NW Chicago Clubs

ndmjg23 · July 14

Looking for a chicagoland club that leans more towards being "a player's club" and is on the more difficult side as we are all good players and like the challenge. Looking for a course that would accept a few of us as members at the same time and on the cheaper side (junior memberships a plus). Distance/location isn't really a factor. We are throughout west/northwest suburbs but would drive 45 min - an hour every time if the course is worth it. Kemper seems to align pretty well with this but looking for additional suggestions.

MountainKing · July 14

Bull Valley

cfmgolf · July 14

Check out Hawthorn Woods. I was a member about 10 years ago, and it was always in good condition and they did have some really good players always looking for a game.

MountainKing · July 15

Haven't had a moment to expand on this one, but Bull plays 7300 from the tips, I believe it's rated harder than both Medinah #3 (pre-redesign) and Olympia and Kemper. I would agree with that 100% having played all of them. I think the only private course that's rated harder is Butler, but I've never played to compare Korn Ferry held a pre-qualifier there where +1 got you through. They also had a Monday qualifier there a few years back for the local event and again over par got you in. These are generally events that require you to get pretty far under par to get through. Holes 4 thorugh 11 might be the toughest stretch of holes in the state. Anyway - it's a golf only club and I think they do have a social side, and the guys I know who are members have given me numbers and it's ridiculously cheap for the Chicago area. Not sure on a wait list, but seems like they all have a 2+ year wait list at the moment. I would highly suggest getting out there for a round to check out the course. It's a great test of golf, one of my favorite places to play.

Edited July 15 by MountainKing

jcook10 · July 15

1 hour ago, MountainKing said:

Haven't had a moment to expand on this one, but Bull plays 7300 from the tips, I believe it's rated harder than both Medinah #3 (pre-redesign) and Olympia and Kemper. I would agree with that 100% having played all of them. I think the only private course that's rated harder is Butler, but I've never played to compare Korn Ferry held a pre-qualifier there where +1 got you through. They also had a Monday qualifier there a few years back for the local event and again over par got you in. These are generally events that require you to get pretty far under par to get through. Holes 4 thorugh 11 might be the toughest stretch of holes in the state. Anyway - it's a golf only club and I think they do have a social side, and the guys I know who are members have given me numbers and it's ridiculously cheap for the Chicago area. Not sure on a wait list, but seems like they all have a 2+ year wait list at the moment. I would highly suggest getting out there for a round to check out the course. It's a great test of golf, one of my favorite places to play.

IMO it is harder than Butler. 100% the hardest course in the area to score.

Edited July 15 by jcook10

MountainKing · July 15

1 hour ago, jcook10 said:

IMO it is harder than Butler. 100% the hardest course in the area to score.

Yeah I'd agree with that. The 3rd is probably the only hole I would consider a birdie hole, outside of that most birdies are accidental. I played with a +4 there two years back and he was humbled really hard. First time in many many years he was north of 80. If lived up in that area I would 100% be a member there.

jcook10 · July 15

10 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

Yeah I'd agree with that. The 3rd is probably the only hole I would consider a birdie hole, outside of that most birdies are accidental. I played with a +4 there two years back and he was humbled really hard. First time in many many years he was north of 80. If lived up in that area I would 100% be a member there.

I caddied in that KFT pre-q tourney for a buddy that is +4.5 and his 74 was the biggest eye opener to how hard the grind is. There wasnt a shot out there from the back tees that you could lose focus on or it was auto bogey.

MountainKing · July 15

2 hours ago, jcook10 said:

I caddied in that KFT pre-q tourney for a buddy that is +4.5 and his 74 was the biggest eye opener to how hard the grind is. There wasnt a shot out there from the back tees that you could lose focus on or it was auto bogey.

I've played it a few times from both 7300 and 7000, and I'd 100% agree with that. There really isn't a tee shot, or a 2nd shot for that matter, that you can get sloppy on, and if you do you're fighting for that bogey.

+12 (over 3 days) got you through at Bull - if you look at the rest of the pre qualifying sites nothing came close. I think the next hardest course, +3 got you through the pre-qualifying, but every site I believe all the top 10's were under par with the top 5's being well under par. Bull only had 2 people under par. If they had the space, they easily could host a US Open there. Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, bottom line, Bull Valley is as hard as they come.