tawalsh3

I played Chevy Chase dozens of times in the past (2006-2013) but hadn’t been in a while. Course remains a solid design. Pretty compact but large mature trees line each hole making it feel tighter that it actually is. Given the compactness of the layout, it is a surprisingly interesting course. However, the greens are in rough shape which I don’t remember from years past. Lots of bentgrass / poa mix. Patches of no grass at all. Very bumpy. Hopefully this is just an early season issue but I suspect not.

Price was $42 walking on a Sunday morning which I found very affordable and about right.

Pace of play was very good. All groups moved along and I finished well under 4 hours.

Clubhouse and bar are terrific. Newly updated.

Lawsonia Links is truly one of the great golf courses in the United States. It was designed in 1930 by the legendary architectural pairing of William Langford and Theodore Moreau. Langford and Moreau believed in "maximalism" -- in other words, this is a BIG golf course. Fairways are wide, greens are roller coasters, bunkers are 10-15 feet deep, cross bunkers in fairways, blind tee shots, knee high fescue rough, big ups and downs. Very few trees. The seventh green (par 3) has such a steep bank that Langford and Moreau needed to bury a railcar underneath to support it (the scariest 8 iron you'll ever hit on a hole without water...don't go right!). Even though its under 7,000 yards, this is a course for big, strong, power players. Slow swing speed players might never get their ball out of the greenside bunkers! Or reach some of the par 3's (for example, #4 is 200+ yards straight uphill; #10 is 240 yards!).

With that said, the course is tough but fair. Conditioning, especially the greens, was at private course level. Near perfection. If you missed a putt... your fault, not the green.

They allow walking, but its not an easy walk. No shade and some steep hills to climb.

Some negatives... clubhouse isn't much to speak of, but totally adequate. Driving range balls were surprisingly old and in bad shape (lots of cracked balls in my bucket).

And here's the best part... the cost. I paid <$70 walking for a world class golf course in mid-summer. They could definitely get $150 out of me and it would still be worth it.

The Club at Lac Labelle recently reopened after a massive renovation. While I did not play the original course, my understanding is that the renovation was so extensive that you might really consider it a entirely new golf course. The design is spectacular - winding fairways, deep bunkers, wildly undulating greens... truly fantastic architecture! However, the course conditioning is not up to par. The is not unexpected given its newness, but in truth, they probably should have waited until 2021 to open (the first four holes are especially rough). I know that's probably not feasible financially, but buyer beware. If the course' ownership invests in maintenance in the coming years then The Club at Lac Labelle will rival Erin Hills as the best course in the area. But as of July 2020, this course is not ready for prime time.

Pine Meadow is a terrific course and you'll enjoy it immensely if you know exactly what to expect. This is not a high end resort course. Its all about golf -- no frills. The clubhouse is small and old, restaurant is hot dogs and beer, carts are old without GPS, cart paths are bumpy... you get the picture. But the course itself is fantastic. There are no houses anywhere near the course. Tall trees line every hole, but there is still plenty of width/forgiveness. There is a surprising amount of elevation change for a course in this area (specifically, holes 13-16). The best hole is probably the 14th -- a par four elevated tee with water all down the right. Its a make or break tee shot. Find land and you've got a short iron and a birdie chance. Otherwise, double or worse.

As for conditioning... The fairways and tees are like carpet. Greens are a mix of poa annua and bentgrass (likely a poa infestation of the originally pure bentgrass greens). Greens are fantastic early in the morning but get bumpy late in the day. They stimp the greens regularly at 11-12 (meaing - FAST!). You should expect heavy wet sand in the bunkers (drainage is lacking). Overall, I believe the superintendent does a great job with what feels like limited resources.

Driving range is huge. Multiple putting greens, practice bunkers and chipping greens. Great place to practice.

Staff is friendly and pleasant, but don't expect anyone to bend over backwards to kiss your backside. This is not an uppity country club!

They take pace of play seriously. If you're slow, the ranger is going to force you to move faster (which I appreciate but clueless slow players sometimes find it abrasive/rude).

Pine Meadow is definitely a diamond in the rough. Its my understanding that the Catholic Church owns the land and leases it to Jemsek Golf. The rumor is that the Church only agrees to short term leases which makes Jemsek reluctant to make a long tern investment in the course. Its a shame -- Pine Meadow has the potential to be a Golf Digest Top 100 Public Course with a well thought-out renovation (in fact, it was the #1 new public course as per Golf Digest when it opened in 1986).Regardless, its still pretty darn good and worth a visit.

Recently renovated to replicate the Seth Raynor and CB McDonald golden age design. Each hole is reminiscent of a template hole (ex: Cape, Biarritz, Punchbowl, Road, etc). While Chicagoland has a couple similar courses (ex: Chicago GC, Shoreacres), there are very few public golf courses built in this style. Mount Prospect is unique in this regard. If you are bothered by quirky design and wild greens... you won't like Mount Prospect. If you're interested in classic golf course architecture, you'll have fun at Mount Prospect.

Deerpath is a decent design but the conditioning was not up to par. Several fairways are burnt out with little to no grass. Greens are very small and quite slow. Driving range was poor -- not a lot of grass and the balls are old/worn out. On the positive side, the clubhouse is very nice with a great bar and patio. Its short (6200 yards, par 70) but plays more difficult than you'd think. Some huge beautiful old oak trees. Staff was friendly and welcoming.

Most holes are wide open with large bunkers and deep fescue. There are a few holes 'in the woods' to make it interesting. Greens were in nice shape, not super fast but true and playable. This is an excellent course all around.

The design of the course is very good. Large mature trees. Interesting doglegs. Good and fair use of water hazards. It is much more challenging than what the scorecard says (116 slope and 68 rating). With that said, the greens are slow, soft and spongy leading to ballmarks the size of the Grand Canyon. Fairways were not cut when I played and the rough was very long. Bunkers had good sand but the edges were sloppy and undefined. With all that said... I only paid $23 to play 18 holes on a weekday morning.

Played Ridge/pines combo. It is a very cool design; intentionally sandy and scruffy. Greens were in good shape not lightning fast but true and playable. Walking not allowed in the mornings which was disappointing.

I really liked the design and layout of the course – very cool/unique for Florida. The greens and fairways were in perfect condition, but any non-waste bunker area adjacent to the fairways were nearly bare hardpan (i.e., what would normally be first cut of rough). I think this is part of the intended look/feel of the course, but be aware that you’ll get some wicked lies for only moderately offline drives. Clubhouse and dining facilities are limited, but this is a golf COURSE not a golf RESORT. Additionally, I booked the first tee time in the morning as a single and was hoping to fly around in <3 hours. The starter, however, asked me to delay my start and paired with the threesome immediately behind me. This was disappointing especially considering that my round ended up close to 5 hours. My group backed up the whole course and we were first off! We could have used some ranger help to encourage my playing partners to speed up.

I really like the layout of Pine Meadow. Its challenging yet fair. Greens are POA Annua, so they grow fast and get bumpy in the afternoon. If you play early in the morning, they are smooth as glass. Not a maintenance issue, its a grass type issue. My only feedback for the course would be that they need to do a better job of scattering or picking up grass clippings especially in the rough.

The redesign is very good. Bunkers well placed, strategic and challenging yet fair. Lots of mature trees lining most fairways. Deceptively challenging for a course only 6,100 yards. The course obviously gets a lot of play from newbies who don't understand the importance of fixing ball marks on greens. Several tee boxes were chewed up and the greens staff filled the divots with black mulch versus the green sand mix provided in each cart. Perhaps there is a reason for it but I found it annoying to remove wood chips. Clubhouse is very nice. Great patio, restaurant and bar. Food was very good.

This course requires that you both pay for and use a cart. First time I've ever heard a course tell you that you either ride or take a hike. Seems like most players are older and cannot handle walking the hills. This also resulted in a very slow front 9 (2.5 hours) until the older groups quit after nine holes.

Greens and tees are in good shape. However, fairways are indistinguishable from the rough. Lots of dead trees that need to be removed. Flower beds need gardening; shrubs need trimming. Focus seems to be on maintaining tees and greens to the detriment of the rest of the course which was maintained sloppily.

Course is very quirky with blind tee shorts and blind approaches to greens. The back nine has a hole with a massive tree blocking the green. Going over is impossible. A creek makes punching under treacherous. Massive bunkers surround the green. There's practically no room to be in the fairway and avoid the tree. The hole is borderline unfair.