1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out Brown 458 407 318 443 124 568 381 463 195 3358 Tan 436 352 281 403 114 539 356 382 160 3023 White 322 293 239 319 104 429 302 316 127 2451 Par 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 35 Hdcp 4 11 15 2 18 5 13 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total Brown 568 412 306 155 214 471 412 182 606 3326 6684 Tan 539 358 287 152 197 410 369 134 543 2989 6012 White 443 335 250 110 164 375 311 119 458 2565 5016 Par 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 5 35 70 Hdcp 6 10 17 16 8 1 12 14 3
Comments on each of the 18 holes at this course. The images are the actual hole previews.
[Scorecard] [Pinsheet] [Design] [Splash1] [Splash2]
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The idea behind this and the next hole was to have the opening and closing holes be of a separate nature than the rest of the course. These holes will be out in the open, away from the water, and amidst a field of grasses. Plus, I liked the idea of a shared fairway especially after having played The Orchards a few years back. This is the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course in Washington, MI where the USGA brought the Amateur Public Links tournament in 2002. The 16th and 17th on that course are adjoined (as are #3,4 and #11,15). This hole also focuses on a major design intent for this course. And that is, alternate routes to the hole for the different sets of tees. I really wanted to encourage players to try different tees and get a different experience. Kind of like getting 36 holes with an 18 hole course. From the Brown tees: the intended play is into the peninsula on the left. With a little ingenuity, it is possible to play to the right of that if you setup and execute the shot appropriately. In some pin positions, it may be desireable to do this. Tan tees: the best play from these tees is straight down the fairway, although from this angle there are 3 possible routes. I'll leave the discovery to you, let's just say that it is a wide fairway. Again, let the pin position decide. Watch out for that large tree, it comes into play if you place your tee shot in the wrong spot. |
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This is a funky driving hole. The safe route is in the wide part of the fairway short of the peninsula section leading to the green. This leaves a longer approach, but avoids any potential problem with the tall trees guarding that section of the fairway. The reward of hitting a nice draw around those trees leaves a short iron to a severely sloped back to front horseshoe green. A deep grass bunker protects the inner portion of the horseshoe. The wideness of the fairway gives you the opportunity to explore alternate routes to the green. Here, and as you will see with #10-12, you could aim way right towards the first fairway and have a completely different look at the green. This angle would be most useful with a back left pin position. Brown tees: A driver can be used and flown over the trees, but success depends on the wind and your accuracy. A 3-wood or long iron short and right of the trees is the safest bet. Tan tees: The trees on the left come into play moreso than the back tees. What remains the same though, is that staying in the widest portion of the fairway is the safest bet. This leaves a rather ungratifying short tee shot, however. |
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This hole will be your first view of the lake. It should remain in view for the majority of the remaining holes except the last. Since I am a big fan of good, short par 4 holes, this is one of my attempts (see #12 too) at making one that rewards risky behavior if it is done right. While a layup to the end of the main fairway is a conservative route, you can still get into trouble by placing it too far to the right. That tree can come into play. Since this hole is downhill all the way to the green, you can expect a few downhill and otherwise uneven lies from just about anywhere through the green. |
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The fairway on this hole has a rather severe slope from left to right. It can have an adverse affect on your approach given the steep bank on the right side of the green going down to the lake. A more careful player will back off on the distance of their driver and find the flat portion of the fairway. If the wind is just right, a powerful drive can reach the top of the plateau on the left side of the fairway. Brown: If it is downwind you may be able to clear that severe slope, otherwise you may want to back off a bit with the driver to find a nice flat spot. Tan: From this set of tees, the worst of the slope in the fairway can be flown over using a driver. |
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Don't ask me why, but the short par 3 7th at the City of Detroit course, Rouge Park is the inspiration for this short, uphill par 3. While that one is shorter (97 yards), is bunkerless, requires a blind tee shot, and has a flat green, this one is more challenging with the greenside bunkers and the back-to-front slope on the green. You should overclub on this hole for two reasons: (a) to avoid the bunkers, and (b) it is your best bet to getting it close, otherwise the ball will roll back down the slope away from the hole. |
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The wind is predominantly in your face from the tee on this hole. This limits the distance you can travel down this generous fairway. Under the right conditions, this green is approachable by aiming over the nest of bunkers on the left. Otherwise you are left with a variety of places to position your second shot in preparation for a blind, downhill approach to the green. The grouping of bunkers that protect the green from a long approach were influenced by the wild bunkering that protects the par 3 15th hole at the Black Forest Golf Course. When that Tom Doak course first opened, I was enamored by the dramatic bunkering on that hole. This is my nod to that designer and golf course. |
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The Matthews family of golf course designers has built a lot of excellent golf courses in the state of Michigan. It was on some of their courses that I first encountered some of the dramatic (chocolate-drop) type of mounding that you see on this hole. A couple that come to mind are Richmond Forest (Bruce Matthews III) and maybe even the Gold course at Wolverine (Jerry Matthews). Another, more influential course, that affected my design is The Bear golf course at the Grand Traverse Resort. That, as you might guess by the name, was designed by Jack Nicklaus. Probably the first 'big name' designer in the state. |
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Another hole that offers alternate routes to the green is this one. The conservative route is to the left of the large grass bunker. This route offers the best angle to the full length of the green. Choosing to hit right of the bunker provides a much shorter approach, but at the cost of more uneven lies and a poorer angle to the green. The shape of this green is a scaled-up version of the teeing grounds. I made all 54 teeing areas exactly the same shape and size. This green (and #16) match that shape. |
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You can tell I like downhill tee shots. This is yet another to a rather small green protected by a variety of hazards. With the hill on the left, water on the right and grass bunkers front and back, there is plenty of trouble to get into. |
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The tee shot is everything on this hole. While the fairway is outrageously generous on the left, you want to stay as far right as possible to have both the most favorable chance at going for the green in two or to have a good angle at the landing area short of the green which is rather severly sloped left-to-right. A shot that goes too far left will roll even more left due to the valley in the fairway. From down there, not only is the green is unreachable, but that layup area short of the green can be tough to stop a shot on. |
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Surely this has to be the widest fairway you will see anywhere. Check the current pin position on the green and use that to decide where to put your drive. It doesn't have to be towards the 'obvious' route. |
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This hole is short enough to allow anything from a 5-iron to a driver to be used off the tee and still leave a wedge to this green. It is the smallest green on the course. So small, you definitely want to be in the fairway for your second shot. Trying to hit this tiny green from the rough is nearly impossible. Even though this hole is part of the widest fairway in the world, it is not advantageous to play to the right. Trees block the route to the green from over there. |
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The first of 3 par 3's on this nine, this one offers a host of trouble with the creek on the right, a nest of grass bunkers on the left, and three tiers on the green itself, your only consolation is the fact that you should only need a short iron to reach it. The green is fairly large and can demand up to 2 clubs more if the pin is in the back vs. the front of the green. |
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A blind tee shot awaits the player on the tee due to the green being so far below the tee area. The two biggest dangers on this hole are the pine trees on the left and the beach sand lying in wait behind the green. The green is a generous size, go for the middle of it if you have any doubts. |
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I designed a golf hole just like this one using the Commmodore 128 Worldclass Leaderboard game back in 1985. I wanted one that was very narrow through thick trees in addition to being long. That was to be its strength. No hazards besides that should be necessary. Missing the fairway on this hole is almost a sure bogie. Even placing a drive on the right side of the fairway increases the possibility of hitting an approach too far left. Any shot hit there will certainly fall down the hill leaving a very difficult recovery back to the green. This should prove to be the most difficult hole on the course. |
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Even though this is a generously wide fairway, the ideal line off the tee on this hole is as close to the right side as possible. Too much length brings that second bunker into play. Too far left toughens the approach to an elongated green which is lined up to the right side. One last thing to worry about is the fact that the green is below the two levels of the fairway. Play a little too much club and you'll be playing from the beach. |
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This one is the signature 'alternate tee' hole. It represents the most the desire I have to encourage players to play from other sets of tees instead of always from the back like I do. The idea of putting the middle tees in the water like this can be credited to Robert Trent Jones, Sr. The eighth hole at his course at the Treetops resort in Gaylord (MI) has the middle tees set into a body of water, while the back tees aren't. In that case too, the 'fun' tee shot given to the middle handicap players instead of letting the scratch players have all the fun of the challenging or scenic shots in the back tees. I always thought that should be done more often to encourage higher handicap players (like me) to stay at the more forward tees where they belong instead of being tempted by the back tees. But, mostly, I thought more attention should be given to the very forward (ladies/junior) tees. They tend to be complete afterthoughts and are usually just a mown area in some forward location. So, this hole represents that thought too. |
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The intent with this hole was to have a hole that could only be reachable in 3 shots except in special conditions. For instance, when there is a trailing wind and the player successfully puts a little extra 'umph' on their drive. The creek fronting the green mostly controls whether it is reachable or not. One other determining factor is the fact that the green is 90 yards deep. So, even though it may be possible to reach the green in 2 shots, it may not be a good option. Having a 200 foot putt for eagle isn't very practical in MS Links or in real life. The large green here is inspired by the large greens at both the New and Old courses at Indianwood (Lake Orion, MI). The US Women's Open was held at the Old course around 1990. Attending that tournament was my first introduction to those monstrous greens. My next visit was getting an invitation to play the New course a few years later. The 18th green at that course was huge. I enjoyed that very much and wanted to acknowledge the good impression it left on me. So here it is. Lastly, this hole returns to the open area first seen by the player on the first two holes. It brings a nice closure to your round on this my first APCD course. Hope you enjoyed it. |
Copyright (C) 2003, dh. All rights reserved.
Updated: 14-June-2003