Naperville golfers had best beware when they head out to some area courses, as some changes can be a bit tricky. Others are simply helpful. For other modifications courses have been making, read this week's Fore Sight, in the May 8 edition of The Sun or here.
River Bend
"We've redone the bunker on No. 1 and put a bunch of boulders around it into the water area just to solve our erosion problem there," said Mike Reilly, River Bend head pro.
"We're still planning a new tee area on No. 4. That's in the very basic stages. We've got the dirt down, but that's about it. We're probably looking at next spring on that. We'll continue to keep planting trees of course; trees are big with us."
Cantigny Golf Club
On Woodside No. 9 (a 421-yard par 4), there's a new bunker on the left side, about halfway to the green.
"This bunker kind of gave definition to where you should target your shot," Cantigny head pro Patrick Lynch said. "Generally speaking from the diff tees it's easy to carry. For some people it will come into play if they're a little bit shorter, but for the most part the idea was to give it a visual intimidation from the tee and better define the look of the hole."
On Hillside No. 5 (a 151-yard par 3), the bunker that protects the left side of the green is being extended.
"There's water that comes into play just off the green, so the safe shot is to hit long, toward the back of the green," Lynch said. "Now that bunker's going to come a little bit more into play."
On Hillside No. 3 (a 374-yard par 4), a new cluster of bunkers on the left side of the fairway can change one's strategy off the tee.
"Whereas before you could hit to the left sideand have a clean shot into the green, now that bunker definitely comes into play, especially for a longer hitter," Lynch said. "Now that's not a bailout necessarily. Now you either have to play it down the right-hand side or lay up a little bit short of that bunker."
Bolingbrook Golf Club
Because Bolingbrook is just a half-dozen years old, it's not due for an overhaul just yet. But the green on No. 12 (a 562-yard par 5) did need some refurbishing.
"The improvement we made on 12 was in response to a lot of feedback," head pro Mike Williams said. "it was poorly designed from the beginning. it was a very severe green, so we kind of softened some of the harshness to it."
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