Arcadia Bluffs - South course

[George Freeman]

Attached is the most recent excellent course profile by my good friend Jason Way and Andy Johnson from ‘The Fried Egg.’  Enjoy...

http://www.friedegg.co/golf-courses/arcadia-bluffs-south-course-review

Superb write up by Fried Egg.  That picture of the 9th green is a great example of the course's character.   

I played the course a couple weeks ago and I too was over the moon making the turn.  Everything about the course is different and exciting.  WIDTH.  Check.  HUGE greens.  Check.  Angles everywhere (both in presentation and shot making requirements).  Check.  Strategic thought required on almost every shot.  Check.  Incredibly interesting and varied green contours.  Check.  Firm & fast.  Check.  Variety.  Check.


The greens are so big and so boldly contoured (in a good way) that you have no choice but to strategize for them.  I don't think I have ever studied the little green diagrams in the yardage book so closely while playing.  By the middle of the back nine I was actively attempting to use green contours on full shots to get closer to pins (it took me that long to adjust).  So cool.  The number of pin placements on each hole is mind numbing - and many could totally change the strategy of the hole.  One could spend months learning the intricacies of each green and that knowledge would be a serious advantage, perhaps more than almost any other course I have played.


I'll admit that when I crested the hill on the 11th green to get my first glimpse of the 12th, I literally said "wow" out loud (I was playing alone).  It has some serious wow-factor to it.  However throughout the back nine I kept having this gnawing feeling of disappointment after playing it (and to a lesser extent the 13th).  While still playing the course I found myself thinking back to those two holes and trying to figure out what was amiss.  And I think I finally settled on "forced."  On a course that flowed so well up until that point, those two holes (IMO!) disrupted that beautiful flow and felt forced.  I could be totally wrong, but it seemed like more dirt was moved on those two holes than all the others combined, and you could tell.  I'm happy to eat crow on that if I'm wrong.  Playing armchair architect, I very much agree with Fried Egg in that the location of #12 seemed like a perfect spot for a downhill short with a huge, wild green.  This architecture thing sure is easy from the cheap seats...

I agree with the Fried Egg on 12, 13 and 16.  They were the three holes that stuck out to me.  I liked #15 and #17 looks so good from the tee maybe I missed the issue of the shallow green (although I did exactly what they described, landing a 6 iron in the middle of the green and having it one-hop off the back another 10 yards or so into the rough). 


Regardless of my thoughts on those three holes, I thought the course was fantastic and refreshingly different.  It's not every day that you get to experience that style of architecture.  The front nine is so good.  IMO it took some serious balls to build this course considering the clientele.  Time will tell what the resort guests think of the place (will they get it!?  I sure hope so). 

Take everything above with a grain of salt as I have only been around the course once.  And more than most other courses, I would think ABS needs repeated play to really appreciate.


My 2¢.

[Eric_Terhorst]

I played it this week and my overall takeaway was the design and build is really well done and "that was fun!"

Front nine:  I liked the first two holes, not too difficult and a nice way to get in the mood.  The pin at the short par 4 2nd was way up front, so play around the steep false front there was a hint of interesting things to come.  Next, the 3rd is a strong par 5 with difficult fairway bunkers affecting your choices on both the first and second shots, a huge green and a pin set at the back--thus right out of the gate at 2 and 3 you saw examples of the variety of the holes and potential for varied hole placements that George refers to.  The par 3 5th, par 4 7th and 9th are all strong holes requiring good execution to score.  At 7, tee shots too far left result in a blind approach.  The ninth has a huge principals' nose bunker set 30 yards in front of the green that plays with perceptions. 

Back nine: I disagree with George and Fried Egg about the back nine, which I found as compelling as the front.  The 12th is an enjoyable drop-shot par 3 with a Lion's Mouth bunker and strong slopes throughout the green, and the 13th has an Alps approach and what must be the largest Punch Bowl green in existence--certainly not everyday features.   I missed both greens, but have to say the most fun I had all day was choosing from among many options for the recovery shots, and then watching the results.  The two par 3s on the back are both better than 8th, the latter a short on flat land which isn’t particularly striking.  The church pew bunkers on 17 are interesting visually and simply to be avoided--not much strategic thought there--but I thought the green--narrow, heavily protected, challenging slopes--was terrific.  The short par 4 #15, dotted with intimidating bunkers throughout, reminded me of #6 at Holston Hills, one of my all-time favorite par 4s.

Like 17, there are a couple of other holes on which the primary thought from the tee is "hit it between the bunkers", so putting a premium on hitting it where you aim it rather than deep strategic thought.  That's fine.

The scale of everything is very impressive and differentiating—reminiscent of Old Macdonald or Lawsonia.Very much worth a visit and repeat plays as George says, if you’re in northern Michigan.

[Pete_Pittock]

Very good conditions when I played yesterday ($170for golf and cart. In addition there is a lot of ground movement, with many ballls ending up 30 yards right of where they would seem to stop.


Twelve is definitely forced, but the left and right prongs if the boomerang are sort if false frontx so the puttable area  starts at the back end of the bunker. Thirteen got to me because it wqs a blind shot and I only went forward to see the orientation of the flag to background and forgot to look at its position within the green.


with the square greens there seemed to be an abundance of holes cut near the cornerst.  Front pins were prolematic with false fronts and aggressive contouring in front of the green.  It seems in retrospect that the best startegy was going for the middle of the greens

[William_G]

love Arcadia South

[JC Jones]

I did too.  A fun, bold, and different course that is a great addition to golf.

[Pete_Pittock]

Do the squared corners of the green invite hole locations near Them?  It seemed like half the hole  locations were there.    Made it seem to be tougher than one near rounded edges. Certainly easier for hole location sheets.  The angular aspects of bunkers and greens was not off-putting.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I played this course on a recent visit to the area with Robin and Sean.


Quick takeaway is that I thought it was excellent with an absolutely superb set of greens. They really should be talked about more, all with their own character, not templates.


I was slightly less enthused with the fairway bunkering, thinking it used many of the same tricks over and over. A little repetitive if still far more interesting than many modern courses of the past few decades.


Like Eric above, I don’t agree with the “front nine flawless followed by some let-downs on the back nine” argument. I felt the course was consistent throughout.

[Brett Meyer]

I was slightly less enthused with the fairway bunkering, thinking it used many of the same tricks over and over. A little repetitive if still far more interesting than many modern courses of the past few decades.

This has always been my issue with Arcadia South. I've told several people that my issue is that the bunkering feels a bit like it was designed by a computer, with the same staggered left-right-centerline scheme on many holes. To be fair, it's not staggered the same way on every hole. But the first time I played it, which was right after it opened, the starter told me that people were finding the course to be easier if they played it one set of tees back...because then they'd be short of all the bunkers! I found this to be true and it's always bugged me a bit. And generally, I think it's over-bunkered, including at the greens.

I really like the course and agree with everyone above that it's a great change of pace from Michigan's other top public courses, but it's always left me a bit cold. The bunkering makes sense from a strategic perspective but I would have liked it a bit more if they had figured out a way to bring a different kind of variety to some of the drives. Maybe some blindness and odd long-grass-covered mounds. Maybe try to make it a bit more British.