The Loop makes one understand why Doak’s fertile imagination has made him one of this generation’s more important course architects. I mean, who thinks this way? Standing on a green at The Loop and looking back to the tee box, you inevitably see a gaping moon-surface bunker facing you. Why? It’s tomorrow’s fairway bunker, the one you’ll be trying to avoid off the tee when you play the hole in the opposite direction. The Loop features fescue grass fairways that’ll have your ball Augusta National, a former U.S. Open contestant and a third dude who was more of an average golfer, like yours truly. He and I helped one another find our occasional errant shots while the other cart sped to the green. Because The Loop is an everyother-day experience, you have to spend at least one night. The good news is the accommodations and dining are first class, but there are only 131rooms currently available. New owners of Forest Dunes have committed to add more lodging and are also planning another golf course, possibly a Gil Hanse design. Although it is somewhat remote, Forest Dunes is a treasure. It is a pure golf resort without a swimming pool, spa or other resort amenities. Just golf, golf and more golf. Sublime golf at that. Reprinted with permission from Barry Cronin and Chicago District Golfer. running in the determined Scottish manner it’s designed to mimic. Hopefully, your ball will stop short of the native plant areas that tightly border the fairways (lost ball alert!). Large undulating greens await with many hole location options to confound the wouldbe two-putter. Wrap up the day at the 10-hole Bootlegger course, a dynamic pitch-andputt designed by Riley Jahns and Keith Rebb. By the way, my other three players at the Loop Black course were a member of
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