Anyone else get this email today? It kind of enrages me. Spring Valley shouldn’t be anywhere near this list. Maybe after a $5 million restoration. I happened to play there this morning too btw. Little under 3 hour round.
Harborside and Mount Prospect only chicago area courses that made this list.
I know a dude who rides so hard for that course. I’ve only played it once, so can’t really judge it.
I think Spring Valley is great.
It’s no Kankakee Elks but I love it. Considering value easily one of the best courses in the area imo.
Well the only criteria here is less than $150. It’s not weighted based on like some kind of quality vs price metric. So having it on the list is nuts.
You’ve played it too much probably.
It’s a shaggy course with great structure. I’d rather play there than the county courses. I’d rather pay $100 less to play SV than GG or GN.
I agree that the structure is great but man is it shaggy. A few of the tee shots have been partially ruined by overgrowth or shrunken greens too. I wish I could go back in time and see what it was like at its peak.
I don’t know that it ever had a peak. There’s a reason it doesn’t have any bunkers, and it’s not because it was designed that way. But it does has great bones. SV and Kankakee Elks are both places that still have a lot of Langford left because no one ever had enough money to really screw with the architecture, unlike a lot of the private courses that they had their hands on (Ruth Lake, Bryn Mawr). They would hardly even need a big restoration. Just a better maintenance budget, someone willing to mow the greens back out to the size of the pads, and a visit from the chainsaw fairy.
I’m genuinely curious about this. Care to shed any light?
I wonder if restoring some of the bunkering would even be an improvement. The grass bunkers are kind of a great equalizer. Easier for high handicaps than sand but harder for low handicaps. Re-bunkering would probably add to the aesthetic value though.
My understanding is that they just ran out of money. I’ll have to check with a friend of mine who’s writing a book about L&M (Dan Moore, if anyone knows who he is).
Didn’t get to play any golf this weekend, but do have a bit of personal news to share with the gang…
Congrats man! That is awesome.
Peak in terms of original green size especially but also to see what the course looked like with younger/less trees.
That’s ridiculous.
Elks, Ravi, Schaumburg all deserving.
Real question is, why tf is “under $150” peak rate such a big deal? $150 is a lot, even for peak.
$50-$75 should be the max if you are looking for “value” courses. How the hell is Harborside consider a “value” lmao ya right idiot. If someone was like “yah this course is nice and cheap” and then I pay $150 im never speaking to that moron again.
Oh yeah just saw its dumb golf dot com’s list.
Hear! Hear!
Totally agree, Harborisde definitely does not spring to mind when I think value course. And the only times I do play there are when I find a deal for >$60. $75-100 should be absolute max, imo.
Anyone else have next Monday off of work (Indigenous People’s Day) want to try and get out somewhere for 18?
Love what they’ve done with the Ravisloe clubhouse.
Congrats on your bandon trip
I’m playing in the 9:40am at Mt. Prospect that day. Just checked online now and there’s still a spot left.
