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151 days ago
Here I go again with yet another posting about golf courses in Michigan which are now closed. I don't know why hearing reports of their demise bothers me so much, it's not like there aren't any other places to play. Maybe it is because I have this (unattainable?) notion that I could play every course in the State and if one of them closes before I get there, it somehow spoils the idea. Never mind that the lack of adequate free time already spoils that idea. Anyway, here are a couple more that are no longer open for business: Sparrow Hawk in Jackson High Pointe in Acme The link for Sparrow Hawk takes you to a real estate page which shows the listing for the property. Listed at $690,000 ($3.5M for all 120 acres), a prospective buyer would likely be interested in it for other commercial purposes besides a golf course operation. This is because the place appears to have been closed for quite some time. The grass is knee high and you'd never know that there was ...
633 days ago
After reading the latest version of Great Lakes Golf (March/April), panic set in. Why? The headline story was Forest Dunes 2.0; Northern Michigan's Landmark Course Finds New Purpose . So? Well, they " discovered the public model wasn't the best fit " and they intend to make the course/club private. Apparently, not many people were " beat[ing] a path to its door ". Oops, guess that would include me. Even though it has been high on my must-play list since opening in 2002, I just never made it there. I've balked a bit at the $125 greens fee, but it is possible to play in off hours for less. Well, now if they are going private, I better hurry up there before it's completely inaccessible. An additional panic boost came because I've already missed an opportunity to play on another course that is now private. True North. They were public (semi-private, really) for a while. I dilly-dallied going there for the longest time and now I can't, in all likelihood, ...
636 days ago
Alright, this is bordering on ridiculous. Another golf course is on the chopping block. This time it's the course at Selfridge. This, according to the Selfridge MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation) anyway. They write, "The Golf Course is subject to the BRAC closure, and will be closing 2 September 08." Bummer. At least I had the priviledge of playing the course once. This was when I played with the Greater Macomb Area Golf Association (an amateur golf organization no longer in the GAM Allied Associations list). Back in 1996. Yikes. What a shame though. The MWR has this to say about the course: "The Selfridge Golf Course was originally established in the late 1940s and is situated at the southeast end of the Selfridge Air National Guard Base flight line. A 2.6 million dollar project in October 1997 resulted in an improved par 72, PGA-sanctioned course complete with large undulating greens, well-drained sand traps, and challenging new ...
638 days ago
Not that I'm morbid about these things, but it looks like Sugar Loaf Resort near Traverse City is up for sale (closed?) While doing some casual browsing today, I came across the Leelanau News Blog at leelanau.com which has been discussing this very topic. It would appear that the resort is not even open to the public right now and hasn't been for a couple years or more. No golf (and not just because it is winter) and no skiing. Another (golf course) victim of this situation appears to be the Arnold Palmer King's Challenge golf course. That may be old news, however, as the web site for that course is still operational. That's a bit of relief as that course is unique and beautiful. Post your comments here if you know more about this situation.
667 days ago
The Winter issue of Michigan Golfer (pdf) has a bunch of top 10 lists on a range of different golf things. One of them is a list from Golfweek of the top 10 courses in Michigan. Now, presumably, these are intentionally just public courses, otherwise, you know, Oakland Hills South would be on the list and it isn't. I do like these kind of lists and although they are always subjective, I have to pick on a couple of their choices. Here is the list (no particular order?): Arcadia Bluffs Greywalls Forest Dunes Tullymore Wilderness Valley - Valley Course Bay Harbor - Links Course Bay Harbor - Quarry Course Gailes Treetops Signature Black Lake [1] Surely they meant the Black Forest course and not the older Valley Course. Right? [2] Links and Quarry are both 9 holers. Shouldn't they be lumped together as one entry in the list of 10. As it stands, this is actually a top 9 list. [3] The Signature course at Treetops? I would ...
