While it is far from a great course, Wyandotte Shores is a class example of how industrial waste sites can be revived. The article doesn't mention that BASF paid to make the site safe for amenity land after the plant was torn down. The course used to be much more interesting when fescue was abundant, still we all should be applauding what the city working BASF accomplished. There is another industrial waste site next door and there were hopes of 18 holes, but the owner of that land never came through the way BASF did. Anyway, if one is near, they should support this course with a round of golf - it will do your soul good.
Ten years ago, city officials saw the opportunity to reclaim more riverfront land, a parcel that had been home to a chemical plant that was razed. The land was unusable for residential development and most other uses due to the previous industrial use. For the splendid sum of one-dollar, the BASF Company leased the strand of waterfront land at the south end of town that "linked" Biddle Ave to the river.
Some of the land was used to allow the public even more access to the riverfront, and for the rest, Michigan golf course designer Jerry Matthews was selected and given room to design and build a nine-hole links course at the corner of town.
Like notable courses and golf clubs in the UK, the clubhouse facilities at Wyandotte Shores are modest and unremarkable -- the place is about golf, not shopping or dining or shoe shining. Players simply tug their clubs from the boots of their automobiles, pay their fees, drag a trolley, and play the holes. Americans who have not traveled to the birthplaces of golf may find this hard to believe, but to this day most world-class Scottish courses do not offer curbside bag-drop valet services, elaborate locker rooms, caddies, club cleaning or motorized carts. Neither does Wyandotte Shores, with the exception of the buggies.
"We recognize the importance of golf and what it can do for our community," said Wyandotte Mayor Leonard Sabuda. Prices at Wyandotte Shores remain eminently affordable -- less than $20 for 18 holes. "We understand that golf is a business, however, we also understand that Wyandotte Shores is provided as a recreational opportunity to our citizens."
Though the course is as much a part of the town's fabric as the Old Course is to St. Andrews, starting times are available to any and all. The par-36 can be played from varying sets of tees in order to complete 18 holes -- that is, until the city completes its eventual next-step of adding a second nine, perhaps on an island in the river to the east or on more waterfront land to the south. Should the holes be placed on the island, the city is considering a ferry or cable car access to the new nine. (Golfers on the eighth tee will often tee a spare ball to determine whether their shot to the river can cross the island. Though it looks reachable, there's not a man alive.)
The existing nine, however, perfectly suits its purpose. It's playable in length -- about 3,000 yards -- and challenging when the golden fescue is allowed to rise from the rough and crest the dune-like mounding. The third and fourth holes, both par-4s, play along the south end's Biddle Avenue homes and stores, much like holes at St. Andrews, Prestwick, Ireland's Lahinch, and astonishingly similar to the closing holes at Scotland's Machrihanish Golf Club in Kintyre, which was founded in 1876. A recent visit to the remote Machrihanish begged not a comparison of the quality of courses but rather the similarity of the cozy small town, neighborhood settings.
Two small ponds corner each of the par-3s, both of which play into the ever-present prevailing wind. The par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth holes at Wyandotte Shores are invariably the most talked about, for they both play directly along the river right back into the corner of town. The water to the right is in play on both of these holes, and while the eighth throws a nasty, gnarly grass pot bunker at players who miss the green short, the ninth has plenty of fescue waiting to the left for those who overcorrect for the water right.
While the Detroit skyline is visible further up the river, Wyandotte's own quaint little presence serves as backdrop to the fescue.
Slugging one's clubs over their shoulder and walking through town to the golf course is not uncommon in Scotland, and may be an increasingly common one in Wyandotte, where a good round can be followed by a good pint or warming java.
2012 Events
Tuesday, May 15 Two Person Combined Age Scramble 120 years 8:30 am shotgun
Sunday, May 20 His and Hers Scramble (2 people) 8:30 am shotgun
Saturday, June 2 Scholarship Foundation Scramble (2 person) 9:00 am shotgun
Saturday, June 2 Hickory Scramble (2 person) 1:00 pm shotgun tee time
Sunday, June 10 Ladies Two Person Scramble 8:30 am shotgun
Saturday, July 7 Three Club Challenge 8:30 am shotgun
Tuesday, August 7 Junior Tournament - 17 years and under 8:30 am shotgun
Saturday, September 15 Hickory Open Championship 8:30 am shotgun
Sunday, September 16 Women's City Championship 8:30 am shotgun
Saturday/Sunday, September 22 & 23 Men's Open, Senior and Super-Senior, City Championship 8:30 am shotgun
Saturday, October 13 Langley Cup 8:30 am shotgun
Look for All NEW Adult, Senior’s, Women’s and Junior Leagues open to all to begin in the Spring.
There will also be a Kids Putting Championship taking place in June and Youth Lessons beginning in July.
Ciao