The Kingsley Club

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I have just returned from playing at the Kingsley Club in Michigan,and as such I thought I would give the course my review.

The personel at the club for starters are fantastic, David and his staff were wondeful very accomodating and helpful and Dan Lucas the superintendant ahs done a marvelous job.
The course was in superb shape with the fescues prepered tp perfection, fast running fairways and delightful greens running I would guesss between 10 and 11 on the stimp.

Now to the course...Mike Devries is close to a genius, the entire course is a journey into architectural heaven, you may not agree with all of the features all of the time, but Mike takes you along a wonderful journey of contour and elevation changes.
The routing is awesome,very walker friendly...although some of the elevation changes can be hard on the legs......and from the daunting first tee shot, you know that the course is going to be a challenge.

The green complexes are exquisite, some on the severe side of life, but very fair and others like the 12th are pure simplicity at it's finest.

If you consider yourself a fan of minimalist design, a visit to Kingsley will leave you smiling from ear to ear.

I know that you guys do not want a hole by hole description, especially without the aid of photos, but for those who have played the course and have comments...open up the thread...

A truly memorable experience, and one that I cannot wait to repeat.

[NAF]

Michael-

you have traveled the road I traveled a few years back..

Amen...

[Peter Pratt]

TKC is truly a special place. I have been fortunate enough to play it a few times and, like its neighbor High Pointe, which I have played 10-15 times, new treats reveal themselves with every playing.  For me, one mark of a superb golf course is that you have new favorite holes each time you play. The back nine has come in for some criticism--and impassioned defense, I should add; it is not so much inferior to the front nine and different and wonderful in its own way. The 15th hole converted me to the joys of the half-par hole, especially after I made a half-birdie (i.e., par) there following a double. The 10th is probably the least distinctive hole at TKC, but I love the 11th (a tough shot to a diagonal green) and 12th--not just the flabbergasting 13th. The 2nd shot at the 18th reminds me of the 2nd to the 18th a Ballybunion (Old).  

The staff have treated me warmly, even though I am an not a member. The course isn't an easy walk, but it leaves you with that pleasant fatigue after an exhilarating round.

We in Michigan are blessed to have Crystal Downs, Kingsley, High Pointe, and Arcadia Bluffs within an hour or so of each other.

[Steve Lang]

 

Most memorable thing playing first time is wondering which way to accomplish the next objective..

[cary lichtenstein]

2 thumbs up based on my 1 play of Kingsley

Cary

[Jimmy Muratt]

I come to appreciate the Kingsley Club more and more over time.  It is a unique type of golf course rarely seen in the US.  For me, it is the most "fun" golf course I have ever played.  It's a rare course in that in can still be extremely fun while being challenging.  

Many courses claim to utilize the "ground game" in their design, Kingsley actually delivers big time.  I remember standing in the middle of the 1st fairway about 80 yards from the green with the club's founder.  He proceeded to show us about five different ways to play that one shot.  Everything from a low running pitch, to a full wedge, to utlizing the banks and ridges on the green to get the ball close.  You run into these sorts of shots all around the golf course.  

Options, options, options......  Fun golf.

[Jimmy Muratt]

To help add to the discussion, pick your favorite par 3, par 4, and par 5 at Kingsley, and explain what you enjoy so much about them.....

I'll start:

Par 3:  #2, 162 yards from back tee
This is one of my favorite par 3's in golf.  It just tempts you to play aggressively, especially with a front pin.  The smart play is to play to the back section of the green, no matter where the pin is.  Everything a good short par 3 should be.


Par 4:  #13, 285 yards  (honorable mention to #3 and #15)
A wonderful risk/reward par 4.  You can play this whole countless ways and the real fun starts when you get to the green.  My last time playing this hole:  I layed up 50 yards short off the tee, hit a little flip wedge to the front right pin attempting to use the ridge behind and left of the hole to get it close.  The ball hung up on the ridge and left a nice ticklish putt which I proceeded to putt into the bunker.  Went from a hopeful birdie to a quick double, and had a great time doing it.



Par 5:  #14, 578 yards
#1 is probably the most obvious choice, but #14 has a subtle quality which I love.  The long hitter is tempted off the tee to take an aggressive line over the fairway bunkers on the right.  If successful, the green is reachable in two.  The contours of this green are very subtle and putts difficult to read correctly.

[Mike_Cirba]

KC is the most underrated course in the United States.  

To think that Golfweek is the only national listing that recognizes this great course is absurd.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Mike
I could not agree with you more.
After 5 rounds there last week, the course was more intersting and better each time.
The playability of the course becomes more apparent, and the strategy that Devries has placed into this masterpiece all the  more appreciated.
It is a very fine golf course.

As for my favourite 3-4-5 par holes...very difficult indeed.
Par 4...# 12..minimalist at its finest, what a breathtaking tee shot wioth that elevation change and the green site is one of the best I have ever played...no bunkers on the hole at all..ni hazards at all simply mother nature.
Honourable mention has to go to # 15 one of the hardest par fours on the planet.

Par 5.......I will have to go for # 14 as as well, although I really like all 3 of them.
The green complex on #7 is very special, but overall I think I like 14 the best.
Par 3..all of them simple as that, they are all just wonderful varying from the very difficult #2 and 9 with the "hit the green or else" ...to the long # 5 and 16 which enable the use of greenside contours to minimise the actaul length of the hole

and # 11 is fantastically simple but a wonderful par 3, and heaven forbid you miss the green short in those deep bunkers.


A real joy, it is the mark of a great course when you have so many favourite holes
I truly cannot think of a hole I did not like or even had problems with

[Jimmy Muratt]

Michael,

You make a great point when you said:  "it is the mark of a great course when you have so many favourite holes".  

I could have easily picked 4 or 5 different par 4's for my favorite, I really like all of the par 3's, I agree with you on #11, it's a wonderful simple hole that doesn't get enough credit.  And the par 5's, #1, 7, and 14 are all great.

[George Pazin]

Thanks for posting the photos, Jimmy, especially the photos of 13. Wow, that looks like a fun hole.

[Peter Pratt]

I'll weigh in with some different choices.

Par 3: #5--the punch bowl green beckons on the long tee shot, and can propel your ball toward the hole. The green itself has some devilish humps that can direct your putts away from the hole.

Par 4: #2--great tee shot into the humps and then a nettlesome second to a green that simultaneously invites--it seems so big and flat from the fairway--and repels.

Par 5: #7--I love the tee shot, the tricky 2nd, and then the precise third to a nearly over the top green.

Of course, I love 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18....

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

#13 is a wonderful par...Although it only measures some 230 or so, the pin placement dictates what you hit off the tee.
In the 3 days of event play I hit 2 iron 3 wood and driver all dictated by the yardage I needed/wanted in to the pin placement.

The last days placement was wicked back left on that plateau..all 5 yards in width of it..fantastic stuff..I just love all the bumps and hollows..Devries is the man

[Bill_McBride]

Here's a question for those who have played there:  The Kingsley Club hosts a hickory tournament in June every year.  How would it be to battle your way around the course with brassie, cleek, mashie and niblick?  I have recently gotten myself into the hickory thing (including a 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie mashie niblick purchased last month in the shop where it was made!), and am really thinking about leaping into the hickory tournament arena.  It is really fun hitting those old clubs.  But the KC looks like a real fistful from Ran's profile and these photos.  There is nothing quite like playing a bunker shot with the niblick!  

[Jim Franklin]

Bill -
 
Kingsley is a wonderful throw back course in the spirit of Alister Mackenzie so I would assume it would be a good test for the hickories. It certainly will not be easy, but golf wasn't easy with hickories in the first place. I bet it would be a lot of fun to see how the game was played with old sticks at a new club that was designed with the great architects in mind. I, myself, like the new technology.

[Jim Franklin]

Oh yeah, my favorite par 3 was #2 with #s 5 & 9 a close second. My favorite par 4 was #13 with #s 2 & 15 a close second. My favorite par 5 was #1. What a great way to start the course.

[Bill_McBride]

Jim, I love the new stuff too (although not what it is doing to the old courses) but there's something equally fun about playing with the hickories.  Maybe it's the plus fours!

[Buck Wolter]

Finally got to play TKC today and what a treat. Still going over the round in my head 4 hours later. Way too much going on to even try to analyze it for me after just one round bit I'll throw out some thoughts.

More movement in the fairways than I've ever seen and firm and fast conditions that let you utilize them. Some of the most visually intimidating shots I've ever seen but when you reach the fairway, approach, green there's typicall plenty of width and a place to bail out (not always). Some very small greens especially on the back. From the middle tees the average length of the par 3's was shortest that I can recall for a course that length --I put the par 3's with Royal County Down and St. Louis as the courses I've played with the best set.

Favorite holes
Par 3 I'll go out on a limb and say #9. Wild hole and the green seems to be an homage (sp?) to #7 at Crystal Downs. Liked all of them though.

Par 4 #13 terrific short par 4.

Par 5 #1 Most exciting first tee shot I've ever played with a tough green.

Sounds like these may change if I play again!

Michael -- Curious what the scores were in the event you played? Did the other 'players' like it as much as you?

Buck

[Jim Franklin]

Bill -

I agree with your sentiment, but I am not sure about the plus fours. I may look like one of the Three Stooges if I wore those .

[PThomas]

Jim:  I think you'd look mahvelous, darling

and you DO have a good enough game to wear them...a guy at my club wears them, but he's pretty good too

I personally don't think one should wear such clothes unless one is at least a single-digit...

[Jim Franklin]

Thanks Paul, but yikes! I think I'll stick to my orange shirts and shoes .

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

My partner and I shot 64-69-65 in a four ball format and finished second by 2 shots.
But I have to confess it was the best stuff I had played this year.
I think the course inspired me