Have to bump this thread up.. playing the Mines last week was a great treat.. It's now definitely on our to/from Michigan Rota..
Also, we now have "3D" visions, having played Mike Devries' KIngsley, Greywalls, and now the Mines... and perhaps 4DD as we better understand the roots of "unfinished business" at our summer home course at The Black Forest..
Ms Sheila & I played 27 at the Mines with Joe Hancock showing us the way and what fun that was (thanks Joe!!, when we got there he was out adjusting the sprinklers..), let alone the 23 with Chris DeNigris providing additional match play commentary.. we loved it all.. the layout, the challenges/options, the par threes, the views, the greens, and in hindsight we should have stayed to play with Chris Burgard and Sean Petersen who had their own road show going on.. but that steak at Boone's was good!
When we finished, one of the first thoughts was that we used almost all of our clubs and second that if one played there often, your handicap would travel very well.. some of the fun was virulent, as you were tempted to trade a straight 4-5 foot putt for one that would go up and come back down a green contour..
As a SE TX flatlander, it takes a little adjustment playing the hills of michigan each summer, and the Mines was immediately a calibration challenge on those first 4 par 4 holes across the road with the fairways canted left and right, the green complexes peeking out at you from subtle ground elevations and hill side slopes making club selection a test in itself..
Hole # 5, one of only two par 5's at the Mines was very exciting for me the first time, playing to the right edge of the dune and then going straight at the hole in two shots, right OB be damned, for a birdie.. it is the only constrained feeling hole with that long right fenceline. On the second try at #5, a flip of the wrist and leftward ho! almost took out some folks coming up #9.. bouncing off their cart roof.. do outgoing groups have right-of-way like at TOC?
# 6 .. I've played that hole before.. discipline off the tee, the elevated, tiered, shallow, wide skyline type green of treachery..
#7, 8, 11, & 15 are precision shot par threes,, that 7, 8, & 11 area in the SE quadrant has a great feel to it. I agree with Joe on that, great environs!
There are some par 4's which are pretty meaty from the tips and should give the big hitters what they look for in short type par 5's, but with no mercy.. next time I will try them.. I only really had trouble on #14, getting visually taken out after watching Joe and Chris take on the inside dogleg bunker and then trying to find the landing zone on right side of the fairway..
The 2nd three shotter, #17 gives one pause on the tee and watching Joe try to take it over the trees on the left flank left me wondering about how much reward was there. It was a crucial point with my perpetual match play partner and I had to grind there and ignore the right OB again..
#18 was a great ending hole asking for solid golf shots .. no nonsense,.. watch yourself left side of green..
let's just go through the tunnel and go again..
great stuff Mike!
thanks again Joe.. see you next year if you're around!