Radrick Farms

[Matt Bielawa]

I was asked to talk a little about Radrick Farms, in Ann Arbor.

This is the more "under the radar" of the two courses owned by University of Michigan and is definitely more of a private club.  Its original purpose, which exists to this day, is largely as a perk for faculty and staff of the University.  They can play as much as they want.  There are other ways to gain access through donations and/or joining a waiting list if an alumnus/alumna.

This is the first 18 hole "Championship Course" designed by Pete Dye (designed in '62 and opened in '65).  He had done 27 holes in the Indianapolis area before Radrick.  Allegedly, Harlan Hatcher, President of UM at the time stumbled upon El Dorado, Dye's 9-hole track in Indy, took a liking to it, and asked Dye to build UM's second course.  Considering that the main UM course was the work of MacKenzie, this was a pretty big leap of faith to hire an unknown and unestablished architect.  In retrospect, the decision worked just fine!

This was the work of Pete Dye before Pete Dye even knew who he was.  Apparently, he came back a few years after it opened and didn't even like it.  Many think it has more Robert Trent Jones features, as that was his basis for design before he came up with some of his own ideas.  The course isn't like the other Dye courses I've played, which isn't a bad thing at all.  It's really fun and has good variety.  Plenty of challenge, but very walkable, and very reasonable to get around with one golf ball.  There are a few railroad ties here and there, but they're more on the borders of holes, and I'm not sure if they weren't added after the original design.

The land was formerly the property of Frederick Matthaei, a former UM Regent and well known individual in the area.  Matthaei donated his property to the University for the golf course, and his former home serves as the clubhouse today.  The property is beautifully secluded from the outside world, though that's currently changing a bit as a housing development is being built along the edges of the 6th and 8th holes.....horrible!  

The course is a great complement to the UM course, and makes a pretty good 1-2 punch if you can play them both.  Very different, but both great.

[Chris_Blakely]

As Pete Dye said in his book, he did not get to handle the construction side of the work at Radrick Farms and I believe that is part of the reason the course feels different than most of his other work - including his early projects.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,14857.0.html

And here are some photos:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41172.0.html

Chris

[Matt Bielawa]

As Pete Dye said in his book, he did not get to handle the construction side of the work at Radrick Farms and I believe that is part of the reason the course feels different than most of his other work - including his early projects.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,14857.0.html

And here are some photos:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41172.0.html

Chris

Yes, good point.  If I'm not mistaken, he was already working on Crooked Stick by the time construction at Radrick began?

[Aaron McMaster]

As Pete Dye said in his book, he did not get to handle the construction side of the work at Radrick Farms and I believe that is part of the reason the course feels different than most of his other work - including his early projects.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,14857.0.html

And here are some photos:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41172.0.html

Chris

Yes, good point.  If I'm not mistaken, he was already working on Crooked Stick by the time construction at Radrick began?

Matt,

I played Radrick when I was in high school and college a lot and I always thought it was underrated.  Very unPete like....The greens can be diabolical.  I watched Tiger 4 putt the 7th and 9th greens there when he was a junior.....then he shot 34 on the back which was just stupid good that day for kids that age.

Looking through those photos, jesus they need a chainsaw!

[Matt Bielawa]

I have heard rumors that he made an 8 on #6 that day as well.  I think the green on #7 is the toughest on the course...a 4-putt wouldn't completely shock me!

[Mike Schott]

BCowan here is a member. Perhaps he will add his comments.

[Aaron McMaster]

I have heard rumors that he made an 8 on #6 that day as well.  I think the green on #7 is the toughest on the course...a 4-putt wouldn't completely shock me!

Matt no doubt about 7 and from the tee it doesn't look bad then you get on it and realize you can't stop a putt.  6 and 7 back to back are incredibly hard holes.

[JWL]

I was a member for many years at Radrick in the 70's.   Fun course on a a fantastic piece of land.   Good players club at the time.
Below is an exerpt from an interview with Bill Newcomb a few years ago that gives some perspective on how the course got started and about the designers....I

"At any event, I went on to play four years here, captained the team my senior year, and majored in architecture. In my fifth year, I was done with college golf, and I still wanted to be an architect. But that year I won the Indiana Open and played in the Master's, and I started to think that I might want to play professional golf. But there was a war going on, and I was married, and I wanted more security. So I went back to graduate school in landscape architecture. And that was my first introduction to land contours and earth and water. Well, there was a woman in the same program, Barbara Rotvig, who was the women's golf coach too. She was in the program specifically to design a golf course at the request of the guy who used to own Radrick Farms. They were close friends and he wanted her to design a course on his land. Well, Barbara died of cancer. And they looked around to see who else knew anything about golf. They were already started on this big project and had to continue. So they found me and offered me the deal.

Eventually then, I designed 36 holes at Radrick Farms. And as part of my project, I had to write up a report on who the leading course architects at the time were so they could interview them to do the actual building of the course. Well, I knew of Pete Dye, Jones, Wilson, and Packard. So I wrote it up, and Pete Dye ends up getting the job. And I ended up getting hired by Pete Dye almost on the spot.

I kind of liked that work. So when I graduated from graduate school, I thought I'd put the regular architecture on hold for a while and concentrate on golf courses. So I began working full time for Pete Dye"

[Chris_Blakely]

http://www.michigangolf.com/departments/features/newcomb-interview.htm

Interview with William Newcomb.

[John Percival]

Laura and I were members at RF about 10 yrs ago. In conversations, was told that Pete wanted to remove more trees, but was limited by the university. By whom, they weren't quite sure. Definitely need thinning on 5, 9, 16 and especially 13.
If u do play it, look for some of the old tees, especially at 13! OMG it must have been impossible from them.
Greens are massive and have huge undulations. The pin is almost never in the front of 6 green, but we played it once when it was there and my 35 footer broke 20 feet. And finished below the hole. Laura hated the greens because she just couldn't fathom the huge swings on some of the putts.
Some great holes..#2 looks easy but gives everyone fits with a squeezed landing zone and an elevated approach. Any pin left on the 3rd green is bogeyland. The fifth and sixth are a great duo...a short 5 and a monster 4. Get me thru in 9 shots. The seventh looks open, but the green has ferocious internal contours (back left!). Watched a good player drive it 30 yards from the 8th green and STRUGGLED to make 8!
#12 has the capacity to be a monster 4 or a short 5. Same at 14. Always wished the club would mix those up a bit. 14 green (as well as #5) is very deep, but they never use the cool, back-left section? And 17 is just a classic 4 par. Plenty of room for a monster back tee near 16 green.
Would love to see another 18 built, as the property has a magical feel.  

[BCowan]

Very nice of Links Magazine do to an article on Radrick Farms on its 50 year anniversary. 

http://www.linksmagazine.com/golf_courses/radrick-farms

[John Percival]

Forgot to comment about the name...
the land donor - Frederick Matthei had/has two sons, ConRAD and FredRICK.....RADRICK Farms.
Kinda cool.

Congrats MSU.
PLEASE beat Duke.

[Terry Lavin]

Forgot to comment about the name...
the land donor - Frederick Matthei had/has two sons, ConRAD and FredRICK.....RADRICK Farms.
Kinda cool.

Congrats MSU.
PLEASE beat Duke.

Wouldn't that be lovely.