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A Golfing MichiganderThoughts and observations on golfing in Michigan July 02 Course closure reduxHere I go again with yet another posting about golf courses in Michigan which are now closed. I don't know why hearing reports of their demise bothers me so much, it's not like there aren't any other places to play. Maybe it is because I have this (unattainable?) notion that I could play every course in the State and if one of them closes before I get there, it somehow spoils the idea. Never mind that the lack of adequate free time already spoils that idea.
Anyway, here are a couple more that are no longer open for business:
Sparrow Hawk in Jackson
High Pointe in Acme
The link for Sparrow Hawk takes you to a real estate page which shows the listing for the property. Listed at $690,000 ($3.5M for all 120 acres), a prospective buyer would likely be interested in it for other commercial purposes besides a golf course operation. This is because the place appears to have been closed for quite some time. The grass is knee high and you'd never know that there was ever a golf course there by looking at the property. (It's like a scene out of Life After People.) It especially seems like such as waste as Jeff Gorney added another 9 to the place as early as 1996.
The closure of High Pointe is particularly surprising/distressing. Designed by Tom Doak, it was among the more memorable places that I've played. I am sort of hoping that the course will reopen for the 2010 season. Their web site states that "due to difficult economic times in the country, especially Michigan, we have decided not to open High Pointe Golf Club for this 2009 golf season". I had heard that the owners (the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians) of the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa made an offer to buy it, but were turned down. Maybe they or someone will keep the place going before it becomes a field/wildland like Sparrow Hawk. March 07 Forest DunesAfter reading the latest version of Great Lakes Golf (March/April), panic set in. Why? The headline story was Forest Dunes 2.0; Northern Michigan's Landmark Course Finds New Purpose. So? Well, they "discovered the public model wasn't the best fit" and they intend to make the course/club private. Apparently, not many people were "beat[ing] a path to its door". Oops, guess that would include me. Even though it has been high on my must-play list since opening in 2002, I just never made it there. I've balked a bit at the $125 greens fee, but it is possible to play in off hours for less. Well, now if they are going private, I better hurry up there before it's completely inaccessible. An additional panic boost came because I've already missed an opportunity to play on another course that is now private. True North. They were public (semi-private, really) for a while. I dilly-dallied going there for the longest time and now I can't, in all likelihood, ever. It makes me ill to look at these photographs and not be able to play the course: [twoguyswhogolf] [fore.tv] [Michigan Golf] [wwjtv] Not good planning on my part, so don't miss out on your chance either. The Forest Dunes course looks beautiful. It is especially compelling now that we're going through one of the snowiest winters on record. May can't get here any sooner. March 04 Selfridge Air National Guard BaseAlright, this is bordering on ridiculous. Another golf course is on the chopping block. This time it's the course at Selfridge. This, according to the Selfridge MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation) anyway. They write, "The Golf Course is subject to the BRAC closure, and will be closing 2 September 08." Bummer. At least I had the priviledge of playing the course once. This was when I played with the Greater Macomb Area Golf Association (an amateur golf organization no longer in the GAM Allied Associations list). Back in 1996. Yikes.
What a shame though. The MWR has this to say about the course: "The Selfridge Golf Course was originally established in the late 1940s and is situated at the southeast end of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base flight line. A 2.6 million dollar project in October 1997 resulted in an improved par 72, PGA-sanctioned course complete with large undulating greens, well-drained sand traps, and challenging new hole layouts. The Driving Range features 2 tiers with ample tee space, 5 artificial mats, and 3 large practice target greens along with a practice sand trap. Adjacent to the clubhouse is an 8000 square foot putting green surface with many levels, mounds, and rolls to challenge all players, beginner to pro!"
Maybe someone will buy the place. March 02 Sugar Loaf ResortNot that I'm morbid about these things, but it looks like Sugar Loaf Resort near Traverse City is up for sale (closed?) While doing some casual browsing today, I came across the Leelanau News Blog at leelanau.com which has been discussing this very topic. It would appear that the resort is not even open to the public right now and hasn't been for a couple years or more. No golf (and not just because it is winter) and no skiing. Another (golf course) victim of this situation appears to be the Arnold Palmer King's Challenge golf course. That may be old news, however, as the web site for that course is still operational. That's a bit of relief as that course is unique and beautiful. Post your comments here if you know more about this situation. February 02 Top 10 Michigan Courses?The Winter issue of Michigan Golfer (pdf) has a bunch of top 10 lists on a range of different golf things. One of them is a list from Golfweek of the top 10 courses in Michigan. Now, presumably, these are intentionally just public courses, otherwise, you know, Oakland Hills South would be on the list and it isn't.
I do like these kind of lists and although they are always subjective, I have to pick on a couple of their choices. Here is the list (no particular order?): Arcadia Bluffs Wilderness Valley - Valley Course Bay Harbor - Links Course Bay Harbor - Quarry Course Gailes Treetops Signature Black Lake [1] Surely they meant the Black Forest course and not the older Valley Course. Right? [2] Links and Quarry are both 9 holers. Shouldn't they be lumped together as one entry in the list of 10. As it stands, this is actually a top 9 list. [3] The Signature course at Treetops? I would think that the Jones Masterpiece (or maybe even the Fazio) is the better of the two. [4] What about some of these as a candidate for the missing 10th course? Shepherd's Hollow, The Hills at Boyne Highlands, The Bear at GTRV, Elk Ridge, The Majestic at Lake Walden, Legend or Cedar River at Shanty Creek, ... I could go on... October 03 Course Closure in FrankfortI just learned that there is another Michigan golf course that is closed for business. Frankfort Golf Club. Located on the Lake Michigan side of Crystal Lake, it was a 9 hole course that opened in 1928. Judging by the photo of the old clubhouse, it would appear that business has been slow and the lure of an offer from a developer was too irresistible. That's pure speculation on my part though.
The list of course closures in the state is piling up. Hate to see 'em go.
June 10 Greywalls RevisitedA while back I wrote about the new golf course designed by Mike DeVries in Marquette. It received a lot of acclaim then and seems to be continuing with that even now. While browsing through some old Firefox bookmarks, I happened across the golf course design web site GolfClubAtlas.com. If you enjoy golf course architecture even a little bit you must have seen this web site by now. Always on the lookout for favorable comments on Michigan golf courses, I was pleased to see a feature article on Greywalls on their web site. The best part are all the excellent photographs of the course. Really makes me want to play there now. Have to manage the private club status and 10-some hour drive to get there though.
 Other Michigan courses reviewed on that web site include (I might be repeating myself here):
Pretty respectable showing for the state I think. February 06 Square Club FollyApparently, a number of manufacturers are coming out with a new style of golf club head. Square. I have one word for 'em: hideous. And I do not care if the geometry is more suitable for hitting the ball further or not. Just like their fellow overbloated predecessors, I can't stand to look at them while addressing the ball. Maybe it is just a matter of adaptation -- I'd get used to it after a while until it becomes the new norm. There is only one problem -- they cost too much.
The prices of clubs skyrocketed in the 90s or so. I remember when a driver was in the $100 range or so, then all of a sudden the next increment took 'em to $300, $400, $500. Was it the new materials? Titanium. Graphite. Inflation?
Maybe a quick comparison would help. What else can you buy in the $400 range? How about a bandsaw? Jet sells a modest 14" model for that price.
Now, what is it about a golf club that even remotely compares to the materials, labor costs, shipping constraints, etc. of producing a piece of machinery like this? Maybe it is because they don't sell that many, so they are more expensive? Unlikely. How many people do you know that would buy a bandsaw vs. a driver? It has to be that they price those clubs like that because they can. All those people who have such tremendous amounts of disposable income, the piles of it are practically pushing them out of their homes, are just so desperate that they just gotta have that latest golf club, they'll pay anything. Why can't people take a stand and just say, no, that's too much. I'd rather do without than pay that. It would work with cable service, internet service, cell phone service, home construction and supplies (esp. kitchen cabinetry), etc. But don't get me started on that stuff.
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December 20 Celebrity GolfersThe very first time I ever swung a golf club, it was during gym glass in junior high school when the instructor must have wanted us to try some other sport besides basketball, baseball, and tag football. A good idea in principle, I suppose, but lacking in the implementation. There were no golf courses within 20 miles of the school, only a handful of beater clubs available, and no golf balls. Not even those plastic practice balls. What's the next best thing though? Why, pine cones, of course.
So, we spent one hour or less of one day hitting pine cones all of 20 feet or so. During this time, the football players in the class would have nothing to do with this sissy sport and enjoyed themselves snickering at those less close-minded folks who were willing to try something, even if only once. It wasn't until college some years later before I picked up a club again (it was a permanent addiction from that point on).
What made me think of this was the article that Golf Digest published this month entitled the "Top 100 in Music". It's a list of musicians who play golf ranked by their USGA Handicap Index. I can imagine that a number of people on this list probably used to sneer at the sport in much the same way that the football player types I knew did. Can you picture these guys on a golf course and lovin' it? Eddie Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Snoop Dogg, Meat Loaf, Tommy Lee, and Kid Rock.
A few years after my initial foray into the sport, I ran into one of those guys ... on the golf course. Thought that was funny ironic. December 12 Putting courseThere are some nice putting greens at some of the courses in Michigan and there are some nice par 3 courses too, but how many putting courses can you claim to have played? If you are like me, none. Oh, Pirate's Cove doesn't count.
So, here is your chance to give one a try. I'll have to finagle a trip somehow and head up to Bucks Run in Mount Pleasant to try theirs. Looks very cool. Probably a very busy place on a warm summer evening. |
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