Where are you playing tomorrow - Chicago (Round 3)

[stasek]

Cog #2 this afternoon. The course is in decent shape, and the greens - surprisingly - rolled nice, but were quite slow. Kept leaving putts short all day long. Started off like a donkey (you really have to try hard to double bogey the first hole), but managed to pull it together (thanks to grepefruit shandy and some fine Goose Island IPA) and finished with 76. The pace was horrible - there was some kind of outing in front of us; teed off 20 min late and it was a death march till 12th hole. Zoomed through in 5.5 hours ?‍♂️.

[Shriner]

> @stasek said:

> Cog #2 this afternoon. The course is in decent shape, and the greens - surprisingly - rolled nice, but were quite slow. Kept leaving putts short all day long. Started off like a donkey (you really have to try hard to double bogey the first hole), but managed to pull it together (thanks to grepefruit shandy and some fine Goose Island IPA) and finished with 76. The pace was horrible - there was some kind of outing in front of us; teed off 20 min late and it was a death march till 12th hole. Zoomed through in 5.5 hours ?‍♂️.

 

Wow, that is unbearable! I haven't played a true five hour round in a long time, but I do know the feeling. Tee of this morning at Hilldale, looks like rain will be factor on the front nine.

[geochitown]

It was a merciful pin position.

Right side middle

We played the combo tees so 15 plays from the white tees, which with the forward tees is oriented on an easier line with respect to the right side of the green.

The back tees, oriented more to the right, bring the bunker, more into play.

I liked the finish of the combo tees, with 16-18 all playing from the longer Blue tees.

[Argonne69]

A nice, albeit wet morning at Sunset Valley. The course was in fine shape. The greens were rolling quite fast, but they're still borderline unplayable due to their firmness. 'Like trying to land a ball on a pool table. I had a nice high lob wedge into the 10th green. The ball mark was in the dead center of the green, but the ball still two hopped off the back. The course still needs one or two season for the greens to soften.

 

Dreadfull day off the tee. Hooks left. Pushes right. Blech. A little better with the quality of the iron shots, but it did little to help the score as the greens were not holding. Managed 6 fairways and 8 greens.

 

[TheBear95]

What a nice day to play. Cool, a breeze, off and on showers, my kind of conditions. Between the weather and football being back, the courses were pretty empty. Played Countryside Traditional and Bonnie Brook. Both courses were in nice shape.

[sma]

> @sma said:

> Hoping the rain stays away on Sunday morning, playing Stonewall Orchard

 

Well, the rain came down most of the morning. Went from light drizzle to just enough to start making my pants wet enough to stick to my body. Stonewall is relatively beat up. Tons of divots in the fairway and the greens are just chock full of (mostly repaired) ball marks along with some brown spots. I'm sure it's simply a result of the greens being cut down so low during the summer to keep them fast, but one kind of expects better conditions for paying those kind of greens fees.

[Buckeyecigar]

A couple questions for the Chicago, IL area golfers:

I will be in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates) for a work seminar next week and planned some golf in the evenings. Let me know your thoughts please. Drive in Monday morning and play Cog Hill #4 for the twilight rate at 4pm. Do you think I will get the round finished before dark? Play Mt. Prospect Wednesday evening and Ravisloe CC Friday afternoon on my way out of town. Should I substitute any courses in the area? Anybody played those recently and know the conditions?

Thanks in advance!!

[VNutz]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> A couple questions for the Chicago, IL area golfers:

> I will be in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates) for a work seminar next week and planned some golf in the evenings. Let me know your thoughts please. Drive in Monday morning and play Cog Hill #4 for the twilight rate at 4pm. Do you think I will get the round finished before dark? Play Mt. Prospect Wednesday evening and Ravisloe CC Friday afternoon on my way out of town. Should I substitute any courses in the area? Anybody played those recently and know the conditions?

> Thanks in advance!!

 

Dubs depends entirely on the rest of the course in front of you IMO. Sunset is closing in on 7 shortly, and while you can probably get 15-30 minutes beyond that it might be tough. I'd imagine a Monday afternoon should be fairly open, but all you need is a few groups to ruin that. Be prepared that Hoffman Estates is a decent drive from Cog, one that can quickly get worse if traffic doesn't agree. Usually that's not a big traffic trouble spot, but it might not be smooth sailing.

 

Haven't played Mt Prospect ever or Ravisloe lately. Ravisloe is generally well liked but a little polarizing in it's design, being an older course it's a little more short and narrow with raised greens. It's a fun play but at times the driver is taken out of your hands and some don't care for it.

 

If staying in Hoffman Estates give a look at going slightly west to Highlands of Elgin, Bowes Creek or Blackstone. All 3 are great modern designs that are almost always in good condition.

[mci711]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> A couple questions for the Chicago, IL area golfers:

> I will be in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates) for a work seminar next week and planned some golf in the evenings. Let me know your thoughts please. Drive in Monday morning and play Cog Hill #4 for the twilight rate at 4pm. Do you think I will get the round finished before dark? Play Mt. Prospect Wednesday evening and Ravisloe CC Friday afternoon on my way out of town. Should I substitute any courses in the area? Anybody played those recently and know the conditions?

> Thanks in advance!!

 

If the course is open you can finish. You'll have a little over 3 hours. May be worth the extra $50 to play an hour or 2 earlier. I play there a few times a year and rarely if ever has it been super busy.

 

I'm 100% on board with vnutz - Highlands of Elgin, Bowes Creek and Blackstone are great options. (Blackstone being the best in my opinion, though further).

 

I'd flip the schedule. I'd play near Elgin day 1, you can keep Mt Prospect day 2, and then cog hill on the day out. But that adds $50.

[geochitown]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> A couple questions for the Chicago, IL area golfers:

> I will be in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates) for a work seminar next week and planned some golf in the evenings. Let me know your thoughts please. Drive in Monday morning and play Cog Hill #4 for the twilight rate at 4pm. Do you think I will get the round finished before dark? Play Mt. Prospect Wednesday evening and Ravisloe CC Friday afternoon on my way out of town. Should I substitute any courses in the area? Anybody played those recently and know the conditions?

> Thanks in advance!!

 

I played Harborside on saturday and might recommend it over Cog Hill. (conditioning at Harborside is excellent at the moment, and their bunkers are in fantastic shape).

Mt Prospect aerated their greens last week. Probably would give it a pass as such.

Consider playing The Preserve in Oak Meadows as a replacement for Mt Prospect, Schaumburg is another option, but it just completed a major renovation, so 9 of the open 18 holes have firm greens. (But either the Preserve or Schaumburg would be very nice to play).

I heard Ravisloe was overall good, but the tee boxes were beat up. (not sure if that's worth not playing it).

Calumet is another option in that area. A private course which is open to the public now before the land goes to new owners and a warehouse is built there.

 

 

[geochitown]

looking at it again, you probably want to check proximity to your seminar for afternoon golf (traffic can be bad around Hoffman Estates), so minimal travel time is probably your best bet to squeeze in maximum holes (or even 18).

Are you driving in from Ohio?

[DavePelz4]

Our group played Prairie Bluff on a beautiful Saturday morning with the legendary view of Statesville Prison coupled with the consistent sound of gun fire in the air. Simply magnificent. PB was in great condition although the greens had been aerated/sanded within the last week or 2. Things were pretty much back to normal though. Pace of play was awesome and we didn't wait on a shot until something like the 16th hole.

[geochitown]

For your afternoon rounds, check Highlands of Elgin (as others recommended above).

Bowes Creek and especially Blackstone are farther away from Hoffman Estates than Highlands of Elgin.

 

[geochitown]

saw this on twitter:

 

I would hope this means good conditions at Dubs

I'd call to double check their greens aeration schedule.

 

---------------------------------

 

ILLINOIS PGA

@illinoispga

·

2h

The Illinois PGA Stroke Play #6 is underway at Cog Hill (Dubsdread)!Special thanks to

@harrisgolfcars

and

@BushnellGolf

for sponsoring this event #Illinoispga #PGA

[VNutz]

> @DavePelz4 said:

> Our group played Prairie Bluff on a beautiful Saturday morning with the legendary view of Statesville Prison coupled with the consistent sound of gun fire in the air. Simply magnificent. PB was in great condition although the greens had been aerated/sanded within the last week or 2. Things were pretty much back to normal though. Pace of play was awesome and we didn't wait on a shot until something like the 16th hole.

 

I kept waiting for the sirens to go off.

That aside Saturday couldn't have been much of a better day for golf. Just perfect.

[MountainKing]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> A couple questions for the Chicago, IL area golfers:

> I will be in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates) for a work seminar next week and planned some golf in the evenings. Let me know your thoughts please. Drive in Monday morning and play Cog Hill #4 for the twilight rate at 4pm. Do you think I will get the round finished before dark? Play Mt. Prospect Wednesday evening and Ravisloe CC Friday afternoon on my way out of town. Should I substitute any courses in the area? Anybody played those recently and know the conditions?

> Thanks in advance!!

 

Dubs is always a crap shoot. Like others mentioned, some days it's empty, other days it's not. At 4pm if you're solo and the course is empty, you'll finish. The only thing out there is if you hit a group, it's probably going to slow down, it's a tough course and the pace of play reflects it when you have a few 4somes out there. With all the trees and the way the course sits I feel like that course loses daylight a little quicker than other courses might. I've had just as many 3 hour rounds there as I have 5 hour. Like mentioned already, best bet is to pay the extra cash and play earlier, if possible.

 

Others have already thrown in some good suggestions , I'd also 2nd Calumet CC over Ravisloe, but you're not wrong by playing either, they're both fun.

 

 

[geochitown]

Just passed by my prospect and took a look at the greens

 

They seem pretty smooth already

Small tines were used

Sand has been added and brushed

Might be good by next week

 

[mci711]

> @geochitown said:

> Just passed by my prospect and took a look at the greens

>

> They seem pretty smooth already

> Small tubes we’re used

> Sand has been added and brushed

> Might be good by next week

>

 

They must use the smaller tines. I'm no grass expert but I have no idea why every course doesn't use them. If done correctly the greens are playable so much quicker.

[Buckeyecigar]

Everyone, thanks for the info! I should clarify a few random questions that were thrown out. I am driving in on Monday and have the afternoon completely open. The seminar is in the Hoffman Estates area and begins Tuesday morning. Tuesday-Thursday the seminar is till 4pm and Friday lets out at noon. I will have a rental car so I don't have to worry about making a flight on time.

 

I don't mind spending the extra $50 to get out before 4pm at Cog, just figured by the time I get to the area and ready to tee off that it might be only a half an hour earlier to tee off. I also tend to favor older courses and links style courses (Dubs being a bit of an exception because of its history).

[geochitown]

> @mci711 said:

> > @geochitown said:

> > Just passed by my prospect and took a look at the greens

> >

> > They seem pretty smooth already

> > Small tubes we’re used

> > Sand has been added and brushed

> > Might be good by next week

> >

>

> They must use the smaller tines. I'm no grass expert but I have no idea why every course doesn't use them. If done correctly the greens are playable so much quicker.

 

Right. Small tines

iPhone!

Some courses will take samples of the green soil to determine manner of aeration

 

Pine meadow said this in their recent newsletter

Core samples led them to use large tines for max sand into greens

BEGIN Pine Meadow Newsletter Update

Course condition update

August 31, 2019

 

First of all, thank you from the staff for all the positive comments regarding course conditions, especially in regards to the greens.

The cornerstone of our green conditioning program is the amount of sand we use and the dreaded....

AERIFICATION PROCESS!!!!

As I have mentioned many times...nobody likes the aerification process, you the golfer, the clubhouse staff, ownership and above all, the grounds staff...heck, even Scott does not like it.

However, WE ALL LIKE THE RESULTS .

We do aerification twice a year, but before we do this, we send our soil to a lab to be tested. The results of that test, dictate the type of aerification we then proceed to do.

This time we will be doing a larger tine, (bigger hole), so that we can get more sand into the profile of the greens. This sand is the KEY to the firmness and smoothness of our putting surfaces.

The weather forecast looks perfect for us to do the aerification process on Tuesday, September 3rd and Wednesday, September 4th.

The back nine will be open for play on Tuesday, with greens that HAVE NOT been aerified, since we will only be working on the front nine on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we will be working on the back nine, the front nine will be open, but the greens will have been aerified.

 

This is the aerification process that will be done:

roll the green

core aerify the green with 3/4 inch tines that will go 4 inches deep

brush sand into the holes

roll the green again

blow excess sand off the green

 

We understand that you may prefer not to play next weekend, so next weekend is optional.

We will be offering our aerification rateas in previous years, for the 11 days following aerification:

Weekdays: $41.00 green fee, $11.00 cart rate

Weekends: $52.00. $11.00 cart rate

 

We thank you in advance for your understanding on this matter and look forward to a great late summer and fall season with enjoyable playing conditions.

 

Yours in golf,

Dennis

 

 

 

Regards,

Pine Meadow Golf Club

One Pine Meadow Lane

Mundelein, IL 60060

Phone: (847) 566-4653

http://www.pinemeadowgc.com

source: http://www2.cybergolf.com/newsletters/viewblast.asp?id=670423&courseid=2639

 

[MountainKing]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> Everyone, thanks for the info! I should clarify a few random questions that were thrown out. I am driving in on Monday and have the afternoon completely open. The seminar is in the Hoffman Estates area and begins Tuesday morning. Tuesday-Thursday the seminar is till 4pm and Friday lets out at noon. I will have a rental car so I don't have to worry about making a flight on time.

>

> I don't mind spending the extra $50 to get out before 4pm at Cog, just figured by the time I get to the area and ready to tee off that it might be only a half an hour earlier to tee off. I also tend to favor older courses and links style courses (Dubs being a bit of an exception because of its history).

 

At 4pm you'll probably want to add 15-20 minutes to whatever commute time you determined. If you're driving out of Hoffman you'll probably be in for a 9 hole round. Bridges of Popular Creek might be your closet option to get as many holes in as possible for the Wednesday round.

[Shriner]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> Everyone, thanks for the info! I should clarify a few random questions that were thrown out. I am driving in on Monday and have the afternoon completely open. The seminar is in the Hoffman Estates area and begins Tuesday morning. Tuesday-Thursday the seminar is till 4pm and Friday lets out at noon. I will have a rental car so I don't have to worry about making a flight on time.

>

> I don't mind spending the extra $50 to get out before 4pm at Cog, just figured by the time I get to the area and ready to tee off that it might be only a half an hour earlier to tee off. I also tend to favor older courses and links style courses (Dubs being a bit of an exception because of its history).

 

If you are going to be in Hoffman, you could just play one of the Hoffman courses. Will save you a ton of time driving and both Poplar Creek and Hilldale are nice courses. Next town over is Schaumburg which is in excellent shape right now.

[CRDuffy21]

> @Buckeyecigar said:

> Everyone, thanks for the info! I should clarify a few random questions that were thrown out. I am driving in on Monday and have the afternoon completely open. The seminar is in the Hoffman Estates area and begins Tuesday morning. Tuesday-Thursday the seminar is till 4pm and Friday lets out at noon. I will have a rental car so I don't have to worry about making a flight on time.

>

> I don't mind spending the extra $50 to get out before 4pm at Cog, just figured by the time I get to the area and ready to tee off that it might be only a half an hour earlier to tee off. I also tend to favor older courses and links style courses (Dubs being a bit of an exception because of its history).

 

If your seminar is in Hoffman Estates, I'd consider playing Hilldale. Always liked the layout, and there's some good holes on the course. There's a couple holes that are poor, but the layout is generally good, and the greens have been in pretty decent shape from what I remember. Although I haven't played it in a while, the cost after 3pm on M-F is $26 w/cart. May be a good place to sneak out after your conference for relatively cheap.

[geochitown]

Hilldale is a older Trent Jones design if I'm not mistaken.

[Shriner]

I played Hilldale over the weekend. Course conditions are usually about a 9/10 but I would they were are 8/10 on Sunday, still in very nice shape. Alot of different holes as no two holes are the same, for the most part. A couple of holes will be a huge challenge to make par (2, 10, 17) and a few holes are absolute birdie holes (1, 14, 15). Fun course to play...

[geochitown]

added pine meadow newsletter about aerification as an example of good communication by a golf course

[Apindara]

> @sma said:

> > @sma said:

> > Hoping the rain stays away on Sunday morning, playing Stonewall Orchard

>

> Well, the rain came down most of the morning. Went from light drizzle to just enough to start making my pants wet enough to stick to my body. Stonewall is relatively beat up. Tons of divots in the fairway and the greens are just chock full of (mostly repaired) ball marks along with some brown spots. I'm sure it's simply a result of the greens being cut down so low during the summer to keep them fast, but one kind of expects better conditions for paying those kind of greens fees.

 

Thanks for the update. I was going to try and play this Sunday, but not at a chewed up course for that price.

 

 

[Apindara]

> @Shriner said:

> I played Hilldale over the weekend. Course conditions are usually about a 9/10 but I would they were are 8/10 on Sunday, still in very nice shape. Alot of different holes as no two holes are the same, for the most part. A couple of holes will be a huge challenge to make par (2, 10, 17) and a few holes are absolute birdie holes (1, 14, 15). Fun course to play...

 

 

The greens used to be the best in the ‘burbs. Fast and true. How were they running?

[Shriner]

> @Apindara said:

> > @Shriner said:

> > I played Hilldale over the weekend. Course conditions are usually about a 9/10 but I would they were are 8/10 on Sunday, still in very nice shape. Alot of different holes as no two holes are the same, for the most part. A couple of holes will be a huge challenge to make par (2, 10, 17) and a few holes are absolute birdie holes (1, 14, 15). Fun course to play...

>

>

> The greens used to be the best in the ‘burbs. Fast and true. How were they running?

 

Agreed, excellent greens for a public course. Yesterday would be a hard day to judge them considering the downpour we played in which significantly slowed them down. But yes, they are usually pretty quick.

[Argonne69]

Mistwood on Saturday morning. It's been a few years since I've played there. Do they allow walking on weekend mornings?