going on vacation need help from anyone in the Chicago area!!!

[nicknichter716]

I'm going to Chicago for over a week and of course I'll want to check out different courses.
I'll want to play about 5 courses. So, give me all of your top 5 places. Thanks.

 

[jnskender]

The Oaks
Lemon Lakes
Highland Park
West Park
Katherine Legge Memorial Park

I live in the South Loop and these are the top 5 I play in a 45 minute radius.
Lemon Lakes is a must, you can spend the whole day their and play multiple courses/rounds. Also they have an extremely well stocked pro shop.

 

[krupicka]

If you want to hit a bunch of good course in a close area, go to the Joliet area:
Highland Park (Joliet) and Community Park (Channahon) should be the top two on your list in the Joliet area.
Lemon Lake Park in Cedar Lake, IN is pretty close to Chicago and has 4 courses (used for Pro Worlds next week), that would be worth going to.
If you are going to be in Chicago proper, you will have to drive out of the city to get to anything.

 

[jasonc]

If you are going to be in Chicago proper, you will have to drive out of the city to get to anything.

Here are 2 courses that are exceptions to that rule:

Edgebrook DGC...Disc Golf on a Ball Golf course. Pay to play, but you also have the option to rent a golf cart.

IIT DGC...short 9 hole course on a college campus. This course is not great by any means, but it is unique because you are playing in between buildings. During the summer months, there are not a ton of students that get in the way here.

 

[booradly]

highland
west park
oswego civic center
community park
trinity links
the oaks is an allright course if you like the same 3 shots over and over again

 

[nicknichter716]

Thanks for your help everyone. If anyone could possibly show me around the area I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[agibson]

As Krupicka suggests, you're not going to play much _in_ Chicago (one course at IIT? one of these days I'll try it). And, the Chicago area's a pretty big place. So, it might help to know where you're based, or hanging out, or want to hang out.

I'll agree with Krupicka that for disc golf alone, you could do a lot worse than the Joliet area (kind of the far SW suburbs). But, there's a lot of disc golf to be had within e.g. an hour of downtown.

If you're considering NW Indiana (and why not? not really much further than Joliet from downtown Chicago) I'll give a shout out to Rogers Lakewood in Valparaiso. (Particularly for those who e.g. might be at Lemon Lake to watch Pro Worlds, but also want to _play_ a little golf!)

In Joliet, I've heard great things about Highland Park and enjoyed playing West Park.

Eagle Ridge in Oswego was also high quality.

The Oaks, as has been said, is OK. Maybe not a destination course in quite the same way as e.g. Highland Park might be.

 

[nicknichter716]

I'll be hanging out in the Evanston area.

I looked at the map on this site and saw mostly 9 hole and 2 star courses around the area.

 

[Jax11]

I'd advise Joliet area. West Park, Highland Park, and Channahon make for a great day of disc golf.

If you only have time for two, go to Highland for sure, then it is a toss up between the other two.

Eagle Ridge Civic Center in Oswego is a great course too, but it doesn't have the same kind of quality surrounding courses as Highland Park does. So if you choose to go to Oswego plan to hang out there for the day, the longs are good there so you can definitely spend a day there.

 

[krupicka]

Welcome to the land of 9 holers...

If you are in Evanston then other than Edgebrook you are going to need to drive a bit. Going North, Bevier Park in Waukegan is looking better and better. Fairfield Park in Round Lake Beach is another good course up that direction, but it is going through a redesign and I'm not sure if it will be playable when you are in.

 

[agibson]

If you're thinking of spending a whole day, or days, playing disc golf then you should at least consider Lemon Lake (not so much further from Evanston than Joliet is). With four courses on site, and maybe still in Pro World's configuration (if you're not coming _during_ Worlds) you can certainly find a lot of worse places to spend the day playing disc golf.

It's hard to compete in NW Indiana with a whole day at Lemon. I'm not sure who I'd lump in with Rogers Lakewood in Valpo to complete the day. Purdue North Central? One could make an argument, and a nice change of pace from Rogers. Hawthorne? If you want a pitch and putt type course, perhaps (not that Purdue's much longer).

Do we have any north siders, or NW siders that hang out here? I've never gotten north of Oswego for a tournament. Does one have to go all the way up to e.g. Rockford to find a good DG scene?

 

[RPS2012]

Thanks for your help everyone. If anyone could possibly show me around the area I'd greatly appreciate it.

Id be down to show you eagle =) on sundays we have bag tags at 9 and you can hop onto anyones card and they will show you a good time =D

 

[Jukeshoe]

Highland
Trinity
West
Channy is a nice lil' cluster of four of the better courses in the area.

Other standouts: Eagle Ridge (Oswego), K. Legge, Grey Fox, Lemon Lake, Rogers Lakewood.

The last several are much more of a commitment from a travel standpoint, but are easily better than anything actually IN Chicago.

Interesting idea: you could experience TRUE Chicago-style golf, pick 9-11 crappy nine-holers, and work your way around some of the flattest, most boring park-style courses you'll ever see. It will truly give you a better perspective on some of the average stuff that usually gets knocked for not being exceptional.

 

[kevdiv48]

Lemon Lakes in NW Indiana can easily be a whole day.
West Park, Highland Park, and Community Park in the Joliet area can give you another day.
Being from the Fox Valley, the combo of Jericho Lake (one of the best beginner courses out there) and Eagle Ridge (great all around, challenging from the longs) in the Aurora/ Oswego area is worth a stop

 

[Countchunkula]

Interesting idea: you could experience TRUE Chicago-style golf, pick 9-11 crappy nine-holers, and work your way around some of the flattest, most boring park-style courses you'll ever see. It will truly give you a better perspective on some of the average stuff that usually gets knocked for not being exceptional.

I love this idea!:thmbup: There are a few prototypical Chicago area courses just north of Evanston in the Highland Park area. See what most local DGers have to play.

Grey Fox might be your best bet for quality golf. It is about the same distance from Evanston as the Joliet area, but you probably won't have to fight through city and suburban traffic the whole way.