The Dunes Club

[Rick Sides]

I was reading an earlier topic on club membership and was just wondering has anyone here ever played The Dunes Club? Any pictures or thoughts if you did?

[Andy Troeger]

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,32996.0.html
Includes some photos...

[Rick Sides]

Thanks Andy.

[Brian Cenci]

Great course.  A 9 hole facility that if it were 18 would be a top 50 course IMO.  Really the special thing about the place is the experience you get.  No address and a hidden drive (had a treasure map to get there the first time and still got lost).  The range is a mat with a net just off the first tee.  Average rounds per day in the summer is somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20.  You basically have the place to yourselves.  Plus the caddies are awesome.  If you can ever get Harv you'll have a blast.  Kept telling me to play "that little butter cut" all day.  Overall one of the greatest experiences you'll ever have playing golf.  The multiple tee boxes provides some variability but I think if they added a few more on some of the holes then you'd really have some crazy variety.  Here's some pics:

1st Tee (par 4):


1st Approach:


2nd Tee (par 3):


3rd Tee (par 5):


3rd Approach:


4th Tee (par 4):


5th Tee (par 4):


6th Tee (par 3):


7th Tee (par 4):


7th Approach:


8th Tee (par 5):


8th Approach:


9th Tee (par 4):


Clubhouse:


Parking Lot:

[Andy Troeger]

Brian,
I thought #6 was the par three and #7 the par four. (?)

[Mike_Cirba]

I hate to say this but judging solely by the pics I'd say the course looks to be a great deal of fun, and pretty well done,  but is Michigan really that starved for another faux version of Pine Valley?

To me it doesn't really look like Top 10 in the state, much less Top 50 in the country.   

I have to wonder if the exclusivity of the place doesn't add to the overall "aura" when it's rated.   

[Eric Smith]

Thanks Brian for those pictures.  Do you know whether or not all that sand is found naturally there on site?

[Joe Hancock]

Thanks Brian for those pictures.  Do you know whether or not all that sand is found naturally there on site?

It is.

Joe

[Andy Troeger]

I hate to say this but judging solely by the pics I'd say the course looks to be a great deal of fun, and pretty well done,  but is Michigan really that starved for another faux version of Pine Valley?

To me it doesn't really look like Top 10 in the state, much less Top 50 in the country.   

I have to wonder if the exclusivity of the place doesn't add to the overall "aura" when it's rated.   

Mike,
I think this is about what I commented on the other thread. People always comment on the experience, which is admittedly fantastic. Some people swear by it--its not particularly close to a top 100 course IMO.

[Matt_Ward]

Can someone explain to me about the profusion of trees that dominate the overall layout. I've not played the course but it seems from the cheap left field seats I occupy at this moment that a good size axe would help in plenty of ways.

[Eric Smith]

Thanks Brian for those pictures.  Do you know whether or not all that sand is found naturally there on site?

It is.

Joe

thank you Joe

[Andy Troeger]

Can someone explain to me about the profusion of trees that dominate the overall layout. I've not played the course but it seems from the cheap left field seats I occupy at this moment that a good size axe would help in plenty of ways.

In a word, yes.

Unless you can find Paul Bunyan, a chainsaw might be more effective though 

[Ryan Farrow]

Love the trees...... get over yourselves. It was built in a damn forest. 


Perhaps some courses are just meant to have trees.

[Andy Troeger]

Ryan,
Most of them are fine, but there are a couple holes where to me they don't work. The 8th, which some people love, has one huge tree that blocks most of the fairway forcing the layup way to the right side. The tree is held up by cables if I remember correctly. I don't get the love for that one.

The 4th the trees when I played overhung the left side of the fairway pretty significantly. A play out to the right side was pretty much the only option.

The 1st is a really tough starter--but I don't have any problem with that. The 9th is fantastic, so are both par threes.

I like trees, but some selective removal would do The Dunes Club some good IMO.

[Matt_Ward]

Ryan:

Repeat after me ...

T-I-M-B-E-R ...

[Ryan Farrow]

Cables? Are you kidding?

I will yell timber on that one.

Hows the turf?

[Andy Troeger]

Hows the turf?

When I played it was immaculate--it doesn't get much play. I think it played fairly firm, not maybe as much as this group likes but certainly not soggy. Its always very green. I'm not sure if that's the norm, but seems about right.

[Rob Rigg]

Pish Posh,

I certainly wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers!

Looks pretty bloody nice to me. Although a little trim here and there would open it up nicely.

IMO - it would be the top course in Portland if it lived in this neck of the woods.

[Ken Fry]

A number of years ago, Tom Doak commented the playing corridors have gotten too tight around the course.  I agree with him on that.  A bit of tree trimming or removal would improve the playability of what's a heck of a fun course.  The personality of the place is outstanding and I disagree with some of the earlier comments.  I believe this course can stand on it's own merit and deserves whatever "ranking" it achieves.

Ken

[tlavin]

Can someone explain to me about the profusion of trees that dominate the overall layout. I've not played the course but it seems from the cheap left field seats I occupy at this moment that a good size axe would help in plenty of ways.

I've probably played the course 100 times and I have to agree that lopping 100 plus trees would greatly aid the aesthetics and playability of the course.  It was indeed built in the middle of a forest of sorts, and there is definitely a reluctance to cut down trees.  I have the feeling that Mike Keiser has a paternalistic feeling about the place that affects the tree-cutting analysis.  For example, the tree that overhangs the fairway on the 8th hole is something of a "hill to fight and die on" tree for Mike.  He ardently believes that it verily defines the essence of the hole and the course itself.  Me?  I think it makes the hole gimmicky and a tad silly even though it does provide a mighty defense to every level of player. 

There has been a move in the past couple years to cut down trees around greens, as new bent greens were seeded that required more sunlight.  Just like the famed jokes about twenty lawyers on the bottom of the ocean, some would say it's a good start.

But it is Thanksgiving and I'll give thanks to Mike Keiser, who in the space of ten or so years has given the American golfer so much.  The Dunes is private and somewhat hard to get to or get on, but Bandon Dunes is surely one of the best things to happen to American golf in the past fifty years.

[Brian Cenci]

I hate to say this but judging solely by the pics I'd say the course looks to be a great deal of fun, and pretty well done,  but is Michigan really that starved for another faux version of Pine Valley?

To me it doesn't really look like Top 10 in the state, much less Top 50 in the country.   

I have to wonder if the exclusivity of the place doesn't add to the overall "aura" when it's rated.   

It's top 10 in the state and I think it's a top 50 modern layout.  I think the overall "experience" has a little to do with things which this course has a great "experience" factor.  It is like Pine Valley but in the same sense do you think Kingsley Club is less of a place because it is like a modern day Crystal Downs? 

[Andy Troeger]

I ask this to stimulate discussion and not meaning to be confrontational in the slightest...

Everything I read that's positive about this place has to do with the atmosphere, the unique experience, the driveway, etc.

So...what's so great about the course itself?

The fallaway green at the 1st, the double options for the 2nd, and the 9th green complex are neat features to me--but not enough to make it a top 100 course. What else is unique to some of you?

[Mike_Cirba]

Brian,

Thanks for your feedback and I certainly would defer to your judgement as you've been there and I haven't.  

To your point, I'm one of the few who believe that Kingsley is a better course than Crystal Downs, so while it was clearly inspired by the wonderful traditional course that is CD, I believe that it takes that inspiration and somewhat expands it.

I must admit that I don't see the same thing in the pictures of The Dunes Club.   While some of the "look" and probably the penality of Pine Valley is there, I don't see much of the options, the freedom, or the sophistication of the former in the modern knockoff.

Instead, it appears to me that most of the holes can only be played in a very narrow way, without much in the way of decision-making, latitude, and personal creativity, but again, that's strictly an impression based on photographs.

The idea that Pine Valley is some penal, punishing monster of judicial final judgement is really largely overstated, and in a few rounds there I don't believe I've yet to lose a golf ball, and I'm hardly David Graham or Calvin Peete.

I'd be surprised if I could play 36 or 72 holes at The Dunes Club without having gone through a sleeve or two, but more importantly fundamental than that, I'm betting I wouldn't be aiming at any particular point but dead center of the fairway for any given shot.

I hope to someday find out that my impressions from pictures is completely erroneous, but that's my gut reaction.

Thanks again for posting them, Brian.   They certainly portray an interesting shot-making challenge.

[Brian Cenci]

I ask this to stimulate discussion and not meaning to be confrontational in the slightest...

Everything I read that's positive about this place has to do with the atmosphere, the unique experience, the driveway, etc.

So...what's so great about the course itself?

The fallaway green at the 1st, the double options for the 2nd, and the 9th green complex are neat features to me--but not enough to make it a top 100 course. What else is unique to some of you?

There are plenty of options with the number of different tees and the par 5's are both a true risk reward situation.  Big Nev has gone for and pretty much gotten on both in two when I clearly have to play them as 3 shotters.  The feel and look of the course is great.  The green complex are terrific with plenty of variety based on pin locations and the way the greens are set into the surroundings (like on 6, 8 and 9).  There are a few quirks that I think make the course fun (the tree on .  Play it then deduce an opinion about it. 

[Brian Cenci]

Brian,

Thanks for your feedback and I certainly would defer to your judgement as you've been there and I haven't.  

To your point, I'm one of the few who believe that Kingsley is a better course than Crystal Downs, so while it was clearly inspired by the wonderful traditional course that is CD, I believe that it takes that inspiration and somewhat expands it.

I must admit that I don't see the same thing in the pictures of The Dunes Club.   While some of the "look" and probably the penality of Pine Valley is there, I don't see much of the options, the freedom, or the sophistication of the former in the modern knockoff.

Instead, it appears to me that most of the holes can only be played in a very narrow way, without much in the way of decision-making, latitude, and personal creativity, but again, that's strictly an impression based on photographs.

The idea that Pine Valley is some penal, punishing monster of judicial final judgement is really largely overstated, and in a few rounds there I don't believe I've yet to lose a golf ball, and I'm hardly David Graham or Calvin Peete.

I'd be surprised if I could play 36 or 72 holes at The Dunes Club without having gone through a sleeve or two, but more importantly fundamental than that, I'm betting I wouldn't be aiming at any particular point but dead center of the fairway for any given shot.

I hope to someday find out that my impressions from pictures is completely erroneous, but that's my gut reaction.

Thanks again for posting them, Brian.   They certainly portray an interesting shot-making challenge.

You need to play it.  It's a great course.