Located approximately 15 miles from downtown Chicago, Chick Evans Golf Course is part of the Forest Preserve Golf courses, which operates ten golf courses throughout Chicagoland (including Joe Louis, Billy Caldwell, Indian Boundary, River Oaks, and Meadowlark, five other courses I have played so far). Like all other Forest Preserve Golf courses, Chick Evans is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The course is one of the closest 18-hole, 68+ par courses to downtown Chicago.

The course features three par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 71 at a length of 5,626 yards from the back tees. Playing from the white tees, the length drops to 5,363 yards. Being a par 71 course, as you can imagine, many of the par-4 holes are really short, averaging around 300 yards in length. This gives players with straight drives and a good short game many opportunities to make birdies and shoot low scores. The fairways are generally straight, open, and surrounded by large trees, though on many of the holes, if you slice your ball right, it’s probably going to go out of bounds. Water hazards touch six of the holes, five of which you’ll need to carry over either on your tee shot or on your way to the green. The most notable hole, mainly because it’s known to be the most difficult, is the 3rd hole (a 489 yard par-5), where you’ll need to carry water twice, once on your tee shot and once on your approach shot. The water hazard that runs through four of the holes is actually part of the north branch of the Chicago River. Some bunkers can be found throughout the course, mostly near the greens, but are very seldom (there might only be two or three). The greens are pretty large and generally flat. The speed of the greens were seemed very random throughout my round.

After playing many of the Forest Preserve Golf courses, I think I can safely say that Chick Evans is one of the worst maintained courses they oversee. The tee boxes and greens were in pretty poor condition, and many areas of the fairways were under repair or should have been marked as under repair. I have a couple different opinions on this matter. With Chick Evans being one of the closest full courses to Chicago, it would be nice if it was in better condition. On the other hand, I think this is a good course for beginners to play, primarily because of the short course length and many opportunities to shoot low scores. With these two thoughts in mind, I think that the cost of the greens fees should be lower, primarily because at some of the other Forest Preserve Golf courses that cost close to the same amount, the level of play is much better and the course length is more (like Joe Louis, River Oaks, and Indian Boundary).

Luckily, I played a better round than the first time I played this course (thank goodness… that would be bad if I didn’t). My drives were random, but mostly pushing right, again. I think I have too many swing thoughts going on in my head during my back swing, and as a result, my swing doesn’t feel as smooth as it used to. I tried a couple of times to ignore my pre-shot routine and just hit the ball. Sometime this works, sometimes it doesn’t. The fun thing about this course though, is that when I would make a solid drive, my approach shot would be less than 100 yards from the green, which is a distance I’m comfortable and confident with. I had some inconsistencies and distance problems with my iron shots. Throughout the round, I tried to remember to keep my posture correct, which seemed to cause the most issues last time. Overall, my iron shots were random. I thought my wedge shots could have been better, mostly in the distance control area. I need to work on setting myself up for easier 1-putts. My putting was pretty random, but I’m going to blame that mostly on the quality of the greens. I ended up 1-putting five times and 3-putting once.

I ended up shooting a 99 (28 over par, 57 on the front nine, 42 on the back nine). Much my round at Glencoe Golf Club, I had a bad front nine, plagued by penalties, and a much better back nine. My score consisted of four pars, seven bogeys, three double bogeys, and all others worse. David ended up shooting a 96, which gave him a league win by three strokes. He had a much more consistent game and sunk a couple of clutch putts to secure par on a couple holes. If it wasn’t for those penalties in the front nine, it would have been a much closer match (and I might have came out with a win).

Chick Evans Golf Course - Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,363 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 71
Course rating/slope: 66.0/109 (white tee boxes)
My score: 99 (28 over par)

Chick Evans Golf Course
6145 Golf Rd
Morton Grove IL 60053

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,757 yards from the back tees. Being a “prairie-style” course, the rolling fairways are straight and wide open, surrounded by few small trees and thick grass.  This course felt pretty similar to other “prairie-style” courses, and even some “links-style” courses, throughout Chicagoland, like Prairie Bluff Golf Course, The Sanctuary Golf Course, and Naperbrook Golf Club, though I would say that this course is a little more hilly than the others. Water hazards touch eight of the holes, none of which you’ll need to carry over if you play your shots correctly. Bunkers are found on almost all holes, either near the fairway, near the green, or both. The greens are large, and most of them have a steady slope that makes putting a little more difficult. I really liked this course. Overall, the course is beautiful and was pretty fun to play. The fairways, bunkers, and greens were all in great condition. I would probably rank this in my top 10 favorite courses in the Chicagoland area.

At the tee box for the first hole, Markus and I were joined by another golfer, Steve. Throughout the round, we got to talk to Steve quite a bit (partially thanks to a 30 minute break due to weather). He was telling us that Countryside is probably one of the most popular courses in the area (which we would agree, because the course seemed busy).

I had a pretty random round. My drives started off pushing right, and stayed generally right through a good portion of the round. It wasn’t until the middle of the back nine until I hit a drive that went left. I did manage to make a couple straight drives, but they were few and far between. I wasn’t able to make good shots with my hybrid until near the end of the round, which was around the same time that I figured out something I was doing wrong: I was completely forgetting about the correct upper body stance and movement. As a result of this, my upper body was moving too much during my swing, and I would chunk or top the ball. Once I realized what I was doing wrong, my shots improved. My irons were decent throughout the round, and I felt I was still making good contact thanks to the lessons. My wedges and putting was decent, and I thought the greens were pretty fun. I 1-putted twice and 3-putted four times.

I ended up shooting a 102 for the round (30 over par, 56 on the front nine, 46 on the back nine). As you can see, I had pretty bad front nine (due to a couple penalties) and a much better back nine, starting around the 13th hole (a 391 yard par-4). Once I started making better contact with the ball (after correcting my stance), I started seeing much better scores. My score consisted of one birdie (on the 15th, a 151 yard par-3), two pars (the 14th, a 332 yard par-4, and the 18th, a 517 yard par-5), five bogeys, five double bogeys, and all others worse. I’m happy things turned around on the back nine, but I didn’t expect it to turn around that much. That birdie on the 15th definitely helped though.

Countryside Golf Club – Prairie Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,757 yards (brass tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 69.4/118 (white tee boxes)
My score: 102 (30 over par)

Countryside Golf Club
20800 West Hawley Road
Mundelein, IL 60060

The course features three par-3 and three par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,539 yards from the back tees. When we played the round, there were five sets of tees: the back blue tees, the white tees, the silver tees (which looked very similar to the white tees), the red tees, and the greens tee (which were far forward, probably junior tees). The fairways are mostly open and flat, surrounded my medium and large trees. Nearly all of the fairways are straight, with the exception of the 13th hole (a 412 yard par-4) that doglegs right, and the 17th hole (a 508 yard par-5) that doglegs left. Water hazards touch six of the holes, none of which you’ll need to carry over if you play your shots correctly. You may need to carry over a small pond on the 6th hole (a 359 yard par-4) if your tee shot goes right. Bunkers are found on all but one hole, mostly near the greens. The greens of average size and difficulty. For my round, the speed of the greens were random, but mostly fast. This is one of those courses that I would like to see again near the end of the summer. The course was nice in most areas, but some areas were under repair. I’d imagine that near the end of summer, the course would be beautiful.

For this round, I played with two other of my Windy City Golf League flight members (David and Nick), as well as my friend Mike. I actually played David in the Spring 2011 league during my round at the East Course of White Pines Golf Course. In that round, David beat us all by shooting a 102, and I shot a 112. This ended being a much closer round than that one.

My drives were pretty bad… borderline awful. I felt like my takeaway was correct based off what I learned in my lesson, but I couldn’t seem to make solid contact with the ball. I was either pulling it left, pushing it right, or just completely mishitting the ball. Throughout the round, only four of my tee shots were good (three of those with my driver). Luckily though, my 3 hybrid seemed to work well for me. This was the most I’ve ever played with my hybrid in a round, and it saved me many times. It’s definitely a club I’m going to be using more often. While iron shots were pretty good (much like my previous round at Meadowlark), I seemed to struggle a bit with my wedges, which is not normal for me. My putting was bad… the randomness of the greens didn’t help. I didn’t have any 1-putts, I 3-putted three times, and I somehow 4-putted once (on a hole that I started putting for par).

I ended up shooting a 110 (38 over par, 59 on the front nine, 51 on the back nine). This consisted of six bogeys, six double bogeys, and all others worse. On the front nine, I was plagued by penalties, hence the high score. My back nine was much better.

Throughout the round, I felt the scores between me, David, and Nick were going to be close. After the front nine, I had a 59 to David’s 58 and Nick’s 57. David had some great drives throughout the round, but faltered with his irons. Nick’s shots where good all-around, but ended up in penalty trouble near the end of the round. David ended up scoring a 111 and Nick ended up scoring a 113, which gave me two wins for the league. Even though Mike wasn’t playing in the league, he was making great shots throughout the round and finished with a 105.

So I just need to work on my drives a bit more, and get them back to where I can control them. After that, I should be back to shooting in the 90′s.

Glencoe Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,233 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 70.3/127 (white tee boxes)
My score: 110 (38 over par)

Glencoe Golf Club
621 Westly Road
Glencoe, IL 60022

The course features two par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 36 at a length of 3,404 yards from the back tees. Both of the par-3 holes are long, measuring in at more than 190 yards from the back tees, and the par-5 6th measures in at 563 yards from the back tees. The fairways are wide and mostly flat and straight, surrounded by large, thick trees on all sides. Water hazards touch only two holes, one of which (the par-5 6th) you’ll need to carry over on your tee shot. There are no bunkers on the entire course, which gives some relief to those prone to finding themselves in the sand. The greens are large and generally flat, and didn’t really give me any problems throughout the round. They played slow for my round, but that could have been because of the morning rains.

I played this round with a fellow league member, Cory. We decided on playing Meadowlark for a couple of good reasons: it’s close enough to downtown, playing nine holes is less of a time commitment for those (i.e. Cory) having other engagements, and, coming off a lesson that changed my swing plane, I didn’t know if I would enjoy playing a full 18.

Surprisingly, I didn’t play too bad during the round. Since I had new swing-thoughts from my lesson, I really tried to focus on my takeaway and general swing plane. My drives were a little inconsistent, but mostly pushed right. I’m completely fine with this, as anytime I can play a round with no drastic slices, I’m happy. My iron shots were pretty good. I was making solid impact, keeping my shots straight, and getting the distance I should expect from my usual iron shots (maybe even longer than normal). Overall, I’m really happy with the improvement is saw out of my irons. My wedges were pretty good again, as was my putting. The only thing that gave me troubles were the trees. I hit a couple shots into the trees, which promptly batted down any ball hoping to make it through. I thoroughly blame the trees for my high scores (all in good fun, of course).

I ended up shooting a 52 for the round (16 over par), which broke down into five bogeys, two double bogeys, and others worse. I 1-putted twice and had no 3-putts. Cory ended up shooting a 55, which gave me a league win by 3 strokes.

Before I end, I’ll mention that, while I was waiting to tee off, I ran into Nick (from my round at Billy Caldwell), who is now the manager at Meadowlark. Along with talking to Nick, I also had a nice chat with Mary, who works in the golf shop (and has been around Meadowlark for a long time). It was really nice talking with both them. As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, it’s meeting people like Nick and Mary that makes this project so much fun.

Meadowlark Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 3,253 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 36
Course rating/slope: 35.1/111 (white tee boxes)
My score: 52 (16 over par)

Meadowlark Golf Course
11599 31st Street
Hinsdale, IL 60523

Enter Greg Baresel, PGA Golf Instructor and Performance Coach. Greg is a Class A Member of the PGA of America, a PGA Teaching Professional at the Cantigny Golf Academy, a PGA Golf Instructor at Athletico Golf Performance Center, and the Director of Instruction at Marengo Ridge Golf Club. He is also the Lead Instructor for the PGA TOUR Academy Junior Camps at Cantigny Golf. During his professional career, he has given more than 3,000 lessons while working at some of the most prominent golf courses in the area. Needless to say, he has all the credentials necessary to work with players of all skill levels.

I met up with Greg in the early hours of a rainy Saturday morning at the Cantigny Golf Academy. The facility is comprised of multiple heated indoor hitting bays and video swing analysis studios, which gives Greg the tools necessary to break down, point out, and visualize the flaws of my swing. We spent the next hour video-tapping my swing, drawing lines that designate where my swing is and where is should be, and working to improve my swing. Within the first 10 minutes of my lesson, Greg was able to see the problems with my swing (which included some of the things I suspected), as well as a couple things that I didn’t expect.

The major thing that Greg work with me to improve was my takeaway. My original takeaway of my swing consisted of my hands being too far forward. This caused my hands to be high and too far forward at the top of my backswing. During my downswing, since my hands were high, I would come down steep on the ball, which usually causes the hooks and slices, as well as inconsistent impact. So Greg focused on moving my hands more back during my takeaway. This naturally lowered my hands at the top of my backswing, which gives me a flatter swing plane during my downswing.

As expected, this took me a bit of time to get used to. I realized over the course of practicing this new swing plane, that if I can briefly focus on getting my takeaway correct during my backswing, then I don’t need to focus much on my downswing, which (for me) comes naturally as I just reverse my takeaway. By not focusing on my downswing, I can focus more on making a solid impact with the ball.

One other thing that Greg changed was the position of the ball in my stance. For iron shots, the ball is now in line with my left chest (since I’m a right-handed), and for my drives, the ball is now in line with the inside of my left foot. I’m also now standing back a little more on my iron shots.

Throughout the rest of the lesson (and a small bucket of balls afterwards), I practiced the things that I learned, and I overall felt good about the changes. I felt like I was making much better contact with the ball, and consistently making straighter shots. When practicing my drives, I did not once slice the ball, but that could have been because I was mentally in “practice mode” (which is something I need to learn to take to my rounds).

Shortly after my lesson, Greg provided me with this lesson recap video, which makes it easier to see the problems and solutions to my swing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOgx0NX1qQo

I’m very happy with my lesson with Greg. I think this change to my swing plane will definitely help me improve my game and my scores, as well as getting my mental game and my confidence in my swing back where it should be.

You can also follow Greg on Twitter (@golfwithgreg), ‘Like’ him on Facebook, connect with him on LinkedIn, and watch his golf videos on YouTube.

In this post, we talk about ball marks, divots, and other golf course maintence issues.

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CGN: Are there any other things you’d like to say in regards to what players can do (beginners and non-beginners alike) to help keep the course in good shape? What are some things players do that you [as a course manager] really appreciate? I’d imagine replacing divots or filling them in with divot mix is a major one.

BE: Most courses are ‘judged’ by golfers on the condition of the greens more heavily than other areas. If left unrepaired, a ball mark could take 2-4 weeks to resolve the damage on it’s own. In my experience, 1 out of 5 golfers repairs their ball marks. Therefore, I ask each of our regulars to try to fix 4-5 ball marks on each green when they play… I tell them the ‘Putting Gods’ will be watching and be more kind to those who fix ball marks. If a golfer only did one thing, replacing ball marks would be on the top of the list. The course benefits, but the golfers benefit more.

There are differing opinions on replacing divots. When you take a divot, you haven’t killed the grass… the roots will regenerate the foliage. Replacing a divot is beneficial in leveling the surface and may prevent someone else from having to play from a hole, but a ‘dead’ divot will sometime impede the new growth from the roots (divots don’t regenerate from the ground down). That’s why some courses offer sand or divot mix… it levels the surface and allows the new shoots to come through.

Divot mix is tricky, and some courses have stopped using it. Some courses have bent grass tees, blue grass fairways, and blue/rye roughs. When divot mix is filled in a portable container, it may contain blue grass, but an unknowing golfer may take a divot on the bent grass tee, fill it with blue grass divot mix, and think they did good. Instead, they just introduced an undesirable grass into an area it doesn’t belong. If there is divot mix on a par 3 tee box, using it is greatly appreciated, as the course will have mixed the right blend.

The other often overlooked maintenance issue most amatuers aren’t aware of… in a greenside bunker, the highest part is often closest to the green. After hitting a shot, golfers often try to climb out of the bunker at the highest point, closest to the green, often damaging the edge of the bunker along the way. Entering and exiting a bunker at its lowest point is not only more beneficial to the course, but more comfortable for the golfer (even though it may require a bit more raking).

In this post, we talk about cart rules and the factors that effect general cart traffic.

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CGN: Speaking of motorized carts, let’s talk about that 90 degree rule. Courses try to enforce it, but more times than not, players don’t adhere to it. How exactly does that rule help you? How long do the side effects of players not adhering to the 90 degree rule effect the quality of the course? What other motorized cart rules can you try to enforce?

BE: Cart rules generally fall into the scatter (go anywhere), rough only, 90 rule, fairway only, cart path only, or no cart rules.

Scatter and no carts are obvious. Rough only may be applied when a course doesn’t have continuous cart paths, wants some cart revenue, but it’s pretty wet and they don’t want golfers to damage the more important fairway turf. They’re usually acknowledging that some damage will take place in the rough, but the cost/satisfaction/benefit ratio is positive and the rough can be fixed. Some courses have excellent fairway drainage and/or divert the stormwater into the rough, so they’ll mandate fairways only because the turf there is drier and less likely to become damaged. Cart paths only means you could damage numerous areas of the course and the course invested in all of those cart paths so the golfers are going to use them and not damage any of the turf. 90 degree rule usually means it’s wet in the fairways, but severe damage isn’t imminent and we’re trying to keep satisfactions levels somewhat high. However, wet turf is more susceptable to compaction, and compaction is bad for turf… so the less traffic we have in the fairways, the better. 90 degree rule is the hardest to police because we’re not necessarily restricting fairway access… we’re simply ‘hoping’ to get as much cooperation as possible from our guests to minimize turf wear and tear.

Of course, there are other factors for each of the above than just stormwater… balancing traffic patterns to avoid overuse in some areas, chemical applications that need to dry or settle, high levels of play when grass is weak or susceptable, turf disease or conditions favorable for disease, recent aerifications, etc. could all have an impact on where the course would prefer carts to go and not go. For instance, pythium is a disease that can wipe out the turf on a golf course in 48 hours. If disease is present or favorable, having carts transfer the disease from one area of the course to another so multiple areas become infected isn’t in anyone’s best interest.

In this post, we talk about water drainage and general course management in regards to the up-keep of the course.

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CGN: What other things can happen that will change the normal activities that players do during a round of golf (in regards to the up-keeping of the course)? For example, I’ve played on courses that received a heavy amount of rainfall, and all that was done was not allow motorized carts. That’s understandable, as the course managers don’t want to turn the fairways into a mud pit. At what point do you make that call to not allow motorized carts?

BE: Every course is different, and every course has different drainage characteristics. For instance, some golf courses (typically municipal courses like Village Greens of Woodridge) actually serve as stormwater retention for neighborhoods and businesses surrounding the property. Therefore, when we get rain, we’re often taking water on 24 hours after the rain stops, and sometimes golfers don’t understand why the course is still closed or carts aren’t available even though it’s sunny and 80 degrees and the rain ended 24 hours earlier.

Some courses have very expensive and elaborate drainage systems to get water off the course quickly so as not to interrupt business operations. Private country clubs and high-end public courses (like Cog Hill #4 “Dubsdread”) have great drainage systems and you wouldn’t know it even rained 3-4 hours after a one inch rainfall.

Other things [that could change the normal activities] are aerification of greens, tees, and fairways, topdressing, chemical applications, and simply letting a course ‘rest’ for a day (like private country clubs do on Mondays).

Every course weighs those actvities which are required for acceptable turf conditions vs. budgets vs. rounds played vs. customer satisfaction, and tries to blend it all together at times when weather is favorable. It’s a delicate decision to weigh short term financial gain, customer satisfaction, and long term course damage/restoration, and there’s often no clear cut answer. Additionally, some courses allow different people to make the decisions… a grounds superintendent’s job is to keep the turf as nice as possible, and they’ll obviously be much more conservative in their decision making. Golf managers are charged with generating revenues and are the front-line for customer service issues, and they’ll be more aggressive in decision making. This is often why golf pros and superintendents don’t get along at some facilities… there’s always a ‘winner’ and ‘loser’… and this routine takes place 100+ times per year as conditions constantly change.

I reached out Brandon Evans, General Manager & PGA Certified Golf Professional at Village Greens of Woodridge (and self-imposed “Director of Fun and Entertainment”). Brandon was kind enough to offer some insight into various topics of golf course maintenance, including frost delays, water drainage, and cart rules.

This is the first post in a multi-post series on golf course maintenance. In this post, we talk about frost delays.

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CGN: It’s obvious was causes a frost delay, even though I didn’t really think it got that cold the night before my round. What’s the reasoning behind preventing play when there’s frost? What does the frost do to the course? How is this any different than playing during the winter or early fall? How often do frost delays actually happen?

BE: Frost is one of the most frustrating and somewhat unpredictable issues we deal with. Frustrating because nobody wins… the course has to delay golfers from teeing off, which only causes aggravation and irritation for the golfers, especially those accustomed to teeing off early and getting home early. In many cases, the golfers simply can’t wait and they cancel their tee times, resulting in loss of valuable revenue. Even if they do stick around there’s often confusion and chaos in getting everybody onto the course once the delay ends. NOBODY has fun on frost delayed mornings.

Believe me, there’s a very good reason we prevent golfers from going onto the course when there is frost present… it would be a lot easier to simply let everyone out to play than to try to mitigate our guests’ frustration if the consequences weren’t that severe.

First of all… frost is tricky. Without going into details, frost is obviously frozen water, but because the temperature you see on the Weather Channel is taken several feet off the ground and cold air is more dense and therefore ‘sinks’, there could (and often is) frost on the grass when the ‘temperature’ is above freezing. Additionally, it takes frost a while to melt, depending on the severity and density, so by the time you’re driving to the course it may read 37 on your car’s dashboard but when you arrive at the course the greens are frosty white. Lastly, frost will settle and be more severe on shorter grass, which is why your yard may not show frost but a putting green will. Alternatively, humidity levels and other factors are involved, so it’s entirely possible to have overnight lows in the 20′s without frost being present in the morning, yet other mornings when the overnight lows were 35 and there’s a heavy frost.

A blade of grass is 80% water and therefore very pliable or flexible. When that water freezes, and/or a layer of frost covers the blade, the blade of grass becomes rigid and fragile. When someone then steps on it or drives on it, the blade of grass will break, crack, or otherwise become damaged. In the short term, it will cause very bumpy greens (imagine walking through newly fallen snow leaving footprints… a putting surface will look just like it). A few days later, grass may show signs of ‘bruising’ from it’s injuries… we’ll literally see brown or black footprints all over the grass, and those areas won’t grow as evenly, resulting in poor playing surfaces. If the frost was heavy enough and the crown of the plant was frozen, the entire plant will die and the course has some serious problems at that point. We’ve all seen greens with dead ‘footprints’ all over the place.

Bottom line… as much as we hate frustrating the golfers and losing the revenue, the alternative of bruised or dead fairways and greens is less appealing and has longer term consequences.

We typically see frost in March and April, October and November. At some point, the grass goes dormant. Once it’s dormant, it’s more difficult to damage the blade of the grass, which is why some courses allow ‘winter’ golf. However, there are other ways to damage the playing surface in the winter and most course don’t see a positive cost/benefit ratio for winter golf.

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,677 yards from the back tees. For my round, I played on the white tees, which dropped the length down to 5,942 yards. The course is designed as a “links-style” course, so the fairways are flat and wide, with small rolling hills, a few trees, and thick grass along the sides.  The fairways are mostly straight, with the exception of the 3rd hole (a 550 yard par-5) and the 17th hole (a 354 yard par-4) which are dogleg rights. Water hazards touch 12 of the holes, none of which you’ll absolutely need to carry over (how you play the hole will determine if you’ll need to shoot over water). Bunkers are found on every hole, either near the fairway, near the green, or both. The greens are of average size or slightly smaller, with challenging breaks and pin positions. The greens played a little fast during my round.

Susie joined me for this round, and we initially had the intention to play another course after this round. Though when we arrived at the course, the tee times were backed up due to a frost delay. On top of that, it looked like they were holding a tournament or large outing, so there were a lot of people waiting to tee off. Instead of delaying our start, the course managers started Susie and I on the back nine. Playing the back nine first was nice, because we only had a twosome in front of us, and there was no one behind us for at least two or three holes. When we finished the back nine, we checked in with the starter, who told us there was a 15-20 minute wait (we knew this would happen, because one of the course rangers told us a couple times during the back nine). So we got to take a little break and grab lunch. While we were eating, the course manager found us and offered to buy us lunch, which was a really nice gesture, but at this point we had already paid and finished eating. Nearly one hour later, the starter got us fit in to an open tee time. We played the front nine with another twosome, Ron and Martha (husband/wife). Near the end of the front nine, I mentioned to Susie that we should play the back nine again, since there wasn’t time to play another 18 at another course. At the turn, we talked to the course manager, and got the go-ahead to play the back nine again.

The troubles of my two previous round were still present in this round, as expected. I didn’t have any consistency at all with my drives. Some holes I’d push right, then follow up the next drive with a straight shot, but then only to slice it on the next hole. I could definitely feel that something is different with my back swing, possibly due to improper grip. My irons still gave me troubles, and I already know what I need to work on to fix that. I started using my 3 hybrid more, which is one club I’ve been avoiding ever since I added it to my bag, and it surprisingly didn’t give me any major issues. As expected, my short game was decent, which is starting to be one of the things I can count on to keep my scores somewhat low. My putting was random but generally better than the previous round. I 1-putted four times and only 3-putted once throughout the 27 holes.

I ended up shooting a 106 for the round (34 over par, 52 on the front nine, 54 on the back nine). This score consisted of three pars, four bogeys, four double bogeys, and all others worse. For the back nine replay, I shot a 54 again, but the scores on each hole were pretty different. This score consisted of two bogeys, five double bogeys, and two triple bogeys.

This round ends the weekend of golf (since Sunday was Easter). I ended up played 63 holes of in two days, and knocked off three new courses. Due to other plans, I won’t be playing for the next three weeks, then at the end of the break, the Windy City Golf League starts its season. I’m hoping this little break will give me a chance to go to the driving range and try to figure out what is going on with my drives and iron shots. I really need things to improve, or at least get back to the way things were. I hate feeling uncomfortable with my swing, and it messes tremendously with my mental game. The only way it’s going to get better is to practice, practice, and practice some more.

Naperbrook Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,942 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 68.6/120 (white tee boxes)
My score: 106 (34 over par)
Replay score: 54 (back nine)

Naperbrook Golf Club
22204 West Hassert Blvd
Plainfield, IL 60585

The course features four par-3 and three par-5 holes for a total par of 71 at a length of 6,432 yards from the back tees. The course weaves its way around a large area of Hoffman Estates, looping around the building for the Village of Hoffman Estates, and coming really close to Interstate 90. The fairways are somewhat hilly and mostly open, surrounded by large trees and a good amount of water. Water hazards touch 13 of the holes, and you’ll need to carry over water many times, either on your tee shot or on your way to the green. The 12th hole (a 345 yard par-4) is a dogleg right that has a small creek cutting through the fairway halfway to the green where the hole turns. On your tee shot, you could either play it safe and aim short left, or you could risk landing in a fairway bunker or the water hazard by aiming right. The course offer many opportunities like this to be strategic with your shots. Bunkers are located on nearly every hole, either near the fairways, near the greens, or both. The bunkers are generally large and kept in good condition. The undulating greens offer very challenging breaks and played pretty fast during my round.

For this round, Markus and I were joined by Eddy, who was playing his first round for the season.

I didn’t have the best round, as the issues from the back nine of my previous round were still present. My drives were very random and rarely straight, and I still felt uncomfortable during my swing. I only managed to hit the fairway five times throughout the round, and was consistently pushing right or pulling left (luckily, I didn’t slice any of my drives). My irons were still giving me issues, and I couldn’t seem to make any solid shots. My accuracy and distance with my irons were very random throughout the round. Though, much like my previous round, my short game helped me keep my scores low, and I felt pretty comfortable with my wedges. I had a lot of issues with my putting, and the speed and challenge of the greens did not help. I didn’t have any 1-putts, but only 3-putted three times.

I ended up shooting a 101 (30 over par, 52 on the front nine, 49 on the back nine). I was really hoping to keep my score under 100, but I had way too many double bogeys. My score consisted of two pars, four bogeys, ten double bogeys, and two triple bogeys. Markus shot an 84, and I didn’t catch Eddy’s score, though I know he played better than me (I know this because I lost $15 to him).

That ends the second round for the weekend. At this point, I’m hoping my drives and irons shots will improve. At least I know what I need to focus more on during my next round.

Hilldale Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,931 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 71
Course rating/slope: 69.4/130 (white tee boxes)
My score: 101 (30 over par)

Hilldale Golf Club
1625 Ardwick Drive
Hoffman Estates, IL 60195

Salt Creek is an executive course that features nine par-3 and nine par-4 holes for a total par of 63 at a length of 3,946 yards from the back tees. The course is laid out and [sometimes poorly] marked as two 9-hole courses, the White Course and the Blue Course, with the Blue Course wrapping around the outside of the White Course. Cart paths near tee boxes and greens are made of wood chip mulch, and finding your way to the next tee boxes can sometimes be difficult or confusing. The fairways are flat, open, and straight, surrounded by large trees and an occasional power line transmission tower (only on the Blue Course). The longest hole on the course is the 4th hole of the Blue Course, a 381 par-4 with a 60 yard long waste bunker down the right side of the fairway and a patch of “grounds under repair” on the left side of the fairway. Water hazards touch five of the holes, including around the green of the 8th hole (a 262 yard par-4) which they label as an island green, though the amount of water you must carry over is less than 10 feet. Where present, water hazards sit very close to the greens, so you’ll want to make sure your tee shots or approach shots are accurate. Bunkers are located near the greens on all but four holes, and were looked to be kept in good condition. Greens are fairly large and flat, and played pretty slow during my round.

When we played, it seemed like a lot of other golfers where just playing nine holes, and even more golfers just walked the course. If playing just nine holes is common, your tee time will not always start on the same course. An effect of this is that people playing the full 18 could possibly interfere with other tee times. So if you’re making the turn, account for the possibility of the starter needing to fit you in to other open the tee time slots.

Markus joined me for this opening round of the long weekend. This round at Salt Creek was meant to be a warm-up for the next round of the day. Since there was so many par-3′s and short par-4′s, it gave us an opportunity to work a little more on our irons, without completely wearing us out for the next round.

We started the round on the White Course, which is the shorter of the two courses at 1,795 yards. My tee shots were pretty random throughout the 18, but overall I felt I played better on the front nine than on the back nine. I couldn’t seem to keep any of my iron tee shots straight. Throughout the round, I only managed to get three of my drives to hit the fairway. There’s probably many issues at play with my swing: overpowering my shot, not properly turning my upper body, not shifting my weight, not fully following through… the list could go on. On top of that, my back swing didn’t feel as smooth as it has in the past. Luckily, my short game was much better, and I attribute it to keeping my strokes in the double digits. As I mentioned before, the greens were slow, so I ended up leaving a lot of my putts short (better short for easy putts than rolling long for risky putts).

I shot an 84 for the round (remember, par 63 course), putting me 21 over par. I shot a 38 on the White Course (like I said, I played better on the front nine) and 46 on the Blue Course. This consisted of one birdie, three pars, eight bogeys, and all others worse. I 1-putted three times (all on the front nine) and 3-putted three times (all on the back nine). Markus ended up shooting around 10 over par (he had a better back nine).

So that ends the first round of the weekend. Time to move on to the next!

Salt Creek Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 3,946 yards (back tee boxes)
Course par: 63
Course rating/slope: 59.0/92 (back tee boxes)
My score: 84 (21 over par)

Salt Creek Golf Club
701 West Thorndale Ave
Wood Dale, IL 60191

The course features the standard four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,638 yards from the back tees. For this round, only the middle white tees were set up, knocking nearly 400 yards off the total length. The fairways are generally open and straight, formed from rolling hills and surrounded by medium- and large-sized trees. Two of the par-5 holes, the 6th (503 yards) and the 18th (536 yards), have a slight dogleg, and the 12th hole (a 358 yard par-4) is a 90 degree dogleg. Water hazards touch nine of the holes, two of which, including the 18th and 11th (a 523 yard par-5), you must carry your tee shot over. Bunkers are found on all holes, both near the fairways and next to the greens. The undulating greens and pin placement should offer a challenge for all levels. For the most part, the course looked in great condition, aside from a couple areas away from the fairways that were part of a recent controlled burn. I’d imagine that by the summer months, those areas would be back to normal.

I’ll quickly mention that, in my opinion, Village Greens of Woodridge has one the widest range of offerings, events, deals, and promotions that I have seen out of a Chicagoland golf course. For example, in 2010 they started the “1000 1st Swings” program, a free program that’s meant to introduce kids to the game of golf. Supported by a grant received by the Woodridge Park District, the course provides clubs (kids clubs) and range balls for free to those interested in teaching kids the game of golf. Though they have far exceeded the goal of 1000 participants since the start of the program, they still continue to promote people to teach golf to kids. For the deal savvy, last year Village Greens launched the “$9.99 9-hole Value Days“, which offers preselected tee times for a 9-hole round for $9.99. That’s a pretty good deal if you only have time for a quick 9-hole.

For this round, I was joined by Adam (who’s finally starting to use his driver), Markus, and our friend Rickard. Even though he would disagree with me, when he’s playing his best game, Rickard could probably carry a single-digit handicap.

As for my game, I don’t think it was too bad. My drives were pretty decent on the front nine, then got more random on the back nine. Only sliced my drive twice throughout the round, but pushed and pulled it more often. I’m starting to get better and more consistent shots with my fairway wood, though I do tend to push them. I need to work on my irons on grass a little more. My practice swings with my irons are good, but when I take the shot, I think I’m overpowering my swing and coming down too steep. I’m still pretty happy with my wedges, though a new set of wedges would be nice to have. My putting was decent; better on the front nine than the back nine. I ended up 1-putting five times (four of those on the front nine) and 3-putting two times (both on the back nine).

I shot a 98 for the round (26 over par, 48 on the front nine, 50 on the back nine), which consisted of 3 pars, 7 bogeys, 6 double bogeys, and all others worse. If it wasn’t for a couple risky shots, my score could have been much lower. In any case, it’s good to see a score like this again.

Village Greens of Woodridge – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,290 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 70.1/122 (white tee boxes)
My score: 98 (26 over par)

Village Greens of Woodridge
1575 West 75th Street
Woodridge, IL 60517

The course features five par-3 and three par-3 holes for a total par of 70 at a length of 6,283 yards from the back tees. For this round, there was only one tee box, which didn’t really surprise me since this was the opening weekend for many golf courses in Chicago (whether that is an acceptable excuse is up to you). The course wraps around the back of the driving range, so on some holes it’s common to find range balls in the middle of the fairways. The fairways are mostly open and flat, with medium-sized trees along the fairways. You’ll find nearly 90 degree doglegs on the 4th hole (a 436 yard par-4) and the 17th hole (a 365 yard par-4). Water touches five of the holes, two of which you’ll need to carry over either on your tee shot (the 5th hole, a 181 yard par-3) or on the way to the green (the 14th hole, a 325 yard par-4). Bunkers are found on all of the holes, nearly always next to the greens. The greens are fairly large with steady slopes and challenging breaks.

With it being March, it’s difficult to comment on the quality of the course. The bunkers were unkempt, and sand was blown and covering parts of the greens on some holes. A quick lap around each of the greens with the blower would have helped. The greens were not actually green, but more brown, and the holes from aerating made for bumpy rolls during putts (not to mention the holes from the previous location of the cups). Aside from that, you won’t find any ball cleaners or garbage cans during your round, and restrooms (in our case, port-o-potties) were rare. Aside from the course, the driving range looked like it could also use some help (it’s hard to not notice while playing the round).

For this round, Susie and I played the full 18, while the rest of the group played only the front 9. Blake, the group’s organizer, joined us for the front 9.

Being the first round of the season, the first time hitting the ball in a long time, I don’t think I did so badly (though, luck was on my side). I started the round by slicing my drive and 3-putting for a triple bogey, but then turned around with a bogey, bogey, par. On the 5th hole, I somehow crossed the water hazard, but found myself in the bunkers for 3 strokes, and ended up with a triple bogey. Then, a miracle occurred. On the 6th hole (a 440 yard par-5), I sliced my drive into the next fairway, then hit a solid 4-iron within 50 yards of the hole, right outside green next to a bunker. My next shot was an easy pitch onto the green, that ended up rolling right into hole. I hit an eagle on a par-5! The rest of the round was pretty average… bogeys, double bogeys, or worse, though I did finish the round with a chip-in par.

All-in-all, my drives were pretty random and my iron shots were decent (though a little short). My putting was also random, but I think that was expected with the quality of the greens. I ended up 1-putting three times and 3-putting five times (with two chip-ins).

I ended up shooting a 98 for the round (28 over par, 48 on the front nine, 50 on the back nine). This consisted of 1 eagle, 3 pars, 3 bogeys, 8 double bogeys, and all others worse. Obviously, this was a far better result than what I expected for my first round of the season. It feels good to have a start like that. Hopefully I this will continue throughout the season.

Fresh Meadow Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,978 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 70
Course rating/slope: 68.6/113 (white tee boxes)
My score: 98 (28 over par)

Fresh Meadow Golf Club
2144 South Wolf Drive
Hillside, IL 60162

• For the individual league, use the coupon code Noob2012. With this coupon, registration will be $50 (normally $60).
  
• For the 2-person team league, use the coupon code Noob2012Team. With this coupon, registration will be $100 per team (normally $120).

Hope to see you on the course!

Last year was my first experience playing in the Windy City Golf League. I generally enjoyed playing in the league, though, like most other leagues and league formats, there were some pros and cons (which you can read about in my 2011 Spring season wrap-up post), which I’ll touch on later. This year, while browsing around the Chicago Golf Show with Markus, we stopped by the booth for the Windy City Golf League, and I got to have a nice conversation with the founder, Jason Rotter, about my previous season and the outlook on this year’s league.

If you haven’t read my original post about the Windy City Golf League, let me give you a quick summary about the format (most of this is pulled from the post, and updated accordingly). The Windy City Golf League format revolves around the flexibility of league matches. Instead of playing all of your matches at one course on one day during the week, the league allows you to choose to play your matches at any course, on any day, and any time. You can play anyone in your league flight, as many times as you want, and you can play as many matches throughout the season as you want.

There are two types of formats for the league: the individual head-to-head league and the 2-person team scramble. For the individual league, you are grouped into flights based on your handicap and availability, so you will most likely play people who are around your skill level. Your matches are standard 9- or 18-hole stroke play matches, and you receive points based on how many strokes you win or lose by. For the team league, since the league is relatively new, it is assumed that everyone is scratch golfers, and all teams are placed in the same flight (this will change once the league gets enough teams to create multiple flights). Matches are played in scramble format, and recorded in stroke-play format.

The 12-week league concludes with one final tournament where points can be earned: the Arghe Isle Cup Tournament. To qualify for the tournament, you need to be the points leader in your group, have the highest player rating, or have the lowest adjusted scoring average, though last year, all league members (and even some outside players) were invited to play in the tournament. The overall winner of each flight wins the tournament trophy.

The cost for the league is $60 per person ($120 per team) per season. There are two seasons: the Spring season, which runs from April to July, and the Summer season, which runs from July to October. During the past year, Jason has been working on creating more partnerships and deals with golf courses in the areas. League members get special offers and discounts at some of the popular courses in the area.

I personally love this format, because it allows me to play in a golf league without needing to travel to some course in the suburbs after work on a Wednesday evening to play 9 holes (which, as far as I can tell, seems to be common scenario for standard golf leagues). Though as I mentioned before, much like other golf league formats, there are pros and cons. First, your matches are controlled by other people’s schedules. If your schedule doesn’t match up with someone else’s schedule, you won’t be able to play matches. It’s as simple as that. While you can usually count on somebody being at the course on a preselected day in a standard golf league, that’s just not the case with this league format. Last year, the majority of matches in my flight were played during the weekdays, and that’s just something I couldn’t do. Second, a lot of people who signed up for the league didn’t play a single round throughout the season, which limited the number of people who would actually play rounds. This, of course, is something that you can’t really control or prevent, and it still happens in standard golf leagues. It’s just the nature of a league; people will sign up, but never participate. Lastly, sometimes people just don’t communicate, or people are not available. There were a couple times last year where people were playing matches without asking if anyone else wanted to join, while other weekends, I was free to play matches, but no one else way. Once again, this is not something you can control, and you just have to deal with it.

I wanted to trying something a bit different this season. Markus and I have been playing a lot of rounds together recently (I’m his ride out the golf course), and we also know some people who might be interested in playing in a team golf league. So we decided to join forces (his overall golfing skill level and my good looks) and join the Spring 2-person team league. Our hope is that we can get a good number of matches in on the weekends, which, for scheduling 2-person teams, might either prove easier or more difficult then the individual league.

During my conversations with Jason, he did mention that the Windy City Golf League is gaining more exposure and more partnerships, so the number of players and teams should be rising. Since we still don’t know the total amount of players and teams that have signed up, the idea will still remain that all 2-person teams will be placed in the same flight and everyone is considered a scratch golfer. This might prove difficult to a team like Markus and I, where Markus carries a single digit handicap, and I carry over a dozen golf balls in my bag, so I have enough to last me throughout the round. Maybe Markus and I will be able to keep up with the rest of the teams. He has a long drive and accurate iron shots, and I feel I’m decent at putting.

Since the team league is in scramble format, I’m not going to be able to accurately track my game as I normally do. I’m not a huge fan of this, but at least I can reflect a bit on how I generally played during the match. Playing in this league might also give me a chance to play a couple courses again, which is something I try not to do, but I’m not 100% against it. Sometimes it’s fun to revisit courses, either to see if/how they have changed, or if my game has changed in ways where I take different shots in different situations.

• Break 90 – I might as well start with this, since getting the lowest score is the general goal of golf. Who knows if I’ll complete this goal in 2012… maybe I’ll get lucky and play a really good round.
• Score an average of 100 – Like clockwork, this number has been going down over the years (115 in 2009, 110 in 2010, and 105 in 2011). I met the goal last season, so let’s see if I can get it down to 100.
• Play 20 rounds of golf on 15 new courses – Once again, I’m carrying over this goal from last year. If things go like they have the last two years, I should be able to meet this goal fairly easily.
• Birdie a par 5 – Carrying this goal over from 2011. It’s going to happen soon.
• Two birdies in one round – Also carrying this goal over from 2011.
• Eagle – Par 4… par 5… doesn’t matter. Just make an eagle.
• Five pars in one round – I’m upping this goal from last year… just to see if it happens.

For technical goals:

• Lower handicap to 23 or less – In 2009 my handicap was 36.4, in 2010 it was 33.4, and in 2011 it was 27.7. I’m trying to follow a pattern. Let’s see if it happens.
• Raise fairway hit percentage to 42% – Right now, it’s at 38.8%.
• Raise green-in-regulation percentage to 11% – Right now, it’s at 9.4%.
• Lower average putts to 1.9 – Right now, it’s at 2.05.

Let the season begin!

Before I start off, I must say that I did not post about my last round in 2011. In November, I was graciously invited by a member of Mission Hills Country Club, a private golf course in Northbrook, Illinois. I never got a chance to write about that round (personally, I didn’t play the best round). I spoke with the member after the round, and I’m looking forward to playing more rounds there; rounds that I will post about. The statistics below do include this round.

So… on to my year in review for the 2011 golf season.

Statistics

• 28 total rounds of golf played on both 9-hole and 18-hole courses, which includes 3 replays (keeping track of these replays is going to start getting difficult). This number also includes the “bramble” I played at Klein Creek Golf Club.
• 2 rounds played at 9-hole courses. 26 rounds played at 18-hole courses (including one round at a course with two 9-hole courses).
• 24 new courses played: 1 field-trip course and 23 courses that count toward the goal (checking my math… the tracker shows 52 courses completed: 3 in 2008, 6 in 2009, 20 in 2010, and 23 in 2011)
• Best 18-hole round: 93 (21 over par) at Woodruff Golf Course (though, this was a par 68 course)
• Worst 18-hole round: 122 (50 over par) at Eaglewood Resort & Spa Golf Course

According to my statistics on oobgolf.com (based on the last 20 scores):

• My handicap is 27.7
• I’ve had a 105 scoring average
• 38.8% of fairways hit
• Average 2.05 putts per hole
• 9.4% GIR (green in regulation)

All of those statistics are an improvement from 2010.

2011 Goals

• Break 100 – I finally broke 100 at Plymouth Rock Golf Course by shooting at 96. After this, I successfully broke 100 again at 5 other times.
• Score an average of 105 – According to my last 20 rounds, I met this goal, but that bad round at Eaglewood might not be included. Let’s just say I met this goal…
• Play 20 rounds of golf on 15 new courses – As you can see above, I played 28 rounds of golf, including 23 rounds at new courses.
• Birdie a par 5; Two birdies in one round – I did not meet these goals, and they will carry over into 2012.
• Four pars in one round – Done (at Inwood Golf Course).
• Play a full round without 3-putting – As predicted, this had a direct correlation with breaking 100. I met this goal at Plymouth Rock Golf Course.
• Finish the course list in the ChicagoGolfNoob.com Golf Tracker – As far as I am aware, all of the Illinois courses are in the tracker. I think I need to still enter 10-20 courses in the northwest corner of Indiana. As of right now, the tracker is showing 159 courses

For the more technical goals (based on the last 20 scores):

• Lower handicap to 30 or less – Done. I’m at a 27.7 handicap right now. Those 6 sub-100 rounds really helped.
• Raise fairway hit percentage to 45% – I made this goal off of a wrong percentage. I actually started at 35.3%, so getting to 45% would have been difficult. I did manage to get this to 38.8% though.
• Raise green-in-regulation percentage to 10% – So close. I got to 9.4%.
• Lower average putts to 2 – Once again, close. I’m at 2.05.

Final Thoughts

The 2011 golf season was the most productive for the project. 28 rounds played, with 23 new courses completed, along with getting married and going on a honeymoon… I think that’s pretty impressive. I really didn’t think I would get to play that much in 2011. If I keep this pace, I should be able to complete the project in 5-6 years.

As far as my game, I think my drives are getting better and straighter. I really want to figure out ways to get a bit more length on my drives. I would really like to be hitting consistent 250+ yard drives. I also need to work on my accuracy with my wedges. I’ll probably get some new wedges in 2012.

And just how I ended the last year in review, I really want to say ‘Thank You!’ to all who are following my progress, and joining me along the way. I noticed that this blog has started to get consistent readers and commenters, and that means so much to me.

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 7,111 yards from the back tees. There is a big difference between the front nine and the back nine, mostly because of the amount of water found on the back nine. The fairways throughout are mostly open and flat, surrounded by medium-sized trees. You’ll find a lot of water on this course. On the front nine, water touches five of the holes, four of which you’ll need to carry over. On the back nine, water touches every hole, and you’ll need to carry over water on every hole. Bunkers are found on nearly every hole, both near the fairways or the greens. The greens are challenging, with steady slopes and interesting breaks.

I think Seven Bridges is a great course. It’s a beautiful course with plenty of challenges for all levels. I think it’s one of the best courses I’ve played in the Chicago area, and I would recommend anyone to play this course.

I should note that one of the main reasons Markus and I decided to play this course was because of the fall season greens fees. During peak season, the greens fees for Seven Bridges can be around $100. During the fall season, they drop the greens fees to around $60, which is a much more affordable price for golfers around my level. And luckily, the weather in the fall season can be very nice for golf, so playing in the fall isn’t that big of a deal. But still, if you decide to play during the summer or during the fall, I think Seven Bridges is worth it. The starters and rangers are very nice, the carts have a much more advanced GPS system compared to other courses, and the layout of the course is beautiful.

I feel like I played a decent round. As you could imagine, I played much better on the front nine than the back nine. My drives on the front nine were straighter or pushed right, while my drives on the back nine were more random. Maybe the water was messing with my mental game, or maybe I was just getting tired. My irons shots were pretty random accuracy-wise throughout the round, but I was at least keeping consistent on distance. I noticed that my distances dropped a bit, and I think that was because I’m consistently taking divots (compare this with my game 1-2 years ago, where I was always topping the ball). I feel my wedge shots were good, but I still need to work on getting my distance a little more accurate. I’m fully set on researching and buying new wedges for next season. My putting was about average. I 1-putted once and 3-putted five times. The only 1-putt came on the 6th hole (a 183 yard par-3; 150 yards from the white tees), where I somehow sank putt from about 30′ away, giving me another birdie for the year.

I shot a 105 for the round (33 over par, 48 on the front nine, 57 on the back nine). This consisted of one birdie, six bogeys, five double bogeys, and six triple bogeys (mostly on the back nine). I’m perfectly fine walking away with a 105 on this course. With all the water, I’m surprised my score wasn’t higher.

Seven Bridges Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,306 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 70.4/131 (white tee boxes)
My score: 105 (33 over par)

Seven Bridges Golf Club
One Mulligan Drive
Woodridge, IL 60517

The Joe Jemsek (Lakewood) course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,770 yards from the back tees. If you play from the back tees, all of the par-3 holes are 200 yards or more. The fairways are mostly open and straight, formed from rolling hills and surrounded by large trees. Water hazards touch six of the holes, two of which you’ll have to carry over, including the 17th hole (a 552 yard par-5) which features a small pond in front of the green. Bunkers are found on 17 of the 18 holes, both near the fairways and the greens. The greens are of average size, but have some consistent slopes and challenging breaks. I felt like I was putting uphill many times.

I played this round by myself, and somehow finished the round very quickly. Thanks to a little bit of rain and the cool weather, the course was nearly empty. Throughout the round, I only passed one twosome, and didn’t see many more people during the round. I ended finishing the round about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

And somehow, I played pretty well. My drives were pretty random and inconsistent, but I was getting some decent distance. I think my recovery shots helped me out the most during the round, usually setting my 3rd shot up for an easy wedge shot. Since the holes were longer than average, I got to hit with my fairway wood a lot, which was really nice. I’m slowly getting better with my fairway wood, and it’s definitely helping me lower my score. I felt my wedge shots were pretty good, but I still think I could use a bit of work on getting more accurate distance. My putting was good, though I should have practiced a bit beforehand. The greens were pretty slow due to the rain, and along with always putting uphill, I was leaving a lot of putts short. I 1-putted twice and 3-putted twice.

I shot a 96 for the round (24 over par, 47 on the front nine, 49 on the back nine). This consisted of two pars, eight bogeys, and eight double bogeys. Yup… another round without hitting any triple bogeys or worse, so I’m pretty happy with this round.

St. Andrews Golf & Country Club – Joe Jemsek (Lakewood) Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,358 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 70.1/118 (white tee boxes)
My score: 96 (24 over par)

St. Andrews Golf & Country Club
2241 Route 59
West Chicago, IL 60185