I'm the assistant professional at Marquette GC (site of Mike's Greywalls course), and I'll try to answer a few questions I noticed in this thread...
Regarding our playing season, typically we open the old 18 (now called "The Heritage") in mid-April (depending of course on the weather) and shut down October 31. The snow doesn't leave Greywalls for an extra week or two in the spring, so I'm betting we won't have it open this year until the first week of May at the absolute earliest. We do get our cold days during the summer but it's usually quite comfortable from late May through mid-September. The fall colors are at their peak around the first week of October (and provide an extra eyeful on Greywalls), and this last fall was unseasonably warm. In my opinion, fall is the best time to play in this area, even if you do have to throw on an extra layer.
Regarding the original Langford 9, these are now mixed in with the modern layout, so to play the original 9, one would have to play the following in the order given on the current course:
10 - 11 - 7 - 8 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 12 - 13
As Jeff Mingay has pointed out, these holes have changed from their original conditions, including the shortening of the 13th (the original 9th) by about 50 yards as the original tee shot used to carry across Grove Street. If you have played or ever do play the Heritage course, look for the storm shelter to the right of the 12th green and you will be looking at the old position of the 13th tee. This made the hole much more difficult than it is in its current state, though the green setting is still the most treacherous on the course and makes it one of the funnest holes we have.
As for testaments about the Greywalls course, I played the front nine twice this past fall (we limited play due to the sensitive condition of the turf), and I can say with no doubt in my mind that it's the most thrilling course I've ever set foot on. I gave tours on an almost daily basis for the two years prior to its opening, and seeing it was nothing like playing it. I can't remember any other round in my life providing the kind of excitement I was faced with on each shot on Greywalls, and here in late January I can easily recall every shot I took in my two 9's. I can also tell you that in my total 18 holes I used every club in my bag.
All that said, the back nine is probably the better of the two, with less rock outcroppings but more of Mike's bread-and-butter design. I can't wait to play it!
Hope to see some of you GCA'ers out there in '05.
Someone asked if there were any other good courses in the area. Timberstone in Iron Mountain (about 90 minutes southwest of Marquette) is a fun track that has received some notoriety from the golf press, and Wild Bluff near Sault Ste. Marie has been the host of a Canadian tour event for the last few years. Those are the two that get the most recognition, but my favorite other U.P. course would have to be Indian Lake GC in Manistique. None come close to Greywalls, but they're worth checking out if you're headed our way.