I had my buddy play in the local at Water's Edge because it's public, and he was therefore able to play practice rounds much easier than driving up to the NW burbs to play the private course Hawthorn Woods. Since he was on the golf team at the University of St. Andrews, and therefore played his "home course" in college over a thousand times -- yes, the Old Course was their "home course"
- the prospect of a round of country club golf doesn't have the same level of appeal that it would for me.
In the Chicago District the great private clubs, and their members, are very generous at giving up their courses for a wide range of events during our relatively short golf season (Beverly will be hosting this year's Illinois Amateur, and Skokie has the Western Am on tap). While I wouldn't go so far as to fake my handicap in order to try to qualify on one of these great private clubs, I have taken full advantage of my meager skills when signing up for some of these events over the years when I was so eligible. . .