Patti Engineering Insight

What is Golf Digest’s top ranked golf course in the State of Michigan?? It is a question that most people I ask get wrong. The first guess is usually Oakland Hills South (#17).

The correct answer is Crystal Downs which is an extremely private golf course located in Frankfort, MI. The course was ranked #10 overall by Golf Digest in their 2007 rankings.

Designed in 1929 by Alister Mackenzie the course is a Par 70 measuring only 6,518 yards from the tips. The Greens all resemble the top shell of a turtle and must have slate below them as they hold the ball about as well as a pool table. There are prevailing winds on the course that make it play very much like Arcadia Bluffs (which is 20 minutes to the south).

The 10th hole is right beside the clubhouse and there is a large window so that everyone in the clubhouse can critique your swing. The day I got to play there, it was very cold and the clubhouse was empty. This was lucky for me as I could not have played a much worse round than the one I played that day.

Crystal Downs has some great elevation changes and it has stayed pretty true to its original design (thus only 6,518 yards). The Greens are a huge challenge and probably are a bit unfair. I am not quite sure it deserves as high a ranking as it gets (I personally preferred Arcadia Bluffs) but I would certainly welcome the opportunity to play it again.

The Old Course at Indianwood Golf and Country club is one of my favorite golf courses. Originally designed by famous British born golfer and architect Wifrid Reid in 1925, the course features pot bunkers, fescue rough, and no two holes that are alike. The Old Course at Indianwood was ranked #25 in the State of Michigan for 2007-2008 by Golf Digest.

The 9th hole is a dog leg right, from an article on great short par-fours in Michigan Golfer Magazine:

Other challenging shorties include the severe dogleg right ninth on the Old Course at Indianwood in Lake Orion. Lynn Janson won two of his three Michigan PGA championships at Indianwood, and calls the ninth one of his favorite short holes, even though he’s not a big fan of the kind of hole the ninth is. “In my opinion,” says Janson, “it is unusual for any kind of dogleg to be considered an outstanding hole. But the ninth at Indianwood has so many different elements to it. You can cut the dogleg and hit a shot very close to the green. You can hit it out of bounds if you stray to the right. Even laying up with a long iron isn’t easy, and if you drive through the fairway, you can have a very difficult shot from the rough.” Janson has never seen anyone actually drive the ninth green on the Old Course, but says he played it to perfection during the first two rounds of one of his PGA wins there, making birdie twice with drives that ended up just short of the putting surface. He also says the ninth has a hidden danger a player will occasionally sample, as his close friend Gary Robinson once did. “He hit his second shot off the clubhouse which sits right behind the green,” laughs Janson, “then it came back down the slope and onto the green!”

In 1930, Indianwood hosted the Western Open which at the time was considered a major championship. Gene Sarazan won $500 for his efforts as this was the only tournament Bobby Jones entered but did not win during the year. The club would also host the 1948 and 1949 Michigan PGA Championship. The 60s and 70s were rough on the club as it had deteriorated severely. Stan Aldridge, the present owner, bought the Club in 1981 and returned it to prominence. Stan spearheaded construction of the New Course (Bob Cupp/Jerry Pate). It is extremely tough from the back tees (6916 – 75.2/150)

The Club hosted the 1989 and 1994 US women’s Open on the Old Course. The future also is bright as the club was recently selected to host the 2012 US Senior Open.

Opened in 1962, the Doral Golf Resort and Spa is located near Miami and has five 18-hole golf courses. The Signature course, designed by Dick Wilson, is the Blue Monster. The course has held PGA sponsored tour every year since it’s opening (46 years). In 2007, The Doral Open was replaced with the World Golf Championship CA Event.

The 18th hole on The Blue Monster is the signature hole. The 467 yard par 4 is called the toughest finishing hole on the Tour. The Statistics back up the claim as it was ranked #17 on the 2006 tour.

I really liked the 8th. Is is a great Par 5 with water on both sides as you approach a well protected green. My 3rd shot was 10 yards from the green and above the hole. I was envisioning an up-down par or at worst a bogey. I put a decent bump and run shot at the flag. The ball rolled slowly past the flag, off the green, and ended up in the water. Suddenly I went from a possible par, to writing down a triple bogey after another chip and 2 more putts.

The other courses at Doral are the Red (Dick Wilson), Gold (Ray Floyd), Silver (Devlin/Von Hagge – Pate), and the Great White (Greg Norman). Doral is ranked in the top 75 golf resorts in North American by Golf Digest (#73). I did not stay there, so I can’t attest for the accommodations. I will say that courses were fantastic (I also played the Great White).  

Playing the Blue Monster is like grabbing a big piece of professional golf history. You are challenging the same holes that Jack, Arnie, Phil, and Tiger have been playing for years. For a day, a couple of holes, or even one good shot, you can imagine being lucky enough to make a living swinging a golf club.

Do you play golf in inclement weather? Will you play alone? If you answer yes to these 2 questions, you are thoroughly addicted to the sport.

My round on Oak Quarry, located in Riverside, CA, was an early morning outing by myself while there on business. I absolutely loved the course. The course winds through a historic quarry with rock walls and dramatic elevation changes. The Course was opened in 2000 and designed by Dr. Gil Morgan (of Schmidt-Curley Design).

The signature hole is the par-3 14th, but I chose Hole #7 which is a very beautiful uphill par 4 (403 yards, 380 from the blue tees). On your iron shot, take plenty of club, as your shot is up hill and the green slopes back to front.

If you make to Riverside, CA, give Oak Quarry a try. I’m pretty sure you will really enjoy the course, even if you play it alone.

Harry Melling, born in 1945, is best known as a NASCAR owner. Becoming an owner in 1982, he won 34 races, 2 Daytona 500’s and 1 Championship, having his best success with driver Bill Elliott in the 1980s. Melling, a true entrepreneur, bought the tiny Sylvan Ski Resort near Gaylord, MI in 1983.

Knowing that golf was needed for Sylvan to become a year round destination, Harry hired 80-year old Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to build a course at his resort. Legend has it that Jones commented when surveying the property that the only thing you could see were treetops. In addition, standing on the 6th tee after completion of the course, he commented that the course was his masterpiece. The resort was renamed Treetops/Sylvan Resort and later just Treetops. It is the only Michigan Golf Resort ranked in listed in the top 75 North American Resorts by Golf Digest (#48).

The Masterpiece course is ranked by Golf Digest #10 in the State of Michigan. With tons of elevation changes, plenty of trees, and tiny greens, it is a tough course. Hole #6 is the signature hole on the course. Playing from 180 yards (158 from the blue tees), it features a 120 foot elevation drop to the green. The view over the Pigeon River Valley is awe-inspiring. There is a bench at the tee that serves as a memorial to Harry Melling (who died suddenly of a heart attack in 1999).

Treetops has three other 18-hole courses (The Premier by Tom Fazio, as well as The Signature and The Legend by Rick Smith). The 9-hole, par-3 Threetops course (also a Smith design) was number 1 ranked par-3 course by Travel + Leisure golf in 2002. The course was home to the ESPN televised Par-3 shootout from 1999-2006. For an great summer golf experience, be sure to put Treetops at the top of your list.

Arcadia Bluffs is the best golf course I have ever played. It is ranked #46 in Golf Digest’s list of top 100 (#10 public). I have played 3 courses ranked higher by Golf Digest (Crystal Downs, Oakland Hills South, and Bethpage Black), but if I had one round to golf before I died I would want to play it here.

The course was built in 1999 (designed by Warren Henderson/Rick Smith) on a 3,100 foot long windswept bluff that sits 180 feet above the shores of Lake Michigan. The course has several dramatic elevation changes varying a total of 225 feet from highest to lowest point. The views at almost every hole will take your breath away. According to their website, the course is inspired by an Irish Seaside Link meaning that the 1st cut, fairways, and greens are very green.

The course itself is a challenge, but not unfair as you have wide landing areas on most holes. You will be playing in the wind no matter how calm it seems on your way to the course. Three of the first five holes are Par-5s. The 5th hole is a great risk/reward hole. Hitting towards Lake Michigan provides for a great tee shot. The big hitters are going to tempted to shoot for the green on their 2nd shot risking that their shot will end up in the vast surrounding wasteland.

Arcadia Bluffs is located in a rural area. It is one hour north of Ludington and 1 hour southwest of Traverse City. Interestingly, it is only about 20 minutes due south of  Crystal Downs which is the highest ranked Michigan Course.

Above (L-R): Steve, Fred Couples, myself, Jeff, Jim Nantz, Dave, Randy Herrel

In February 2004 I had the opportunity to play in the Ashworth Invitational. It was a 4-man charity scramble event held a La Costa. For the event, Ashworth brought in sponsored touring pros Stuart Appleby, Rich Beem, and Fred Couples along with commentator Jim Nantz.

Each foursome got to play a hole with one of the touring pros. We played the 4^th hole on the South Course with Fred Couples. Riding along with Fred Couples, were Jim Nantz and Randy Herrel, the CEO of Ashworth at the time. We ended up paring the hole and incredibly did not use any of Couples’ shots. His drive went left and ended up blocked out by some trees despite being 50 yards longer than any of ours. On his approach shot, he needed his caddy as his shot was a directly at the flag but ended up 50 feet beyond it.

Jim Nantz and Fred Couples are reported to be very good friends as they were college roommates and teammates on the University of Houston Golf Team. I must say that I found them both to both be very classy. I also found Stuart Appleby to be like most Australians I have met, very humorous, grounded, and friendly.

La Costa is a Golf and Tennis Resort. It has two 18-hole championship courses (North and South). Each Course is pretty equal in difficulty and are very well maintained. They were designed by Dick Wilson in the Mid 1960s. Dick Wilson is a forgotten name in golf course architecture, but he designed a lot of nice tracks in his day.

From 1999-2006, La Costa held 7 world golf championship match play events (they used a combination of holes from both courses). Shortly after I played in the Ashworth event, Tiger Wood defeated Davis Love at the Match Play Championship after Love fell apart after getting upset with a fan and having him removed for saying “No Love.”

If you do not mind spending some money and enjoy the beautiful weather of Carlsbad, you may want to consider checking out La Costa yourself.

In my earlier post on Mackinac Island I mentioned Wawashkamo Golf Course. It is a 9-hole layout with 2 unique sets of tees. It was originally opened in 1898 having been designed by a famous golf professional named Alex Smith and was built on the site Battle of Mackinac Island where 14 soldiers (13 US, 1 British) lost their lives. Wawashkamo (Chippewa for “walk a crooked trail”) claims to be one of the few American courses laid out in a links style that remains substantially unchanged.

The course is very proud of its heritage and provides some unique characteristics reminiscent of courses in the early 1900’s. For instance, you can build a sand tee on the first hole, you can rent hickory shafted clubs, and you can even play gutta-percha replica balls. You may get a bad lie in the un-watered fairways (the Greens and Tees are watered). The course is not very difficult when you play it with Modern equipment.

The 3rd hole has a “circus ring”. This is a 3-foot high ring of grass around the green which was used by architects on Scottish Courses to force a lofted shot to the green. It makes for a unique experience as I have never played another course with a “circus ring.”

When you get to Mackinac, I highly recommend checking out Wawashkamo. Go for the complete experience and play the first nine holes with the hickory shafts and the gutta-percha balls. Then take the second nine with your equipment.

Quick, name a golf course where you walk off the course and think the 2nd hole was the most memorable hole? Of all the courses I have ever played, I could only think of one course where that was the case. It would be at a course called The Links at Gettysburg which is a really nice course. I played it on the wrong day though as I dealt with bad weather, slow play, and an angry wife on the cell phone. Therefore it did not make my list.

Genesee Valley Meadows (most locals drop the “Meadows”) is located in Swartz Creek, Michigan (near Flint). It has a really run down club house, the pro shop has hardly any stock, the golf carts maybe original from the 1963 opening, and the course architect was a local consulting firm who, from what I can find, never did another golf course and are no longer in business. I could not find a website for the course (in fact I can’t even find a picture to post here). 

What it offers though is a decent challenge, smooth rolling greens, and a damn well maintained course for a reasonable fee. Besides my home course, Oakhurst, Genesee Valley is the course I have played the most over the last 5 years. I often play it on Sunday Mornings at the crack of dawn with a group of 8 to 12 guys (about half of whom are my brother-in-laws).

Genesee Valley is a tough place to start a round as the first three holes are the toughest stretch of holes the course.  If I get through the first three holes at anything under +6, I am happy.  Hole #2, sandwiched between two man sized par 4s, is a straight away par 3 that plays 213 (193 from the middle tees). The thin green is 50 yards deep meaning that the pin placement will severely impact your club selection. The Green slopes back to front, so you want to make sure you take enough club. If you push your shot to the right you may end up in the bunker or worse yet, behind one of the large trees that are left of the bunker.

If you ever want a fun, no frills challenge, give Genesee Valley a try.

I got the chance to play Bethpage Black in 2005 with a customer, Ed, who lives just 5 miles from the course. This course was the first publicly owned course to host a US Open when it was played there in 2002 and the US Open is coming back there in 2009. 

The course has no tee-times. You set your tee-time by your parking spot which is best acquired sometime around 3am. At 5:30am they come and give you a ticket and a tee-time. If you and your entire foursome are not there, your foursome will not get a tee-time. Don’t expect to take a cart on the course, as they are not allowed, you must carry your bag or pay a caddy.

Ed actually plays Bethpage almost every weekend, but he plays the Red Course as you can take a golf cart and it is much easier to get on to. Bethpage State Park has 90 holes in total. The Black, Red, and Blue Courses were all designed by famous golf architect A.W. Tillinghast. The Black Course is rated #26 overall and #5 among public courses in the US by Golf Digest.

The 1st hole on the Black Course is very intimidating! You go to the first tee short on sleep thanks to waking up super early, you read the sign above which is placed right by the tee and to top it off there is usually a crowd of somewhere between 20-50 strangers watching your first shot at the course.

The Hole itself is 430 yards and is a dogleg right (if you play the white tees like we did, you get a measly 9-yard break) . I guarantee you will remember your tee shot on this hole, mine went about 210 yards and left, although not severely. I ended up with a double on the hole and went on to shoot a 94 from the white tees that day, including a birdie on hole #6. That round I consider my best ever (though I have shot as low as 86 on easier courses).