Fort Worth to Chicago and back

[cc0049]

My wife and I are going to be taking a road trip up to Chicago for a few days. We are going to go through Nashville, Kentucky, and Cincinatti to get 11 of those good courses along the way and then back down through St Louis and Tulsa on the way back home.
Here's the order of courses that we are planning on playing:

1. Seven Oaks in Nashville, TN
2. Cedar Hill Park in Nashville, TN
3. Lover's Lane in Bowling Green, KY
4. Kereiakes in Bowling Green, KY
5. Holler in the Hills in Brownsville, KY
6. Freeman Lake in Elizabethtown, KY
7. Charlie Vettiner in Louisville, KY
8. Lincoln Ridge in Indepenence, KY
9. Idlewild in Burlington, KY
10. Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati, OH
11. Lemon Lake County Park Silver in Crown Point, IN
12. Community Park in Channahon, IL
13. Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, MO
14. Blackhawk in Tulsa, OK

Any tips or suggestions? Possible changes we should make to the plan? Any great courses that we are missing along the way?

Thanks

 

[REDARMY]

i'd suggest sioux passage park or endicott park instead of jefferson barracks for your st. louis course, but both of those will probably take you off of your route.

 

[magictenor1]

you lucky dog!

 

[cc0049]

i'd suggest sioux passage park or endicott park instead of jefferson barracks for your st. louis course, but both of those will probably take you off of your route.

I'm not too worried about getting very far off the route. I think that Jefferson Barracks came up as the highest rated course in St. Louis with the parameters of fewer than 10 miles off course.

All 3 courses look pretty good to me from looking at the pictures.

Why Endicott or Sioux Passage over Jefferson Barracks?

 

[REDARMY]

I'm not too worried about getting very far off the route. I think that Jefferson Barracks came up as the highest rated course in St. Louis with the parameters of fewer than 10 miles off course.

All 3 courses look pretty good to me from looking at the pictures.

Why Endicott or Sioux Passage over Jefferson Barracks?

jb isn't in the nicest part of town for one...

sioux is beautiful and much longer than jb or endi (jb and endi are both basically all par 3's), and endicott is much easier to navigate than jb and has more parking available.

...and of the 3, sioux will have by far the least amount of traffic from other golfers since it's the 'toughest' (LOTS o' hills, especially on the back)

plus i'd rather you go to endicott or sioux so i can play course guide again

(provided your travel timing and my work schedule match up)

 

[cc0049]

Thanks for the tip! I think we will most likely switch and play Sioux Passage instead.

jb isn't in the nicest part of town for one...

sioux is beautiful and much longer than jb or endi (jb and endi are both basically all par 3's), and endicott is much easier to navigate than jb and has more parking available.

...and of the 3, sioux will have by far the least amount of traffic from other golfers since it's the 'toughest' (LOTS o' hills, especially on the back)

plus i'd rather you go to endicott or sioux so i can play course guide again

(provided your travel timing and my work schedule match up)

 

[cc0049]

Sioux is pretty far out of the way for us, so that may be a no go after all. Is JB a bad enough side of town that I should worry about taking my wife there?

 

[REDARMY]

Sioux is pretty far out of the way for us, so that may be a no go after all. Is JB a bad enough side of town that I should worry about taking my wife there?

no, you'll be fine, especially if you go late morning or early afternoon. at those times of day there'll be enough other traffic around that you won't have a problem at all.

i just wouldn't want to be caught there around sunset or later.

 

[mashnut]

When you're at Lemon Lake, I personally think Red and Blue are more fun than Silver, though all three are great courses (and White isn't awesome, but it's fun), and near there Rogers Lakewood Park in Valparaiso is another really nice course. In the Chicago area, Highland Park in Joliet is worth playing, and there are some other fun ones around there (especially West Park and The Oaks), and if you have some time, the Anna Page courses west of Chicago in Rockford are great too. In Bowling Green, I really like Hobson Grove, it's got elevation and some nice technical holes, I rank it 2nd after Kereiakes in the Bowling Green area personally. Great list, sounds like a fun trip!

 

[jongoff09]

When are you planning this? While you are on your way to Nashville, you could stop in Little Rock and play Burns Park if you have the time. I can show you around one of the courses if you want.

 

[Tree Magnet]

That's a great little trip you have planned there. :hfive:

 

[tallpaul]

Foundation DGC, Centrailia Illinois probably better than any in St. Louis; depending on your schedule.

 

[scarpfish]

Blackhawk is definitely the best in Tulsa and has a decent, albeit nothing spectacular sister course. On certain days, namely weekends there is generally a $2 fee to enter the park.

My alternate suggestions along your route, albeit I'd take Blackhawk over either of them...

McClelland Park in Joplin, MO.
Hunter Park in Tulsa.

 

[cc0049]

When are you planning this? While you are on your way to Nashville, you could stop in Little Rock and play Burns Park if you have the time. I can show you around one of the courses if you want.

I've actually played the Burns Park courses before. I liked them both a lot. The red course was a lot of fun.

 

[juanbond]

If you end up in the northern Chicago suburbs at all, I would highly recommend a great new course just over the Wisconsin border: Fox River Park - Grey Fox. It's in a small enough town that you pretty much have the course to yourself at any time. If you have kids playing along, there is also a much easier rec 9-holer in the same park. I live in the north suburbs, and this is my favorite course within 30 minutes of me.

 

[ArcheType]

I would consider adding West Park in Joliet into your trip. Its a great course, probably one of the best in the area, and its probably 30 minutes from Community Park, also, I'd be happy to meet you there to play through either of them

 

[Upshawt1979]

Freeman Lake was good, I really liked Mt. Airy, and Idlewild was very challenging for me. I've only played each one once, but they were all worth visiting. I have Jefferson Barracks on my vacation list, too. :thmbup:

 

[discin311]

I would consider adding West Park in Joliet into your trip. Its a great course, probably one of the best in the area, and its probably 30 minutes from Community Park, also, I'd be happy to meet you there to play through either of them

west park and highland are both really good and are about 10mins from community park not 30mins

 

[jsc430]

Foundation DGC, Centrailia Illinois probably better than any in St. Louis; depending on your schedule.

I'm gonna be in the area next month passing foundation on my travels.

Can you elaborate here? I'll be driving from Cinci to St. Louis. I'm only gonna get one while I'm in SL and I was planning on it being Sioux Passage. Can you compare the two?

 

[tallpaul]

Sioux is a very nice course; but more open and big arm. Champ course in Centrailia requires length; but more shot shaping. More wooded....some water in play via creek....little to no player traffic....no break between nines (tough to get from front nine to back nine at Sioux)....extra nine hole course on site. I am a fan also of Jefferson Barracks, and Endicott; with Sioux being a little better than either; but Centrailia is probably the best in Illinois; with Camden 2, and perhaps Alton (Rock Spring Park); which is near St. Louis too; as perhaps two and three. I don't want to dissuade you from playing Sioux; best case scenario is you play both and give us a report on what you think.