Chicago Golf Club - RCR 2K21
Nov 4, 2020 16:46:42 GMT -5
joegolferg, blueblood1995, and 6 more like this
Post by pitt1976 on Nov 4, 2020 16:46:42 GMT -5
My version of Chicago Golf Club has now been published. This “on and off” project has been in the works for years now. Despite its pedigree and consistent top 10-20 ranking in the US, this course is not very well known to the masses. It boasts the claim of being the first 18 hole golf course in the United States and was a charter member of the USGA. It was designed by C.B MacDonald and later revised by Seth Raynor. CGC is an extremely exclusive club that has only 120 members. However, the club has become more open to public view when it hosted the Walker Cup (2005) and Inaugural Women’s US Senior Open (2018).
3 years ago, I was lucky enough to play here. The scene and atmosphere were different from anything I had experienced in years of playing the sport. The layout is so authentic to its historic, original design features. It is like taking a walk in the past. My goal in creating the RCR was to portray what this club is on a daily basis. It had to be serene - with no crowds or tour atmosphere available. The club’s location is shielded by dense trees and bushes from the residential areas of the Wheaton suburb surrounding it. I don't usually dig into planting off of the property, but decided that the locale needed to be represented.
Scoring difficulty took a back seat to aesthetics. I chose to use light rough primarily and save the heavy rough for the dominant fescue areas on the property. I hit the object max, so I couldn’t have planted fescue grasses even if I wanted to (I didn’t, btw). To make the course playable and fun, the default green and fairway firmness is set to medium. To make the experience authentic, green speeds were set to the max. My version is different in principle from the quality version that was published by B.Smooth13. In fact, his work was the main reason I kept delaying the completion of my own project.
The green complexes are so fascinating to me. Recreating them became my top priority for this project. Slopes and speeds are as extreme as anything I had seen and can be comparable to those at Oakmont. I was able to obtain “heat” maps that are used by the greens crew to set pin placements. The majority of areas on these green complexes cannot handle any pin locations. The maps were invaluable in confirming the other data I had. There are significant false fronts on many of the greens. The intricacies in mounding and the steep bunker slopes all over the course (which are difficult to produce at times) are all there. I'm happy with the final product and I hope that you enjoy a round here soon. I look forward to the feedback.
Here’s a course tour with screenshots. I may highlight some holes with descriptions later to show off some unique features in the near future.
Hole #1 "Valley" - Par 4 - 450yds
Hole #2 "Road" - Par 4 - 481 yds
Hole #3 "Biarritz" - Par 3 - 219 yds
Hole #4 "Long" - Par 5 - 549 yds
Hole #5 "Leven" - Par 4 - 365 yds
Hole #6 "Double Plateau" - Par 4 - 399 yds
Hole #7 "Redan" - Par 3 - 211 yds
Hole #8 "Narrows" - Par 4 - 445 yds
Hole #9 "Pond" - Par 4 - 448 yds
Hole #10 "Short" - Par 3 - 149 yds
Hole #11 "Dogleg" - Par 4 - 410 yds
Hole #12 "Punchbowl" - Par 4 - 465 yds
Hole #13 "Eden" - Par 3 - 181 yds
Hole #14 "Cape" - Par 4 - 356 yds
Hole #15 "Ginger Beer" - Par 4 - 400 yds
Hole #16 "Raynor’s Prize" - Par 5 - 530 yds
Hole #17 "Maiden" - Par 4 - 467 yds
Hole #18 "Home" - Par 4 - 425 yds
3 years ago, I was lucky enough to play here. The scene and atmosphere were different from anything I had experienced in years of playing the sport. The layout is so authentic to its historic, original design features. It is like taking a walk in the past. My goal in creating the RCR was to portray what this club is on a daily basis. It had to be serene - with no crowds or tour atmosphere available. The club’s location is shielded by dense trees and bushes from the residential areas of the Wheaton suburb surrounding it. I don't usually dig into planting off of the property, but decided that the locale needed to be represented.
Scoring difficulty took a back seat to aesthetics. I chose to use light rough primarily and save the heavy rough for the dominant fescue areas on the property. I hit the object max, so I couldn’t have planted fescue grasses even if I wanted to (I didn’t, btw). To make the course playable and fun, the default green and fairway firmness is set to medium. To make the experience authentic, green speeds were set to the max. My version is different in principle from the quality version that was published by B.Smooth13. In fact, his work was the main reason I kept delaying the completion of my own project.
The green complexes are so fascinating to me. Recreating them became my top priority for this project. Slopes and speeds are as extreme as anything I had seen and can be comparable to those at Oakmont. I was able to obtain “heat” maps that are used by the greens crew to set pin placements. The majority of areas on these green complexes cannot handle any pin locations. The maps were invaluable in confirming the other data I had. There are significant false fronts on many of the greens. The intricacies in mounding and the steep bunker slopes all over the course (which are difficult to produce at times) are all there. I'm happy with the final product and I hope that you enjoy a round here soon. I look forward to the feedback.
Here’s a course tour with screenshots. I may highlight some holes with descriptions later to show off some unique features in the near future.
Hole #1 "Valley" - Par 4 - 450yds
Hole #2 "Road" - Par 4 - 481 yds
Hole #3 "Biarritz" - Par 3 - 219 yds
Hole #4 "Long" - Par 5 - 549 yds
Hole #5 "Leven" - Par 4 - 365 yds
Hole #6 "Double Plateau" - Par 4 - 399 yds
Hole #7 "Redan" - Par 3 - 211 yds
Hole #8 "Narrows" - Par 4 - 445 yds
Hole #9 "Pond" - Par 4 - 448 yds
Hole #10 "Short" - Par 3 - 149 yds
Hole #11 "Dogleg" - Par 4 - 410 yds
Hole #12 "Punchbowl" - Par 4 - 465 yds
Hole #13 "Eden" - Par 3 - 181 yds
Hole #14 "Cape" - Par 4 - 356 yds
Hole #15 "Ginger Beer" - Par 4 - 400 yds
Hole #16 "Raynor’s Prize" - Par 5 - 530 yds
Hole #17 "Maiden" - Par 4 - 467 yds
Hole #18 "Home" - Par 4 - 425 yds