Mount Prospect Golf Club (Photos and Comments) - David Esler Renovations

[Matthew Sander]

The GCA groups the past two weeks really enjoyed the work that has been done at Mr. Prospect Golf Club (Mt. Prospect, IL). David Esler and his team did a wonderful job utilizing "golden age" features on a site that presents some restraints. It shows how interesting a course can be even when limiting factors are in place. The course is not long by any measure, and long hitters that are accurate will be hitting flip wedges most of the day. However, the greens are so interesting and full of features that decisions are even created for wedge approaches.


I will be posting more pictures and brief comments later today or tomorrow, but here are just a few shots to give you an idea of the thematic presentation of the course.




Looking at the 17th Green (Road Hole) from the 18th tee...



The green at the short Par 4 13th...



Approaching the par 4 8th from the right...





I'll post additional pictures later with more descriptive comments.

[Matthew Sander]

The first hole is a Par 5 of 575 yards, so it would take a very strong drive for an opportunity to reach the green in two. There is a Principal's Nose bunker in the lay up area. I have not seen enough play to assess all of the options with any certainty, but they all seem to be in play.


Shorter hitters have ample room to lay up short of the bunker complex, which leaves a blind shot from 150 yards +/-. To my eye playing to the left of the bunker looks to be the easiest shot, but there is risk of running through the fairway and the resulting angle is relatively poor. Tacking around the right side of the bunker appears to be the most difficult lay up, but the angle from that side is much better and reduces the influence of the greenside bunker.





It is difficult to detect from this photo, but there are ridges and swales in this green that run from back left to front right. As you can see, approaching from the right is ideal.





After a difficult tee shot at the 460 yard Par 4 second hole, your approach is to this wild green with 2 rear tiers and a front thumbprint.








The 4th is a 220 yard, reverse Redan Par 3. Sunday's conditions and back right hole location asked us to land it short and use the slope to feed the ball toward the hole. All four of us attempted the shot...1 out of 4 ain't bad.








The short Par 4 fifth provides options of line and length off the tee. The conservative line to the left leaves a very difficult angle to the green while the more difficult tee shot that challenges the bunker to the right allows the player to play up the length of the narrow green.





This is the view from the less desirable, left side of the fairway.





This view shows how the bunkers short of the green are well short and play a visual trick on the approach.





Views of the green that show its length and narrow orientation.








On a personal interest note, my brother happened to hole out from the exact spot shown below. I had half a mind to send him back to Indianapolis on the spot, but I thought it might be the high point of his round and the beginning of the end for him in our match (errr...pillow fight). I was soooo right...





I'll be posting the remainder of the photos over the coming days.

[Paul Gray]

This looks superb. Just wish there was more short grass around the bunkers etc.

[Matthew Sander]

The seventh is a Par 3 that features a huge and rollicking green. There are two front bowls and a back tier bisected by a ridge. Finding the correct quadrant is essential to finding a reasonable 2-putt.





At the Par 4 eighth, a conservative tee shot will leave an approach from this plateau. Note the bunker style...this is consistent throughout the course. They have simple, flat bottoms with raised grass faces. I find them attractive and functional.





However, a bolder and stronger tee shot down the left will catch a downslope which will add considerable length to the drive, leaving an unobstructed view of the green. This green is one of many where balls tend to disappear into a swale, occasionally reappearing on the far side.





This is the tee view at the delightful, very short, Par 4 ninth. At only 305 yards, longer players can have a go at this wild green. The shape and tee options of the hole strike some similarities with the tenth at Riviera (validated as inspiration by architect, Dave Esler) although their greens are much different.





Here are two views from the approach area with the second zoomed in a bit to show the nature of the wonderful green. Mr. Esler holed out for an eagle 2 from this approximate location. I guess it pays to know all of the nooks and crannies!

[Matthew Sander]

This looks superb. Just wish there was more short grass around the bunkers etc.

Paul,


I certainly do not disagree with your comment. However, it is very rare to encounter that presentation here. Even many of the more exclusive private clubs present their bunkers with grass completely surrounding them. The number of clubs that maintain short grass all the way to the bunker edge is relatively small. When it is done well it is such an outstanding touch.


That said, the extremely firm conditions we encountered on Sunday meant that balls rolling toward bunkers generally found them, despite any modest rough cut that may have circled the bunkers. Since Mt. Prospect is a municipal course, any maintenance measure to present the bunkers in the preferred manner would add incremental cost to what I would assume is an already austere budget.


I will also add that many of the bunkers do in fact jut into and encroach upon lines of play rather than residing on the flanks of holes to penalize poor shots. They are obstacles to go over or around and truly good shots will bring them more into play, not less.

[Jon Heise]

Yeah, the bunkers definitely make you think... increases the difficulty around already intimidating greens.  The turf was super tight too.  I couldnt adjust well.  Havent seen that in a public course in a long time.  Next time out, I'll be considering different clubs and shots for sure.  That golf course outsmarted me there!!  It'll be a frequent play for me.  Great time as always too.

[Thomas Dai]

Very impressive. Seems like a whole bunch of terrific visual deceptions and cracking roller-coaster greens with some evil/nice looking contouring and pin positions to love/infuriate.


Thanks for highlighting Matthew.


atb

[Matthew Sander]

A few more photos...


Here we have a look at the thirteenth green. This is another short Par 4 where simply blasting away from the tee is foolish. The fairway is not terribly wide in the more conservative layup area and the trees down the right make a more aggressive tee shot a challenge as well.


The star of the hole is the green which Jim Urbina referenced in another thread. It is long and narrow and the back half is a punchbowl. Ho-hum, right?





These two tiers show the nature of the back half of the green.








Unfortunately, the light and shadow obscure the large swale in the Biarritz green. The sixteenth is a Par 4 of 225 yards although we played it much shorter on Sunday.







The seventeenth is a short Par 5 that features a Road Hole green. I haven't played enough Road Holes for my opinion to carry any weight, but I found the green complex very well done and makes for a challenging/fun approach for those attempting to get home in two shots. With the hole playing 480 or less, many will be making this attempt.











Looking across toward the eleventh green from the eighteenth tee...





The round culminates at another challenging green. This one is "L" shaped with a swale that leads to a back tier.





Looking back on the eighteenth in the late afternoon light.

[Howard Riefs]

Many thanks to Matt for coordinating the outing last week. Enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting a few new ones, too. 

Some photos from the day...


10



11


12

 

13



 

17
   

[Jason Way]

Thanks for sharing the tour Matt.  Now I'm REALLY looking forward to getting out there.


Just goes to show that it doesn't take a huge wad of cash and a perfect site to create a great golf course.  Just hire the right man, and let him do his job.  I'm not sure why any community or private facility owner would ever settle for less.

[Howard Riefs]

Thanks for sharing the tour Matt.  Now I'm REALLY looking forward to getting out there.


Just goes to show that it doesn't take a huge wad of cash and a perfect site to create a great golf course.  Just hire the right man, and let him do his job.  I'm not sure why any community or private facility owner would ever settle for less.

I definitely recommend you get out to see it.  As for the price of the renovation: I suppose everything is relative.


http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150728/sports/150729060/

[Jason Way]

Point taken, Howard. 

[Matthew Sander]

Thanks for sharing the tour Matt.  Now I'm REALLY looking forward to getting out there.


Just goes to show that it doesn't take a huge wad of cash and a perfect site to create a great golf course.  Just hire the right man, and let him do his job.  I'm not sure why any community or private facility owner would ever settle for less.

Jason,


A visit will be well worth your time, especially considering your interest in greens as evidenced by the thread you started recently.


It is not perfect, as the site does pass some difficulty in places. Dave Esler would acknowledge as much. That said, it really debuts pretty high on my list of local public options. Aside from the fact that Dave had a hand in both renovation projects, any comparisons to Ravisloe are apt and I think they could be considered relative equals. I think it is an interesting juxtaposition considering they have very different pedigrees.

[Scott McWethy]

Had a chance to play Mt. Prospect GC at the end of September with a few GCA'ers, including Dave Esler.  What a special place!  It was my first time playing there and really enjoyed it.  I love courses like this that really make you think your way around.  Being my first time, I got myself into a lot of trouble by being in the wrong spots.  Some angles into the greens can be quite penal if you don't have the right distance to carry the trouble.  Love the Raynor look and the greens were something that you don't see a lot of on public courses.  Mt. Prospect is very fortunate to have such a wonderful golf club for the community to enjoy.     

[Jordan Standefer]

Matthew,

Thanks for the pictures.  I got out to Mt. Prospect in July based on Jason's recommendation -- even though he still hasn't seen it!

Here are a few pics that I took in different lighting/seasonal conditions (with different pin locations).

#3 Green


#7




#13 Punchbowl - Really fun approach to the back half of this green.




#16 Biarritz






I'll echo the sentiments that the greens are the standout, especially for a public course.

[Joe Zucker]

I completely agree that the greens make Mt. Prospect a good course, but did anyone else thing they were almost too hard? Especially for a muni with a lot of play.  There are plenty of courses with average flat greens in Chicago if that's what someone wants, so the variety is nice, but it was surprising to me.


I've played there twice this year and the greens are difficult in several ways.  First, they are big and it can be tough to hit an approach into the correct part of the green.  Secondly, I find them tough to read on long putts.  Lots of 3 putts.  Finally, their perched up nature pushes shots that are slightly off line further away from the green and makes chipping really tough.  I thought it was fun and a blast to play, but I can imagine my senior golfing parents, who hit low chips, really struggling to play there. 


I realize one course can not be all things to all golfers, but I was struck with how tough those surfaces play.  Also, it reminded me of Lawsonia, which is a great compliment!