Over the year's I'm come to appreciate the 5 star rating system that the magazine provides for those of us who play public courses all over the US. I find the system to be quite accurate and especially helpful for those of us who don't mind paying a bit more for a wonderful golfing experience. (Eg. Bulle Rock, the Kohler courses, Torrey Pines South, Dubsdread, etc.)

While it's probably a little early for the much heralded Erin Hills to find your ratings sheet, please take into account my experience yesterday.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I was willing to pay the $150 walking rate until...

After paying I was told the starter would give me a scorecard. Going outside there was no signage or personnel to point me in the direction of the first tee. When I finally meandered to what I accurately guessed was the first tee, there was no starter or box with scorecards so I just teed off. Halfway down the fairway a ranger tracked me down and indicated that the starter had gone home, thinking play was over for the day. He also promised to bring me a card and yardage book, which he got to me on the second fairway. For a course that encourages walking to fully experience golf at its best, the rest of the first nine was nightmarish. While I played through several courteous foursomes on carts, I didn't find the first ball washer until the 6th hole. Oh well, it had no water, soap, or towel so it didn't disappoint that I didn't get to the second washer until thew 16th hole.

While the greens were true and fast, the fairways had so many thin spots, you'd have to use half the spray paint in Milwaukee to mark them as free drop areas.

After the 8th hole, I walked to the most logical next tee and waited several minutes for a group with caddies to leave the tee area. As they walked away, one of the caddies mentioned that I was on the 18th. Again, signage was NOWHWERE.

While I did notice that the carts had pin placement sheets, no flag color differentiation was available for those who walked.

The back nine is especially strong with 9 really unique and strong holes. It was also nice that there was complimentary water available on the 13th tee. Other than those differences, the experience didn't really change for the better.

On balance, the place had the feel of an out of the way mom and pop operation that had opened before the course was fully ready and was charging outrageous fees to pay a marketing agency to give it hype that is massively underserved. Living in Chicago I can play 2 dozen courses that are better, each for half the price.

I also was extremely disappointed in Erin Hills and will think twice before relying solely on the course's ranking and media hype. However, if it Illinois residents off our other, nicer courses, I wish Erin Hills the best.

Honestly, could these players be anymore annoying and babied than they are now? First, it's the complaints of playing too many weeks in a row. Second, it's the about the Tour not letting anyone in on the skinny of the FedEx Cup loop. And if that isn't enough, players like Els and Mahan are whining about East Lake's greens. Give me and the rest of the golf world a break! Most of these players are a joke. I'm amazed at the fact that they're even complianing about any of this. What, $10 million isn't enough for you? The majority of these pros make more money in one tournament week than I'll ever make in a lifetime. I'll never pay a ticket to see these guys play. Talk about being spoiled.