David & RJ,
Here's the master plan and routing of Angels Crossing. I'm afraid if I shrink it much more it will just blend together. Some field tweaks were made to this original plan. They include a tournament tee for 13 located due E of 12 green with a forced carry over the bunker on the right of landing area. 13 bunker positioning through the green also changed. Hole by hole highlights from a recent press release follow. The release gives a good flavor of how we're promoting the course. We hope the GCA will appreciate the effort to educate the mainstream players of the true origins as well as the nostalgia of traditional golf.
The 18 to open this summer is comprised of the solitary loops on the E of the property. The front nine goes to the NE portion on section 24 while the back nine goes to the S of section 24. RJ's links above are great for examining the topo and original state of the property.
"As built" master plan and individual hole sketches are currently being completed. I will post them as they become available for your review and comments.
Enjoy!
JT
ANGELS CROSSING, VICKSBURG, MICHIGAN - THE COURSE:
OWNERS: ROBERT & JILL THOMPSON, SOUTH COUNTY GOLF DEVELOPMENT L.L.C.
2211 EAST V AVENUE
VICKSBURG, MICHIGAN 49097
269-649-1273
fertileprairie@aol.com
GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: W. BRUCE MATTHEWS III, A.S.G.C.A., 517-339-9700
GENERAL MANAGER: JAMES THOMPSON
SUPERINTENDENT: ROGER BARTON
GOLF PROFESSIONAL: MIKE HILL
18 HOLE COURSE - PAR 72 - 7001– 6590 – 6180 – 5609 – 4947 YARDS
9 HOLE COURSE - PAR 35 - 3300 – 3017 – 2694 – 2453 – 2090 YARDS
115 HOMESITES
The golf course is situated on the eastern edge of Michigan’s only prairie. The golf holes traverse the varied topography through the meadows and woodlots overlooking Portage Creek, Barton Lake and the wetlands that border fifteen of the holes. The course forms a cohesive bond between man and the environment.
Each W. Bruce Matthews III designed hole is spacious with plenty of room in the field of play in an honest, un-manufactured manner. Five sets of tees ranging from 4800-7000 yards test the physical and mental skills of all types of golfers. Classic in inspiration, the routing seamlessly flows through the property, blending power, accuracy and finesse. Bold, steep, grass faced bunkers with depths of three to twelve feet provide not only challenge but also offer dramatic views, texture and scale to the course. The bunkers, although large and deep, are not visible as you look back on the hole, in MacKenzie fashion.
The par threes range from the 152-yard sixteenth hole to the 248-yard twelfth. The par fours range from the short 347-yard ninth hole to the long 462-yard dogleg seventh. The par fives range from the reachable 534-yard seventeenth hole to the three shot 610-yard fourth. The routing includes the following highlights:
The first hole: 403-yard par 4
The large landing area is bordered by six-foot deep bunkers, one along the right side and two large buffalo shaped bunkers on the left side. The green is elevated with little backdrop making depth perception and club selection important for the approach. A deep bunker guards the right, front of the green. Twelve of the eighteen holes can be seen from this green.
The second hole: 355-yard par 4
The tee shot is slightly downhill into a hardwood forest, which encloses the second half of the hole. The short uphill second shot is to the green on top of the hill. Bunkers on the left and a hollow on the right guard the green.
The third hole: 200-yard par 3
The shot over wetlands to a green on the hill has plenty of bail out on the right side. Short, left and long slopes downhill quickly into trouble.
The fourth hole: 610-yard par 5
The “Long” of St. Andrews’s fourteenth hole is the forefather of this hole. The cape style “bite off” on the tee shot and the series of five bunkers that split the fairway short of the green provide several different routes to the hole.
The fifth hole: 384-yard par 4
The dogleg right plays around the deep natural area. The entire left side of the hole is tree lined. The shallow two-tier green is behind two six foot deep bunkers guarding the right half of the green.
The sixth hole: 181-yard par 3
Willie and Tom Dunn’s third hole at Golf De Biarritz, France that opened in 1888, inspired the “Biarritz” hole. C.B. Macdonald’s ninth hole at Yale University is the most famous Biarritz hole. A six to eight foot deep bunker on the right side guards the 180-foot long green. The center third of the green is three feet lower than the front and the rear.
The seventh hole: 462-yard par 4
The long dogleg par four plays to a “punch bowl green” nestled among the hardwoods. The punch bowl, a green that is depressed on three sides, was originally designed by early designers to protect their greens from wind desiccation. The fourth hole at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England is an early example.
The eighth hole: 565-yard par 5
The perfect uphill tee shot is over the fairway bunker at 230 yards setting up a visible second landing area. The sentry oak on the right side narrows the first landing area telling the golfer, “left is the way.” The hole is tree lined along the right side and a bunker on the left frames the second landing area. The fat part of the small green is over the left greenside bunker. The right side of the putting surface has a two and a half-foot depression flowing toward the tree line.
The ninth hole: 347-yard par 4
Trees on the right and the buffalo bunker left border the short par four. The small pot bunker in the center of the fairway is 220 yards left. The undulating green complex is open to the run up shot, as the left bunker is not really in play.
The tenth hole: 377-yard par 4
The medium length, relatively flat dogleg plays to an elevated green in which the putting surface “floats” on the horizon. The merits of poor visuals and the absence of framing make golfer trust his or her club selection.
The eleventh hole: 354-yard par 4
The back nine’s short par four is a dogleg right around native prairie grasses. Wetlands parallel the left side of the hole. Max’s hollow, an eight-foot deep grass bunker short and right of the green challenges the golfer who wants to cut the dogleg.
The twelfth hole: 248-yard par 3
“The Redan.” Inspired by the famous fifteenth hole at North Berwick, Scotland. The long par three is extremely difficult with a green that falls away from right to left three to four feet. Like the original, the eight-foot deep bunker guards the front of the green, leaving a narrow approach to run the ball up and feed down to the hole. Also in respect to the original, the hole is at grade and the green is not visible from the tee, adding to the challenge.
The thirteenth hole: 536-yard par 5
The double dogleg features a bottle neck first landing area as the bunkers on the right at 270 yards and 290 yards pinch the far end of the landing area. The second landing area plays around the "“Cardinal” bunker. The aggressive alternative plays over the rough inside the dogleg and a greenside bunker. Old Tom Morris and Charles Hunter designed the earliest cardinal hole, #3 at Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland.
The fourteenth hole: 384-yard par 4
The landing area kicks everything to the right. The small cedar just beyond the landing area is the target for the perfect tee shot. A single oak one hundred yards out from the green and wetlands right guard the right side approach. There are no bunkers on this hole; none needed, as the green falls away left to right.
The fifteenth hole: 449-yard par 4
The dogleg right plays to a wide landing area that offers a shorter, straighter route the further right the tee shot is. But, the landing area is guarded short, right and long by wetlands. The valley emerging from the wetlands into the green is reminiscent of “The Valley of Sin” on the Old Course’s eighteenth hole.
The sixteenth hole: 152-yard par 3
The course’s shortest hole was inspired by Mackenzie and Hunter’s sixteenth hole at Cypress Point. The small green is surrounded by five bunkers testing the short iron approach. The changing winds above the trees increase the importance of club selection. The long view past the green is Barton Lake.
The seventeenth hole: 534-yard par 5
The very reachable par five is Angels Crossing’s “Cape” hole which offers a direct route to the green perched twenty feet above wetlands. The left side of the fairway is the target for a shot at the green. A bunker complex on the left at 230 yards protects the left side. The second shot to the green is a carry over wetlands or the alternative safer route around the wetlands provides little trouble. C.B. Macdonald’s fourteenth hole at National Golf Links, New York is a preeminent par four Cape hole.
The eighteenth hole: 427-yard par 4
The finishing hole is flanked on the left by wetlands the entire length. The first landing area is in a bowl directing shots toward the center of the fairway. The long uphill second shot plays to a narrow 200-foot long green. The wetlands twenty feet below the left side of the green and the bunker on the right demand accurate execution of the approach shot.