Been out 7 times, wish it would be more but the weather hasn't always worked out and I took a short trip to see my mom in NC last week. We did play once so it wasn't a total loss but I would have played 3x if I was home for Easter weekend. Very inconsistent short game and putting thus far. Really enjoying the new driver hitting half of my fairways early on. I've been using a mallet putter but haven't really gotten very good results with it other than one round. Tempted to go back to a blade. Short game has the potential to be great this year but need more reps to avoid the chunks and chili dips. I didn't improve my fitness or strength in the off season so hitting it a bit shorter with the irons. I have no plans to travel until August so I should have a solid almost 4 months straight of golf every weekend and holiday with maybe a few days taken off here or there in between. 6am tee times start this weekend which is also awesome. We've been playing 4 guys and finishing in 2.5 hours on average.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

With party prep and then Easter, didn't play last weekend.

Playing a couple courses this week that I've never played before, so we'll see how it goes. Village Links in Glen Ellyn on Sunday, and sneaking out Monday morning to play Prairie Landing in West Chicago. Playing a small "tournament" next Saturday at Prairie Landing, so figure a chance to see the course, and avoid a Monday morning at work, is a solid plan.

Good luck with your event tomorrow. Any positive or negative thoughts on the courses from last week. Hoping to play a bit more solidly this weekend. I played ok last Saturday but Sunday we had an almost 2 hour frost delay and by the time we teed off I just was annoyed and didn't feel like being there much. Got off to a bad start and had an awful front nine. Pulled it together on the back but by then it was too late. I've been using my carry bag but will likely move back into my cart bag tonight. Just more room for the clubs and everything. On the fence about moving back to my blade putter. I've had some decent luck with the mallet but just doesn't feel natural quite yet.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I went back to my blade putter prior to Arizona trip. It just feels more natural when I'm putting. Putting is still my biggest weakness though, but improving.




Both courses are nice, and I would play them again.

Village Links has a ton of water holes, and the greens roll well, especially for April. The bunkers are awful, and there are a lot of them. The sand is like powder, and just hard to control shots around the greens. I also made the mistake of breaking my "early teetimes only on weekends" rule. Took a little over 5 hours to play...

I liked Prairie Landing more. It's "Chicago Links" style. More open, some elevation changes, mounds. I've found I enjoy links style, or at least the "links-ish" around here. Greens had good speed, but are still a little "off" from a late fall aerating. I played with a couple members, and they said the greens are typically really fast in summer.

I'll likely put the blade back in. i have an arcing putting stroke and the mallet is a heavy Scotty Del Mar so it fits my stroke but I find myself trying to steer it a bit more because it looks and feels like more of a straight back and straight through stroke putter. Our greens are starting to run pretty quickly as well so I get a lot more feel out of the blade. The sand play has been much better which has been nice as well.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

PL is really cool course. Tehy also have a few practice holes (or at least they used to). Cool feature of the course is you get to see a whole bunch of cool tiny planes flying overhead cause it's next to a little plane airport.

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Practice holes are there. I had an early tee time Monday, so didn't play them. 2 shorter par 4's and a decent looking area to hit 80yd and under wedge shots. I want to try the wedge area tomorrow before my round.

My guy Brian King is the pro at Prairie Landing. He's older than me but I ran around with his younger brothers back in the day. He's a good dude from a good family. His HS team (my HS) won state in 1983 and 1985.

I have been hitting my irons like crap so far this year so I got a lesson today from our pro. Intuitively I know what I was doing wrong, but man, spending 45 minutes with an instructor helps a ton.

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got my big annual golf trip first weekend in June. 10 guys flying in from Orlando. My partner driving in with the RV from SOuth Bend and picking them all up at the airport.

They really wanted to play Whistling Straits despite my protests. So we're playing Straits. Just looked, its now $800 with caddie and caddie tip! F that. My buddies are gonna be upset but I'm convince my partner to skip Straits with me and go up the road and play the Bull while those idiot tourist friends of ours are blowing $800 at Straits just to see what lake Michigan looks like. The Bull is less than $150.

And I can ride a cart at the Bull. Have to walk Straits and then turn around and play 36 the next day at Lawsonia. I've had my back quit on me in that exact same scenario on previous golf trips.


Schedule
Thursday: Brown Deer (if we can get a tee time)
Thursday night: stay in downtown Milwaukee, dinner out and then hit the bars
Friday: Gay ass Whistling STraits
Friday night: Fish fry at Wendts!!!
Saturdady: 36 at Lawsonia
Sunday; Washington County

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I guess it makes me poor, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy an $800 round. I'd spend the whole day thinking "that chip cost me $10, and that 2 foot gimme was another $10".

Agree. All round I’d be thinking “ no way is it worth this kind of money and I’m not good enough to enjoy it anyway” lol . Though I would like to play Kapalua if I ever get out to Hawaii just for the view.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

The last time I played Whistling in fall of 2016 it was about $550 with caddy to play. Got to play with my dad so that made it really special. I would say a majority of the people playing out there are likely doing it as part of business and are not footing the bill. I don't pay to play those bucket list type places any more but it was fun the handful of times I did it.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

My understanding is that the rounds are running extremely long as well, which makes sense with the sightseeing, walking and price. I know they had some issues with overcrowding last season that they were going to try to address this year.

So you’re spending almost $1k to spend 5.5-6 hours out there, which may or may not make the experience that much worse.

But it’s beautiful. No denying that property is unlike anything you really get to see in this area.

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I don't think it's beautiful at all. Boring course landscape where all the holes start to look the same and the only thing to look at is Lake Michigan. I've seen Lake Michigan.


I will agree that it is a unique set up for this area with the lake in view on just about every hole.

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I think the topography is pretty unique for a lakeside course. It feels a lot more like a seaside setting with the rolling hills and change in elevations than what you’d typically get in the Midwest, outside of maybe some parts of northern Michigan.

Prolly loses some luster after dropping $800, walking up & down hills for 6 hours and waiting for guys in front of you to stop taking pictures of the lake at every opportunity.

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It's all man made, as it used to be a military base and essentially flat as a pancake, but yes the idea was to try to make it dramatic and like you are on another planet almost. shakes isn't wrong in that a lot of holes are shaped similarly and look a lot alike. Picking the right tees out there is crucial to having a good time but when the wind is blowing out there it feels like a bit of a masochistic exercise where you just hope to birdie a hole but you generally are writing down quite a few double bogies along the way.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I bought a full new bag this year, save for a 56 that I’ve used for 20 years and is the only club I’ve ever felt confident with anywhere from chipping to 50-75 yards.

Playing graphite irons for the first time (Rogues). Got a new driver and hybrid (dark speeds) and a new 3W (smoke). Trying out a mallet putter after having only used a blade my whole life.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the new clubs just immediately add distance. Terrible swings & mishit will still be 10-20 yards further and straighter. I haven’t played much outside the range but one thing I expect to notice is that it won’t change scores.

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I've gotten out 13 times so far so not a horrible start to the season. Planning on playing Saturday and then the rest of my group is unavailable Sunday so my plan is to head down to Pine Meadown for a practice session which I'm hoping springboards me to some better play. Still trying to dial in wedges and I had 5 three putts this weekend over two rounds so that was discouraging. One of the courses has a par three that plays between 235 and 255. It was playing 250 and I managed to hit the green only to three putt it. Finally started to figure out the new driver and get it to move left to right if I swing at about 85% and cut across it a little bit. Worked wonders as a fairway finder so hoping I can make that a definite go to the rest of the season when needed.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Other than penalty shots, nothing frustrates me more than 3-putts. We're not pros, so I can accept the occasional chunk/blade/etc., but 3 putts just feel like such unforced errors. Positive is that I have reduced them so far this season. Still need to work on my feel with the 10'-ers, but have been tweaking my grip a little and feels better.

Played Prairie Bluff for the first time on Saturday. Solid course. Greens rolled well, with an occasional bump, but not bad. Played firm too. If you were coming out of rough, or with a longer shot, the first bounce was going to be big. I liked it, other than I had a bad habit of missing short side. Solid practice area. Driving range was off mats, but each bay has Trackman included. I don't know if the Trackman works when the grass area is being used. It's a course I would definitely play again, but being 45 minutes from my house, it's probably part of the "once a year"(maybe twice) in the rotation.

I hear you on the 3 putts. They have really ramped up the speed at our course so I was leaving everything short Saturday and decided I would be more aggressive Sunday. I made a couple of birdies but also blasted a few at least 8 feet by. In my defense they were all over 50 foot lag putts but can't be doing that 3 times. Goes back to dialing in my yardages with my shorter irons. Should not be coming up that far from the hole.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Hank Haney always says three putts, penalty shots, and two chips (not getting on the green inside 50 yards) are what kill scores. I haven't been putting very well myself so far this year.

My "new" swing with irons after my lesson is really paying off and is finally starting to feel more natural. I'm hitting them about 1.5 club longer which I am still adjusting to, but I hit 12 greens on Saturday and 9 on Sunday. I'll take those numbers for sure. The author of that book I'm reading says hitting more greens is the number one factor in scoring better.

I have a new driver on the way. Titleist was having a fitting day at my club last weekend and I decided to stop by and ended up getting a GT2. I hit my current driver pretty well, but the Trackman numbers don't lie - 12 more yards of carry. Getting the ball closer to the hole off the tee is the number two factor in scoring according to the book.

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Congrats on the new driver. I am really enjoying the TSR this season. Agree with the points you made on hitting greens and ways to blow up the scorecard. The last few weeks I have been suffering from double bogies or worse mostly from penalty shots. Yesterday I took one after having to pitch out onto a fairway, leaving a 70 yard pitch 20 yards short of the hole and then 3 jacking it.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I should probably try and get a round or two in before my golf trip June 6.

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