Arcadia Bluffs, Crystal Downs and Forest Dunes

[Mike H]

I am playing Arcadia Bluffs, Crystal Downs and Forest Dunes next week.  I have read a lot about the courses on here and have huge expectations for Crystal Downs.  Is there any way I will be disappointed?  I know very little about Forest Dunes and have the least expectations there of the bunch.  Can anyone give me some advice for any of the three courses?

[Jud_T]

Yes,

Dump Arcadia and play Kingsley instead...

[Ryan Taylor]

Can only comment on Arcadia. Beautiful piece of property. Don't hit over the green on 1. 4 plays downwind and is drivable from the blue tees for long hitters. Miss right off the tee on 10 vs. left. 11, 12 and 13 are the most beautiful holes on the course. 17 plays + 15 yards. 18 is very pleasing to the eye off the tee. I found the heather to be very playable and hit driver on nearly every par 4/5. Hope this helps.

[Tom_Doak]

Mike:

Of course, you could be disappointed by Crystal Downs.  There's always more potential for disappointment when you have heard so much about a course, as opposed to 30 years ago when I went there having no idea what to expect.  And, there's always the chance that you just have poor taste and a lousy short game, in which case, it could be a long day. 

Best advice for Crystal Downs ... stay below the hole, and under no circumstances should you ever go past the pin on #1, #9, or #11, or to the left of the pin on #13.

[Peter Pallotta]

Mike - just to add to Tom's comments (ha, ha) - I'm an average golfer who hits it only an average distance with average control and yet I don't remember even one hole where any of that was a problem. On the other hand, I do remember 18 holes where not hitting the green or hitting it to the wrong spot caused big, big problems!  Just one heck of an enjoyable course -- not too long, apparently nothing too hard or too demanding....and yet I ended up taking 15 strokes more than I usually do!!  Enjoy.

Peter

[JC Jones]

Yes,

Dump Arcadia and play Kingsley instead...

And miss the chance of making 3 notches on his "top 100" belt?

[Bill_McBride]

I'm with Jud, I enjoyed Kingsley a lot more than Arcadian Bluffs, which has wonderful views but an incoherent routing that is unwalkable. Kingsley is a great walk and has many more good holes.

Crystal Downs is personal top 25-30 for me.  It's fun, challenging, scary, and that's just the first hole.

Forest Dunes was the sleeper of that trip, good solid course that goes from dunes to parkland and back.  Very much worth the drive out to Roscommon from Traverse City.

[Jim Colton]

Yes,

Dump Arcadia and play Kingsley instead...

And miss the chance of making 3 notches on his "top 100" belt?

[SL_Solow]

I have a different reaction.  I would suggest that if your trip is planned, go there without any preconceptions set by this group of "experts".  Then cone back and tell us what you think.  We can then compare notes.

[Paul Jones]

I played Forest Dunes yesterday and loved it.  The weather was really nice (55 - 65 Degrees).  Great opening hole, really good Par 5, drivable Par 4 for the 17th.  All the Par 3 were good, but wished they would make at least one shorter, all of them seemed pretty long. 

[Ken Fry]

There's no way I'd go to that part of the world without putting Kingsley in the mix.

With that said, Crystal is justified world class.  Enjoy the unpretentious feel of the place.

Arcadia is surprisingly gorgeous for the first time visitor.  There's a lot going on as far as visual stimulation.  If the wind is up, it's quite a challenge.

Forest Dunes was the sleeper for me on my last trip.  I didn't look for much opinion so I could enjoy it without expectations.  I found it to be a really fun course with a lot of variety.  My only knock is I felt they keep the place "too green."

Enjoy the trip!!

Ken

[Ronald Montesano]

All the Par 3 were good, but wished they would make at least one shorter, all of them seemed pretty long. 

Paul,

They call that "play up a few tees" and don't worry about what it does to your handicap. In this era of too many 195-yard par fives, I find myself moving to the forward or semi-forward at least once a round, to have a short-iron pitch into a green. I'm told it's still legal.

[Paul Jones]

Paul,

They call that "play up a few tees" and don't worry about what it does to your handicap. In this era of too many 195-yard par fives, I find myself moving to the forward or semi-forward at least once a round, to have a short-iron pitch into a green. I'm told it's still legal.

[Paul Jones]

Paul,

They call that "play up a few tees" and don't worry about what it does to your handicap. In this era of too many 195-yard par fives, I find myself moving to the forward or semi-forward at least once a round, to have a short-iron pitch into a green. I'm told it's still legal.

Funny thing is that I played the Par 3s in 1 under - I had a birdie on 9 (the shortest one) and parred the rest.

[Charlie Visconsi]

it should stay light well past nine; just add Kingsley.  You must play Kinglsey.  After you play Crystal Downs, Kingsley is a great companion course to Crystal Downs.  Playing both the same day is great. 

[Joel_Stewart]

Mike:

Of course, you could be disappointed by Crystal Downs.  There's always more potential for disappointment when you have heard so much about a course, as opposed to 30 years ago when I went there having no idea what to expect.  And, there's always the chance that you just have poor taste and a lousy short game, in which case, it could be a long day. 

Best advice for Crystal Downs ... stay below the hole, and under no circumstances should you ever go past the pin on #1, #9, or #11, or to the left of the pin on #13.

This is excellent advice.  The point is the greens are very sloped and can be really fast at times.  Again do not go above the hole!

[cary lichtenstein]

Do not skip Acadia Bluffs, great topography, don't miss it

[Mike H]

I just got back from my golf trip and came away injured and impressed.  We played 36 at Arcadia, 36 at Crystal Downs and 18 at Forest Dunes.  I was hoping to play 18 at Kingsley after CD but did not want to pass up the chance for another 18 at CD and redemption.

Arcadia was visually a great course and like nothing I have ever played.  Holes 10-13 were my favorites.  I was very surprised with the elevation change.  Going into Crystal Downs I had huge expectations but when driving in and being able to see a few holes and parking in a grass lot I started asking myself what the big deal is with CD.  That feeling quickly went away with how gracious everyone was to have us there and by the time we reached the 5th green I didn't want to leave and was falling in love with the course.  I can say that CD is the hardest 6600 par 70 course I have ever played and have never enjoyed shooting such a high number.  We were told that we would putt off a green at least once and I made it 36 holes without having that issue. CD is a special place and hard to explain to someone who has not played there.  After falling in love with Crystal Downs I had a little let down with Forest Dunes but I enjoyed the course and it had a different feel than other courses I have played.  I do not understand how it can be too "green" though. 

[John Kavanaugh]

When did you decide you were playing 36 at Crystal Downs and not playing Kingsley?

[Tom_Doak]

Mike:

I could see how a grass parking lot might put off Mr. Kavanaugh    but, other than that, I fail to understand how that feature made a bad first impression of Crystal Downs.

[JC Jones]

Certainly few would argue with you on passing up Kingsley for a second 18 at CD (I wouldn't but I am in the minority).  Your fault was passing up 18 at Kingsley for either of the other two.  Then again, if parking lot aesthetics are your thing, perhaps Arcadia and Forest Dunes were a good choice.

[Ken Fry]

After falling in love with Crystal Downs I had a little let down with Forest Dunes but I enjoyed the course and it had a different feel than other courses I have played.  I do not understand how it can be too "green" though. 

Mike,

In my opinion, Forest Dunes has too much water put down on it.  It's wall to wall perfect green.  The last time I played it, the fairways and rough were quite lush.  This is quite a contrast to the rustic conditions beyond the playing corridors.  I don't believe the environment where the course is located is meant to be wall to wall green.  I expected firmer conditions throughout, not just on the greens.

Ken

[Bill_McBride]

After falling in love with Crystal Downs I had a little let down with Forest Dunes but I enjoyed the course and it had a different feel than other courses I have played.  I do not understand how it can be too "green" though. 

Mike,

In my opinion, Forest Dunes has too much water put down on it.  It's wall to wall perfect green.  The last time I played it, the fairways and rough were quite lush.  This is quite a contrast to the rustic conditions beyond the playing corridors.  I don't believe the environment where the course is located is meant to be wall to wall green.  I expected firmer conditions throughout, not just on the greens.

Ken

The course was pleasingly dry and firm in summer 2007.  The holes out on the back side far end were very reminiscent of heathland courses in England. 

[Mike H]

At no point did we ever plan on playing Kingsley until it was mentioned on here.  I was told that we would be teeing off at Crystal Downs at noon yesterday and felt it could be a stretch to play 18 at Kingsley knowing very little about the drive.  I also was not wanting to press the envelop and try to play any earlier at Crystal.  Once we got to Crystal and talked with the assistant he let us know we were welcome to go out for another 18 or he would make a call to Kingsley for us to play.  After we hit our tee shots on 6 me and my friend both felt there was no way we could pass up another 18 holes of golf at Crystal Downs. 

Regarding the parking lot, I was just taken back and did not expect to see that.  I will admit that I sometimes judge a book by its cover and was way off in this circumstance.  I have a somewhat limited playing experience playing extremely nice places but for a place of this caliper I was expecting a guard shack, huge locker room etc.  Once I played the course everything including the parking lot seems to fit.  I did gain a better understanding for just how bad of short game I have! 

Has Crystal Downs remained virtually unchanged since the course was opened?  Also what kind of scores did the players at the Sr Amateur post?

[George Freeman]

Yes,

Dump Arcadia and play Kingsley instead...

If you can only play three, I'd recommend dumping Forest Dunes for Kingsley and keeping Arcadia (assuming you can get on Kingsley).  Forest Dunes may very well be a better course than Arcadia, but Arcadia is a pretty special place to spend a Michigan summer evening.  Not to mention logistically Arcadia makes a lot more sense...

As previously mentioned, Kingsley Club is a no brainer.