Diversey Miniature Golf (Chicago, IL)

July 5, 2007, evening

Things seem to have come full circle at Diversey.  The first time we played the course together, Drew and I were separated by 13 shots, as I won going away (although the final margin was affected by Drew quitting on the last couple holes and taking sixes he would likely not have recorded otherwise).  Since then, though, it seems things have been heading progressively in the other direction.  Our second time out, I won by seven; by the third time, we tied, and since then Drew has beaten me three times in three outings, with the latest being the worst of them all.  It really was a perfect storm this time out - not only did Drew play out of his mind, shattering the course record, but I played particularly awful, setting my own "record" for worst score.  Things were bad from the start - my drive on the second hole ended up behind a rock, and I missed consecutive putts to take five, falling four shots back through just two holes.  Things seemed to be evening out when I gained a shot back at the fourth thanks to Drew's double-bogey 4, and then another when I birdied #6, but two shots was as close as I would get.  I doubled #8 and bogeyed #9, and suddenly was five shots back as Drew made the turn at one-over.  Then we came to ten, which, honestly, has to be about the easiest hole on the course.  My drive was mediocre but certainly got me in position to make par three - and then I managed to yank three consecutive putts and had to settle for five.  In five previous rounds I had recorded just two scores worse than 4 on the card - here I was with two within nine holes, to say nothing of the fact that I was suddenly eight shots behind with eight holes to play and completely out of contention.  With the pressure off, Drew flew in, making just a single score higher than 2 on the way to a ridiculous 18, which combined with his 22 on the front nine put him at 2-under 40, demolishing the course record by a full five strokes.  At least I could take some solace in the fact that I would almost certainly have lost no matter what I did - although the 52 I recorded was my worst score by several shots, the best I've ever done is only 47.  With Drew hitting everything - and I mean everything, like the ball had a magnet in it that drew it to the cup - I could have broken my personal record by as many shots as Drew broke the course record and still lost by two strokes.  That said, it was still a pretty ugly display on my part, whether or not it ultimately "mattered."

May 14, 2007, evening

It seems like a trend is developing where the first really warm day of the year is reserved for mini golf.  It climbed into the mid-80s today, but had died down to "pleasantly warm" by the time we got to Diversey around 7:45.  I opened with an ace at the first, but unfortunately that was probably the highlight of my round.   I was the only member of the threesome not to take a four, but I took far too many threes; having been burned with overaggressive shots on my last go-round here, I played perhaps too conservatively and paid for it.  I led Drew by three shots through six holes, but he birdied #7 and parred out, while I went par-bogey-bogey, and we hit the turn tied at +2.  Twos at #10 and #11 put me back ahead by two shots, but I made just one two the rest of the way and it was at the 15th, which Drew aced with a well-struck shot that bounced off the back wall and found the perfect line to roll into the cup.  It was this ace which provided the final margin, as we each finished with three consecutive threes on the card.  Karen stayed close all round after a rough first couple of holes, getting within a shot of the lead after a birdie at the 14th, but she lost two shots on Drew when he aced 15 and had a hard-luck first shot at the 18th that kept her three shots back for the round.

May 7, 2007, evening

Proving that everything evens out eventually, Drew and Karen both had great rounds in the wake of a relative debacle at Novelty Golf on Sunday.  We all started off relatively even, but Drew hit a long bouncer that found the hole for an ace at the fourth, and though he made 4 at both #2 and #7, he only had one other score above 2 on the front nine.  Karen carded all 2s and 3s on the way out, while I had more 3s than 2s, including bad luck at #8 where the ball bounced straight back on my first attempt to carom, naturally ending up right next to the hole on my second drive.  I made the turn in 25, my highest front nine score in four tries at Diversey.  Karen turned in 23; Drew led by a shot at 22.  I started the back nine with three straight 2s, but was frustrated by #11 - I took the first shot and my ball trickled to within a few inches of the hole, but then I stood and watched as Karen and Drew both somehow managed to roll their balls just around mine and into the hole for a pair of aces.  I pulled back to within three of the lead when Drew bogeyed #12, but I just couldn't find the cup at #13, took a six, and that was that.  Karen caught Drew when he bogeyed #14, and they both went 2-3-3-2 in to tie at 45, setting the course record.  My score tied for my worst, all the more frustrating as it was driven mostly by one bad hole (proven by the fact that I actually set the course record for fewest bogeys in a round!).

April 3, 2007, late evening

I was ready for the mini golf "season" kind of early this year, but unfortunately Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate - the couple nice days we got were before the April 1 start, and it is presently threatening to be fewer than ten degrees above freezing for the next several days and into the weekend.  Desperate to get onto an actual course, Drew, Karen and I headed over to Diversey around 7:00 after work, even though the temperature was already down to 62° and it was raining lightly, to say nothing of getting dark.  Drew started hottest, going two up on me (and three up on Karen) with an ace at the third, but I held close as he bogeyed 4 and 8 to even the score at even-par 19; we both struggled at the ninth, but I took four and fell one shot behind at the turn.  Karen, who had been consistently making threes but did not record a 2 on the front nine, fell eight back.  She rushed in with a 24, the back nine's best score, but was never really in contention for the win, and so it came down to me and Drew.  After I evened things up when he bogeyed 11, he stumbled to a 5 at the 13th, missing three putts in a row of under four feet.  He cut the lead back to one with a birdie at 14, then doubled 15 to give the shot back.  On 16 we both got stuck in back of the ridge directly behind the cup, but while Drew's flip over rolled into the hole, mine rolled past and I settled for bogey.  Leading by one stepping up to the difficult water hole, I struggled in the encroaching darkness, having foolishly chosen a dark green ball.  I attempted to hit left over the creek, but the ball bounced back; shot two, to the right, ended up out of bounds.  After a drop, I limped to a double-bogey five, while Drew scraped out par to take a one-shot lead.  At 18, though, his drive along the right side hung up well short of the hole; mine, to the left, ended up about two feet away.  I gagged the putt and settled for bogey, but Drew's approach rolled well past the hole into the "rough" turf at the back of the green, and he two-putted from there to leave us in a tie at 7-over.

April 10, 2006, evening

I decided that the first nice day of the year (more or less) should also be the first mini golf day of the new season.  Even though we're not huge fans of the course, Drew and I trekked down because, as noted, it's by far the closest one to the apartment and the only one that doesn't require a pretty healthy drive.  I ended up turning in a round identical to my first effort at the course - 23 out, 25 in.  I only had one four and had a couple nice par saves here and there.  Drew began to grouse when he fell four strokes back after double-bogeying 13, but he eagled 14 with an ace that took its time before trickling into the cup to pull back within two.  On the next hole, his drive rolled out the back of the green thanks to a missing pavestone; he sank a long bogey save to match me and stay two back with three to go, but, seemingly rattled by the annoyance of missing a chance to gain a stroke, he limped in at 6-over on the last three holes alone, including an unlucky bounce into the creek at 17.

July 6, 2005, afternoon

The main attraction to the Diversey course is its proximity to the apartment (about a 15-minute walk).  Other than that, it's fairly pedestrian.  The only real obstacles are scattered rocks and contoured greens - personally, I think contoured greens rank among my least favorite mini golf obstacles (if you can even call them obstacles).  If I wanted that, I'd play real golf.  It's especially tough to play on contoured carpet - and with a metal putter (all they had that was long enough), Diversey didn't make it any easier.  Luckily, I got used to the metal putter relatively quickly, and turned in a solid, though unspectacular, round.  Drew played with me, but got annoyed when he fell behind early (and at what he deemed "terrible" play on his part) and ended up giving up on the last few holes.