[J_ Crisham]

Matt,   Thanks again for arranging a terrific day of golf at Mistwood - it was a perfect Fall day in Chicago.
                                      Wish you well,  jack

[Matthew Sander]

It was my pleasure Jack, and thanks for coming out. It certainly was a glorious weather day and I really enjoyed playing with you and Scott.

Thanks to everyone else that made it down to Mistwood. It was interesting to see the course after their renovations as I hadn't been there in 9 or 10 years. I took a few pictures and will post them when I get a chance.

Looking forward to Kankakee Els in a couple of weeks.

[Andrew Buck]

How did it play?  

While I was questioning the value of Mistwood at $90, I ended up playing work golf at Cantigny last week.  I hadn't been there in years, and while the 9 greens that weren't recently aerated were in very good shape, the rest of the experience certainly left me wanting for fees north of $100.  I fully understand the need to aerate fairways and greens, but when the fairways are very soft and aerated and the second group off takes nearly 5 hours waiting most shots it certainly didn't inspire me to hurry back for the rate.

Did I just catch them on a bad day, or are fairways always that soft?

[J_ Crisham]

Andrew,   They reportedly spent 6 million on a reno. 5 must have gone into the clubhouse/practice facility. The conditioning wasn't too bad but the new bunkering looked quite out of place. A quasi British Open style that just doesn't seem to look right. Admittedly the property routing was a tough one with the volume of wetlands/lake/creeks traversing the property. As far as bang for your buck ,it was $75 to walk and was pretty empty on a perfect Fall day with no football competition in Chicago.  I would describe Mistwood as adequate golf but not a course I would want a steady diet of.

[John McCarthy]

Matthew:  

Thanks again for putting this together.  The day was beautiful, my golf swing was not but it was a very enjoyable day.  

As for Mistwood:  The practice facility was fantastic.  It would be a real treat to use in the winter time.  I did not get a lot of the pot bunkers and with the soil around here I hope they put in a lot of drainage.  It was overpriced, imo.  The conditioning was fine, I guess.  I will not be back too soon.  THere are too many good courses for $50.

[Matthew Sander]

Below are a few photos of Mistwood from this past Sunday. Not so much a tour, but I wanted to show some of the work that was done.

Here are some of the new vertical faced bunkers. I'm not sure that "revetted" is the correct term because they don't feature the stacked and exposed sod wall. As you'll see in some of the photos there are now several bunker styles on display.









This one is VERY deep...








This par three shows one of the new rock walls they have lining some of the water features. It also shows the competing bunker styles evident around a single green.

[Matthew Sander]

Just posting where we stand with next Saturday's (26th) trip down to Kankakee Elks...


Saturday, Oct. 26 at Kankakee Elks (Langford & Moreau) - three starting times beginning at 10 a.m.

In:
Mark Smolens
Andrew Lewis
Jud Tigerman
Howard Riefs +1
Sven Nilsen
Matt Sander
Bryan Sander
Chris DeToro
Jim Tang
Kevin Cahoon
Bill Seitz

Maybe:
Andrew Buck +1

That gives us 12. If there is additional interest, I can always look into getting additional tee times, just let me know. Thanks!

[Howard Riefs]

This par three shows one of the new rock walls they have lining some of the water features. It also shows the competing bunker styles evident around a single green.

Horrifying bunker menagerie‎.

[Andrew Buck]

Those three bunkers don't belong on the same course, let alone the same hole. 

[Josh Tarble]

Pretty sure that picture sums up all that is bad with golf design.

[Phil McDade]

Pretty sure that picture sums up all that is bad with golf design.

OK, sure, I blanched at this as well.

But let's play devil's advocate here (Bogey -- should I be capitalizing that "d" there? ):

We play holes with all kinds of variance every round, sometimes differing by a quarter-of-a-mile in the stretch of two holes (the difference between a sub-150 yd par 3 and a ball-busting 550+yd par 5). We go from firm grass, to graduated rough, to thick bluegrass, to hay and fescue -- on many a course -- in a single 20-yard-wide variance on the field of play. Some greens have enormous contours, some subtle breaks, and others just sit there on the lay of the land, tilted slightly one way or another.

I get the aesthetic revulsion. But why should bunkers look or be the same (which is the implied criticism here), when little else on a course is?

[Matthew Sander]

Pretty sure that picture sums up all that is bad with golf design.

OK, sure, I blanched at this as well.

But let's play devil's advocate here (Bogey -- should I be capitalizing that "d" there? ):

We play holes with all kinds of variance every round, sometimes differing by a quarter-of-a-mile in the stretch of two holes (the difference between a sub-150 yd par 3 and a ball-busting 550+yd par 5). We go from firm grass, to graduated rough, to thick bluegrass, to hay and fescue -- on many a course -- in a single 20-yard-wide variance on the field of play. Some greens have enormous contours, some subtle breaks, and others just sit there on the lay of the land, tilted slightly one way or another.

I get the aesthetic revulsion. But why should bunkers look or be the same (which is the implied criticism here), when little else on a course is?

Phil,

It is a good question from the devil's advocate point of view. I think bunkers can be kept in a fairly consistent style while still varying in size, depth, and placement.

A quick question for those with some course construction expertise - in addition to the aesthetic issues with differing bunker styles, does this approach also make construction more difficult/expensive?

[Matthew Sander]

BTW, my brother will be coming up from Indy to join us on the 26th. By my count that gives us twelve. I'll call tomorrow to see if there is any availability for an additional time before or after us, just in case we get any more takers. I've received a couple of messages expressing possible interest without committing.

[Howard Riefs]

A quick question for those with some course construction expertise - in addition to the aesthetic issues with differing bunker styles, does this approach also make construction more difficult/expensive?

Good question worthy of its own thread to attract input ofthe masses not reading about this Chicago outing.

[Matthew Sander]

A quick question for those with some course construction expertise - in addition to the aesthetic issues with differing bunker styles, does this approach also make construction more difficult/expensive?

Good question worthy of its own thread to attract input ofthe masses not reading about this Chicago outing.

Good point Howard. I'll try to get around to it this evening or in the morning. At the moment, I'm killing time while sitting with my two-year old trying to get him to sleep...I hear snoring!

[Matthew Sander]

I just added another tee time to the end of our existing times in order to make room for anyone else that may be interested...

[Matthew Sander]

Just a bump for any further interest, we have room for at least two more. The current lineup is as follows...

In:
Mark Smolens
Jud Tigerman
Howard Riefs +1
Sven Nilsen
Matt Sander
Bryan Sander
Chris DeToro
Jim Tang
Kevin Cahoon
Bill Seitz

[Matthew Sander]

Hello Gents,

It looks like we are all set with 12 for Saturday. There haven't been any recent additions, so I'll probably cancel the 4th tee time today or tomorrow.

Our tee times are 10:00, 10:07, and 10:15. Just to avoid chaos, I'm including some proposed groups below. If I'm micromanaging too much (how's that for self-awareness) and you'd rather just break into groups on Saturday morning, I'm OK with that too, just let me know...

10:00 a.m.
Howard Riefs
Howard's guest
Mark Smolens
Scott Mortensen

10:07
Matt Sander
Bryan Sander
Jim Tang
Kevin Cahoon

10:15
Bill Seitz
Jud Tigerman
Sven Nilsen
Chris DeToro

If anyone has any issues with the above, or has a change of plans please let me know...thanks!

Matt

[Howard Riefs]

Thanks for coordinating. Looks good but shouldn't the pacesetter Smolens lead off the groups? We'd hate to keep him waiting and throw off his game.

[Matthew Sander]

Thanks for coordinating. Looks good but shouldn't the pacesetter Smolens lead off the groups? We'd hate to keep him waiting and throw off his game.

Well, it has worked itself out. Mark is now bringing a friend, so after a little shuffling they'll be playing with you in the first group. Try to keep up!

10:00 a.m.
Howard Riefs
Howard's guest
Mark Smolens
Scott Mortensen

10:07
Matt Sander
Bryan Sander
Jim Tang
Kevin Cahoon

10:15
Bill Seitz
Jud Tigerman

[Howard Riefs]

Well, it has worked itself out. Mark is now bringing a friend, so after a little shuffling they'll be playing with you in the first group. Try to keep up!

Oh, much better.  Now only if I had purple pants to keep up on the fashion front.

[Matthew Sander]

Well, it has worked itself out. Mark is now bringing a friend, so after a little shuffling they'll be playing with you in the first group. Try to keep up!

Oh, much better.  Now only if I had purple pants to keep up on the fashion front.

Some candy-striped IU warmups will do just fine...

[Mark Smolens]

Just no bumblebees please. . . bad enough the season's on the downswing   -- hopefully Kain's healthy enough to get back in there.

Played so poorly today I'm not sure how quickly I can actually play anymore. Hard to play fast when every chip leaves you with 15 footers. . .

[Chris DeToro]

Well, it has worked itself out. Mark is now bringing a friend, so after a little shuffling they'll be playing with you in the first group. Try to keep up!

Oh, much better.  Now only if I had purple pants to keep up on the fashion front.

Some candy-striped IU warmups will do just fine...

I second the candy-striped pants   

[Jud_T]

Beware of heavyset balding middle-aged guy covered in more tacky U of M gear than your average Nascar uniform chipping with a 4-wood from 80 yards out.... and lying net zero....

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