Highland Park, Joliet, IL

[El Mexicano]

Gracias hombre, se le agradece!

[Mukey]

Just re-ordered the pics so they're correct, I was looking for one for my backround at work and noticed I kinda screwed the pooch there. Sorry to anyone who has looked at them already

[El Mexicano]

I think the series on hole 13 was wrong or missing. The course looks demanding. I hope to get out there some day.

[deucemeister]

For those who have not played here yet., it is well worth the drive.  Bring your A game, some extra beer (in case you see me there) and a few advils for afterwards. Expect big crowds weekday early evenings and weekends, so best opportunities are during the weekday or early on weekends.  It will be slow play when crowded due to all the disc searching and with more falling leaves this will multiply; it even took 3.5 hours to play the doubles event Sat. and with little waiting too.  Dont even think abou playing the pro tees unless you are an advanced or higher level player

[kcunning]

Played the course for the first time this morning and as people have said it is a great.  Nearly every pin is tucked and nearly every hole provides a unique challenge.  I liked hole 15 a lot because if you hit a tree on the way across you will likely end up at the bottom of the hill like I did with a nearly impossible upshot straight up the hill to make a par.  Very few "easy" deuces to be had out there.  Lots of fighting to save pars and bogeys. Unfortunately was unable to play holes 10 and 16 due to three utility trucks parked across the fairways.  Is that dirt area going to be landscaped eventually?  Didn't really look at the pro tees too much.  The whites were hard enough for someone of my level (860-870ish rated).  Things to make it a truly great course:  Finished tee pads concrete, rubber or the packed dirt for each skill level, garbage cans (the course is already starting to look like Shorewood) and some benches by the tees, oh and practice basket in the middle of that loop drive by the parking lot.  Not saying that it's not a great course now obviously a lot of hard work has gone into it, but in time I think it will be the premier course in the area.  Thanks to everyone who put this thing together.

[Mukey]

Unfortunately was unable to play holes 10 and 16 due to three utility trucks parked across the fairways.  Is that dirt area going to be landscaped eventually?

Those are just additional course obstacles! Mirth & I had one of the PD trucks pull in front of the pin (10 or 11, 2nd to last field hole) at Waukegan last year LITERALLY as we got onto the tee. We had a good laugh and just played around them.

As far as that dirt area, it was a nice rolling hill (I'm told) but someone from the PD graded it, reason unknown. Hopefully it gets seeded in the spring

[deucemeister]

    Yup, the dirt mound was not there last time I played League; it WAS a great hole too; 405 ft and just missed an ace from the pro box.Am sure grass will grow for next season, but not sure why it was done in the first place.
     Other things like teeboxes, garbage cans, etc will be next season projects at this point; get out and ply it while it is still young and full of vegetation; I recall how West Park, Shorewood and New Lenox were when they were brand new and now they are strpped clean in comparison, mostly from idiot dirtbags tearing down limbs just to improve thier one shot.

[kcunning]

Those are just additional course obstacles! Mirth & I had one of the PD trucks pull in front of the pin (10 or 11, 2nd to last field hole) at Waukegan last year LITERALLY as we got onto the tee. We had a good laugh and just played around them.

Thought about that but there were like 6 guys walking around and considering my accuracy I really didn't want to whack one!

[duain]

Those are just additional course obstacles! Mirth & I had one of the PD trucks pull in front of the pin (10 or 11, 2nd to last field hole) at Waukegan last year LITERALLY as we got onto the tee. We had a good laugh and just played around them.

Thought about that but there were like 6 guys walking around and considering my accuracy I really didn't want to whack one!

i shot at anna page park this past tuesday and on hole 7on the east course i shot my drive when all of a sudden a PD truck came up the fairway and my disc hit their truck head on. they just laughed and kept on driving. luckly they weren't a**holes and made a big deal out of it. you gotta figure they have to know discs will be flying around them when they drive or park on the fairway.

[CEValkyrie]

I listed this as #3 on my top courses in Illinois. I am very impressed. There is tons of potential. Tee pad and basket updgrades would take it to another level.

The Blue tees are as challenging as any set of tees in the state. If you add #4, #12, $ #16 Blue tees to the tournament play this weekend you probably see 2 to 3 scores under 54.

[deucemeister]

 I hope they put in similar tees that Frank Grimes put in at Channahon; those were a lot of work to do with the traction grooves, and are the best I have seen anywhere.   I do not like the fly 18 rubber ones at all, and have wiped out (badly) on those at Mokena before; all it takes is some dust and dirt and those rubber pieces of crap become truly hazardous on a run up tee shot.
  There is nothing wrong with the baskets at Highland at all other than the Headrick nubs; After the new galvanizing wears some, they will again feature that distinctive chain - ring that none of the new baskets on the market have anymore. I would rather play those than Innova's any day of the week.

[CEValkyrie]

After looking at the Blue tees i'd estimate par at
1-3
2-3
3-3
4-5*
5-3
6-3
7-4
8-3
9-4
Front -31
10-3
11-4
12-4
13-3
14-3
15-4
16-3
17-4
18-3
Back-31
Total Par-62

[kasejason]

I played this course for the first time today, and I was quite impressed! The foliage is excellent, and each hole seems to exhibit a unique color from the aging leaves. While the course is rather difficult, I had a ton of fun navigating the elevation changes, which are plentiful. As others have already pointed out, most of the pins are well protected by trees, and what might otherwise be birdie attempts can turn into bogeys in a hurry. Also, the shule can be somewhat troublesome at times and the leaves don't exactly help the cause.

I think my favorite hole right now is number 12, which requires a downhill shot into a relatively open pin. That hole is also forgiving if you miss to the left or right, as the hills slope steeply on either side and stop errant discs from flying too far. On the other end of things, hole 4 really kicked my butt today. In both of my rounds, I ended up in the shule to the right and spent a good amount of time searching for the disc. I could tell from the beaten-down vegetation that I'm not the only one to have suffered that fate. Unfortunately, the basket on hole 16 has been removed due to the mud field of death. It's a shame, too, as it sounds like it was a pretty good hole.  On one more note, the old park benches that encircle the pin on hole 13 are really groovy. Does anyone know if these are meant to be permanent? I certainly hope so!

All in all, the course felt like a mix between The Oaks and West Park, which makes some sense, as it is located geographically betwixt the two. I'm interested to see how the course changes after a heavy rainfall. Most of the holes should remain unaffected, but I could see some issues with the low-lying areas (but that's pretty much the case with any course). Kudos to the people that made the course possible; it looks and plays great!

[CEValkyrie]

Here is a link to some more pictures on another thread.
http://foxvalleymetrodiscgolfclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=671.msg4579;topicseen#msg4579

[dana]

1-3
2-3
3-3
4-5*
5-3
6-3
7-4
8-3
9-4
Front -31
10-3
11-4
12-4
13-3
14-3
15-4
16-3
17-4
18-3
Back-31
Total Par-62

(Blues) I would call #4 a par 4 and #7 as a par 3. 

After arguing with Tom M. about it yesterday, we think that #4 is definitely a 4.   

I'm interested why you would like to call #7 a par 4.  I know that when holes are in between pars, you should generally go with the higher number.

(Blues) Without any 2's all round yesterday I shot a 29 on the front and a 31 on the back for a 60 (par). 
(Currently #16 is pulled, so I'm just assuming the 3 on it)

[CEValkyrie]

1-3
2-3
3-3
4-5*
5-3
6-3
7-4
8-3
9-4
Front -31
10-3
11-4
12-4
13-3
14-3
15-4
16-3
17-4
18-3
Back-31
Total Par-62

(Blues) I would call #4 a par 4 and #7 as a par 3. 

After arguing with Tom M. about it yesterday, we think that #4 is definitely a 4.   

I'm interested why you would like to call #7 a par 4.  I know that when holes are in between pars, you should generally go with the higher number.

(Blues) Without any 2's all round yesterday I shot a 29 on the front and a 31 on the back for a 60 (par). 
(Currently #16 is pulled, so I'm just assuming the 3 on it)

I would like to get the #'s from the JProChamps.

From the White tee on #4 taking a 3 was very good. I'd like to see the scoring breakdown from the tournament. Adding another 125ft from the Blue Tee i'd feel great taking a 4 would be pretty good. A 3 would be pretty awesome. I put an * by the 5 because it's one of those that are very tough to determine until you get some tournament rounds played.

I think you have to put #7 as a par 4. The majority of the disc golfers will not take a 2. If you host a worlds there i'd put it at a par 3. It's one of the few holes i'd change out there. I'd move it closer or back farther. I'd like to see the # breakdowns on that hole.

[roman]

I came within putting range on #7 from the longs but missed my putt. A deuce is definitely there, and for those that don't have the biggest arm a 3 should definitely be doable.

[CEValkyrie]

I came within putting range on #7 from the longs but missed my putt. A deuce is definitely there, and for those that don't have the biggest arm a 3 should definitely be doable.

It should be a hole that most adv/pro take a 3. I would like to see the score cards from the JProChamps. I'm just guessing but I bet there were Zero 2's on that hole with 66 cracks at it. Maybe someone 2'd it but no one was close on my cards or when I was watching others play it. It's definitely on one of those tweener holes. Very very tough 2.

[CEValkyrie]

Here is another thing i'd add if I were running tournaments at HP. On holes 9 & 17 if on the road is ob, across should be ob as well. I saw some shots that barely went on the road penalized while far worse shots went across and were not.

[Chainmeister]

Damon and I made it down to  this course yesterday. I agree with the prior posts that this is a very good course that has a potential to be a great course. I played from the whites and it was plenty tough.  The mixture of holes is very good with a variety of wooded holes that have a lot of elevation changes. At times it felt like I was in Philly playing Sedgley Woods. This was  especially true when I played 12 with the big down hill.  I parked it one time and had a 15 foot putt bounce right out after hitting the center post. This leads to my only mild complaint.  The DGA baskets are not great.  I had 4 bounce outs on solid putts.  

The tee pads are very good considering they are dirt.  11 is the exception. It was hard to find decent footing on 11's tee. It is easy to see that concretes are in the future plans. A little concrete and landscaping (and better baskets one day) will make this a great course. It is clear that a ton of work has already been done on this course.  A lot of stairs were put in and number of bridges and tee pad areas have been developed.  I can see why they delayed opening the course. It would have been virtually unplayable without these improvements.  It was a gorgeous dry Fall day yesterday. I might be nervous about playing this course in wet weather. I could see it getting very slippery. This time of year is great to  play a course like this however, you need to have a partner.  There are lots of leaves on the forest floor and discs slide right under the leaves making it tough to find a disc that is really right in the middle of the fairway.

I cannot wait to get back and play Highland Park again. Anybody who wants to play Brown Deer later this month but cannot get up to Milwaukee will be well served by playing a few rounds at Highland Park.