Lawsonia update

[Nigel Islam]

    Jud, Lawsonia was more fun because I drove it much better. I knew I would love LL, but it exceeded my expectations. Having said that I also had my expectations exceeded by Straits. It was terrific. I thought it was very fair, interesting, and playable. Drove it awful, but played the same ball the whole  round.  I was fortunate enough to play Olympia Fields, and I would rank that a very close second to the Straits course. Just a great old course with a ton of interesting holes.  I was also very pleasantly surprised by Erin Hills. I was not sure what to expect from it, but I just thought it was great. Conditioning wise it seems to be a very difficult property to care for, and the elevated tees nearly killed my buddy, but very interesting and fun.  I would rank all four of those courses neck and neck for fun and quality. The fifth course I played was Blackwolf Run which I was not as impressed with. I thought the 13th was pretty ridiculous. We got a slow play warning from the Marshall on 10, but it was just very difficult to find balls.  BTW they were not my balls we were looking for, but in trying to play faster myself I just fell apart. Obviously the fun factor was missing for me there.   . Wisconsin golf is very high quality, and I had a great Chicago experience too!

[Jason Thurman]

Nigel, that sounds like an excellent trip.

It says a lot for the value of Lawsonia that it stands up to the other courses you mentioned. Some of us might quibble about where it falls among the five you played, and I'm sure different people on this forum would rank it anywhere between #1 and #5, but the bottom line is it belongs in that class and that says a ton for its quality.

[Nigel Islam]

Jason, I would rank it anyway from 1 to 4. They were all so good and the greens so perfect. I was just thrilled with my course selection. Even though I had a bad experience at Blackwolf I am blessed to have had the chance to play it. Sunset at Erin Hills and Lawsonia back to back days was amazing too. 90 holes in three days was heaven for me, but maybe a bit much for my friend.

[Michael George]

Anyone play Lawsonia Links lately?

How was the conditioning? 

Post pics if possible.

Thanks.

[Andy Stamm]

I was out there about a month ago. The conditioning was good but not as fast/firm as usual and the junk was a lot thicker making balls harder to find. Greens were good, but not as fast as usual as well (something of a relief out there). It's been wet up there, so I'm sure that's the reason as opposed to a change in maintenance philosophy. The continued tree removal on 14 is really nice as well.

[Eric_Terhorst]

I played Lawsonia last weekend.  Found the course in great shape, firm and fast.  A few greens have small bare spots--apparently where last year's drought has a lasting impact.  But these did not affect play.

Two of us teed off early on a Saturday and played in less than four hours. We played on an all-day (Internet-only I believe) rate of $145 per player, and went out again at 12:30, and again played at a good pace.

Facilities-wise, Lawsonia has in the last year completely revamped the clubhouse and has a nice bar and grill now where there used to be just a dull sitting room.  Beer and liquor  are served where once none could be had.

The only bad news was to told, upon asking for a pin sheet: "Use the laser gun" that is attached to each cart.  Not helpful for walkers, which we were on the first go-round.

If you're planning a trip, check on green maintenance at this time of year--they punch at the end of August.

I think the changes to 14 are great.

View from 11 toward 14 below--those who recall the former forest over there will remember you couldn't see the 14th green until you were on the tee.



View of 14 green:

[Phil McDade]

Eric:

Thanks for the update -- 14 now has a vague skyline look to it and much less "cozier" that its previous incarnation. Work obligations are keeping me from making an invited trip up there this coming week, but I hope to go sometime this fall.

[Mark McKeever]

Losing those 3 trees inside the cartpath would make a world of difference.

MM

[Phil McDade]

Losing those 3 trees inside the cartpath would make a world of difference.

MM

Mark:

Sure, get rid of those trees -- but I'm not sure it's going to make a "world" of difference. The key work has been done -- exposing that green to the elements (wind, notably, but also sun which I assume will help with turf quality), and eliminating trees behind to give the golfer on the tee pause, esp. to a back pin. Those three trees inside the cart path don't have much impact in how the hole plays.

[Mark McKeever]

Disagree Phil.  You will bring back a line of sight to the teebox as well of the hillside.  A pretty big improvement IMO.

Not trying to bash the hole either, it looks like a great improvement already.

MM

[Jason Thurman]

I agree that those 3 are out of place. I think they'd make "a difference," but the work so far looks like it's already made a "world of difference." 14 is a completely different hole now than it was in Ran's review.

[Eric_Terhorst]

I wouldn't miss those trees, and they may impact play to a back right pin, especially from the the back tees.  But where the pin was on the day we played, those trees did not figure into my calculations. 

The great thing about the design of the slopes around the green is that you can land it left and  short of the green and that front right pin and watch it roll towards the hole.   Precision is required to get it close though, as it should be on a relatively short hole.  I watched one ball that hit short run well past the pin and another almost fall right down the hill into the bunker. 

[RJ_Daley]

I can imagine that the remaining trees on the left may at their very most inside line affect a pronounced-exaggerated fade/slicing sort of shot attempt.  But, that might be a very rare striker of such a shot.  I like the tree removal very much.  I think I wrote about it twice since it has been done.  I only played there once this year, and did not really see the issue of remaining trees, and only felt a wee bit of trepidation on the exposure of folks to long shots coming in from 14 to 15 tees.  The improvement is excellent IMHO, and worth the slight higher risk if some dumb ass hits two clubs too much and sails one over onto 15 tee, and the folks on 15 are too dumb to maintain a watch on the obvious, and the errant golfer too dumb to yell 'fore on 15'.  

Yes, purists would say more trees there could be taken.  But, imagine all the anxt already absorbed by the tree huggers, and them gradually getting over the previous years of de-treeing.  I think it is all pretty good as is, and should remain so for a very long time.  Mother nature may thin those very high trees a little more as the coming years expose them to storms.  It is all good as is... IMO.

[Mark McKeever]

Eric,

How long is the hole from the normal and back tees?

[RJ_Daley]

Off the top of my head... 138-140ish whites, and 150-55 blues.

[Jud_T]

Looks like a huge improvement to what I remember.

[Phil McDade]

Eric,

How long is the hole from the normal and back tees?

Mark:

183 blues
162 whites
145 golds/reds

although I seem to recall as RJ does that the whites are set shorter than what's listed on the card, often @ 150 yds or so.

Plays somewhat downhill, although not a club's worth, and east/northeast, so if anything you're likely to encounter a helping breeze of sorts, particularly in the summer.

Eric -- that's a really good point about landing it short on 14 --  a feature hidden somewhat by the terrain. The green has that "catcher's mitt" look to it that Ran M. here somewhat disdains, but there are some interesting ways to get the ball close to pins on that hole.

[Mark McKeever]

Wow, thats a demanding shot from 183!

[Phil McDade]

Wow, thats a demanding shot from 183!

Mark:

It's a pretty deep green.

[RJ_Daley]

Phil, not so much...  

http://photos.bluegolf.com/71/78/1a/e7/9b6d49eaa9666172ecd93a94_l.jpg

You had me thinking I was going crazy there for a minute.  139W - 154B.  183 would put it in elite of elite pro skill territory.

edit, I see what you did now, you got it mixed up with 12, for which the yardage there is 183 blue, and a tough shot at that!

[Phil McDade]

RJ:

You're correct as always sir -- I was looking at 12 on my scorecard sted of 14.

[RJ_Daley]

Regardless, anyone who plays the back 9 par threes at even par, is doing damn good! 

[PCCraig]

Eric, thanks for the report. #14 has been hugely improved by the removal of those trees behind the green. I wonder if they are planning on removing the remaining trees behind #13 for the full effect?

I need to make a trip down there this fall. It's been too long since I've been to Lawsonia.

[Eric_Terhorst]

How long is the hole from the normal and back tees?

RJ has the card yardage right.  In 6 or 7 trips to Lawsonia I can't recall seeing the pin up that far.   I had my new GPS Dick Tracy watch that reads out front, center and back yardages (much better tool than a laser imo).  It read 115 front from where the white tees were placed, and it's all downhill, so it was a neat little chip shot on that day.  From the back tees it probably would have been +20 or 25   

[Phil McDade]

Having played there yesterday (in the fine company of RJ Daley and Pete Pittock), I can report that the trees on the right side of this hole (14) have little bearing on how it plays, and can stay or go -- doesn't really matter. But additional tree clearance is badly needed on the left side of the hole, from tee to green. With tees set on the left side of the teeing ground, I was inspired to play that nifty little shot short that bounces onto the green (the pin was up that day, and with the tilt of the green, I didn't want another downhill put on those fast-running greens.) Alas, I caught a tree branch that ricocheted my ball into the gunch right on my way to an ignobling 6.

Despite that one encounter, the round at Lawsonia was a golfing highlight -- as fast and firm as I've encountered the course (and I've been going up there for two decades; Mayor Daley confirmed my view -- he's been going up there since the pre-Cambrian era ). Fast-running, firm greens and a near-ideal maintenance meld. Fall might be the best time to experience Lawsonia as Langford envisioned it; well worth a round.