High Pointe Golf Club - Williamsburg Michigan

[Bob_Garvelink]

Gents,


All I have to say is WOW!  Tom Doak and his team appear to be making something special once again in Northern Michigan.  The terrain, green complexes and character of each hole is just mind blowing


I visited the website and was blown away at the progress and holes that are in place.  I encourage everyone to take a look and I love myself some Pacific Dunes but the holes that are show on the club website are just blowing me away.  Kudos to the gentlemen that is putting together so the social media for this club as his work is outstanding.


https://www.highpointegc.com/


All 18 holes look fantastic and I think this is gonna be a course that is talked about for generations when its completed.  All I can say is check out the website and I think everyone will be blown away.


Rod Trump (owner) appears to be a great guy who just wants to do amazing things in the golf community.  The fact that he has Tom Doak and Dan Lucas pretty much assures that this will be one of the top clubs in the country and gives me ever more reason to retire in Northern Michigan someday.


Check out the website....you will be glad you did 

[Tom_Doak]

Bob:


I hope that the course will be half as good as you think . . . and I sincerely mean that, as I am likely to be playing there into my old age, a lot more than at my other courses.


But as for their approach to marketing, I wish they were a lot less excited.  The hype is exhausting.  There's a lot of that in the golf business nowadays, including from some of my other clients, but it seems much stronger from High Pointe because they are selling my legacy, and not just the course.  Rest assured, that was not my idea.


I've got a half-dozen projects in some stage of completion now and there is something to be said for all of them.  I will be curious to see which of them are considered among my best work in five years' time.  I personally don't want to put my thumb on that scale at all.

[Ronald Montesano]

Mr. Rod Trump, the referenced gentleman, has been super approachable since day one-for-me of the project. I have no skin in the game, other than a friendly acquaintanceship with Mr. Doak and an interest in promoting golf architecture through writing.

I'm one of the fortunate ones who gets as much juice from photographing a golf course, as he does from playing it. I've had rounds where my buds played and I took pics, and I enjoyed the golf through them and the course beneath my feet. That is stated, as I hope to get to HP one day and shoot it, one way or the other.

[Bob_Garvelink]

Bob:


I hope that the course will be half as good as you think . . . and I sincerely mean that, as I am likely to be playing there into my old age, a lot more than at my other courses.


But as for their approach to marketing, I wish they were a lot less excited.  The hype is exhausting.  There's a lot of that in the golf business nowadays, including from some of my other clients, but it seems much stronger from High Pointe because they are selling my legacy, and not just the course.  Rest assured, that was not my idea.


I've got a half-dozen projects in some stage of completion now and there is something to be said for all of them.  I will be curious to see which of them are considered among my best work in five years' time.  I personally don't want to put my thumb on that scale at all.

Tom,


I would not want to brag either about my work   From my perspective you guys are doing some amazing things at High Pointe and I cannot wait to see it in person. 


From the videos a few things stand out to me about holes 1-10 (all of them look amazing)


Hole # 2 - Par 4 - The green complex appears to have a boomerang shape green which is super cool.  I am not sure the contour of the green but it looks great from the sky   There is a large bunker protecting the green in the front right so its looks like a fun hole to play.  From what I can tell there is a large slope in the middle of the green so it appears different pin positions will allow you to funnel the ball towards the pin


Hole #3- Par 3 - How cool that you have a par 3 with two different greens which will give members options on whether to play it short or long.  I just think that is so cool.  My favorite hole at Pacific Dunes is #9 and I have always loved the two greens because they each play so different.  The fact that you do this on the 3rd at High Pointe just gets me excited and I think it's gonna be a fun hole to play.  It appears the green that was made for the shorter hole has a large bunker in front and behind so a precise shot will be necessary.


Hole 4 - par 5 - This green appears to be tucked right next to a treeline which makes it so beautiful.  It once again is heavily guarded which will make iron shots extremely important.


Hole 5 - par 4 - Such a pretty looking green with what appears to be a large bunker in front a an few others around it but should have plenty of room to bump and run shots if you have the right angle.  I am not sure on the terrain of this hole but its unique


Hole #6 & Hole #9 - Par 3's - Love the heavily guarded par 3 green complexs on these holes and they both look absolutely beautiful online.  The scenery and backdrop on these holes is so pretty.


Hole #8 - Par 4 - This is one I am really excited to play as the approach shot will be into an elevated green and I am curious about the green complex itself.  Not sure if there are areas to funnel the ball or if its more flat.


Hole #10 - Par 4 - This appears to be my favorite hole from the video....a thick tree lined backdrop of pines is so pretty.  This hole just reminds me of Northern Michigan because it appears you are out in the middle of nowhere.  I am so excited to play this hole as it looks amazing

[Tom_Doak]

Bob:


If you were familiar with the original version of High Pointe, the new 8 & 9 are the old 10th & 11th holes.  The 10th green is a soft punchbowl, so that any approach that gets up the hill will generally be okay.  The 11th is the opposite of that, its green perched on top of a dune with steep drops to three sides.

[JLahrman]

Hmmm, just looked it up on a map...is this course visible from Route 72? I just must have passed it three times two weekends ago, my family was staying with friends in Kalkaska and commuting back and forth to the Cherry Capital Cup youth soccer tournament outside Traverse City. Both my sons' teams won their divisions, thanks for asking.


But while I'm not as much in the know as many folks on this site, and I've only been living in Michigan for two years, maybe I can put Tom's mind at ease a bit regarding his comment that "the hype is exhausting" because I've never heard of the course or the project otherwise I would have gone a mile or two out of my way to have a peek. I'll check out the video.

[Tom_Doak]

Layman:


The old front nine used to be visible from the road, but that’s the ground the hops farm took over.  There are a couple of big trees that stick up on the horizon - those are by the 13th tee.

[Bill Seitz]

I was never sure where it was as I didn't start going to the area until shortly after it closed, but we took the boys to the bug and butterfly museum last year, and as we drove past the hops, I kinda figured it out.  Hope to get a chance to see it soon, and it would be great to see Dan again.  I met Mr. Trump at the Fried Egg event at Kingsley last year and he couldn't have been nicer, and is clearly enthused about the project. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

It had a decent location. If you are on 31 you drive north of Traverse to Acme and go eat on 72 for a couple of miles. The course was a mile or so south of 72.  I played the course half a dozen times but I normally missed the road off highway 72.

[Chris_Blakely]

The pictures of what has been completed already look fascinating.


I still remember many of the holes from the original High Pointe.


Chris

[Greg Hohman]

The website has an effective landing screen, building excitement cleverly by placing visitors in a cart speeding through the work-in-progress.