Quiet Coures in Chicagoland?

Hi,

Does anyone know any decent course's that are not overcrowded on Weekends? I live in the Northwest side of the city. I have only lived here a year, and unfortunately I missed alot of the season this year do to a back injury (chronic muscle strain from playing golf everyday )

Anyways, I haven't had too much success finding a course to play with my wife. Most courses are backed up with 60-70 year old hackers. I am looking for a nice course ($50-$75) that is not more than an hour drive from O'hare airport, where I can get a round finished in under 3 hours. Anyone know of any gems in the suburbs or up in Kenosha, WI, etc. that I should check out. Thanks.

Just ran across this thread....Bowes Creek in Elgin is excellent....I've played 36 there a few times and haven't had any issues with pace of play. Newer course, but great track and good test.

Played a few good munis in wilmette and other northern suburbs back in the day.  Have you made the pigrimage to cog hill yet?

Under 3 hours for a round on a weekend? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

I have to agree with the guy who scoffed at the idea of under 3 hour round in the chi burbs, 4 hours would be doing well in the area. northern chicago suburbs are some of the most affluent areas in the nation, LOTS of people and lots of golfers.  that being said Chicago also has some of the nicest courses in the nation and you could find a number of courses in that price range.  The Willmete Golf Club is a reasonable priced course that if you get there early you might be able to zip around, fun place to play golf.  I think that for pace of play the Wisc courses might be the ticket.

That's Cinder Ridge,about 5-10 minutes south of Wilmington,   Never been there on a weekend. I remember standing by their big sign, visible from the interstate, while my partner tried to get back on the fairway. Cars on I-55 saw us and blew their horns, He hit the sign. LOL.

I would look northwest toward Rockford (call Aldeen and ask them) and Elgin. Perhaps all the way on I-90 to Wisconsin too. You have to go far away from Chicago to even get a 4 hour round on weekends. We played a Chicago Forest Preserve course last Saturday and it was 5 hours.

By the way, being in that 60-70 year old hacker group, we  always play on weekdays. Too many 30-40 year old kids gumming up the courses on weekends, and we can''t afford to play 2-3X a week if it's going cost $50-$75.

On a trip to that area for the USC Notre Dame game I played Cog Hill, what a treat!! The Dubsdread #4 course which is home to the BMW Championship was closed for some remodeling so we played #2 which has hosted 2 US Amatuers!! The treelined or parkland type course really suits my minds eye and I had a great time. It seems there are many courses within an hour of Chicago but the 3 hour request on a weekend is going to be tough to find but good luck!!

Prairie Landings is my home course in West Chicago. Nice track with great practice area including two practice holes. Super staff. Closer to $90 on a weekend morning with cart (the layout makes for a very long walk). I'm not sure you will find any nice public course in Chicagoland that will get you around in 3 hours on a weekend. PL will take 4.25 - 4.5 hours on Saturday morning and I'm guessing it does not get faster as the day goes on. Now during the week you can find times when you can zip around. I often play in 2.0 - 2.5 hours if I'm willing to bounce around any groups I find in my way -- I will skip a hole and come back and play it later.

Under 3 hrs on the weekend is a bit of a stretch. Maybe if you went out late afternoon, you might be able to play in that time frame.

Depends on

Prairie Landing and nearby St Andrews are nice courses, but maybe a bit of a drive from the NW 'burbs. Depends how far North and West.

I love Cog Hill #2

Here's a few suggestions of the top of my head

Close to O'Hare

Arlington Lakes _ Arlington Heights

White Pines - Bensenville

Oak Meadows, Maple Meadows - Addison

Chevy Chase - Wheeling

Bowes Creek - Elgin

Foxford Hills - Cary

Here's a few links to get you started

http://interactive.chicagobusiness.com/golf-guide/

http://www.golfcourseonline.com/CourseGuide/default.asp

http://chicago.twoguyswhogolf.com/chicago_golf_courses.html

Discounted green fees -

http://greatgreenfees.com/

http://www.golfnow.com/chicago

PM me if you have questions.

Try Makray Memorial In Barrington. Was just re-done from 2002-2004 and is an outstanding track for pretty good value. I'm playing there Monday! Another great course is Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake. Has hosted some usga events I believe a few us open qualifiers. Countryside in Mundelein offers two 18 hole forest preserve courses that are a good value, though I doubt the round will go very fast on the weekend. Aberdeen is good in Rockford as someone already stated. I played there for state playoffs in high school. For a special trip head up to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. There are some fantastic courses up there. I am playing one for the first time in August and am very excited about that. Thunderhawk in Zion is supposed to be great for its value. There are so many courses to choose from, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Are you in the northwest suburbs or are you right in the city?