re: Who played today? Where? How was the course condition?

Played a Pete Dye design in the Chicago burbs called Ruffled Feathers. Right down the street from Cog Hill.

Tees and fairways were plush - we've had a wet and cold spring and it makes for a beautiful piece of bentgrass turf - but the greens are still dormant and were plugged two weeks ago. Rough is still dormant as well.

I was just too inconsistent. Today was the first day of the year that was really anywhere close to being playable golf weather here. I managed to get on a lovely old track called Flossmoor (hosted both the 1920 PGA championship and the 1923 US Am) a few weeks ago, but the course was barely set up for the season, and no one was out, so today was my first real round and second sort of round of the year. Started 1 over through 4 but then just had first-round-of-the-year inconsistencies. Triple, par, double, par, bogey, triple, birdie, etc., etc.

Ruffled Feathers is definitely not the place to play your first round of the year. Water everywhere, classic Dye design that just fricks with your eye, lots of small bunkers, excruciatingly difficult 9th and 18th holes, driveable par 4's followed up with brutal par 4's and not much in between, railroad ties, twists and turns, and so forth. In fact, 18 at Ruffled Feathers actually resembles 18 at Sawgrass a pretty good bit. 15, 16, 17, and 18 were probably some of the coolest holes I've played in the Chicago area.

Loved the course and would definitely play it again, just not in my first real round of the year.