Great opportunity
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So I think the play this season is to drop a course review for every round played.
First up? Prairie Isle (shoutout @baldvinny )
Hole 1 - Always tough opening with a par 5, but the tee shot and approach allow for both options of “I need a few holes to warm up” and “I’m filled up on coffee and McDonalds breakfast, let’s give it a rip.”
Hole 2 - Depending on the wind, doesn’t require driver off the tee. The tight cluster of trees is more mental trick than actual hazard, and the green is very inviting either by air or by ground.
Hole 3 - The first awkward fairway landing area of the round (don’t worry, there will be more). Some recent tree removal up the left side means still having a swing to approach the long uphill green. A sampler of what you’ll face on the back 9.
Hole 4 - Might be one of the best holes on course. Bite off as much as you want to create a shorter approach, but the fairway gets tight inbetween trees and mounds that can force players to have to lay up short of the pond. Slippery little back to front green as well.
Hole 5 - With the wind at your back, 5 is a very straight forward par 3. Into the wind? A different animal with two bunkers swallowing up any shot that’s even a little off line.
Hole 6 - What used to be a scary long par 4 has softened up with some tree removal up the left side, meaning you can aggressively cut the corner around the bunker without MUCH penalty. The approach always seems to play longer than advertised…
Hole 7 - Now go back the other direction. As long as you don’t block your tee shot right into the trees, this is a very straightforward 3 shot par 5. The green does get a little slippery back to front, but nothing here that screams “a big number”
Hole 8 - Such a fun par 3. Water everywhere, wind and a substantial downhill shot to try and calculate, just a blast of a golf shot to hit. Not to mention a pretty good view, too!
Hole 9 - Party’s over. Here come all the hard holes. Thread your tee shot through some LARGE trees and hope you come out the other side okay. Now rope a mid-long iron to a green with a deep bunker short right and collection area back left. Par here is solid. Take one and run.
Hole 10 - Unless you have full control over the disco stick, driver here is NOT the play. Wind at your back means a likely chance of reaching the green in 2, but you will need a butter cut to avoid pulling one into the marshland up the left side. The peninsula-ish green has no room to run a ball up, so if you’re going to try for it in 2, bring your Sunday best.
Hole 11 - Cattails and trees block most of your vision of the inner part of the dogleg left, and too far right starts to flirt with trouble both down the right side AND through the fairway. The green plays uphill into headwind, but you won’t feel it until you climb the slope to the putting surface. A back right pin means aiming for the middle of the green and taking 2 putts.
Hole 12 - One of the toughest par 4’s in the midwest. The fairway kicks everything either left or right down into a valley with trees and rough ready to cause frustration with the approach. Despite the headache of a tee shot, this green is one of the best on course (very Wisconsin-esque)
Hole 13 - The last test of the back stretch, as your tee shot needs to avoid the large valley to the right. Once you get off the tee, the approach is gently downhill to a very receptive green.
Hole 14 - Navigate a handful of bunkers and leave yourself a little flip-wedge to a fairly receptive green. A great chance to make up a few shots after the stretch of holes you just went through.
Hole 15 - Pending on pin location, this par 3 either screams birdie, or two putt par.
Wind tends to swirl as well so be sure to check before choosing a club.
Hole 16 - Leave the driver in the bag. Anything middle/right off the tee will not flirt with the pond through the fairway, or the grove of trees blocking the corner of the dog leg. A very receptive green that’s deeper than it looks.
Hole 17 - One last downhill par 3 to test your judgement of wind and elevation change. Long here is DEAD.
Hole 18 - A bizarre par 5 that squeezes it’s way through the final strip of land left of the course. Right is the easiest way to reach the par 5 in two, but you risk getting blocked out by trees or a variable lie in the rough. Otherwise, a big tee shot up the left side will leave a blind look over the corner to go for the green in 2. Cool green site nestled inbetween two large mounds with a hidden bunker short. Usually a fairly straightforward par to end your day.
Overall the conditions are solid, price is very reasonable, vibes are chill, and it’s worth a walk.
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FTFY
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They cut down a bunch of trees that made it 5280% better
No more “mutumbo tree” short right of the green 
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Greetings from the DMV. Wanted to drop in and let you know that I organize a charity tournament every May in the Chicago area to help raise money for the Sarcoma Foundation of America in memory of my friend who passed away a few years ago (the topic of a momentarily popular post on this here site).
This year it is going to be at Lost Marsh on May 17th with a 1pm shotgun start. I know that’s a bit of an odd course choice, but it was his favorite spot to practice and seemed like a fitting tribute.
He was part of the close knit corporate restructuring community in Chicago, and many of the firms he worked with will be sponsoring and playing in the event. His wife works in the digital marketing space and many of her clients and vendors will be coming out as well, if networking with either of those groups is a potential selling point.
A few of us will be flying into Chicago for the weekend and I’d love to meet some fellow Refugees out on the course. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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super cool thing you’re doing – i’m sure it’s a lot of work but keep at it!
i have a few friends in the debt restructuring space, will pass it along.
would love to play but i can’t be gone another saturday in may and remain married (which i would like to do)
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Two spots open at 8:10am on Friday AM with myself and @baldvinny at MP if anyone’s interested. Foursome is in my name, you pay at check in.
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17th at MP finally getting the scenery it deserves.
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Is this Chicago TGL announcement?
Streels, Fitz bros, Donald, Ghim, Hardy
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I’m sure this has been a topic before, but I’m a newbie here: the 18th hole at Stonewall Orchard is so stupid lol.
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Tip of the cap for a strong first post. You’re wrong, but I admire the courage.
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Lol please teach me how to play this hole. I don’t know how to hit this green on my approach shot whether I’m 160 or 100 yards out lol.
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As long as you’re down the left side of the fairway for your 2nd, and near the bottom of that hill, it’s a pretty straight forward wedge. Just can’t pull it 10 yards left.
If you’re 160 out, play to the front left of the green. Don’t fuck with flags middle or right coming in from the same side of the hole.
Sucks because it really just turns the hole into a ‘build your own par 3’. Shot value is all on the 2nd shot.
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We have a work league out there, and most of the guys just bail long-right, take their bogey and then sit on the patio to watch the carnage.
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The 17th at Sawgrass and the 16th at WM just got relegated
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very much well done.
i’ve always silently thought we should have made the flag at the center of the loop a rectangle than a square. sharing this maybe cause i’m feeling frisky this friday.
We’ll modify that for the Chicago TGL team they’re building the dome for.
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It’s a stupid fucking hole, but it wouldn’t be an Art Hills course without at least one stupid fucking hole.
First time my friend ever played it, he hit a great drive, hit a great layup to about a hundred yards or so, then pulled six iron, and for some reason was lining up way left. He was setting up to hit a shot to the 9th green. Probably because you don’t usually expect a blind third into a par 5 from a hundred yards out.
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