New Course in Summit?

[Mukey]

I played with Ben Morin the 2nd round @ Rockford who said there was a new 18 hole course in this area. I looked online today & couldn't find anything about it.

Anyone hear anything about this?

[Dan Michler]

its near Archer Ave. and 55 in Summit, which is like 10 miles west of downtown chicago.  i believe the guys said it is right off of Archer.

we were told about it by some dudes at oak brook, they made it sound like it was still under construction and was very rough right now and in some heavy woods.  i guess it is 18 holes.

[SIUFrolf]

It is right across the street from the Mack Truck Company Lot and it is very rough.  Last time I was there it looked like they had taken a Mr. Weed (or whatever it's called) and just blazed a path to the hole.  The shule is extremely rough and the fairways are about 5-10 feet wide with little trees dead center.  I can see it being very nice once some tee pads are put in and maybe some of the shule is thinned out and a clear path is made.  I think their idea is to make it like a woodsy Oak Brook which would be pretty sweet.

[Mukey]

Sweet! Might have to check it out this weekend. New 18 NOT over 1 hour away from me, no brainer!

LOL! Check the address of Chicago Mack:

CHICAGO MACK
7900 BULLDOG DR
Summit Argo, Illinois, 60501-1436

[stpitner]

there's room for a woodsy course over there?  I guess there has to be if someone has been there to see it.  I've only been to that area twice because I had to pick up and drop someone off at the Summit train station at the north side of the intersection for 55th & Archer.  It just felt like it was so packed in with suburbia with I-55 running right through there and the train and all the industrial stuff etc etc that there wouldn't be room for an 18-hole wooded course.

Would be neat to check out though!

[jack]

I braved the heat and hacked my way through this course on Sunday. First things first, this course isn't for everyone. If you like things that are so stupidly bad that you just have to laugh (think Snakes on a Plane bad); if you want to break in some overstable discs; or if you want to experience the joys of poison ivy, stinging nettles, and Lyme disease all in one day, this course might be for you.

Getting down to business, you'll want to grab a scorecard and map at the message board near the first tee. I passed the skeletal remains of a foursome who embarked on their maiden voyage through the course without a map. It's easy to get lost! There are in fact 18 baskets; however, there are only three honest-to-goodness faiways. You can throw over the tops of the trees on several of the holes, but throw brighty colored discs if you go that route: Trust me, when it happens, you'll know. More than half of the holes are blind, and even when the basket is only 215 feet away, you'll need to make your frsibee defy physics not once, but twice, on your way to getting a par. If you actually make it to hole 13 without saying "Eff this, I'm outta here!" don't throw to the basket you can see across the mud field. That's hole 14. Hole 13 is a blind hyzer shot (just in case you hadn't had enough blind hyzers after holes 3, 6, 7, 8, and 12 and you can't wait until holes 15 and 16 for some more) . Hole 14 is...well, you'll see when you get there. After I holed out on 18, picked off the ticks that had attached themself to my person, washed the poison ivy from my skin, and stopped the bleeding from any number of lacerations, I got around to totaling the scorecard. I was actually somewhat satisified with my round of 52.

If I run into the Mike and Cathy Kamm, I'll try to get some info regarding improvements to the course (like the addition of tee signs, tee pads, and/or fairways). In the meantime, I'd be glad to show people around the course because after all, it's still frisbee golf, no matter how many trees you hit.

[Mukey]

That seems kinda discouraging, but I'll still check it out.

[Mukey]

I went out there last night to check it out. Mr. Retard is completely right. Most of the holes have so many little trees that there isn't a path to get to the hole. They did actually have tee signs, but grabbing a map was needed. I'm not sure what I scored, but Mr. Retard's 52 is darn good.

[jack]

Dang, I'd have gone over after work if I knew you were playing last night! It would have been more fun than playing the safari course I've set up at O' Brien Park. The more I think about the Summit course, the more I think I like it. It's not a course I'd want to play every day, but the challenges it presents are different from those presented by any other course.

Even better, I've got a great idea to get some fairways cut! All we need to do is ask Brad "Chainsaw" Hammock to play this couse and make sure that he can get back into the park after dark. Heh...heh...heh..."TIMBER!!!" 

[stpitner]

I bumped into the guy that helped install the course tonight after my friend and I finished our round at Westchester.  He was telling people about the new Summit course and handing out some maps.  I asked him about the tees and they plan on installing rubberized tees just like at Oak Brook.  It's the same guy that installed the Oak Brook course.  I didn't catch his name though, anybody know what it is?

He was wearing the t-shirt for... oh, is it the midwest disc golf club?  I can't remember the name of it.  I'm sure many of you here are familiar with it.

(aside) And d'oh, I didn't have my bag tag on my bag... I need to do that. (/aside)

[CEValkyrie]

I really hope they look at clearing out some fairways. I've been waiting for a tough course but this is ridiculously stupid. I love placement golf but on a course that has 2 holes over 300ft is just plain dumb. I don't think there will be 1 disc golfer that will enjoy this course. Recrational & first time players are going to hate this coruse. They will have absolutely no chance to advance a disc down a the fairways. I shouldn't even use the word  fairway for this course because there are none. I threw pretty good today for the most part and took 4 birdies along with a bunch of bogies & double bogies.  I threw some perfect drives that had absolutely no chance of getting to the baskets. On a few holes where there was no fairway at all whatsoever I tried flick rollers. Nothing like playing in rough all day.

[Dan Michler]

almost all the holes are under 300 feet, but i feel really good about shooting a 57.  that will show how tight the holes are.  12 and 14 are the 2 gayest holes in illinois.  there is nothing to aim at.  i just threw forehand rollers and prayed that they went 75 feet.

[Jon Brakel]

Hearing the description of this course I'm curious if I would even fit down the "fairways" or if I'd get stuck like Winnie the Pooh in Rabbit's hole. 

[stpitner]

the guy designing the course (that also designed Oak Brook) told my co-worker last week that the course, "is like Oak Brook, only worse"  So I don't know if they have a lot of intentions to clear a lot of that stuff out.  One of my other co-workers already lost a DX Beast there, so that's kind of depressing.  They only played 12 of the 18 due to limited amount of time to play.

Hopefully they find that right balance between wide open holes and just too much.

[CEValkyrie]

I like Oak Brook. Dan & I stopped by there and played 36 holes after Summit. Oak Brook is a tough course but you  have some options and can be creative. Every hole has an opportunity to make a good shot and get a birdie besides hole #6 unless someone just makes a spectacular drive or fairway ace. It's a good hole and a placement shot can reward you with a tough 3. The only holes we did not birdie today was 6 & 8. I had a jump putt that banged off the bin on 8.

There is no wide open at Summit.  It's very repetitive and many of the holes you have 0 chance of hitting a gap. Some of the angles are just crazy. Hole 6 is a perfect example or the snake hole that I believe is #7.  Shooting par out there is 1000 rated golf. I will not go back to this course it's so whacky.

[jack]

Two jagbags got away with my D Crush at Oak Brook yesterday (nothing like stealing someone's ONLY roller disc and then driving off in your Chevy Blazer while drinking a beer, huh?). Anyway, until I get a chance to break in a new D Crush by chucking it into the quarterpanels of the aforementioned Blazer, I'm going to have to finish breaking in my X Avenger and hope for the best.

Since playing Summit is a great way to break in new plastic, I'll be playing there this weekend. If anyone else wants to break in roller/anhyzer discs, bring your Star Monsters and meet me at 10:00 on Sunday.

[tacimala]

Man I can't believe all the negative comments about this course. I went there yesterday for the first time and had a blast. It was a nice break from throwing 280-360 foot hyzers all the time. I can definitely see it being way harder with leaves on the trees, but the more people play it, the more the small shule will be knocked down. I met up with Mike and Kathy out there while we were playing and they are looking for help getting things worked on. Yea the fairways are tight, but it's far better to start with tighter fairways and widen them than to make them too wide and then not be left with an option. Just because you can't shoot par there doesn't mean it's a bad course!

I laughed at the comment about accidentally throwing at 14's basket from 13's tee though because I did that exact thing.

I am just excited there is a hard course that is in close proximity to downtown.

[jack]

Man I can't believe all the negative comments about this course.

I think most of the complaints stem from the fact that most disc golfers are like the dad in the TV commercial who keeps beating his daughter at ping pong: They like it when things are really easy.

That being said, I'm planning to get out there a few times next week to work on some of the fairways.

[tacimala]

Guess that answers my question in our PM just now as to which course to play on Tuesday!

[CEValkyrie]

Man I can't believe all the negative comments about this course.

I think most of the complaints stem from the fact that most disc golfers are like the dad in the TV commercial who keeps beating his daughter at ping pong: They like it when things are really easy.

I disagree with that statement. There are a ton of disc golfers in the Chicagoland area that are waiting for a challenging, fun, & well designed course. Take Mokena for example. It's an ok 27 hole course. Make it tough 18 hole course with some par 4's & 5's, add short tees and you have a respectable course.

If you invited the top players from the world to play Summit they would laugh at it.