Weekly Series-Poster Threads-Jud Tigerman List 3.

[Jud_T]

My Must Play Courses in the Metro Chicago Area

First a few caveats.  Exmoor, where I've only seen the front 9, and Butterfield, where I haven't seen the renovation work yet, are likely to be included in the future.  I believe the only other courses of significance which I haven't seen that have a decent shot are Beverly, Flossmoor and Evanston.  Also there are some very good courses that you could do a daytrip to but are not considered in the metro area for the purposes of this list, i.e. Lost Dunes, The Dunes Club and perhaps Erin Hills, although I've yet to see the latest work there either:

1.  Chicago Golf- Simply a must for any student of GCA.
2.  Shoreacres- One of my all-time favorites and probably the only Chicago area course I'd beg, borrow or steal to join.
3.  Olympia Fields North-Surprisingly fun for a championship track.  Have to get back again to see the South course.
4.  Skokie- Great course with some of the best renovation work by Pritchard.  Also the best course within 5 minutes of my house! 
5.  Medinah #3-Love it or hate it, a must play...
6.  Butler National- Just take your medicine and find out how feeble your game really is.
7.  Knollwood-An underrated Colt/Allison gem IMO.  Used to stake guys in big money games there.  Have to get back to see the renovation.  Short par 4 2nd is one of my favorite holes.
8.  Old Elm-A classic old Ross men's club that is like a step back in time with some wonderful greens.
9. Bob'o'Link-The poster child for what an all-male club should be.  Also a very good track that is fun and challenging for a variety of golfers (with penises!)
10.  Black Sheep- I know there's some complaint about the similarity of challenge on a number of holes, but there's nothing else like it in the Chicago area.
11. Onwentsia-First Country Club in America? Perhaps a bit too easy for some here, but a great old track nevertheless and some very good holes as well (the par 3 #9 comes to mind). I think Doak consulted there as well.
12.  Ravisloe- 108 year old Jewish club that just went public last year.  For my money the best public course in the area with some old Ross features and nice renovation work by Black Sheep's Esler.
13. Shepherd's Crook- One of the best munis in the country for a good reason. Foster did some work here worth seeing.

[Morgan Clawson]

No love for Dub's Dread or Westmoreland?

[Alex Miller]

How accessible are these courses? I'm not familiar with some of them and figure you're the guy to ask.

You must enjoy seeing your name all over the Discussion Board  

[Jud_T]

As I mentioned on the other thread, Dub's would have made the list prior to the recent renovation.  North Shore and Glenview would be ahead of Westmoreland for starters....

[Jud_T]

How accessible are these courses? I'm not familiar with some of them and figure you're the guy to ask.

You must enjoy seeing your name all over the Discussion Board  

Alex,

Unfortunately they're all private with the exception of the last two.  You may be able to get some reciprocal play on some of them in the spring or fall...

[Terry Lavin]

No love for Dub's Dread or Westmoreland?

Westmoreland?  
 
I can't imagine that Westmoreland is on anybody's "Must Play in Chicago" list.  It might not make many "Must Play on the North Shore of Chicago" list or even the "Must Play in Wilmette" list.  It might make the "Must Play in Skokie" list, but not ahead of Evanston!

It surely would be on a number of social lists, since Westmoreland is surely a venerable waspy kind of a club, but it's not known for its golf course.

[JR Potts]

No Bev?

...Westmoreland...no way, no how.

[Jud_T]

Bev is in the pre-list caveat section as a likely candidate.  Was supposed to play there the day Russia defaulted, and haven't been out since....

[Terry Lavin]

No Bev?

...Westmoreland...no way, no how.

I'm guessing Jud would put Bev up there, but I haven't had him out there yet...My bad.

[Rob Bice]

Terry-
Did Prichard do the restoration work at Beverly?
Rob

[Tom_Doak]

Onwentsia?  Seriously?

I took the consulting job there at the behest of a friend who married into a membership there.  Otherwise, I would never have taken the work, because I didn't think much of it and doubted we could really make an impact.

For several months afterward, I would get calls from friends in Chicago who asked if I had really taken the job, and if so, what the heck was I going to do to the course?  Eventually, it became clear that the course was so dull and expectations were so low that we would have to exceed them.  But there still have to be more than ten courses in Chicago that I would recommend you play first ... and I'm not a big fan of Chicago courses overall.  They all look the same to me, except Chicago Golf and Shoreacres.

P.S.  Ever played Barrington Hills?  We have done some bunker work there, but the only reason I recommend it is that it's got a great set of greens, only one of which I touched. 

[Rob Bice]

Jud-
How about Olympia Fields South?

[Jud_T]

Tom,

I know it's a questionable call, but it has a great history and I have a soft spot for it.  And there are 10 courses ahead of it on my list!  Haven't been out to Barrington Hills.

[Jud_T]

Rob,

Haven't played the South, but I hear good things and it's definitely on my list...

[Andy Troeger]

Jud,
I've only played a handful of courses in Chicago, but you have them generally in the order I'd place them. I switch OFCC North and Shoreacres, but its close. The South is well worth your time if you get the chance and would probably be 3rd of what I've played with Butler National 4th.

The other three are Dubsdread, Rich Harvest, and Kemper Lakes. I like Kemper the best of those three--did that merit any consideration?

[Jud_T]

Andy,

Kemper doesn't make the grade IMO.  It got a lot of press after the PGA and used to be THE public course to play.  It has gone private or semi-private and has pretty much fallen off the radar locally.  Tough track, and certainly a good test, but not a must play IMHO...

[Andy Troeger]

Jud,
No real argument here. I really liked #11 and a few other holes had some character but I can't say that makes a course "must-play." I'm glad that I drove over when living in NW Indiana for the $75 twilight rate before it went private, but don't have a great need to see it again.

[J_ Crisham]

Jud,  Your list is nice but fairly inconclusive. For starters Beverly is firmly in the top 6 or 7 courses in Chicago architecturally and certainly in level of difficulty -ask Terry Lavin what it is like playing in our Medley. Very challenging when we stick pins and get the greens going . They have a tremendous amount of movement in them. The other courses that should be included are Hinsdale, Edgewood Valley, OFCC south, Inverness,Elgin CC-possibly the bigest sleeper course in Chicago, Big Run on the public side has the second best set of par 5s in  Chicago (Beverly's are hands down the best set). I struggle to see why you have little love for the clubs in Chicago. Like Terry stated earlier, I would be happy next Summer to host you at Beverly and show you why it is in the Golfweek top 100 classics list each year.                                  Just my thoughts,  Wish you well,   Jack

[Jud_T]

Jack,

Thanks for the reply...As stated above Beverly is a likely candidate from what I've heard and read about it.  Look forward to seeing it.  I like the golf in Chicago, it's a great golf town.  But the climate and topography are far from ideal.  Yes there are a lot of Doak 5s and 6s, a few 7s, very few 8s and no 9s and 10s.  Most of the good courses are private and are relatively tough to access and expensive to join.  My point is simply that for a world class city, there's a lot of good golf, but very little great golf.  Don't take it personally!

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I don't think Chicago has a lot of golf that transcends, but you could easily spend more than a week there, playing twice a day, and never play an average course.  I can't imagine that is true for a whole lot of places.

[Kyle Henderson]

I don't think Chicago has a lot of golf that transcends, but you could easily spend more than a week there, playing twice a day, and never play an average course.  I can't imagine that is true for a whole lot of places.

That depends on which side of the bell courses must fall...

[Sven Nilsen]

Big Run on the public side has the second best set of par 5s in  Chicago (Beverly's are hands down the best set).

Jack:

Really?  The second best set of par 5s in Chicago?  I'm guessing this is either a sentimental statement or you have not played Big Run in quite some time.  This is one course were a tree thinning program is imperative.

[J_ Crisham]

Sven, I would agre with the tree trimming at Big Run. I played here many times as a kid and again last year. Which clubs in Chicago have a better set of par 5s. I struggle to think of them- maybe Butler .
                     Jack

[Jud_T]

Jack,

Haven't made it down to Big Run and I'll definitely put Elgin CC on my wish list.  Thanks...

[JR Potts]

Elgin CC is a fun little course.  I believe Tom Bendelow designed it sometime in the early 1900s.  A lot of the greens are original but they did some work years ago on the back nine. 

It is certainly worth the trip...and given what I've been hearing, you should play it soon b/c I don't know how long it is going to be around.