Can’t wait, looking forward to hearing them
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Anyone crazy wanna play some early golf Friday morning?
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Interesting. I would guess they’d need to trick up the course ala Bethpage to get it US Open ready.
Good Morning 
Here we go…
MTPCC does have a handful of template inspired holes (see 16 “Biarritz”) that do a really nice job of capturing what Mr. Raynor’s design templates were. Some holes (see 4 “Redan”) that aren’t really the true template forms (how the slope doesn’t actually feed balls towards the back of the green).
The thing about MTPCC is that it gets a TON of play, which isn’t a bad thing per say…it just means that the course always seems to be pretty beat up. And yes, the greens are fun with all the different pin options, but some of the shelves are REALLY small which usually means you’re going to have to lag putt close from below the tier. You nailed it with the “they need to be bigger to be more fun” take.
It honestly all depends on where they pin certain greens, since some of them are respectably tame…but most of the approach shots needed are just ones that give you a putt of any kind (unless it’s a funnel pin).
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Got it. Good to hear I wasn’t too far off the mark. Definitely had some truly silly pins…8 was on the back shelf which seemed like it might be 20 FT deep. I think that may even be generous. 9 stood out too, wasn’t in the valley but just past it about 2 feet from where a dropped ball would have rolled down. I can’t imagine how dialed a player would have to be to score well on that course day after day.
Still, all in all, I have another logo ball for the display case.
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One of the more amazing shot’s I’ve witnessed at MPGC was @HardEight 's smashed tee shot coming to a rest on the back fringe.
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MP does go a bit overboard with the raised greens. They are a feature of the golden age architecture that MP tries to emulate largely because they solved a lot of drainage problems on land that wasn’t ideally suited for golf. That could be a reason there are so many at MP as well, but I never played it before the redesign so I’m not sure to what extent they had drainage problems. But I suspect it’s a bit of a tradeoff for the generally great green conditions you get there. There are a few too many at MP, especially for a community course where a lot of players would benefit from being to run the ball up to the green.
That said, yours is a very common criticism of MP and I wonder to what extent it stems from people playing the wrong tees and/or a lack of familiarity with the course. Most people see 6300 yards at the tips and think they should be playing there, but like you said, that’s going to leave a lot of long irons into greens that are designed to punish bad wedges/short irons (generally a good defensive feature of shorter holes). Most good players will also try to reach the par 5s in two based upon the yardage on the scorecard, but those green complexes are designed to yeet bad approach shots into oblivion.
On the other hand, there are holes like 4 and 6 where almost everyone is going to be hitting long irons into really tough green complexes that not only don’t receive long irons easily, but also make for really tough up and downs. Those holes are just bad design IMO. A lot of the flaws you identified contribute to the abysmal pace of play on weekends. It’s just too hard for beginners.
I still think it’s the best value course in the area, though.
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I was guilty of playing the wrong tees prior to joining the refuge, especially at a course like MP. Funny you call out 4 and 6 as bad holes, as they are some of my favorites. Now if we want to talk about a hole that launches me into oblivion let’s take a look at 12 or 15. I think my ball may still be in the neighboring pool off 15.
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I think both can be fun for good players, but I would guess that 80% of the people that play at MP don’t have a realistic shot of a green in regulation on 6, for example. And if you miss the green you’re probably in a bunker or someone’s backyard. At a course like MP, I’d prefer to see a long par 4 like that be balanced out by an accessible green complex.
Similar deal with 4, where it’s not only asking you to hit a 200 yard long iron but forcing you to do so with a fair amount of precision or else you’re absolutely boned. Thinking in particular of the F U bunker 30 yards or so in front of the green that’s sole purpose is to extract souls from high handicappers.
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Part of the 2014-15 renovation was improving drainage. My dad used to take me out there as a kid in the early 2000s and I remember massive pools of standing water for days even after moderate rains.
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Excuse me, what?!?
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Thankfully I was wise enough to play the silver tees. I saw the par 70 6300 from the back and knew I would get murdered. It was nice and let me take irons off the tee a couple times without penalty. 2, 4 and 6 were my hope and a prayer approaches for the round. But agree…as crazy as the greens were, the speed and condition were what I’d expect for the $$$
@Adams and I have 2 spots open at Shepards Crook this Saturday at 9:40.
Let me know if you would like to join
Halftime for the two day fest. Stonewall was good. Rough is rough. On 8, guy in group in front of us left his towel at the back tees. Fron the fairway, he had to walk all the way back to the tee, get towel, then walk all the way back to fairway where is buddies already were. At the turn, he got a cart.
@TCRBrad we getting any more innings in tonight?
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Free baseball tomorrow! We just called as well
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I’ll be in the stands for the 630 game!
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I am going to be in Gurnee at 8am for an appointment. I don’t know how long it will take, but can’t imagine more than 30-45 minutes. Are the other spots booked, or would I just book thru SC?
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