Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[DavePelz4]

Played Prairie Bluff yesterday. Course is playing relatively fast and hard. Greens not holding much, even with shots hit with a lot of height. The only shot I hit that actually had any results from spin was a wedge into 4 from the fairway at 80 yards.  And of course, that spun back into the bunker.  Sheesh.

 

Got around in 3:59, not 4:00, considering that a huge win. Played with 2 really nice guys including an assistant basketball coach for UCF and one who is on scholarship for playing E-Sports. Basically, he's paid to play video games. Who knew. Although I shot well under my index, it wasn't my best day but I had to chuckle at the end of the round when the younger one thanked me and said, "I've never played with a scratch golfer before, you were fun to watch."  Had to break his heart and responded with, "You still haven't played with one."

 

Village Links today, the typical Friday/Sunday tournaments at Silver Lake and in between, trekking to Hughes Creek. Assuming all those round happen, I'll be over 60 rounds so far this year. Ah, retirement.

Edited July 3 by DavePelz4

[TheBear95]

Congrats to LD. He provided some pre 4th fireworks with an ace at Evergreen G.C. just over the cheddar curtain in Elkhorn. #7 on the South course. A lovely shot that we were able to watch just die into the cup. That's one way to let the freedom ring.

 

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

[ldchristopher]

Old Hickory and Evergreen today with Bear. I wasn’t gonna bother posting a recap but then I went and made an ace on the 7th hole on the South course at Evergreen (playing as 16 for us that day). 183 yard par 3, easy 5 iron, watched it roll in. Greatest feeling in the world, especially since I needed the hole in one to shoot under for the round. This one was the funnest of my 3 aces because this was the only one where I actually saw it drop. Finished with a 71 with another birdie on 3 South. 
 

[MountainKing]

Congrats on the ace!!

[ode1]

4 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Old Hickory and Evergreen today with Bear. I wasn’t gonna bother posting a recap but then I went and made an ace on the 7th hole on the South course at Evergreen (playing as 16 for us that day). 183 yard par 3, easy 5 iron, watched it roll in. Greatest feeling in the world, especially since I needed the hole in one to shoot under for the round. This one was the funnest of my 3 aces because this was the only one where I actually saw it drop. Finished with a 71 with another birdie on 3 South. 
 

OH one of my favs.  I have never been to Evergreen but it's on the list.  Played Delbrook many times when in college, taking advantage of the cheap college membership.  Congrats on the ace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ldchristopher]

31 minutes ago, ode1 said:

OH one of my favs.  I have never been to Evergreen but it's on the list.  Played Delbrook many times when in college, taking advantage of the cheap college membership.  Congrats on the ace!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks! Evergreen is okay. Not great but easy to get on and literally across the street from my in-laws place up here. The par 4s are either over 450 or between 315 and 340 and none of the 5s are long. So there’s plenty of scoring holes. The greens are about 100 steps below Old Hickory’s. Slow and covered in craters. That said, it’ll always have a special place in my heart after today. 
 

Speaking of OH’s greens: wow! They were amazing today. Just perfect. Crazy smooth and freshly rolled. Love that place. 

Edited July 4 by ldchristopher

[psygolf]

17 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

Old Hickory and Evergreen today with Bear. I wasn’t gonna bother posting a recap but then I went and made an ace on the 7th hole on the South course at Evergreen (playing as 16 for us that day). 183 yard par 3, easy 5 iron, watched it roll in. Greatest feeling in the world, especially since I needed the hole in one to shoot under for the round. This one was the funnest of my 3 aces because this was the only one where I actually saw it drop. Finished with a 71 with another birdie on 3 South. 
 

 

[Holy Moses]

Nice round at Blackstone. Course is in excellent shape and the greens are really fast with all the warm weather we’ve had.
 

I heard the course did get sold to another group that runs a few other courses, but the new owners’ plan is to get more weddings and banquets at the course. 

[TheBear95]

53 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

Nice round at Blackstone. Course is in excellent shape and the greens are really fast with all the warm weather we’ve had.
 

I heard the course did get sold to another group that runs a few other courses, but the new owners’ plan is to get more weddings and banquets at the course. 

 

Good luck to the new owners. The wedding biz is going to be tough given the location. Out there, they are going to be competing against the "farm" venues.

[DavePelz4]

On 7/3/2025 at 6:06 PM, ldchristopher said:

Old Hickory and Evergreen today with Bear. I wasn’t gonna bother posting a recap but then I went and made an ace on the 7th hole on the South course at Evergreen (playing as 16 for us that day). 183 yard par 3, easy 5 iron, watched it roll in. Greatest feeling in the world, especially since I needed the hole in one to shoot under for the round. This one was the funnest of my 3 aces because this was the only one where I actually saw it drop. Finished with a 71 with another birdie on 3 South. 
 

 

Congrats LD!!! Send a Blue Moon this way! How was the bar tab?

[DavePelz4]

6 hours ago, TheBear95 said:

 

Good luck to the new owners. The wedding biz is going to be tough given the location. Out there, they are going to be competing against the "farm" venues.

 

The price on Blackstone and Carillon were both lowered to $6.8M, no idea what the final price was. The deal closed last Monday and the gentleman who bought it is a sadly, disabled 50's gentleman who owns a couple of other courses. He's met with the staff, but hasn't communicated plans with the membership yet. He met with a small group of the members and asked a lot of questions, but didn't provide any direction or plans.  Chris, the current GM has been notably absent since.  Not saying he was removed from his role, and he could have been on vaca, but he hasn't been seen since Monday.  Doing a bit or OPSEC trying to find out the purchase price. 

[DavePelz4]

Played Village links on Thursday. Plus conditions, fast as all get up greens, sand in bunkers, shot my lowest round there ever and beat my index by 9 shots. I'm afraid to clean the putter at this point. It was solid to say the least.

 

Now, you know me, us old guys need to B**** about something and can't just enjoy a PB on a course. Was riding, and noticed that we were 10 minutes ahead of pace, wonderful, as we had 2 twosomes in front of us. Well, who rolls up to us on the 6th tee but Mr. "I've always wanted to be in charge" who informed us that we were 2 shots down on the TWOSOME in front of us and needed to pick up the pace as he had "leagues starting soon" and we weren't going to slow them down.  So being my shy self, I showed him the screen which has the pace, as supplied by the course, and he told me he didn't give a F as we were slow. Hmmm. This is a really positive customer service experience, right?

 

OK, we can play faster, sure, and what happens but on the par 3 8th hole, we catch up to the twosome, and then proceeded to wait on them for most of the remainder of the round. It was a Dad and his 8ish year old son and we thought they were just fine with pace. Oh, we finished the front in 3:45 and the 18 in 3:50, so what exactly was the problem we were trying to solve?

 

Holed a wedge which was wonderful and enjoyed VL which is rare for me to say.

 

 

[DavePelz4]

Friday tournament at Silver Lake.

 

It               was                  so               incredibly             slow.

 

Five and a half hours and we were the third group out. At times, there were 3 groups on some tee boxes.  SL has been very good with pushing pace but this was terrible. So, despite the snail's pace, played very nicely and shot my second lowest round of the year although there were some amazing scores so no envelope. Top 3 individuals cashed, so my 4th place finish was like Bozo's buckets, wah, wah, wah, wah. The worst part was missing 4 putts inside 3 feet which was the cost of an envelope. Haven't done that all year and the Cameron spent last night in the time out corner. 

[DavePelz4]

Hughes Creek this morning. Thought I had played it previously, wrong. No range which I knew and stopped at Prairie Landing to hit balls.

 

The first 5 holes include some really Jankie designs. Have never played a par 4 where the smart tee shot is a wedge and then the second shot is a wedge. Kind of the par 4 version of the 11th at Oak Grove. Definitely a course you need to play a few times to understand.  A few totally blind tee shots and approaches, hey, it's different.

 

Inconsistent sand. Some real, some compressed dirt. The greens were/are the defense, and like the traps, they were inconsistent and filled with tons of unrepaired ball marks. Learned quickly to land the ball 10 yards shots and roll the dice. Hit a wedge into the second, thought it was perfect, and it bounced and went through to the back rough. Dang. Some really tight fairways, too. The 5th, which was totally just a target drive, had a fairway that had to be 10-12 yards wide. Glad to have played it before our comp round next Saturday. Shot just OK, but the Cameron is now in the closet and has been cleaned. It did not live up to expectations today.

 

Back to SL tomorrow for another 4 man AC/BD tournament. Looking forward to the temps cooperating for us walkers!

[Holy Moses]

1 hour ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

The price on Blackstone and Carillon were both lowered to $6.8M, no idea what the final price was. The deal closed last Monday and the gentleman who bought it is a sadly, disabled 50's gentleman who owns a couple of other courses. He's met with the staff, but hasn't communicated plans with the membership yet. He met with a small group of the members and asked a lot of questions, but didn't provide any direction or plans.  Chris, the current GM has been notably absent since.  Not saying he was removed from his role, and he could have been on vaca, but he hasn't been seen since Monday.  Doing a bit or OPSEC trying to find out the purchase price. 

Is Chris the one who normally checks you out at the pro shop? If so, he was there today. 

[MountainKing]

 

Friday at Arrowhead south/east.   With the heat they've pulled the course firmness back a bit and greens were soft and slow by Arrowhead standards,  which is not a knock at all.    The entire course was in great shape,  and pace was great at 3 hours being the 2nd group off.  Arrowhead, mainly the east 9, continues to be my nemesis.  Eagles the 2nd hole on south with a chip in,  made the turn at 2 under feeling good, but then a pile of 3 putts on the back with two penalties thrown in led to a 42.  

 

Saturday was up at the Dunes Club in New Buffalo.  It's been on my bucket list for years,  and just by chance I met a member a few years ago,  and we finally made it happen.   It's a 9 hole course, you play twice.    The pins change midday, and with no tee markers you play from where you want.  There's infinite options, and both par 3s have a left and right set of tees, so despite it being the same 9,  the look and playability make it play like two different 9s.  The property is unreal,  the course is pure, and every hole is perfection.    It's  easily in my top 5 courses I've been on.   If you ever get a chance,  go.     Put up a 76, which I was more than happy with as it's tough as nails and we played our first 9 from as far back as you can.   What a day. 

 

 

Prairie Landing tomorrow to end the holiday weekend.

 

[ldchristopher]

3 hours ago, MountainKing said:

 

Friday at Arrowhead south/east.   With the heat they've pulled the course firmness back a bit and greens were soft and slow by Arrowhead standards,  which is not a knock at all.    The entire course was in great shape,  and pace was great at 3 hours being the 2nd group off.  Arrowhead, mainly the east 9, continues to be my nemesis.  Eagles the 2nd hole on south with a chip in,  made the turn at 2 under feeling good, but then a pile of 3 putts on the back with two penalties thrown in led to a 42.  

 

Saturday was up at the Dunes Club in New Buffalo.  It's been on my bucket list for years,  and just by chance I met a member a few years ago,  and we finally made it happen.   It's a 9 hole course, you play twice.    The pins change midday, and with no tee markers you play from where you want.  There's infinite options, and both par 3s have a left and right set of tees, so despite it being the same 9,  the look and playability make it play like two different 9s.  The property is unreal,  the course is pure, and every hole is perfection.    It's  easily in my top 5 courses I've been on.   If you ever get a chance,  go.     Put up a 76, which I was more than happy with as it's tough as nails and we played our first 9 from as far back as you can.   What a day. 

 

 

Prairie Landing tomorrow to end the holiday weekend.

 

A kid on the high school golf team had a Dunes Club bag. He said his dad owned the course. Name was Mike Keiser Jr. This was in ‘96 and ‘97 before his dad bought Bandon. I hear the family has done well financially. 

[DavePelz4]

20 hours ago, Holy Moses said:

Is Chris the one who normally checks you out at the pro shop? If so, he was there today. 

 

Thanks HM. He is and is the current GM.

[DavePelz4]

Interesting day at Silver Lake yesterday. 4 man tournament with 2 scores being used. Paired with 2 people I hadn't met previously, one being a gentleman who was about 5 foot nothing, not sure that he weighed 100 pounds and guessing he's in his 70's. If I thought my swing had unique elements, his has me beat, but he is amazingly long and straight. Had this little move to load the shaft and then he went at it. Pretty sure he won two par 3's with shots that in total were less than 5 feet away, and he made both putts as well. As for me, after holing a wedge on 1 and paring the #1 handicap second hole, and winning both the gross and net skin on 1, I had a 5 hole stretch that was terrible, and in total, missed 4 putts inside 3 feet. Shame on me. Putter testing starts Wednesday.

 

Enough of that disaster, the real fun started after the round.

 

Next Sunday is another 4 person, 2 best ball event, with a Calcutta auction that was crazy.  Some people don't know how to bid at an auction clearly. 18 teams with their team number and 2 wildcards put into a hat. The first team number was drawn and the bidding got crazy, finishing at $1,800. The team I'm on sold for the smallest amount at $650, which some team members thought was bad, I thought it was perfect. The wildcards were interesting as whoever bid the highest amount was able to choose any of the remaining teams. One of the wildcards was someone who bought their own team.  Hmmm. Each "owner" is required to sell each player 20% of the team, so it's a 5 way split if you win. The largest bid for a team was over $2,000 and the total amount of each team bought was over $21,000. 

 

So the way I looked at it, and tried to explain it to a couple of team members is that for $130.00, we each have a chance to win $21,000/5 or a 30X return on the investment, while the team that cost $2,000 has a 10X possible return on investment.  Growing up in Peru, IL, I'm pretty sure getting 30 times a dollar is better than 10 times a dollar. There are 3-4 places paid out, so you can't win the entire pool, but the concept still applies but a lesser multiple for sure. I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to a very slow round of golf next Sunday.

[MountainKing]

Finished off the weekend at Prairie Landing today.   Course was in great shape as usual,  but was playing very soft.  No roll out on drives, greens were soft and slow.  They might have been rolling at a 9 at most,  they really pulled them back from what they normally are.   All that with low winds,  course was prime for scoring.   Hit the ball great catching every fairway and 14 greens.   Wasn't able to capitalize on any of it.  Slow greens didn't break as much as normal so a bunch of birdie putts left on the high side.    Only two birdies came on 10 and 18 thanks to getting to both in two.   4 really bad bogies to off set that for a 74.

[ldchristopher]

Bear and I decided Ledges needed a re-brand, so he put his advertising degree to use and, viola! Ladies and gentleman: The Ledges of Winnebago County. Go ahead and add $10 to the rack rate. The Ledges of Winnebago County were very lush and wet. The slow greens were even slower, which, after Stonehenge on Sunday, was no different than what we’ve become accustomed to. My ball striking was stellar with 11 fairways. I only hit 8 greens but had lots of easy chips that were just off. We got buzzed by a bald eagle on the 10th fairway and I got hot towards the end with three straight birdies on 15, 16 and 17. 72. 
 

Glen Erin can be described in one word that may not even be a word: gnatty. After a big rain and with no wind, the gnats were everywhere. I don’t mind them and am aware I specifically requested their presence not long ago but it’s a bit odd that The Ledges of Winnebago County - a bit of a pit with water all over - was largely gnatless while Glen Erin - a faux links layout with no water hazards - was covered in them. Anyway, the course was alright. It wasn’t in the pristine shape it usually is and after the rain the greens were uncharacteristically slow. We got paired up with two older guys. After playing Ledges in 2:40 it took 4 hours at Glen Erin. Midday golf. 75 with one birdie on 8. 

[ldchristopher]

After a trip full of perfectly normal courses in Wisconsin, I needed something unique. A true one of one course. A place lit by methane torches. A property in the shadows of a casino whose sole purpose is to offer Senior citizens hope in exchange for their Social Security check. A layout where the water tastes like wine, but only because of toxic waste in the water. I needed to see a water hazard that eschewed sand, mud, or rocks along the bottom for a simple black liner that looks like a giant Hefty bag. A course where the greens stimp at 7 (they were actually 8 or 9 today) and every employee got their job via patronage. I wanted………no, I NEEDED Lost Marsh. I played well on the front. 7/7 fairways, 6/9 greens, two birdies (4 and 7) and two bogies (3 and 9) for a 36. On the back, I kind of lost my mojo. Only 4 fairways, 3 greens, lots of scrambling, and 3 bogies (10, 15 and 18) for a 39. 75. But I got what I craved. 

[Argonne69]

27 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

After a trip full of perfectly normal courses in Wisconsin, I needed something unique. A true one of one course. A place lit by methane torches. A property in the shadows of a casino whose sole purpose is to offer Senior citizens hope in exchange for their Social Security check. A layout where the water tastes like wine, but only because of toxic waste in the water. I needed to see a water hazard that eschewed sand, mud, or rocks along the bottom for a simple black liner that looks like a giant Hefty bag. A course where the greens stimp at 7 (they were actually 8 or 9 today) and every employee got their job via patronage. I wanted………no, I NEEDED Lost Marsh. I played well on the front. 7/7 fairways, 6/9 greens, two birdies (4 and 7) and two bogies (3 and 9) for a 36. On the back, I kind of lost my mojo. Only 4 fairways, 3 greens, lots of scrambling, and 3 bogies (10, 15 and 18) for a 39. 75. But I got what I craved. 

 

Love the smell of methane in the morning. 

 

 

[TheBear95]

2 hours ago, ldchristopher said:

After a trip full of perfectly normal courses in Wisconsin, I needed something unique. A true one of one course. A place lit by methane torches. A property in the shadows of a casino whose sole purpose is to offer Senior citizens hope in exchange for their Social Security check. A layout where the water tastes like wine, but only because of toxic waste in the water. I needed to see a water hazard that eschewed sand, mud, or rocks along the bottom for a simple black liner that looks like a giant Hefty bag. A course where the greens stimp at 7 (they were actually 8 or 9 today) and every employee got their job via patronage. I wanted………no, I NEEDED Lost Marsh. I played well on the front. 7/7 fairways, 6/9 greens, two birdies (4 and 7) and two bogies (3 and 9) for a 36. On the back, I kind of lost my mojo. Only 4 fairways, 3 greens, lots of scrambling, and 3 bogies (10, 15 and 18) for a 39. 75. But I got what I craved. 

 

What a waste of a nice morning.

[TheBear95]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Love the smell of methane in the morning. 

 

 

 

I fully support napalming Lost Marsh.

[TheBear95]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Love the smell of methane in the morning. 

 

 

 

In all your travels, have you come across a course as "unique" as Lost Marsh yet? 

 

Also, theoretically, how many cows would it fetch?

Edited July 10 by TheBear95

[sittonsideways]

Last week I did one of the biggest 180s possible in the golfing world. B2B rounds at Lost Marsh (first time) and Marquette Greywalls in the UP. Lost Marsh didn’t disappoint. Truly the most preposterous golf course I’ve ever seen. You could write a full dissertation on probably 13 of the 18 holes. Now I can say I made my patronage.
 

Nearing a year in Chicago. Biggest learning: do not attempt to drive to/from the north suburbs unless you absolutely have to. It doesn’t matter what time of day or day of the week. That eliminates a lot of golf courses for regular play, but it is what it is. I keep reading the past year has been all time bad for traffic and I believe it: it’s hard to imagine it being much worse lol. Ultimately, I think joining a south side club like Flossmoor or Beverly may be the move if life and availability permit. Hopefully one day. 

My new hot-ish take: Calumet CC is a top 5 public layout in Chicagoland and would be a premier course in another life. For me, even as neglected and dilapidated as it is, Calumet might be the more enticing restoration project between its Homewood neighbor, Ravisloe. It’s closer to being bulldozed than that happening, though. Anybody play there back closer to its heyday? 

 

Edited July 10 by sittonsideways

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, TheBear95 said:

 

In all your travels, have you come across a course as "unique" as Lost Marsh yet? 

 

Also, theoretically, how many cows would it fetch?

 

It's fairly unique. I've played several courses built in old quarries, and a handful that were old brownfield sites. Keep in mind that Harborside is built on an old dump. I think Lost Marsh's combination of marshland, prairie-style, and parkland holes makes it different.

 

Rating? I'd probably give it 6 cows. Could use a few more bunkers. Left/right movement is decent with two dogleg par 5s. The 10th is potentially reachable if you cut the corner. Everyone's favorite Z shaped 14th is a good risk/reward hole. Reachable in two with zero room to miss near the green. The 4th is also reachable, but again with zero room for error.

 

The short par 4s are decent. The 1st is risk/reward with water in play on both sides. The 5th is all risk/reward if you're crazy enough to try to drive the green. The 6th is easy off the tee, but the toilet seat green is tough. The 15th is another fun risk/reward hole. Play safe and lay back to avoid the water right and it's a tough approach to the peninsula green with PA right and OB left. Bite off a big chunk off the tee and it's an easy approach, but the OB and PA makes it risky. The 16th has a tough green.

 

The par 3 2nd and 11th are tough. The other two are benign.

 

The 9th and 18th are both tough on windy days. The 12th requires a well positioned tee shot to avoid being blocked by the trees right, and the trees on the 13th give fits to those who play a draw.

 

I'm probably one of the few here who likes the course. Yeah, it's mostly target golf, but I can live with that. Conditions are generally poor, and the views, well. The opening five holes are probably the toughest opening stretch in the area, especially the brutish 3rd. Toss in wind and heading to the 6th at two over or better is a great start.

 

Edited July 10 by Argonne69

[ldchristopher]

1 hour ago, sittonsideways said:

Last week I did one of the biggest 180s possible in the golfing world. B2B rounds at Lost Marsh (first time) and Marquette Greywalls in the UP. Lost Marsh didn’t disappoint. Truly the most preposterous golf course I’ve ever seen. You could write a full dissertation on probably 13 of the 18 holes. Now I can say I made my patronage.
 

Nearing a year in Chicago. Biggest learning: do not attempt to drive to/from the north suburbs unless you absolutely have to. It doesn’t matter what time of day or day of the week. That eliminates a lot of golf courses for regular play, but it is what it is. I keep reading the past year has been all time bad for traffic and I believe it: it’s hard to imagine it being much worse lol. Ultimately, I think joining a south side club like Flossmoor or Beverly may be the move if life and availability permit. Hopefully one day. 

My new hot-ish take: Calumet CC is a top 5 public layout in Chicagoland and would be a premier course in another life. For me, even as neglected and dilapidated as it is, Calumet might be the more enticing restoration project between its Homewood neighbor, Ravisloe. It’s closer to being bulldozed than that happening, though. Anybody play there back closer to its heyday? 

 

So basically…the guy who suggested living in the South Loop was right. That was me. I tried to warn you. 😜 But, but, but, you’d miss out on Glencoe, Sunset Valley, Winnetka, Deerfie…….zzzzzzzzzz. 
 

Calumet CC was private until pretty recently. The first year it was opened to the public they kept it closer to the conditioning when they were still collecting dues and it was excellent. The greens were quick and would get that yellowish “we can’t run them any faster or we’ll lose them” hue. My grandpa was a member at Beverly and his other favorite course to play in the area was always Calumet for the same reasons as you. Just a stellar old school layout with the bones of a Ross design. Personally, Ravisloe doesn’t do much for me, but Calumet will be missed when it’s an Amazon warehouse. 

[sittonsideways]

3 minutes ago, ldchristopher said:

So basically…the guy who suggested living in the South Loop was right. That was me. I tried to warn you. 😜 But, but, but, you’d miss out on Glencoe, Sunset Valley, Winnetka, Deerfie…….zzzzzzzzzz. 
 

Calumet CC was private until pretty recently. The first year it was opened to the public they kept it closer to the conditioning when they were still collecting dues and it was excellent. The greens were quick and would get that yellowish “we can’t run them any faster or we’ll lose them” hue. My grandpa was a member at Beverly and his other favorite course to play in the area was always Calumet for the same reasons as you. Just a stellar old school layout with the bones of a Ross design. Personally, Ravisloe doesn’t do much for me, but Calumet will be missed when it’s an Amazon warehouse. 

I live in Wicker Park, so I pretty much only head south at this point. I have given up on anything north or northwest. South Loop would probably shave off 20 minutes? Closer to the lake. Could be an option one day. Turning 30-60 minute drives to 20-40 minutes would be a dream lmao. 
 

It seems that Calumet has been on the verge or closing for 20ish years? I wonder what kinda deal the owners are holding out for. My dream as a new Chicagoan is restoring any 2 of Elks, Rav, and Calumet. Rav isn’t happening with the current ownership. Maybe Elks could happen? I think poor Calumet is my favorite though.