Hidden in Plain Sight---Exmoor in suburban Chicago

[Paul Richards]

Jud:

He is "THE MAN".

He brought Beverly back to its highlight of the 1931 US Amateur days as a Donald Ross course.

He corrected 50 years of over-planting and downsizing greens to make Beverly back into a championship course.

To put it into perspective, Beverly hosted the 2009 USGA Senior Amateur and the 2010 Illinois State Amateur - and despite their onslaught - the championship record remains 64 by Tom Weiskopf and two others.

 

[J_ Crisham]

Paul,  I played Exmoor on this past Sunday and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the routing. The flattish piece of proprty is what it is but the green complexes were very nice. The par 5's aren't as hard as Beverly's although I managed to chop up 2 of them. The par 3's were quite nice especially the 8th.  Par 4's had a nice mixture of long and short. Was really impressed with both the conditioning and the physical amenities of Exmoor-would love to give curling a try . What a great family club. I still enjoy Beverly more!
                                                                                                                Jack 

[Jason Goss]

As far as a all around club, Exmoor is second to none when it comes to year round activates in a seasonal climate.  The Golf, Tennis, and Pool in the Summer along with the Curling (VERY underrated sport if you have never played) and the paddle tennis in the winter.  I don't miss the Chicago at all, but I do miss the late nights in the Curling house with the other employees watching everyone trying to figure out how to slide down that ice!

[Brian Kim]

I am scheduled to play a practice round for the mid am qualifier this Thursday at 3pm.  If any club member would like to join me, I would certainly enjoy the company.

[Mark Smolens]

Does one drink whilst curling? If so, perhaps the Royal Company of Reverse Jans golfers could be invited for a GCA event? Cold beer and big stones has a nice ring to it. . .

[Jud_T]

Does one drink whilst curling?.

Unless you think Bowling is for teetotalers, the answer is yes....

[PThomas]

any pictures Dave?  I've never seen any...

[Phil McDade]

Does one drink whilst curling? If so, perhaps the Royal Company of Reverse Jans golfers could be invited for a GCA event? Cold beer and big stones has a nice ring to it. . .

Mark:

Drinking while curling is, for all intents and purposes, mandatory -- at least here in Wisconsin, where (of all things) curling is huge. Drinking while curling is said to help one understand the nuances of this sport. (I once worked with an Olympian curler. A good share of US Olympic curlers have come from Wisconsin.)

And Ozaukee CC, in suburban Milwaukee, a pretty solid Langford and Moreau course, is home to the Milwaukee Curling Club:
http://www.milwaukeecurlingclub.com/

You can see the club building hard against the 18th green at Ozaukee here:

[Mark Smolens]

Mr. S, at my most recent foray at Beverly we were advised by our host that the 2nd tee was the highest point in Cook County (he is not the first person who told me this). Are you telling me that it isn't even the highest point on the course???

[Phil McDade]

...only 47 feet of elevation change at Beverly (669 feet above sea level at the back of #17 green...

At 659 feet above sea level, it's not even close...he probably also told you he was a 14 and shot 75... 

Is there a physics professor in the house?

Shivas:

You have more faith in Google Earth than either Mr. Smolens or I.

Here's a view of the 17th tee at Beverly -- clearly elevated from its surrounds, looking out over the 13th and 14th fairways.



Here's a look from what I believe is the second, lower (probably whites; note red tee marker near the front) tee at 17 -- and I recall this shot being clearly downhill. Not an enormous drop, but clearly a tee shot from an elevated tee to a green slightly perched up from its surroundings.



Is this one of golf's great optical illusions, or does the corner of Western and 87th sit in a small portion of the universe that defies the normal laws of physics?

[Jud_T]

No disrespect whatsoever for Beverly, but it's pretty sad that this is what passes for good elevation change in Illinois.....

[Phil McDade]

Phil, the other option is 13 green.  It and 17 green are neck-and-neck for highest points on the golf course.  I thought about 17 tee and Google Earthed the elevation a few different times, but it came out lower than the back of 17 green by a decent amount. 

Shivas:

There is absolutely no way #13 green is the highest point at Beverly. Here's the darn hill you have to hit over to get to the 13th fairway, and that is one flat fairway, with a barely noticeable rise at the end to a very slightly pushed-up green (and like 17, there is backside falloff at 13):



Here's a look from the very top of the hill on 13 to the fairway below:



Here's a look back at the hill on 13, from next to the left greenside bunker:



In fact, if I were a betting man, I'd say this section of Beverly (small hill on the right side of the 16th green) is the highest point of the back nine:



The 2nd tee may or may not be the highest point on the course; it's hard to compare, because the two nines are separated by 87th and you don't get a sense of how big that ridge is until you walk off #1 green and climb up to #2 tee. But 17 green and 13 green are both lower than other parts of those holes.

[Phil McDade]

Well, Phil, it seems to me that if you think the 17th tee area is the highest point on the course, Sergay and Larry disagree with you... 

Like George W. Bush, I don't believe everything that pops up on the internets.

[Phil McDade]

No, I just like taking on monoliths for the sake of...I don't know...tilting at windmills.

I like the basic query -- what's better: land that gradually moves one way or another, and thus subtely impacts shots, or the more abrupt kind? I think of the back nine of Lawsonia as the former -- you never see Green Lake from that course, and the overall direction of the land can be hard to decipher with all those Langford/Moreau traps and mounds and pushed-up greens. But everything on that back nine has a tendency to tilt toward the lake.

[Jason Goss]

Exmoor's is a gradual, often unnoticeable slope.  

While I was working at Exmoor, I always came up short on my approach to #4.  I asked my boss if he had a topo map of the property to see if there was a rise that went unnoticed to the eye.  After reviewing the map, sure enough, from the landing area to the green there was a gradual rise of I believe 14'!!!  From that day forward I always added 10yds to my yardage on the approach to the hole and I never came up short again.  There is much more elevation change to that property than can be seen EASILY with the naked eye. 

[Brian Finn]

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of playing Exmoor CC, as a guest of a acg dnegel.  

The course was terrific.  We had a perfect morning and got around in 3:20.  My tsoh provided me with lines, angles, strategy, etc ...but even better was the history of the course, hole by hole, including involvement of Whigham, MacDonald, Ross (and very likely Colt), and more recently Prichard.  The greens had some great movement, including a great mix of false fronts, central spines, and other assorted contours.  

Beyond the course, the club seems to get every detail just right.  Big, classic locker room, multiple bars throughout the clubhouse, great pro shop, and a perfect men's grill.  I had a few ice cold Schlitz bottles, which were surprisingly smooth and delicious.  Additionally, the central hall is a legit golf history museum with great old trophies (Marshall Fields Trophy is one of the coolest I have seen), photos, and other artifacts.

Has anyone else played Exmoor recently?  What are your thoughts?  It really seems to fly under the radar, and while the members may like it that way, I would think it might get more love...

[Terry Lavin]

I played there a month ago. It's a real treat.

[Phil McDade]

Brian:

I was a bit confused about who you had played with, but, alas, the Schlitz gave it away.

[Jud_T]

If they really wanted to fly under the radar he would have highlighted Tweedie's involvement over the Whigham's. 

[Bill Shamleffer]

Any new thoughts, comments per Exmoor CC before it hosts the Western Am next month?


I will not be there, but I am looking forward to hopefully attending the Western Am at Moraine CC in Dayton in 2024.

[John Mayhugh]

I was fortunate to play Exmoor about this time last year. Unusually for me, I didn't end up with a lot of photos, but that was primarily because I was having too much fun (note: Schlitz tall boys are better than I expected).

There's loads of interest on a fairly flat site thanks to creative bunkering and some excellent greens. Would love to get back there sometime.

Terrific finishing holeexmoor 18 by john mayhugh, on Flickr