News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Frank Pasquale

  • Karma: +0/-0
Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« on: February 23, 2005, 02:38:17 PM »
I have some upcoming business there, and hope to get in two rounds.  Any suggestions on the better courses there?

Thanks

Casey Wade

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2005, 02:44:08 PM »
How far are you willing to travel?  How much do you want to spend?

Thornapple Pointe is near the airport and is a good track.  Pilgrim's Run is very nice, about 20 minutes north on 131.

On the private side, Egypt Valley, which hosts the Senior tour, Cascade Hills, Thousand Oaks, and Wuskowahn Players Club.

The you could go further North and hit Arcadia Bluffs in Manistee and Manistee National has 36 holes.
Some people are alive simply because it is illegal to shoot them.

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2005, 03:07:51 PM »
Frank

Tullymore is just under an hour north of GR.  It has many admirerers.  I hope you plan on visiting more like late April!

Ciao

Sean
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Gary_Nelson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2005, 03:15:39 PM »
#1 - Grand Island Golf Club
Owned and operated by GCA member Joe Hancock

#2 - The Mines GC
Opens July 4th 2005.  Mike DeVries design... and built by Joe Hancock.


Maybe I'm showing my bias here. Joe's a great guy and is the Grand Rapids insider.  Hopefully he will see this thread and post a reply.

Jeff_Mingay

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2005, 03:26:01 PM »
Once The Mines opened this summer, Grand Rapids will have three Mike DeVries designed/built golf courses... pretty cool! The third, not mentioned above, is Diamond Springs, which isn't too far from GR, near Hamilton, Michigan.
jeffmingay.com

JohnV

Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2005, 03:45:48 PM »
Boulder Creek was a decent course.  We used it for the Futures Tour in 2000 and 2001.  The front nine was tight, but the back 9 opened up and let you swing a little more.

I played Thousand Oaks which has close to 17 out of 18 holes playing downhill as I recall.  It would be a tough walk.

Doug Sobieski

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2005, 03:56:43 PM »
For my money, Pilgrim's Run is the best of the lot within 30 minutes of downtown. Very strategic and fun. Thornapple Pointe is fun, convenient to downtown and the airport, a handful of good holes. I don't understand why most people think that Thousand Oaks is the best public course in town. I would skip it for either of the other two.

Pilgrim's Run without question if you want to see interesting architecture.

Regards,

Sobe

Frank Pasquale

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2005, 04:05:06 PM »
This is great, thanks.  At least I am pointed in the right direction now.  I am going in June, so I have some time to do a bit more research.

Brian_Gracely

Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2005, 04:10:57 PM »
Sobe,

It's a little bit of a drive, but would you recommend Angels Crossing (http://www.golfangelscrossing.com/) down in Vicksburg?  Along with Warren Course, it's the course that I really regret not being able to visit on my trip up there last summer.  From everything I've heard, they seem to really have done things right up there.  


Doug Sobieski

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2005, 04:16:57 PM »
Brian:

The day I was going to play there last summer I got rained out, so I never got the chance to see it :(

Sobe

Gary_Nelson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2005, 05:10:39 PM »
I highly recommend Angel's Crossing as it was the top golfing experience of 2004 for me.  Severe green contours. Tough Redan hole (234 yards!!!).    Excellent Biarritz.   Play it if you enjoy golf architecture.  

Joe Hancock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2005, 06:16:12 PM »
Frank,

I have bias..... ;D, but I have some opinions that I think most could agree with as well.

Sobe's and others pointed to Pilgrims Run. It's a great golf course, but I'm gonna step out on this one and redirect you to Diamond Springs. Similar feel, but a very cool maintenance meld at DS that everyone should see. By the owners request, DeVries made it easy to manitain, but don't let yourself think that means it isn't in great shape....it is. Great greens, as you would expect from Mike, and terrific bunkering as well.

I really like Angels Crossing as well. It's huge, it's bold and it's different. The course is an hour south of GR, but worth the trip. The owners are great folks as well. Very accomodating.

In and around GR, you have the already listed courses. Boulder Creek is one mile from me....and again, great folks running the place. The course is ummm...well, it's ok as far as design, but always in great shape as I'm sure John VB would attest.

If you have access to privates, the one I would recommend is Blythefield CC, a Langford and Moreau. It's been fiddled with, but still worth a look. It's right between my course and Boulder Creek on the north side of GR.

Thousand Oaks is a Rees job. Pretty well summed up by others.

Thornapple Pointe....Bill Newcombe course with overgrown outer roughs. It isn't bad, but quite far down on my list of places to play in town. You have to give it points for convenience as it is only a couple miles or less from the airport. The locals call it "Trains, Planes and Automobiles".....that's a not-so-subtle clue.

Grand Island- Suggested by Gary"The Kiss-Up" Nelson. It really isn't anything to see, although I have had the pleasure of hosting several GCA guys in the past. It quite possibly is the most walkable course you'll ever set feet on, if you so choose. It was built just before the cartball onslaught of the early 70's, so great tee and green proximities. Other than that, I pride myself on keeping the greens smooth and tough...might be the only thing you'd walk away remembering. Oh, and the gregarious, gracious host would be forever etched into your memory!

I wish I could recommend the Mines GC, but I doubt it will be ready for play in June. The projected opening is early July. However, if you want to tour the course, I would be more than proud to show you around. The super is as anxious for a good spring as the rest of us.

And, finally, how can anyone talk GR golf without mention of Brigadoon? It quite possibly wraps up every reason why an architect should be hired to design golf courses, and dentists should concentrate on oral health. It's the only course I know that has halitosis.

Joe
" What the hell is the point of architecture and excellence in design if a "clever" set up trumps it all?" Peter Pallotta, June 21, 2016

"People aren't picking a side of the fairway off a tee because of a randomly internally contoured green ."  jeffwarne, February 24, 2017

Ken Fry

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2005, 08:31:50 PM »
On a selfish note, I will be visiting the Mines in late summer if anyone would like to take a stroll with me.

Also Angels Crossing is a course I missed seeing last year, would like to see it this year.

Any interested parties, please IM me.  (Joe, I'll call you regardless, so forget about getting off the hook!)

Ken

ed_getka

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #13 on: February 24, 2005, 10:53:13 AM »
Joe,
  You forgot to mention Brigadoon's nickname, Bring a dozen (balls that is, since you will lose a lot of them). :)
"Perimeter-weighted fairways", The best euphemism for containment mounding I've ever heard.

Joe Hancock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Any suggestions for Grand Rapids, Michigan?
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2005, 10:57:55 AM »
Ed, that falls into the department of "Gorey Details". But, you are right......

My usual line on a golf course, after losing the first ball of the day, is:

"That's OK, I brought two"....

I can't use that line at Brigadoon. I hope the Brigadoon staff can handle the onslaught of play that we're creating for them, via the "car wreck" syndrome. ;D

Joe
" What the hell is the point of architecture and excellence in design if a "clever" set up trumps it all?" Peter Pallotta, June 21, 2016

"People aren't picking a side of the fairway off a tee because of a randomly internally contoured green ."  jeffwarne, February 24, 2017

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back