[Andy Troeger]

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/9116446.html

Scheduled to open in 2009. Just included as an FYI for Chicago, Indiana, Michigan area interested parties.

[JC Jones]

I guess I can no longer ask the question of why Nicklaus gets this job.

I just wish more MI designers (i.e. Doak, DeVries) would get these projects.  Then again, maybe they didnt want the project.

[Craig Van Egmond]

JC,

       The bigger question is why Devries doesn't get that big job outside of Michigan so that he can strut his stuff.  It would have been interesting to see what he could have done with the Cottonwood hills property that Faldo got.

[Jay Flemma]

Great.  There goes Benton Harbor.  I liked that town when I visited.  What made him pick there anyway? The lake?  How's the terrain for golf?

[Ken Fry]

Great.  There goes Benton Harbor.  I liked that town when I visited.  

Jay,

Joking, right??

Ken

[SL_Solow]

I have been visiting SW Michigan for most of my life and I can recall when Benton Harbor had a thriving industrial base.  It was surrounded by vacation communities.  Over the years most of the industry vanished and Benton Harbor became depressed and run down.  Meanwhile many of the nearby communities have boomed as upscale vacation areas.  The general area is beautiful with the Lake Michigan Dunes, the St. Joseph river and numerous glacial lakes in the area.  Nearby there are three highly rated "privates" The Dunes, Lost Dunes and Point O' Woods.  While I don't know the exact location, it would be good for the area if the development is successful.   Lots of good property between Brnton Harbor and Grand Rapids on highway 176 but not much in the wayof great golf.  Plenty of vacation  homes and resorts as well.  Perhaps an area for future growth?

[Andy Troeger]

South Bend Tribune had an article on the development as well...

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070813/Sports/708130404/1001/Sports

I'm trying to figure out from the articles whether this is a good site or not. It could be awesome right on the lake, but with what used to be there (not all the same purpose from what I can tell) it seems like it was a fight to get permits and such. That's probably not unusual in our current state.

In any case, I'll look forward to playing on a future trip back to South Bend. I do hope the project is successful, a good public course would be good for the area. Lake Michigan Hills, also in Benton Harbor, is an underrated course IMO, although sometimes the condition is better than others.

[Tim_Cronin]

The South Bend Tribune story noted that Chris Rule, Jack's assistant, did the routing, and that Jack found it "perfect." So, and never mind what's on the contract, isn't Rule the lead architect here and Nicklaus the tweaker?

And will this draw enough members from Chicago as does the Point, Dunes and Lost Dunes? That would seem to be the only way to make it go, given the blah business landscape in St. Joe-Benton Harbor.

[Glenn Spencer]

The South Bend Tribune story noted that Chris Rule, Jack's assistant, did the routing, and that Jack found it "perfect." So, and never mind what's on the contract, isn't Rule the lead architect here and Nicklaus the tweaker?

And will this draw enough members from Chicago as does the Point, Dunes and Lost Dunes? That would seem to be the only way to make it go, given the blah business landscape in St. Joe-Benton Harbor.

Don't they send them off both tees at the Western Amateur, so that everybody is done early and can get to the hotel before dark??

[Jay Flemma]

Great.  There goes Benton Harbor.  I liked that town when I visited.  

Jay,

Joking, right??

Ken

well I visited almost thirty years ago...I guess all I saw was the hotel and restaurant:)

That's kinda like those "The Onion" headlines...
"Area chump says he likes benton harbor after visiting stucky's, howard johnson's"

[Andy Troeger]

Point O'Woods isn't really in the city area, although to be honest since I come from the other direction I don't know close it is. St. Joe from my experience is pretty nice, as is all the other area on the lake other than Benton Harbor itself. The course needs the Chicago and Indiana tourists certainly to boost play, they probably double the general population in some of the lake communities in the summer, but they don't have tons of competition for public golf in the immediate area. Lake Michigan Hills like I said is good, Whittaker Woods is VERY hard and not very playable with a lot of water and OB, but I think its a fun challenge once in awhile. If Ken Fry checks back in he will likely have a dissenting opinion though on WW.

[Tim_Cronin]

The South Bend Tribune story noted that Chris Rule, Jack's assistant, did the routing, and that Jack found it "perfect." So, and never mind what's on the contract, isn't Rule the lead architect here and Nicklaus the tweaker?

And will this draw enough members from Chicago as does the Point, Dunes and Lost Dunes? That would seem to be the only way to make it go, given the blah business landscape in St. Joe-Benton Harbor.

Don't they send them off both tees at the Western Amateur, so that everybody is done early and can get to the hotel before dark??

They do go off 1 and 10 during the stroke-play half of the Western Am, but not because of danger in BH. It's because the Point has no lights, and college-age ams play slower than Bill Britton, who was once the PGA Tour's human rain-delay.

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