Golfer Newbies

Archive for the ‘Courses’ Category

So, today it's 24 degrees out with a chance of snow, but I discovered a golf dome! This dome, located at the White Pines Golf Course in Bensenville, IL is a great place to go practice in the winter. It has a terrific driving range, with about 30 sites for the driving range, as well as a very nice putting practice green. It is nicely equipped with a lounge, food and beverages, restrooms, etc., and the staff are very friendly and helpful. So now, no matter what the weather, I can go out and get my golf "fix." It's not the same as playing on a course, but it sure beats sitting at home and thinking about golf. Maybe there's a golf dome near you as well.

Lately I've been feeling frustrated about not being able to get out and play golf in the winter here in Chicago and antsy to go somewhere I could play. Then I got the brilliant idea to see if there were any places I could play around here in the winter. I found the following list – this made me happy because Fresh Meadows is where I go to the driving range, and I got a gift certificate to play there for Christmas. So, as soon as it gets above 32 I'm going out! I'll let you know how it goes. You might consider researching your area — I just googled "winter golf in chicago."

Winter Golf Around Chicago

Cog Hill Country Club
12294 Archer Avenue
Lemont, Illinois
630-257-5872

Winter green fee: Weekdays – $32, Weekends – $37
Loacation: 30-minutes from Midway Airport, 45-minutes from O'Hare Airport

Fresh Meadow Golf Course
Wolf and Cermak Roads
Hillside, Illinois
708-449-3434

Winter green fee: Weekday – $30, Weekends – $32
Location: 25-minutes from O'Hare Airport, 40-minutes from Midway Airport

Country Lakes Golf Club
1601 Fairway Drive
Naperville, Illinois
630-420-1060

Winter green fee: Weekdays/Weekends – $10
Location: 40-minutes from O'Hare Airport, 50-minutes from Midway Airport

Green Garden Country Club
Manhattan-Monee Road
Frankfort, Illinois
815-469-3350

Winter green fee: Weekday – $14, Weekends – $22
Location: 60-minutes from O'Hare Airport, 45-minutes from Midway Airport

Well, from a golf standpoint, being back in Chicago after 2 weeks in California doesn’t have too many advantages, but today I did get to participate in the “Great Eskimo Shoot Out” at the Fresh Meadows Practice Center. The deal was, if you bought one small bucket of balls (50 balls) you got another one free. There was a large plastic tub out on the range at about 75 yards. At the end of your practice, you got five extra balls. The golf pro watched, and if you got any in the bucket you got a prize – there were prizes for 1, 2, 3, 4 and all 5 balls getting in. I didn’t get any in, either during my practice or with my last five balls, but I did manage to hit the bucket 4 times from rolling balls. Overall, I was very pleased with how generally straight my shots were, and the pro even commented on that. And, it was great fun playing in the winter. Snow on the ground, light flurries coming down, lots of people having fun trying to hit the bucket. If you live in a cold climate, you might see if your driving range has something like this you can participate in.

As you get started playing golf, you might find it intimidating to get out on  the course for the first time. I know I felt very intimidated. It helped a lot that my brother and sister-in-law took me the first time, and I went with my sister-in-law and her mother and sister the second time. Now, however, I am back home in Chicago and am facing the prospect of either going to a course by myself, or finding someone I don’t know very well to play with. My friends here don’t seem too interested in playing golf.

My brother has recommended that I start with public 9-hole courses, and I have started a list of those to try. To help you out in this regard, I am also creating a page on this site of public 9-hole courses that would be good for beginners. If you have any recommendations in this area, please submit them via the comments and I will add them to the page.

Meanwhile, I found a very helpful book that has reduced some of the anxiety about going out to the course on my own. I have a link to it below – it is really a great book for beginners – short, easy to read, and full of great information for the newbie.

See larger image Feeling Naked on the First Tee: An Essential Guide for New Women Golfers (Paperback) By (author) Ann Kelly List Price: $12.95 USD New From: $5.46 In Stock Used from: $0.38 In Stock

In golf, par is defined as the standard number of strokes a “scratch” (0 handicap golfer) should be able to achieve for each hole on a golf course, or for the entire course; “a par-5 hole”; “par for this course is 72.”  There are a couple of things you might want to know about par.

1. First, notice that the definition is based on a scratch golfer. Most likely, if you are reading a Golf for Newbies site, you are not a scratch golfer. You likely have a handicap score. This handicap is calculated as the as the average score over par for several games. So, for instance, if you on average score 20 points over par, then your handicap is 20. In competitive golf this handicap is set by a governing organization. So, in essence, on a par 29 course with a 20 point handicap your personal “par” would be 49.
2. Originally, par was not a fixed number. It would be adjusted for a particular course based on weather, fairway conditions, etc. Now, however, it is a fixed number and is based on the yardage for the hole. A hole’s par includes 2 putts, so a par 3 hole assumes you can get to the green from the tee and then have 2 putts. A par 4 includes the tee shot, a fairway shot, and 2 putts. A par 5 includes the tee shot, two fairway shots, and 2 putts. The yardage ranges these pars are calculated on are shown below.

The current settings for men are:

• Par 3 – Up to 250 yards
• Par 4 – 251 to 470 yards
• Par 5 – 471 yards to 690 yards
• Par 6 – 691 yards or more

The current settings for women are:

• Par 3 – Up to 210 yards
• Par 4 – 211 to 400 yards
• Par 5 – 401 to 575 yards
• Par 6 – 575 yards or more