough round at Brighton Dale White today. The crazy winds on Thursday ripped through there and took down a ton of trees. Splintered timber everywhere. The Blue course is still closed so I’m guessing that’s even more of a mess. With the 25-30 mph winds and greens running at a 10.5, White B!tch was playing extra difficult. I made a couple birdies on 2 (long putt) and 6 (on in 2) to keep my score at a manageable 37 at the turn. But the back kicked my butt and I missed birdie putts on the two other par 5s. Had a back nine 40, but I felt like I played much better. This Spring has been the windiest I can remember. 
 

A real highlight was my putting. Speed control was excellent, I had a few nice par saves, the two birdies, and everything felt like it had a chance. Was this with my Lajosi or maybe a Bettinardi or a Cameron? Perhaps a Piretti? Nope. I re-gripped my wife’s TaylorMade Ghost Manta last week so I took that one for a spin. Sigh. Welp, guys on tour putt with some hideous looking putters. Whatever gets the ball in the hole I guess. 

I was curious what you thought the greens were running.  They are quickening.  The course was drying out big time.  Balls were bouncing 8 feet in the air before the greens. I love that the super is making it tough and drying it out.  They have almost unlimited water out there and always seems to play slow and damp.  

[mikes919]

Played Makray this morning for the first time. Course was in great shape and weather was absolutely perfect.

 

Holy moly those greens! I don’t know that I’ve ever played somewhere that fast, with so much break on almost every hole. I picked a bad course to have a crappy wedge round. Left myself tons of long putts and ended up 3-putting 5 times, oof.

 

On the short par-4 8th, I hit my drive to the fringe and still needed to drain a 10 foot comeback for par. Maybe the best shot I’ve hit all year, followed by the worst putting ever.

[Holy Moses]

1 hour ago, mikes919 said:

Played Makray this morning for the first time. Course was in great shape and weather was absolutely perfect.

 

Holy moly those greens! I don’t know that I’ve ever played somewhere that fast, with so much break on almost every hole. I picked a bad course to have a crappy wedge round. Left myself tons of long putts and ended up 3-putting 5 times, oof.

 

On the short par-4 8th, I hit my drive to the fringe and still needed to drain a 10 foot comeback for par. Maybe the best shot I’ve hit all year, followed by the worst putting ever.

Makray has some of the fastest and slopiest greens I have seem. Some pin positions on 3, 4, and 5 border on the ridiculous. 

[ldchristopher]

3 hours ago, TBone0576 said:

I was curious what you thought the greens were running.  They are quickening.  The course was drying out big time.  Balls were bouncing 8 feet in the air before the greens. I love that the super is making it tough and drying it out.  They have almost unlimited water out there and always seems to play slow and damp.  

Those greens were moving, which added an extra challenge to the round. My issue is, those greens are really not made to run quick. That’s not bent grass and it’s not sand-based. That’s bluegrass over dirt. I worry about them losing the greens as the year goes on or them becoming super bumpy. BDale is a place where they generally just have all the greens stimp at 9. So they’re clearly establishing that White will play the more challenging of the two 18s this year. It’s nice having White play firm though. Do they have a new Super or is this just a tease before it goes back to being overwatered in summer? 

[St Jimmy]

Makray in July has broken me in the past.  I only play there in the winter now.  

[MountainKing]

7 hours ago, mikes919 said:

Played Makray this morning for the first time. Course was in great shape and weather was absolutely perfect.

 

Holy moly those greens! I don’t know that I’ve ever played somewhere that fast, with so much break on almost every hole. I picked a bad course to have a crappy wedge round. Left myself tons of long putts and ended up 3-putting 5 times, oof.

 

On the short par-4 8th, I hit my drive to the fringe and still needed to drain a 10 foot comeback for par. Maybe the best shot I’ve hit all year, followed by the worst putting ever.

 

My pro tip on Makray is don't be afraid to send the ball away from the hole to get it to the hole.   Part of what I love about that place is the creative paths you need to take to get the ball near the hole.   

[Holy Moses]

Great round at the Highlands of Elgin yesterday. They put some water on the greens like MountainKing said Prairie Landing did which was smart. Balls were holding fairly well.

 

My dad and I played with some college-aged kids that started playing golf a few years ago. They were super cool dudes who pretty athletic. One could hit the ball nearly 300 yards, but played a huge draw and struggled to keep the ball in play. I noticed he had a 55 gram regular shaft in his driver. He asked me what he could do to improve, and I told him to at least get a 65 gram stiff flex shaft. Golf is hard enough, but it’s a lot harder playing with the wrong shafts.

[TBone0576]

13 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Those greens were moving, which added an extra challenge to the round. My issue is, those greens are really not made to run quick. That’s not bent grass and it’s not sand-based. That’s bluegrass over dirt. I worry about them losing the greens as the year goes on or them becoming super bumpy. BDale is a place where they generally just have all the greens stimp at 9. So they’re clearly establishing that White will play the more challenging of the two 18s this year. It’s nice having White play firm though. Do they have a new Super or is this just a tease before it goes back to being overwatered in summer? 

Yeah I think they are about at their limit right now and actually looked like they scalped them pretty good.   I am ok with having the White play harder than the Blue.  I think the general public prefers the Blue as it is shorter.   The White from the tips is no joke and all of the par 3's on that course range from 190-255.   I don't know all that much about the structure of the staff out there.  I know that the head pro and the head super were up for the role of running the County courses and the super won out.   I heard that he came from Medinah so he definitely knows what he is doing.   The super at Petrifying Springs came from Kohler somewhere.   My guess is that they will go back to putting water on the green in June when we finally get some warmer temps but maybe they can find a happy medium.  

[B-Man]

Played at Royal Silver Lake at the sparrows fart yesterday. North course. 1st time back there in 20 years since B.C. Greens were in excellent condition. I can see why DP4 is kicking ring there. Still not a fan of that 11th's funky layout. Barely got over the water after smashing the driver. Otherwise plenty of birdies and more than a few others. Was at a concert late Saturday night so wasn't in the best shape to play at the crack but you get what you get...

Edited May 19 by B-Man

[DavePelz4]

Interesting 3 days of golf. The usual Friday Sunday at Silver Lake with Sunday being the start of the 3 day/round medal competition. 20 rounds to be qualified, I only have 17. Tried to withdraw from play as I thought someone who was qualified would appreciate playing, nope, you're in. Not only that, but I was paired with 3 scratch players in the Championship flight. Oh this is going to be good, right? One of the "gentlemen" told me I didn't belong, what a nice guy. Thankfully they were riding, so it was rather easy to stay to myself. Started with an 8, oh nice. But that "not belonging" comment either pissed me off or motivated me and guess who beat that 30 year old young buck on the front. Yep, yours truly. And if it hadn't been for a double on 17, I'd have beat him overall as well. He was generally 50-75 yards past me off the tee, but don't bet against an old man's short game.

 

After Thursday's storms, the course was beat up on Friday. You'd have thought having a day + to get the course in better conditions, Sunday would be normal, but no such luck. Whirlybirds everywhere, branches everywhere, thankfully the greens were OK.

 

Saturday was our longstanding comp groups 4th round and this one was a home game at Broken Arrow. Generally, the course is in great condition, except for the lack of sand in any bunkers. And knowing that the winds were going to be brutal, why put pins in inaccessible positions? Just doesn't make sense, and of course, leads to a bad pace of play. We toured BA in 4:30 and waited on almost every hole. There is a big sign when you walk in announcing that the bar is open! Post round, we went in the bar only to discover an equally big sign saying "The Bar is Closed." Of course, it's to be expected for a Golf Visions managed property.

 

Walking out to the car I saw something I've never seen on a golf course. 3 squad cars of Lockport's finest surrounded a SUV, pulled the guy out, handcuffed him and charged him with what sounded like armed robbery. Have tried to find the details on that but nothing in the local news. Watched this for a good 2 minutes or so and then decided they probably didn't appreciate being watched.

 

5 rounds this week. Venturing to The Elks, Friday/Sunday at the usual, comp round Saturday at Randall Oaks and then heading to Harvard to play Oak Grove in a Memorial Day tradition.  Thinking of bringing a bucket of sand, just in case of being in any bunker.

[DavePelz4]

50 minutes ago, B-Man said:

Played at Royal Silver Lake at the sparrows fart yesterday. North course. 1st time back there in 20 years since B.C. Greens were in excellent condition. I can why DP4 is kicking ring there. Still not a fan of that 11th's funky layout. Barely got over the water after smashing the driver. Otherwise plenty of birdies and more than a few others. Was at a concert late Saturday night so wasn't in the best shape to play at the crack but you get what you get...

 

Us old guys have to lay up on 11, not a fan of that at all. Then it's a 4 or 7W. Always seems to play into the wind as well.

[MountainKing]

Ventured out to Fyre Lake today,  because a 50 degree day with rain and wind is a perfect day to drive 5 hours round trip for 36 holes.   Course was in outstanding shape tee to green,  Mark is really turning that place into something special.   We were the only idiots there,  we came in for a couple breaks when the rain picked up, but we still got through our first 18 in 4 hours with multiple breaks.   After 18 we were wet and cold,  but the sun came out so we decided to take another run around back 9. 

 

Happy with how I hit it, lot of great shots but I couldn't buy a single birdie on the day.   74 for the 18 hole round.   37 for the 9 hole round.  

 

Fyre for sure is a top 5 course in IL, if you haven't been, go.   I look forward to getting back there again this year.

[mci711]

Funny story, continuing the handicap talk. Played a match today at my club. First round of the season long bracket. Was playing an 11 so I was giving 7 shots. I lost on the 12th hole 😂. He was 1 over thru 10 and of course having his "best round ever."

 

I just don't get the point. There's always next year, hopefully I get out of the first round! lol

[zer0]

2 weeks till my big Wisco golf trip and still haven't touched a club since last August 😲

 

Haven't even taken the bag out of storage yet.  This is gonna prove to be an interesting golf trip.  

 

I did figure out how to set my Bumble location to Milwaukee so at least I got that part squared away. #priorities

Edited May 22 by zer0

[MountainKing]

17 hours ago, mci711 said:

Funny story, continuing the handicap talk. Played a match today at my club. First round of the season long bracket. Was playing an 11 so I was giving 7 shots. I lost on the 12th hole 😂. He was 1 over thru 10 and of course having his "best round ever."

 

I just don't get the point. There's always next year, hopefully I get out of the first round! lol

 

 

I'm not really sure of a good way to prevent this nonsense, but it's a great argument to do away with handicaps, and if you want to compete, then you need to spend some time on the driving range.   Unfortunately that screws the honest people...but yeah I don't get the point either.

[mci711]

3 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

 

I'm not really sure of a good way to prevent this nonsense, but it's a great argument to do away with handicaps, and if you want to compete, then you need to spend some time on the driving range.   Unfortunately that screws the honest people...but yeah I don't get the point either.

 

I checked today.. No score posted on his GHIN account. It isn't worth causing a raucous at the club, part of me wants to say something to our pro though. Also don't want to be that guy. I rarely play in this kind of junk any way.  I know he plays in the money games occasionally. I'd be pissed off if I played in those and knew he didn't post his "best round ever."