Carriage Greens CC - Darien

Many of the courses in the Windy City area have banquet facilities; Carriage Greens Country Club in Darien is a banquet facility that has a golf course (the front of the scorecard features a picture of the entrance to the hall).  Now I need to make this perfectly clear - I do not dislike this course.  I've played and held golf outings a number of times here over the last 30 years, and I've always found CGCC to be a scenic, fun, challenging layout with a number of good holes (#'s 8 and12 would fit in well anywhere).  But on a recent visit on one of the few nice Saturday afternoons this spring, I found a course that was suffering from obvious neglect as swaths of weedy yellow populated sections of the rough, and the handful of people playing that day was a good indication that the discerning Chicagoland public golfer was taking their business elsewhere.

If you can look beyond the maintenance issues, you'll see that Carriage Greens is actually a pretty solid course.  At 6,400 yards / par 70, it plays to a fairly substantial 71.4 rating / 126 slope from the back set of 3 tees. Although not densely forested, the trees here are large and come into play on almost every hole.  Several fairways are narrow and tight in spots, so keep your 3 wood handy if your driver is erratic.  There are only 2 par 5's (#'s 4 & 13), but the 4th is one of those tight drives and tree lined from tee to green, with a swale running across the fairway about half way to the hole.  Both of the par 3's on the front are good holes, with #6 featuring a 2 huge trees playing sentinel to any shots pushed right.  The 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th holes (all par 4's) are doglegs left and require precision off the tee to have a clear look at the green on your 2nd shot, with the 12th the best with a drive through a tunnel of trees and a well bunkered green.

My favorite hole at Carriage Greens is #8, just under 400 yards with an intimidating drive with a creek off to the right and OB left, then uphill with thick woods left towards the green.  The toughest hole is the 15th, at 456 yards pushing the limit of par 4's, but beside the length, there are thick evergreens to the right and a large tree off the left side of the fairway about 100 yards from the hole, plus a pond behind and a huge trap in front of the green to add to the fun.  If you can par this hole, consider the round a success.

The 17th and 18th holes also provide a challenge.  The 17th is a long par 4 with your drive up to a ridge, and then downhill to a sloping, well bunkered green with water behind.  18 is a good finisher (from the back tees), with a forced carry over a pond and more water out of sight to the right but in play off the tee.

As much as I enjoy this course (when I'm playing well; I've had some horrific rounds here over the years) the conditions do border on the limits of acceptable.  Besides

the dandelions, the fairways are thin and patchy in spots, the traps were a bit ragged on the edges, and the 18th fairway has historically resembled a bog, not what you want to remember when you finish the round.  But with a $53 (with cart) top weekend fee (only $39 during the week), plus discounted rates at 11 am on Saturday and Sunday, the course is priced right for what it currently is, and who doesn't enjoy a 3 hour 35 minute round as a two-some on a Saturday afternoon? With a little TLC and some more extensive work (fixing the 18th hole won't be cheap), Carriage Greens can once again return to a "course to play" status, but until then, it will be a last minute close to home round in my golfing world.

Mr Z Rating

Layout (20%) - 7.5

Playability (20%) - 7

Conditioning (15%) - 5

Aesthetics (15%) - 7.5

Amenities (10%) - 6.5

Value (20%) -7.5

Total Score - 69.25