Michigan Trip

Michigan is one of the best golf states in the United States.  Northern Michigan has amazing places like Crystal Downs and The Kingsley Club, along with many top notch public courses, and Detroit has one of the best championship courses of all time at Oakland Hills South course.  My trip to Michigan in 2023 focused on playing all the Ross courses I had left to play in Michigan, as well as many other great courses in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and a few in between.

Meadowbrook Country Club

On day one in Michigan I landed in Detroit and drove about an hour west to the town of Bath.  Eagle Eye Golf Club, designed by Pete Dye and Chris Lutzke, was my opening round of the trip.  The course features some trademarks of Pete Dye designs, as well as some very good new stuff that was obviously the Lutzke influence.

Eagle Eye Golf Club, Par four 9th hole with 18th green in background.

I continued west to Grand Rapids for the second round on day one.  Kent Country Club, designed by Donald Ross, was one of the biggest surprises of the trip.  Ross courses come in many shapes and sizes, with some having lots of the original design left, and others only having the basic routing.  Kent featured a very strong Ross routing that moved perfectly over the undulating property.  I would love to see a proper restoration of the bunkering in the future, but what is there now is delightful.

Kent Country Club, Par five 4th hole

Day two of the trip began with a quick sunrise round at Terra Verde golf course in Nunica, a short drive from Grand Rapids.

Terra Verde Golf Course, Par three 14th hole

Next up on day two I headed to Grand Haven, very close to Lake Michigan, for a round at the newly redesigned American Dunes Golf Club.  The course was re-worked by Nicklaus design and is a wonderful tribute to fallen military and their families.

American Dunes Golf Club, Par three 4th hole

For my next round on day two I made a short drive south to West Olive for a round at the Rick Smith designed Wuskowhan Players Club.  As the name would indicate, the course was founded as a destination for great players, with a superior practice facility and a challenging course that forces you to execute a wide variety of shots in order to be successful.

Wuskowhan Players Club, Looking back at the Par four 18th hole

I headed about thirty minutes north of Grand Rapids to Pierson for my last round on day two.  Pilgrim's Run Golf Club was designed by Mike DeVries, best known for his Top 100 design at The Kingsley Club.  The course is everything you love about DeVries as a designer, with bold features mixed with a wonderful set of greens and a great variety of holes.

Pilgrim's Run Golf Club, Par three 16th hole

Day three began with a Mike DeVries design in Grand Rapids, Mines Golf Club.  Mike did an amazing job at Mines taking an undulating, but not very interesting site, and transforming it into a very creative and fun course.

Mines  Golf Club, Par three 11th hole

I headed back towards Detroit after my early morning round.  My mandatory stop along the way was Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Ionia, which features nine holes of Donald Ross.  The Ross nine features some wonderful variety including a blind uphill 250 yard par 3!

Shadow Ridge Golf Course, Par four 14th hole

I returned to the town of Bath for my next round on day three.  Hawk Hollow Golf  Club is a 27 hole course that was designed by Jerry Matthews in the 1990's and is right next to Eagle Eye, where I began my trip.

Hawk Hollow Golf Club, Par four 27th hole

I finished pretty early at Hawk Hollow and managed to make it to Detroit with enough daylight to play another quick round.  I found a nine hole course near my hotel to check out.  Somerset Golf Course was a fun little walk surrounded by houses.

Somerset Golf Course, Par three 6th hole

The fourth day of the trip started with one of the most anticipated courses of the trip, Bloomfield Hills Country Club.  The course was designed by Harry Colt, one of just a few he did in the United States.  Mike DeVries did some restoration work in 2020 and the results have been very well received.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, as you can see in the picture.  But even rain couldn't spoil such a special course.

Bloomfield Hills Country Club, Par four 12th hole

I headed to nearby Bloomfield Township for my next round on day four.  Forest Lake Country Club was designed by William Diddel in the 1920's and had brought in Arthur Hills in recent years to renovate the course.  The course is currently undergoing another renovation by architect Chris Wilczynski, so I was only able to play holes 1 to 10.  What I played was very enjoyable, and I'm sure the final product will be very strong.

Forest Lake Country Club, Par three 11th hole

My original plan for my final round on day four was to play St. Clair Golf Club, designed by Donald Ross.  The course is located northeast of Detroit, right on the border with Canada.  Luckily, I called the course before I left, and was told they were currently closed due to the excessive rainfall overnight, and weren't sure if they were going to open that afternoon.  I didn't want to drive an hour and a half only to find out that the course was closed, so I decided to improvise.  

Meadowbrook Country Club, Par five 17th hole

There was one golf course I really wanted to play on the trip but had been unable to confirm.  I called them and lucky for me the rainy weather had resulted in a few cancelations.  So I was able to play what would become the highlight of the trip, Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville.  The course was originally designed by Willie Park Junior in 1916.  A wonderful restoration by Andy Staples in 2016 preserved what was left of the original Park course while incorporating features that are hallmarks of Park designs into the rest of the holes.  The result is spectacular, and Meadowbrook is absolutely one of the best courses in Michigan. It belongs in the top 100 courses in the US.

Meadowbrook Country Club, Par three 6th hole in foreground, Par three 11th hole in background

Day five of the trip began with a quick walk around the par three course at Lake St. Clair Metro Park.  This is a delightful pitch and putt that is a great place to bring anybody learning the game.  I wish more big cities had places like this.

St. Clair Park, Lots of Par threes!

I headed to Grosse Pointe Farms for my next round on day five.  The Country Club of Detroit is a golden age design from Colt and Alison, but mostly Alison.  Great bunkering is what makes an Alison design, and this course is a great example of it.

Country Club of Detroit, Par five 9th hole

I next tackled the short course at Country Club of Detroit.  The course is seven par threes and two par fours, and was added in the 1960's by Robert Trent Jones.  It's a very good companion to the big course, and a great place to test your wedges and short irons on the tiny greens!

Country Club of Detroit, Par three 3rd hole

Birmingham Country Club was my next destination on this day.  The back nine was added by Tom Bendelow sometime in the 1920's and the entire course has been worked on by many architects over the years.  Most recently, Bruce Hepner completed a very strong renovation.  The course has a unique routing with the front nine mostly being the inner nine and the back nine wrapping around the front.

Birmingham Country Club, Par four 6th hole in foreground, Par three 3rd hole in background

For my final round on day five I headed to West Bloomfield Township for a round at the Charles Alison designed Orchard Lake Country Club.  Colt/Alison designs were a big theme of this trip and this one was my second favorite course played on the trip.  The boldness of the property is matched by the design.  A restoration by Keith Foster accentuated the wonderful original design.

Orchard Lake Country Club, Par four 18th hole

Day Six of the trip was a triple delight of Donald Ross courses.  First up was the North course at Detroit Golf Club.  Most of the North, and some of the South, is used for the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA Tour.  The North is a better championship course with long par fours and tougher greens.  The interesting side note to this day was that because of overnight rain in the Detroit area Detroit Golf Club was walking only.  As it turned out, so was my final destination, so for the first time in my life, I walked three different courses in one day.  Stats on this unique journey will follow after the third course.

Detroit Golf Club North Course, Par four 7th hole

With nobody on the course because of the walking only conditions, I headed right off my second round of the day at the South course at Detroit Golf Club.  The South is the more fun course, with some quirky greens and a very good collection of par threes.

Detroit Golf Club(South), Par three 11th hole

After walking 36 holes at Detroit, I was a little tired.  I headed to Bloomfield Hills for my third round of the day at Oakland Hills Country Club.  I was not at Oakland to tackle the famous South course which has hosted many major championships, but rather to see the North course, also designed by Donald Ross.  When I arrived, I was informed they were walking only as well.  Lucky for me, I was up for the challenge!  My recent weight loss and focus on my health aided in my ability to complete all 54 holes walking, while still playing surprisingly well.  My stats for this unique day are below:

Steps: 12300-DN, 11550-DS, 11480-OHN, Total=35,330, 15.1 Miles

Scores: 73DN, 64DS, 72OHN, Total Strokes=209

Time: 2:03-DN, 1:54-DS, 1:58-OHN, Total Time=5 hours, 55 minutes

Oakland Hills Country Club, Par four 11th hole

I began the final day of my trip about thirty miles north of Detroit in Rochester Hills.  The Wyndgate Country Club was designed by Craig Schreiner in the 1990's.  The course has a very unique cobblestone entrance drive, and a very elaborate English themed clubhouse.

Wyndgate Country Club, Par three 6th hole

I headed east of Detroit to Grosse Pointe Woods for my next round on day seven.  Lochmoor Club was originally designed by Walter Travis in 1917, and retains some of what made Travis one of the great architects of all time.  Perched greens and artistic bunkering make this course a delight to play.

Lochmoor Club, Par three 11th hole

The last round of my Michigan trip was at another Donald Ross designed course, Dearborn Country Club.  Located very close to all things Ford in Michigan, Dearborn is a course that maintains some of what Ross designed, with work from several others over the years.

Dearborn Country Club, Par five 3rd hole

As I said in the opening, Michigan is a very golf rich state.  I'm nowhere near done seeing all the great courses it has to offer.  I hope to return to Northern Michigan in a couple years to check out the re-opening of Tom Doak's first design at High Pointe, as well as the many great public courses in the Northern part of the state. 

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Nebraska Trip 2023

Nebraska might prove to be the hottest state in golf in the next few years.  With new courses that just came online, and more planned that will open in the future, people are realizing that the land in Nebraska is ripe for great golf.  We returned to Nebraska for the second year in a row, to finally re-visit our favorite place on earth where we spent our honeymoon thirteen years ago.  We also discovered some great new courses, and a few old ones with a ton of character.

Sand Hills, my favorite place on earth!

We landed in Omaha on day one and began our trip at a very cool hundred year old golf course.  The Field Club of Omaha is one of the closest courses to downtown Omaha, and is full of character and quirk.

Field Club of Omaha, Par four 5th hole

The course crosses a very busy public road four times, and uses large fences to keep the cars from being hit.  

My wife found it very intimidating but she was up to the challenge.

After our afternoon round we headed to one of our favorite BBQ places in the world, Oklahoma Joe's BBQ in Omaha.

Day two of the trip began at a brand new course that opened just 11 months ago.  Lost Rail Golf Club in Gretna is about 20 miles west of Omaha.  The course was designed by Scott Hoffman, who was one of Tom Fazio's main associates for many years.  This is his first solo design, and he really came out of the gates strong!

Lost Rail Golf Club, Par four 4th hole

What really impressed me most about the course is that it's not really a very big piece of property, and yet the holes have an amazing sense of isolation, even though they are seemingly stacked right on top of each other.

Lost Rail Golf Club, Par three 5th hole

The par threes at Lost Rail are a work of art, with each one giving you a different look and challenge.

Lost Rail Golf Club, Par three 14th hole

Since I was fortunate to be off early at Lost Rail, I had time to check out the seven hole par three course, also designed by Scott Hoffman.

Lost Rail Par 3 Course, 1st and 7th green

We headed South to the town of Ashland for our next round on day two.  Iron Horse Golf Club was designed by Gene Bates in 2001.  It was built around a large rock quarry and lake, and is also a housing development course.  

Iron Horse Golf Club, Par four 9th hole in foreground and par four 18th hole in background

Bayside weather indicator!

We drove three hours west to North Platte after our round at Iron Horse.  North Platte is where people fly into when they are going to Sand Hills.  Before we headed there, I ventured a few hours further west to the town of Brule to check out a course designed by two guys who have worked for Coore & Crenshaw for many years.  Bayside Golf Club was designed by Dan Proctor and Dave Axland, and has amazing views of Lake McConaughy.

Bayside Golf Club, Par four 7th hole

We had two possible routes to get to Sand Hills from Bayside.  I chose the northern route that takes you through the town of Hyannis so that I could check out one of my favorite things in golf, a course with an honor box!  Pelican Beach Golf Club was built, and is maintained, by a volunteer crew of locals.  They knew what they were doing when they built it, and the course is incredibly fun and a great walk.

Pelican Beach Golf Course, Par three 2nd hole

From Hyannis it was just about an hour drive to our favorite place on earth, Sand Hills.  We spent our honeymoon at Sand Hills thirteen years ago, and had planned on going back for our ten year anniversary, but Covid changed our plans.  We were beyond excited to finally be back!

My wife and I at Sand Hills on our honeymoon in 2010

We arrived at Sand Hills in the early afternoon and immediately headed out to the course.  It was an overcast and blustery day with the wind blowing 20 to 30 mph all day.  

Sand Hills, Par three 17th hole, Day one

Even the wide fairways of Sand Hills proved to be a challenge to hit on day one!

My wife on the windy first hole at Sand Hills on day one

We had the extreme good fortune to be first out on the course on day two.  The sun was out, the clouds were gone, and the course played very different with just a gentle breeze. 

Sand Hills, 8th green in foreground, 7th hole in background

Thirty-six holes and two of the best burgers we've ever eaten later, we reluctantly said goodbye to what is still our favorite place.  If anything, our experience was even better the second time around.  Everything at Sand Hills is perfect, the course, the staff, and the food. It embodies the soul of the game of golf.

Sand Hills, Par four 18th hole

We drove back to Omaha after our amazing two days at Sand Hills.  The last day of our trip began about an hour and a half north of Omaha in Homer, Nebraska.  Landmand Golf Club was probably the most anticipated public course to open in the last ten years due to the huge social media platform the designers, Rob Collins and Tad King, had developed.  This is Rob & Tad's first eighteen hole design after two nine hole courses, Sweetens Cove in Tennessee, and Inness in New York.  

Landmand, Par five 7th hole

the original Sitwell green

The course has one of the most ambitious set of greens I have ever seen, including the 17th, which is a tribute to the famous green at Sitwell Park Golf Club designed by Alister MacKenzie

Landmand, Par four 17th hole with it's re-creation of the famous Sitwell Park Green

Everything about the course is big.  Obviously the greens, but also the bunkers, and the routing in general.

The 9th green at Landmand is . . . interesting

We drove down to Lincoln, Nebraska for the final round of our trip.  The Country Club of Lincoln was built in 1922, and designed by William Tucker.  It meanders across gently rolling property on the southeast side of Lincoln, and was a wonderful course to wrap up our short but amazing trip to Nebraska.

Country Club of Lincoln, Par three 5th hole

For the second year in a row Nebraska delivered a wonderful golf vacation.  Between the amazing destinations in the Chop Hills, and the courses around in the Omaha area, Nebraska might be the most underrated state for golf in the US, with more golf coming in the future!

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