Fellas, thanks for the kind words. I dreamed all of this up and figured half of the courses would say no, and I would still have a great trip. When they all said yes, the reality of driving set in and I didn't really know if I could actually do it. It seemed like there were three parts- the prairie courses, the city courses, and the mountain courses in Chattanooga. All were different from the rest in each of my little created categories and to the other styles. The only thing each had in common were ability to accept both types of play (air and ground), and the visual tricks each play. All the courses had some hole or shot were the best place to be was the hardest-looking to get to.
Ballyneal and Black Creek I could play everyday for the rest of my life. They're both that much fun and forgiving to all levels of play. Prairie Dunes and The Honors test your ability big-time. So many different chips, putts, lies where you either hit the correct shot, or you take at least bogey. Saint Louis has the most striking elevation changes I've seen since the first time I went to Augusta. Shoreacres is like a sneaky version of Chicago, where every tee you step up and think 3 or 2, and end up with 5 or more. The rough is nasty because it looks so perfect and short, but snapped shut every club I tried to hit out of it. Some may not like that, because most balls that land there are going to be wedged out. Chicago's just a big golf museum. You realize playing there where the inspiration was for the creation of certain looks on modern holes. It's the Sand Hills of city golf. It was also more forgiving than I would have guessed. And Lookout seemed to be it's own deal- short in the mountains, which would seem like a double-whammy to me. Also, the bunkers were mostly flash. I played terrible and didn't get close to any of them. The scenery lulls you to sleep. 270 degree views on three or four holes. Hope everyone takes a quick look at the rest of the photos on Photobucket. There's more detailed shots, I just didn't want to clog up this site with them.
Robert- Although I did hit a poor shot on #7, it wasn't THAT poor. The super there said the best way to take a picture of the massive scale of the Redan was the big mound in the heel shank zone. I'm standing on about a ten foot high pimple there.
Ken- I waved as I passed Topeka, but no one saw me. It was pitch-black and the moon was just coming out. We'll get together one of these days.