The course features six par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 68 at a length of 5,401 yards from the back tees. There are three sets of tees: the back Blue tees, the 5,018 yard White tees, and the 4,650 forward Red tees. The rolling fairways are generally straight and surrounded by small- and medium-sized trees. There are many fairways that feel really narrow, either due to water hazards or a fenced out-of-bounds area. While there are no doglegs, you do need to be accurate with your shots due to the water and bunkers that touch the holes. Water touches 14 of the holes, four of which you’ll need to carry your shot over one (or two) of the lakes from which the course gets it’s name. Though in my opinion, the course should be renamed to “Arlington Bunkers Golf Club” (I know… it doesn’t sound as good). You’ll find bunkers on every hole, though mostly surrounding the green, and they looked in good condition. According to their website, the course is home to 106 bunkers, and I feel that’s a true statement. The undulating greens are fairly challenging, and played at about an average speed.

I felt I played an average round. My drives were not as good as they should, but I was getting decent distance, even if I did push my tee shot. I still need to work on the accuracy with my iron shots, but at least I’m getting good distance. I had a better short game compared to last week, which really helped me set up my putts. Sand shots in the bunkers did contribute a good chunk to my score. I should probably start practicing those shots also. My putting was about average, but I somehow kept my 3-putts to a minimum. I ended up with three 1-putts and only one 3-putt.

I shot a 98 for the round (30 over par, 47 on the front nine, 51 on the back nine). This consisted of three pars, seven bogeys, three double bogeys, and all others worse. I actually played a pretty good front nine aside from the two par 3 holes where I shot three over. I also had nine sand shots and four penalty shots.

I was actually surprised at this course. It ended up being tougher than I thought going into the round. The bunkers and the narrow fairways really contribute to making this course challenging, even with it’s shorter-than-average length and a par of 68.

Arlington Lakes Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,018 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 68
Course rating/slope: 63.7/108 (white tee boxes)
My score: 98 (30 over par)

Arlington Lakes Golf Club
1211 S. New Wilke Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

The course features four par-3 and three par-5 holes for a total par of 71 at a length of 6,309 yards from the back tees. There are four sets of tees: the back Blue tees, the 5,923 yard White tees, the 5,307 yard Golf tees, and the 5,028 yard forward Red tees.  The course is a traditional parkland style course that you’ll often find throughout Chicago. The fairways are generally open and straight, formed from rolling hills and surround by medium- and large-sized trees. You’ll find doglegs on the 5th and 10th holes (both 354 yard par-4′s), the 13th hole (a 277 yard par-4), the 17th hole (a 478 yard par-5), and the 18th hole (a 377 yard par-4). Water touches eleven of the holes, all of which you’ll need to carry your shot over the water, though they are mostly just small streams or creeks. Bunkers are found on every hole, either near the fairway, near the green, or both. The bunkers could use a bit of work, or at least some filtering of the large clumps (or maybe they were rocks). The greens are average size and offered some challenging putts throughout the round.  The greens felt generally soft for my round, though that could have been due to some recent rain. A notable green is the 7th hole (a 170 yard par-3) where a steep hill cuts through the green and requires you to be accurate with your shots and putts in order to avoid a difficult uphill putt.

For the first round of the season, I feel like I played pretty well. I didn’t get to practice much during the winter break, so I was thinking I was going to be a bit rusty. I felt like I had some pretty good drives, and it seemed like I was getting good distance, even if I pushed or sliced. My shots with my hybrid felt really nice. I think this year will be the season where I start to get really comfortable with my fairway wood and hybrid shots. I had good iron shots with decent accuracy, though I left many of them short. My short game was bad; I left many wedge shots short. My putting was decent. The greens were a little bumpy and needed some work, but it still is early in the season, so that might improve.

I ended up with a 102 (31 over par, 52 on the front nine, 50 on the back nine). This consisted of two pars, six bogeys, five double bogeys, and all others worse. I had two 1-putts and four 3-putts, along with five sand shots and two penalties. I really want to work on eliminating penalty shots this season. I know if I can do that, and keep 3-putts to a minimum, I should be able to break 90.

Mt. Prospect Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,923 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 71
Course rating/slope: 69.3/125 (white tee boxes)
My score: 102 (31 over par)

Mt. Prospect Golf Club
600 See Gwun Avenue
Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

• Break 90 – Once again I’m starting with this. I got really close to meeting this last season, so I think it’s time to knock this off the list this season.
• Score an average of 100 – I’m rolling this goal over from last season to this season. This number was going down over the years (115 in 2009, 110 in 2010, 105 in 2011, and 100 in 2012), but at some time it’s bound to level off. Maybe this is when it begins? I hope not.
• Play 20 rounds of golf on 15 new courses – Once again, I’m carrying over this goal from last year. If things go like they have the last two years, I should be able to meet this goal fairly easily.
• Birdie a par 5 – While I did get an eagle in 2012, I’m carrying this goal over from 2012.
• Two birdies in one round – Also carrying this goal over from 2012.
• Eagle – Let’s do this again! Par 4… par 5… doesn’t matter. Just make an eagle.
• Five pars in one round – I’m also keeping this goal from last year. I did meet this goal last year, but it was on a pretty short course. I want to do this on a par 69+ course.

For technical goals:

• Lower handicap to 20 or less – In 2009 my handicap was 36.4, in 2010 it was 33.4, in 2011 it was 27.7, and in 2012 it was 24.8. I’m trying to follow somewhat of a pattern.
• Raise fairway hit percentage to 42% – This needs to get better. Right now it’s at 35%
• Raise green-in-regulation percentage to 12% – Right now, it’s at 10.5%.
• Lower average putts to 1.9 – Right now, it’s at 2.07. I’m going to focus more on my short game this season.

Let the season begin!

Statistics

• 30 total rounds of golf played on both 9-hole and 18-hole courses, which includes 4 replays.
• 5 rounds played at 9-hole courses (well, one of those is actually half of an 18). 25 rounds played at 18-hole courses.
• 25 new courses played: 2 field-trip courses and 23 courses that count toward the goal (checking my math… the tracker shows 75 courses completed: 3 in 2008, 6 in 2009, 20 in 2010, 23 in 2011, and 23 in 2012)
• Best 18-hole round: 92 (22 over par) at Woodbine Golf Course
• Worst 18-hole round: 117 (46 over par) at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club – St. Andrews #1 Course

According to my statistics on oobgolf.com (based on the last 20 scores):

• My handicap is 24.8
• I’ve had a 103.6 scoring average
• 35% of fairways hit
• Average 2.07 putts per hole
• 10.2% GIR (green in regulation)

These statistics, with the exception of the fairways hit and average putts per hole, are an improvement over the 2011 golf season.

2012 Goals

• Break 90 – I didn’t meet this goal this season. The closest I got was 92.
• Score an average of 100 – While I did lower my scoring average compared to the previous season, I didn’t hit this goal. It did seem like I was in the 90′s more often this season though.
• Play 20 rounds of golf on 15 new courses –  As you can see above, I played 30 rounds of golf, including 23 rounds at new courses.
• Birdie a par 5 – Let’s just skip this one and focus on the eagle below…
• Two birdies in one round – I didn’t meet this goal, though I know I was close many times. Does an eagle count as two birdies?
• Eagle – I knocked this one off the list really early in the season when I luckily made an eagle on the par-5 6th at Fresh Meadow Golf Club.
• Five pars in one round – It’s a little hard to consider this completed, because I did make seven pars at Edgebrook Golf Course, but it was a pretty short course. Let’s just say I met this goal…

For the more technical goals (based on the last 20 scores):

• Lower handicap to 23 or less – I got somewhat close with a 24.8.
• Raise fairway hit percentage to 42% – Nope. Fairways hit actually went down.
• Raise green-in-regulation percentage to 11% – This did go up a little to 10.2%, but I didn’t meet the goal.
• Lower average putts to 1.9 – This actually got worse with a 2.07. I need to eliminate 3-putts.

Final Thoughts

The 2012 golf season was equally as productive as the 2011 golf season. 30 rounds played, with 23 new courses completed… I’m pretty happy with that. Much like 2011, I didn’t think I would get to play that often in 2012. A couple open weekends gave me the opportunity to play more rounds than normal. As of right now, I’m a little under halfway done with the project. If I keep this pace, I should be able to complete the project in 4-5 years.

As far as my game, I still think my drives are getting better and straighter, but I still want to get a bit more distance out of them. At least I’m starting to see more distance out of my irons. Maybe this year I’ll focus a little more on my short game and try to eliminate those 3-putts.

And just how I ended the last two years in review, I really want to say ‘Thank You!’ to all who are following my progress, and joining me along the way.

The course features three par-3 and three par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,540 yards from the back tees. There are four sets of tees: the back Black tees, the White tees that drops to the length to 6,050 yards, the Gold tees that drops the length to 5,493 yards, and the forward Red tees that drops the length to 5,093 yards. The course weaves its way throughout the Glenmary neighborhood, which is a fairly hilly community with a lot of large trees. The fairways are generally straight, formed from rolling hills and surrounded by large trees. Water touches ten of the holes, mostly on the front nine.  You’ll need to carry over water many times, either on your tee shot or on your way to the green, though mostly just are just small creeks. The largest water hazard you’ll find is small pond in front of the tee box the 10th hole, where a straight tee shot over 150 yards will safely find the fairway. Bunkers are found on all holes, either near the fairways, near the greens, or both, and they generally seemed in good condition, given the circumstances of a late Fall round. The greens are of average size and difficulty (though it’s hard to accurately comment on greens this time of the year).

I really liked this course. The layout and difficulty of the holes kept the whole round fun and interesting, and the environment around the course is beautiful. I do wish I got to play this in the summer. The only thing that really bothered me with this course is the condition of the cart paths, which were very rough in some areas.

My round went fairly smoothly and I was pretty happy how it turned out. My drives were really good throughout the round, with only a couple of slight pushes or pulls. I think I was expecting to play worse than I did, so actually making straight and accurate shots was nice. My iron shots were about average, as was my short game with my wedges. My putting was random throughout, but it was difficult to stay consistent considering the green condition and weather (some light rain started halfway through the round).

I finished the round with a 95 (23 over par, 48 on the front nine,  47 on the back nine). This consisted of three pars, eight bogeys, six double bogeys, and a triple bogey. I had six 1-putts and four 3-putts, along with four sand shots and three penalties.

This round marks the end of my 2012 golf season, which actually turned out to be a decent season for the project and my golf game. I feel like I ended the season on a good note, and I’m hoping I can start the 2013 season right were I left off.

Glenmary Country Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,050 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 70.0/128 (white tee boxes)
My score: 95 (23 over par)

Glenmary Country Club
10200 Glenmary Farm Dr.
Louisville, KY 40291

The course features the standard four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,905 yards from the back ‘black’ tees. There are five sets of tees in total, including the ‘blue’ tees at 6,391 yards, the ‘white’ tees at 6,001 yards, the ‘gold’ tees at 5,302 yards, and the ‘green’ tees at 5,112 yards. The fairways are generally straight, open, and flat, surrounded by medium sized trees that give the course the standard traditional layout look that you see at many courses throughout Chicago. You’ll encounter two dogleg holes the round: the 7th hole (a 541 yard par-5) that doglegs left, and the 18th hole (a 402 yard par-4) that doglegs right, both of which dogleg around water hazards. Water hazards touch six holes in total, and you’ll only need to carry over water on two holes (if you play your shots right), both of which are par-3′s. Bunkers are found throughout the course, both near the fairways and near the greens. The greens are of average size and difficulty, and also seemed to be of average speed.

For this round, I was joined by Drew, my cousin-in-law that just turned 18. His golf game reminds me a lot of my golf game when I first started out: a beginner in every aspect of the game, who really wants to improve and learn the how to golf. I’m hoping he’ll be joining me for more rounds next season.

I actually didn’t play too badly, considering I haven’t played or practiced in nearly a month and I almost put my clubs in storage. My drives started out pretty well, suffered around the turn, then improved at the end of the back nine. I had the most issues on my tees shots with my mid and long irons. I just could get comfortable with the swing. On the fairways, my irons were a bit better, but I lacked on distance. My short game was pretty good, but I know I could improve more with accuracy. My putting was somewhat random but generally decent.

I ended up shooting a 101 (29 over par, 50 on the front nine, 51 on the back nine). This consisted of one par, eight bogeys, and all others worse. I 1-putted twice and 3-putted four times, and I had five sand shots and three penalty shots. This round is about how I play on average, so not too bad considering the couple of weeks off. And who knows… with weather like this, maybe I’ll get in another round before the end of the year.

Deer Creek Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,001 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 69.0/120 (white tee boxes)
My score: 101 (29 over par)

Deer Creek Golf Club
25055 S. Western Ave.
University Park, IL 60484

The course consists of four par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 70 at a length of 6,018 yards from the back tees. The other set of tees, the forward red tees, drops the course length down to 5,693. The course is very much like a standard traditional course you’ll find the in the Chicago area. The fairways are generally flat, straight, and open, surrounded by trees that are spaced out enough to be able to recover easily from a poor drive (in most cases). You’ll find just one dogleg left on the 6th hole (a 377 yard par-4). Water touches six holes, three of which you’ll need to carry over, including the 16th hole (a 504 yard par-5) where you’ll need to carry over about 100 yards of water on your second or third shot. Bunkers are found on nearly all hole, and usually just near the greens. The greens were generally open and flat, and played about an average speed for my round.

I don’t really have much to say about my round. I felt like I played a decent round, though I know things could have went better. My drives were not always the straightest, but they at least kept me in play. I mostly pushed my drives right, and I only sliced the ball once. When I did hit straight, I was getting some really good distance. My iron shots and wedge shot were decent, though my distance and accuracy wasn’t the best. My putting was pretty random, mostly due to the recently-aerated bumpy greens.

I shot a 99 for the round (29 over par, 50 on the front nine, 49 on the back nine), which consisted of nine bogeys, five double bogeys and the rest triple bogeys. I 1-putted three times and 3-putted four times, along with three sand shots and one penalty (there wasn’t many areas on the course that typically causes penalties). The most frustrating part of this round was the many times that I was trying to find my ball in the fallen leaves, which is a common issue this time of the year.

Village Green Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,018 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 70
Course rating/slope: 72.7/118 (white tee boxes)
My score: 99 (29 over par)

Village Green Golf Course
2501 N. Midlothian Road
Mundelein, IL 60060

The course consists of five par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 70 at a length of 6,020 yards from the back tees. There’s only two sets of tees: the back white tees and the forward red tees, which shortens the course down to 5,098 yards. The fairways are open and flat, surrounded by small and medium-sized trees. The fairways are pretty close to each other, so any sliced or hooked drives have a good chance of making it to a neighboring fairway. Water touches six of the holes, two of which you’ll need to carry over on your tee shots, both on par-3 holes, though its not a lot of water to carry. Bunkers are found near the greens on all but two holes, while fairway bunkers are found only on only two of the dogleg holes: the 6th hole (a 501 yard par-5) and the 9th hole (a 400 yard par-4). The greens are generally large and flat, and didn’t seem too difficult. The fairways and greens were pretty firm for my round, which definitely helped to add a couple extra yards onto my shots.

Considering the way I was hitting the ball, I feel like I should have gotten a much higher score. My drives were not consistent at all, and I think I hit every type of drive possible except for a snap hook. Though when I did hit the ball straight, it felt really good, and I got some great yardage thanks to the firm fairways. For my sliced drives, they mostly ended up in the next fairway, so I was able to recover nicely and get back in play. My fairway wood, hybrid, and iron shots were generally good, and I seemed to hit well off the firm grounds. My wedge shots were also pretty good, setting me up for some fairly easy putts. My putting was decent, but I still made some mistakes, which cost me a couple of parred holes

I shot a 92 for the round (22 over par, 45 on the front nine, 47 on the back nine), which is the best I’ve ever scored. This consisted of four pars, eight bogeys, four double bogeys, and two triple bogeys. I 1-putted seven times and 3-putted five times, along with one sand shot and two penalty shots.

I think a lot of things came together that attributed to this low round. First, I’m starting to get comfortable with my drives again, which is something that usually happens near the end of the golf season. It seems like I struggle with my drives throughout the summer, then when the fall hits, things get better just in time for the cold weather to show up. Also, the layout of the course, along with the firm grounds, really helped me get longer drives and easy recovery shots. I think I tend to play the best on firm or wet fairways. I don’t know whether or not this is a good thing, but it works for me, and as long as it helps keep my score down, I’m happy with it.

Woodbine Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,020 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 70
Course rating/slope: 68.2/115 (white tee boxes)
My score: 92 (22 over par)

Woodbine Golf Course
14240 W. 151st Street
Homer Glen, IL 60491

Crystal Tree opened in 1989 and was designed by world-renowned Robert Trent Jones, Jr, who also designed Prairie Landing Golf Club in West Chicago, Illinois, and ThunderHawk Golf Club in Beach Park, Illinois. In the mid 2000′s, a new 55,000 square foot clubhouse was built, and the holes were renumbered.

As close as this course is to me, it’s even closer to the two other golfers that was in my group: Mike and Chuck. Both Mike and Chuck caddied at the course in the late 1990′s, but never got a chance to play the course. Prior to the round, John introduced us to the Head Golf Professional for Crystal Tree, Gabe Exiner. It turned out that Mike and Chuck both knew Gabe, because Gabe was the Assistant Golf Professional back when they caddied. Gabe gave us a run-down of the course, and updated Mike and Chuck about the changes that were made since they caddied. John rounded out the foursome, but only acted as the photographer. Even though he didn’t play, he did say he enjoyed the round. I really appreciate the opportunity to play this course, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity.

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,810 yards from the back tees. There are five sets of tees, ranging from a length of 6,810 yards to 5,248 yards. The course weaves its way around the Crystal Tree neighborhood, and many of the fairways do not sit next to another fairway. Overall, this is a fairly hilly course, which is something you don’t see too often in the Chicagoland area. The rolling fairways are generally wide and open, and are surrounded by large trees or the houses that are part of the neighborhood. The design and layout of the fairways is what makes this course so beautiful. Water touches nine of the holes, three of which you’ll need to carry your tee shot or your approach shot over if played safely. Large bunkers are found on every hole, either near the greens, near the fairways, or both. The challenging, undulating greens are generally pretty deep and narrow.

I think I was the most nervous that I’ve ever been leading up to this round. The Thursday before the round, I went to the driving range and had a pretty bad session. None of my drives felt smooth, and I was slicing a lot of balls. Before the round started, I got a chance to hit a couple balls at the club’s driving range, and things improved a bit, but I was still slicing, including one drive that sliced so far right that it found its way to a nearby parking lot (which was luckily empty). With how I was hitting, my goal was to finish the round with a 110 or better.

Not surprising, I started the round by slicing my drive into thick trees, then proceeded to do the same with my provisional shot. It was kind of disheartening to start the round with poor drives like that, but I had to move on.   My next eight tee shots also went right, but didn’t majorly slice. It wasn’t until the back nine that my tee shots improved, including three really nice tee shots back-to-back-to-back on the 13th, 14th, and 15th. My iron shots were pretty random, mostly with accuracy. I didn’t feel as comfortable with my iron shots as I did in my last couple of rounds. My short game was also a bit random. I had some nice wedge shots and putts, which were probably the key factor in keeping my score low.

I ended up shooting a 105 (33 over par, 57 on the front nine, 48 on the back nine). This consisted of one par, six bogeys, five double bogeys, and the rest triple bogeys.  I 1-putted four times and 3-putted four times, and had four penalties and five sand shots. Much like the last couple of rounds, there was a couple times I was putting for par, but ended up 3-putting for double bogey. I really need to work on my putting a bit more.

Crystal Tree Golf and Country Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,405 yards (silver tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 72.0/136 (silver tee boxes)
My score: 105 (33 over par)

Crystal Tree Golf and Country Club
10700 W. 153rd St.
Orland Park, IL 60462

As you could imagine, the course is beautiful and in great condition. The course’s length is 7,657 yards, which is over 300 yards higher than the average course length on a PGA Tour stop. All of the par-3 holes are over 190 yards, including the 13th hole, which is 245 yards. Two of the par-5 holes, the 7th and the 14th, are over 600 yards. Water is most notable on three of the par-3 holes, where players have to carry their tee shot over 100 yards of water to a challenging, undulating green.

Markus joined me for the day, which mostly consisted of us fighting our way through the crowds to get pictures of the players. Markus knew a couple of the guys who were volunteering, so we got a bit of inside knowledge on where the players would be. The Europe team was playing the front nine, while later the US team was playing some of the front nine and some (or all) of the back nine. We eventually worked our way around to the tee box of the 9th hole, which turned out to be a great place to stand. From our spot, we could see the foursomes come down fairway of the par-3 8th hole, then tee off on the 9th hole. They would then later come down to the 11th hole green, which was next to the 9th hole tee box. Farther away, we could see the shared tee box for the 12th and 15th hole.

By the end of the day, I took around 250 pictures… some really good and some not so good (including a couple blurry pictures of Rory McIlroy, who was surprisingly difficult to photograph). Out of those, here’s about 100 that I picked out to show. Enjoy!

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,803 yards from the back tees (named Tournament). The holes were recently re-numbered, and the tees were reconfigured to have four tee boxes instead of three, a change that has been reflected in the scorecard but not yet on the signs near the tee boxes. The next tees (named Championship) drop the length to 6,370 yards, followed by 5,859 and 4,972 yards on the two subsequent tees (named Green and Regular, respectively). I will mention that playing from the Green tees does make the course much easier to play, mostly thanks to a couple of challenging tee shots that the back two tee boxes need to make on some holes. There is a notable difference between the front nine and the back nine. The prairie-style fairways are generally open and straight, surrounded by small rolling hills, thick grass, and trees (on the back nine). On the front nine, it’s pretty easy to see what surrounds the fairways… water… a lot of water. Water touches six of the holes on the front nine, including four of the holes that has water nearly surrounding the whole fairway. One notable hole on the front nine is the 3rd hole (a 474 yard par-4), where water surrounds the entire fairway, from tee to green. On the front nine, you’ll need to carry water seven times, either on your tee shot or on your way to the green. On the back nine, water touches only three holes, including the 11th hole (a 171 yard par-3), which features an island tee box. With all the focus on water, bunkers do exist, but are somewhat scarce. The undulating greens are fairly large, and played pretty soft and slow for my round. In fact, the whole course was pretty soft, which you’ll see an example of in the pictures below where one of my [high] tee shots dove deep into the soft fairway.

I think I can safely say that Lost Marsh is one of my favorite courses in the Chicagoland area. Not only is it a beautiful course with a challenging layout, it’s also a short drive from downtown Chicago (take Lake Shore Drive to Stoney Island Avenue to the Skyway, and you’ll get there in less than 20 minutes, hitting barely any traffic). Also, the greens fees are very competitive, if not cheaper, compared to some of the other nice courses in Chicagoland. If I could change anything about this course, I’d add more, or larger, bunkers, to make it more comparable to a course like Harborside. Needless to say… play this course!

Going into this round, I did plenty of research on the layout of this course, so I knew exactly what I was up against. As I imagined, the water around the front nine gave me the most issues.  I actually started the round off well, when I hit the fairway with my hybrid tee shot on the 1st hole (a 340 yard par-4). After that, it was pretty much downhill from there. Nearly all of my tee shots and iron shots throughout the first seven holes were pushed or sliced right, either into what rough existed or the water. It was until the 8th hole (a 180 yard par-3) that my tee shot went straight again.  After that hole, the rest of the round was more like I how normally play: random tee shots, random iron shots, and random putting.

I ended up shooting a 117 for the round (45 over par, 63 on the front nine, 54 on the back nine), which was one of my worst rounds within the last couple of years. Honestly though, I went into this round not expecting to break 100, so I’m fine with this score. My score consisted of a couple bogeys, but mostly double and triple bogeys. The one stat that stand out the most was my nine penalty shots throughout the first seven holes. I 1-putted four times and 3-putted six times, and had just one sand shot. As poor as I played, and as much trouble the water gave me, I still think this is a great course, and I encourage anyone to play this course.

Lost Marsh Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,370 yards (Championship tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 71.6/127 (Championship tee boxes)
My score: 117 (45 over par)

Lost Marsh Golf Course
1001 129th Street
Hammond, IL 46320

The course consists of four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,902 yards from the back tees. Moving forward to the next set of tees will drop the length to 6,467 yards, while moving forward once again drops the length to 5,859 yards. The fairways are formed from rolling hills surrounded by large trees. Many of the fairways have a slight dogleg, including the 10th hole (a 378 yard par-4) and the 18th hole (a 408 yard par-4) which both have a water hazard at the turn of the dogleg, creating somewhat of a target golf fairway. Water hazards touch 13 holes, six of which you’ll need to carry over, though they are mostly small creeks and streams. The largest water hazard you’ll need to carry will come on the 4th hole (a 194 yard par-3). Speaking of the par-3 holes, three of the four are longer than 190 yards from the back tees. The bunkers, which are generally pretty large, are found on all holes, either near the fairway in challenging locations, protecting the greens, or both. The undulating greens are also fairly large, and played slow and soft for my round.

I think Springbrook is a challenging course. The fairways are somewhat narrow, and feel more narrow with the location of the trees along the fairways. The par-4 holes are fairly long, averaging around 400 yards from the back tees, the location of the bunkers require you to be very accurate with both your tee shots and your approach shots, and the greens have deceiving and challenging breaks.

I started this round poorly on the front nine, but then improved a bit for the back nine. My drives were a bit random, and I didn’t feel as comfortable with my tees shots throughout the whole round. Although switching to the longer tee has, I believe, helped keep my drives a bit straighter, I wasn’t consistent with my swing, which caused the randomness in my tee shots. That inconsistent swing plagued me throughout my round. I wasn’t hitting my fairway wood or long irons very well. I ended up topping my fairway wood shots a couple times, and I think I was overpowering my iron shots. My mid and short irons were not as good as my previous round, but they did get better later in the round. I think my wedge shots helped me the most to keep my score low. My distance control with the wedges was good, but accuracy could have been better. My putting was average, though I missed a lot of par putts.

I shot a 99 for the round (27 over par, 54 on the front nine, 45 on the back nine), which consisted of two pars, nine bogeys, three double bogeys, and four triple bogeys (which were all on the front nine). I 1-putted twice and 3-putted once, and had a chip-in bogey on the 14th hole (a 442 yard par-4). I only had two penalty shots and one sand shot. I’ll also mention that I only majorly sliced my drive twice, both on the back nine and both because I didn’t do a full pre-shot routine. I mention this because I’m going to be playing a private course soon, and slicing the ball is one thing I’m most worried about doing during the round. Luckily though, I haven’t sliced my drives that much this season. I think if I just stay relaxed and consistent with my pre-shot routine and my swing, I should be fine for my round.

Springbrook Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,467 yards (blue tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 71.1/129 (blue tee boxes)
My score: 99 (27 over par)

Springbrook Golf Course
2220 West 83rd Street
Naperville, IL 60564

In his book, Hank Haney talks about why he thinks this commercial demonstrates “the greatest swing in history”:

Two weeks after the Masters, he went to a Las Vegas sound studio to film a commercial for Nike. The cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who won an Academy Award for Schindler’s List, used a super-high-speed camera and shot Tiger hitting a driver. The angle was face-on, and Tiger wore black. As captured in the commercial, Tiger’s swing took a full 53 seconds, from takeaway to follow-through, the entire sequence accompanied by a cello solo. Tiger later told me that he’d made about 25 slow swings for the cameras to make sure he executed all the changes we’d worked on just right, and gave final approval to the one that was chosen. What I loved about it was how quiet his head was, hot tall he stayed on his downswing, and how free and unencumbered he was as he released his upper body and arms. It was the swing I envisioned him making with the driver, which really hadn’t come out in competition. Of course, I’m biased, but I think that commercial is a record of the greatest swing in history. I’m proud to hold that swing up as what I was after.

I’m really enjoying reading through this book. Since I didn’t really start playing golf until late 2008, I never really followed or kept track of Tiger Woods’ and his accomplishments in the early and mid 2000′s, specifically 2000 and 2006, which were, so far, the highest points of his career. The book provides a behind-the-scenes look at Tiger’s golfing mindset, personality, and work ethic, which can be very interesting for many people wanting to look deeper into the world of a golfing great. I highly recommend reading this book.

Also, if you liked the commercial, Nike still has the interactive version available on their website, where you can switch between one of six cameras during the swing. Pretty cool.

In this post, we talk about the breakdown of greens fees and cart fees.

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CGN: What’s the first thing course management looks at when determining the cost?

BE: Like nearly any other business, what price do we charge to maximize both revenue and customer satisfaction/value?

Some courses try to earn revenues on a volume basis, while others may want to keep the amount of play a little lower but achieve a slightly higher revenue-per-round figure. Each course walks a fine line between price and perceived value. When the perceived value side of the equation tips in one way or the other, changes are made to the pricing. Perceived value could be determined by a number of factors… weather, time of year, time of week, time of day, pace of play, customer service, course conditions, cleanliness of bathrooms…etc.

CGN: Does popularity, difficulty, course type, grass type, location, average rounds per day (etc, etc, etc) have an effect?

BE: All of the things mentioned above. Difficulty of the course can be a double edged sword… some people want to say they played the PGA Tour course in their town, or the course with water on 15 holes, but after losing a dozen balls and shooting 15 strokes above their average, the novelty may wear off. Village Greens of Woodridge happens to be in a great location and we receive a ton of play because it’s so convenient to get to our facility… one of our biggest strengths.

CGN: What percentages of the costs go into course management, course maintenance, course employees, etc?

BE: It’s all over the board. I have seen budgets from dozens of courses in Chicago and very few are similar. However, labor will typically take up 30%-60% of a budget, maintenance excluding labor about 15%-40%, debt and capital expenditures from 0% – 15%.

CGN: How about cart fees… is there a science to pricing those?

BE: Yes. A fleet of golf cars can cost several hundred thousand dollars, amortized over the 5-10 year useful life of a car. Factor in gas or electric costs, maintenance and repair, and daily labor to clean and store the cars, and you arrive at a cost-per-car expense. Some of these expenses are obviously fixed expenses, while others are variable.

On the revenue side, a course considers the percentage of riding vs. walking rounds (or average cart rentals per day), competitors pricing, desired profit level, and a few other components to arrive at an appropriate price to charge.

While greens fees are all over the board, riding car fees are fairly homogenized in Chicago, usually around $10 for 9-hole and $16-$20 for 18-holes.

So I reached out once again to Brandon Evans, General Manager & PGA Certified Golf Professional at Village Greens of Woodridge (and self-imposed “Director of Fun and Entertainment”). Brandon was nice enough to offer some insight into the art and science of pricing greens fees.

This is the first post in a two-part post how golf courses set the price of their greens fees. In this post, we talk about how greens fees are developed and what determines the value of a course.

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CGN: Let’s just start with the general question at hand… What exactly goes into the cost of the greens fees?

BE: Each course has a different philosophy and method to arrive at a schedule of fees. Some courses have a pretty static set of fees, while others utilize more of a ‘dynamic pricing’ method on a week-to-week, or even day-to-day, basis.

When establishing fees, courses need to balance dozens of things like meeting operational, debt, and capital expenses, course design, playability, customer service, conditioning levels, amenities, prestige, demand for play, competition, profit motives, location, population/clientele demographics, consumer perception, and more.

Setting fees used to be 80% ‘art’ and 20% ‘science’. Today, with the data and tools available to us, it’s quickly becoming 100% science. In my opinion, the golf industry will likely follow the hotel and airline industry in switching over to daily and/or weekly dynamic pricing models. Even some Major League Baseball teams, like the White Sox, are utilizing dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is the science of factoring all of these internal and external factors into a pricing structure that satisfies both operational objectives and consumer demand.

Ultimately, we’re trying to find the right price for the right person at the right time on the right day in order to maximize play, revenues, and customer satisfaction.

CGN: So what kinds of things determine if it’s a $30 course, a $60 course, or a $100+ course?

BE: Initially, a number of factors like those listed above. Ultimately, the consumer decides the price/value of a course.

There are some great courses 80 miles away from civilization that can’t get people to make the drive for $35, and then there’s Pebble Beach who has a six month waiting list at $500 per round that people fly in from all over the world to play. As Pebble Beach is an extreme example, most people place an emphasis on design, conditioning, and amenities as a starting point for formulating a pricing opinion.

It’s also important to note that nearly all courses have a different pricing structure for Saturday mornings vs. Monday mornings… the course doesn’t change in two days, but demand for play does. As such, nearly every course already uses some form of dynamic pricing in order to entice golfers to play their course.

We’re starting to build models that will tell us, for instance, that if it’s 80 degrees and sunny on a Monday in June, we can likely meet demand while maximizing play and customer satisfaction by charging $40 from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., $45 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., and $35 from 11:00 a.m. – Noon, etc. As such, a ‘$100 course’ may also be an ‘$80 course’ or a ‘$60 course’ depending on the time of day/week/year and the consumer demand during that period of time. Not every course operator/owner agrees with that philosophy, and there is much debate over the pros/cons within our industry right now on the topic. Some courses would prefer to remain a $50 course, for example, regardless of the day or time.

The course features four par-3 and four par-5 holes for a total par of 72 at a length of 6,397 yards from the back tees. The fairways are formed from rolling hills and are generally pretty wide open. Even though they call this a traditional course, there are not a lot of trees compared to other traditional courses. Most of the trees are spread out, allowing you to make an easy recovery shot if your ball finds itself in the trees. The front nine features three of the four par-5 holes, including the 600 yard 5th hole that doglegs right, followed by the 498 yard 6th that doglegs left. Water touches five of the holes, all which are found on the front nine, and you’ll only need to carry over the water on two of your tee shots. Bunkers are found on ten of the holes, both near the fairways and near the greens. The greens are fairly large with consistent slopes, and played a little fast during my round.

I felt like I played a good round. My drives were pretty decent throughout the whole round, and any drives that were not straight were pushed to the right; no major slices. I think using the longer tee has helped keep my drives more consistent and in play. My shots with the fairway wood and hybrid were a bit more random, and I had some trouble with the accuracy of those shots. I think I just need to practice a bit more on real grass with those clubs. My iron shots were still good compared to last week, though I had a bit more trouble with the par-3 tee shots. One thing I noticed, which might help in the future, is that I was keeping my head down longer after I hit the ball, and not immediately watching the flight of the ball. I think this helps me keep a more consistent swing plane, and prevents me from lifting my head and hitting the ball thin. My putting was a bit random but generally decent.

I shot a 98 for the round (26 over par, 52 on the front nine, 46 on the back nine). This consisted of one birdie (on the 319 yard par-4 8th), two pars (both on the back nine), six bogeys, seven double bogeys, and all others worse. I 1-putted four times and 3-putted twice, and had two sand shots and three penalties. I’ve notice over the last couple of rounds that I’m more consistently shooting bogeys and double bogeys, with an occasional triple bogey or worse.  I think if I can prevent these blow-up holes, along with eliminating penalty shots, I might be able to set my sights on breaking 90.

Countryside Golf Club – Traditional Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,103 yards (brass tee boxes)
Course par: 72
Course rating/slope: 69.1/116 (white tee boxes)
My score: 98 (26 over par)

Countryside Golf Club
20800 West Hawley Road
Mundelein, IL 60060

The course features two par-3 and one par-5 holes for a total par of 35 at a length of 3,051 yards from the back tees.  There are only two sets of tees: the back white tees and the forward red tees, which drop the course length to 2,852 yards. The fairways are very flat and straight, with the exception of the 9th hole (a 253 yard par-4), that doglegs slightly right. Large trees line most of the fairways, but they are spaced out enough so grass can grow beneath them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to recover from any errant shots into the trees. The par-3 and par-4 holes are fairly long for beginners, with both of the par-3 holes longer than 185 yards and the par-4 holes averaging more than 360 yards. Water hazards touch six of the holes, but you’ll only need to carry over the water on the 3rd hole (a 219 yard par-3). The water hazard on some of the holes is supplied by a branch of the DuPage River. On those holes, the fairway feels much more narrow, and any tee shots that go left have a good chance to find their way into the water. Bunkers are seldom found throughout the course, and are only next to the greens when present. The greens are large with consistent slopes, and played pretty soft and slow for my round.

The only downsides of this courses were that the fairways were not in the best condition, and many of the landing areas for tees shots were under repair. Also, the cart paths were mostly gravel where they existed, and they didn’t always follow the flow of the course, so there were some areas were it was confusing where the next tee box was. Other than that, it’s a decent course with some good challenges.

My good round continued to this course. My tee shots were not always the best again, but I was able to recover with some nice iron shots. I was still getting great distance, accuracy, and loft with my mid and short irons (almost a surprising amount of distance). For example, I somehow hit a 140 yard approach shot a couple feet from the pin with my 9 iron, a shot that I normally would use an 8 iron or an easy 7 iron to make. If that trend continues, I’ll need to readjust which clubs I use for certain distances. My putting was a bit random, but a little better than the previous round, even though the greens were still slow.

I ended up shooting a 47 (12 over par), which consisted of one birdie, four bogeys, two double bogeys, and two triple bogeys.  I 1-putted four times (all in a row) and 3-putted three times. The only penalty shots came on the last three holes, one on each hole, thanks to some inaccurate drives.

So that ends the day. If the rounds were on one 18 hole course instead of two 9′s, I would have shot a 96, which is better than I’ve been playing the last couple of months, so I’m pretty happy about that.

Western Acres Golf Course – Scores & Stats
Course length: 3,051 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 35
Course rating/slope: 69.2/111 (white tee boxes)
My score: 47 (12 over par)

Western Acres Golf Course
2400 W Butterfield Rd
Lombard, IL 60148

The course features two par-3 and two par-5 holes for a total par of 36 at a length of 3,238 yards from the back tees. There are three sets of tees: the back blue tees, the middle white tees (3,011 yards), and the forward red tees (2,667 yards). In my opinion, River Bend is a really pretty course. The fairways are straight and mostly open, surrounded by trees and small rolling hills. The water hazards on the course cut into some of the fairways, turning some of the holes into target golf. Water hazards touch seven of the holes, four of which you’ll need to carry over either on your tees shot or your way to the green. Tall reeds and cottontails surround a majority of the water hazards, giving them a marshland look. Large, well-maintained bunkers are found on seven of the holes, mostly next to the greens. The undulating greens are large, and felt very soft and slow for my round.

I felt like I had a good round. My tee shots were not always the best, as well as any of my shots with my fairway wood or my hybrid, but I made up for those poor shots with my irons. I played really well with my irons, especially my mid and short irons. With those irons, I was making solid contact with good accuracy and great distance. The par-3 holes were especially good for me, where I hit the green on both of the tee shots (on the 128 yard 5th and the 160 yard 9th). My putting could have been better. The slow greens left many of my putts short, and I ended up 3-putting for bogey many times.

On the 9th tee box, we were greeted by Bill from Tee It Up Fore Charity, who was giving away prizes for people who hit the green on their tee shot (as long as you donate to their charity, of course). I was playing well with my irons, so Susie put $10 on the line for my tee shot (I also forgot my wallet). Since my tee shot hit the green, I won a sleeve of golf balls, which I promptly handed over the Susie.

I ended up shooting a 49 for the round (13 over par), which consisted of one par, six bogeys, and all others worse.  I 1-putted once and 3-putted four times, and finished the round with one sand shot and three penalties (water hazards). So, it was a decent round with a score that remains consistent with my previous rounds.

Before I finish, the only thing that bothered me about my round at this course was that the grounds maintenance crew was very much present during most of our round. They were driving around dragging water hoses, not stopping or waiting for people to tee off, and turning on the sprinklers on the fairways. This isn’t a huge deal, but you would think this work would have been done earlier in the morning or during the week, not during the peak weekend tee times.

River Bend Golf Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 3,011 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 36
Course rating/slope: 68.8/119 (white tee boxes)
My score: 49 (13 over par)

River Bend Golf Club
5900 S. Route 53
Lisle, IL 60532

I last played this course nearly two years ago, and I still remember a little bit about the round. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about the course, but I will give a slight update. The course layout and yardage hasn’t changed since I last played, but it felt like there was a lot more water hazards, many of which you have to carry over, though I know they haven’t changed those either. One of the holes I remembered from the last round was the 17th, a 226 yard par-3 (174 yards from the white tees), where your tee shot has to be very precise; hit too short and you’ll be in the water… hit too long and you’ll be in the trees.

I felt like I played a good round, though I did make some mistakes that could have been avoided. My drives were somewhat random, mostly pushing into the trees, but I was getting some good loft and distance. The trees gave me troubles throughout the round, almost to the point where I should have just pitched out onto the fairway to get back in play. I know many times that’s the better shot to take, but most of the time I just want to try to make good forward progress with risky shots, instead of recover shots that don’t get me anywhere. My iron shots were pretty good, as were my approach and chip shots with my wedges, and my putting was somewhat random. I 1-putted three times and 3-putted four times.

I ended up shooting a 105 (35 over par, 57 on the front nine, 48 on the back nine). This consisted of three pars, four bogeys, four double bogeys, and all others worse. I did have a bad front nine, which ended with three sand shots on the 9th hole (a 519 yard par-5). I only had three penalty shots, which I think was surprising considering the amount of water on the course. So 12 strokes better than my previous round; I think that’s a decent improvement.

Old Orchard Country Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 5,795 yards (white tee boxes)
Course par: 70
Course rating/slope: 68.8/130 (white tee boxes)
My score: 105 (35 over par)

Old Orchard Country Club
700 West Rand Road
Mount Prospect, IL 60056

The course features four par-3 and three par-5 holes for a total par of 71 at a length of 6,609 yards from the back tees. Moving up to the next tees, the length drops down to 6,239 yards, then down to 5,298 yards on the forward tees. The fairways are mostly straight, though are narrow in many places, and are surrounded my large thick trees. As you make your way away from the clubhouse (from the 4th to 9th hole on the front nine and from the 10th to 15th hole on the back nine), the fairways get a little more hilly, and you’ll find most of the water hazards and the thickest trees. Water hazards touch six of the holes, four of which you’ll need to carry over on your tee shot. Bunkers are found on all but two holes, mostly next to the greens. The sand in the bunkers seemed thinner or lighter than what I’m normally used to from other Chicagoland courses. I mention this because I felt like I didn’t have as much difficulty getting out of the sand. The undulating greens were average in size, and had somewhat challenging pin positions.

I feel like I played a decent round, though there was a lot of areas that could have been better. For my tee shots, I switched back and forth between my driver and my fairway wood throughout the round, and I had some difficulty with both at times. I found myself mishitting my fairway wood tee shots, mostly topping the ball, and I was still pushing my tee shots with my driver. Luckily, recovery shots with my fairway wood or hybrid seemed to get me back in play. My iron shots were mostly good with distance, but not so much with accuracy. I found myself in the sand many times throughout the round, but as I mentioned above, I didn’t have a lot of difficulty getting out of it. In fact, I think my sand shots were some of the best shots I made throughout the round. My other wedge shots were pretty good, though I could still improve with distance control in my short game. My putting was generally OK, but nothing spectacular. I ended up just 3-putting twice, with no 1-putts.

I ended up shooting a 108 for the round (37 over par, 54 on the front nine, 54 on the back nine). This consisted of seven bogeys, five double bogeys, and all others worse. I had four sand shots and four penalty shots (mostly from shots into the thick trees). I need to work a bit more on consistency with my tee shots, because I’m making too many mistakes off the tee.

Old Oak Country Club – Scores & Stats
Course length: 6,239 yards (blue tee boxes)
Course par: 71
Course rating/slope: 69.1/123 (white tee boxes)
My score: 108 (37 over par)

Old Oak Country Club
14200 S. Parker Rd.
Homer Glen, IL 60491