Michigan Golf

Hello All, this may be my final post with regard to golf for quite a while.  I will be heading to China, first for vacation for about a month and then possibly to work.  I'll keep you posted on my travel blog.

Michigan is a wonderful place for golf.  If I could spend a year (with good weather) I don't think I'd be able to hit all of the nice to very nice golf courses in this state.  Although I must say most are only in the nice category not unlike North Carolina, Wisconsin or Minnesota.  Most of these states are very wooded and like Michigan the courses, again, although beautiful and well cared for begin to look the same with many being tree-lined fareways.

As you've probably read in previous posts what I am looking for in a great course is the "wow" effect; either in my first drive up to the course or more specifically on one or more of the wholes.

Playing in Michigan there are only three courses that have the wow effect of the ones I played and those three are Arcadia Bluffs, Forest Dunes and Harbor Bay, in that order.  And to be fair I didn't play Tullymore at St. Ives Resort which was highly ranked.  So it could possibly displace any of the three I mentioned.  My plans someday are to go back and play both Tullymore and play Harbor Bay again (this time in good weather).

Arcadia Bluffs, far and away, was my my favorite course.  From the moment you drive up to the clubhouse to the last hole there isn't shortage of "wows."  The clubhouse is spectacular and has just recently been finished to hosts guests and sets on top of the hill overlooking the entire course.  Beautiful views abound from the clubhouse.  And honestly there are too many wholes to recount which ones are "wow" holes and reach ones are simply challenging.  The only draw back I had in my entire experience at Arcadia Bluffs was with the idiot guy behind the counter at the end of the day.  Even though I told him I felt Arcadia Bluffs was my number one course he kept arguing with me that Forest Dunes and not Harbor Bay should be number two.  Like why should he care which I put as number two.  What a jerk!!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures in order of when I played them.  Sorry I don't have any of Harbor Bay.  It was raining and foggy on the day I played and I didn't actually finish the round, thus no pics.  And yet it still is my No. 2.

Shepherd's Hollow - #37 - by far my least favorite

Eagle Hawk - #81


Red Hawk - #40 - another with few "wow" holes

Lake Shore - The Gailes - #54

Black Lake - #35

Forest Dunes - #20 - Beautiful course in a wonderful setting.

Arcadia Bluffs - #10 - my number one course in Michigan.  If you haven't played it should be on you must play list.

Massachusetts Golf

Well, going from what will certainly be one of my favorite states to what will now be my least favorite state for golf - Massachusetts (I sure hope I misspelled it)!!  My plans were to play both Pinehills and Taconic but it looks like I won't play either.  One by force, one by choice.

My Pinehills experience was to say the least horrible.  Everyone that has talked to me or follows my blog knows that I call ahead to make a tee time and when doing so I mention that I travel with my dog and I always ask if 1) I can leash her on the cart with me, and if not, 2) can I then leave her leashed outside my van.  I do not want to leave her in the van for sometimes over 5 hours.  Not good and besides it is probably against the law in some states.

Well, Pineville wouldn't let me leash her on the cart but it was fine leaving her in the parking lot.  I always park near a grassy area so she has a comfortable place to lie and leave her plenty of food and water.  Well, I'm about tho hit my second or third shot on the 4th hole when one of the marshals come up and tell me the director says I can't have the dog on the premises.  Well, it was a cool day so I asked the marshal to go back and ask the director if I could just put her in the van for the remainder of the round.  When the marshal came back he told me no, the director said I have to take the dog off the property.  What a putz!!  And what's even worse is that when I walked into the club house to pay for my round of golf, you guessed it, there was a dog walking around inside the clubhouse.

What a complete jerk!!!  The only saving grace was that while I was packing up to leave a member came up to me and apologized for the director.  I say they should fire his butt and teach him some proper manners!!  If courses much better than Pineville let me have my dog on the course with me then Pineville needs to work on their rules.

Whew!!!

The other course in Mass. is Taconic which is the university course for Williams College.  I probably should have played this course before I went up to Maine.  Maine has some beautiful courses all of which are very reasonably priced.  When I called up Taconic to set up a tee time I do what I always do, ask what their rates are and ask about having Lusha with me.  They mentioned a rate of $145.  The rate in and of itself doesn't bother me.  Many of the really good courses charged that and more.  So on to Williamstown I go.

Upon reaching the golf course I start to question the amount of their rate.  The course is nothing special that I could see from the club house.  And they only charge their members $65.  After talking to a couple of members and no invitations to join them at their member rate I decided my money could be better spent on other courses.

So Massachusetts may be the only state in which I play no golf.  Ahhhhhhhh, I don't like their politics much anyway!!!  lol

Vermont and New Hampshire Golf

I'm included Vermont and New Hampshire in one blog since neither state actually has a course in the Top 100 on either of the lists I am using.  That doesn't mean they shouldn't!  Especially when it comes to Vermont and the Green Mountain National Golf Course.  This course, unlike the Atkinson Golf Course in Atkinson, NH is well worth an 100 ranking.  As for challenge and beauty, it should rank up there with most of the courses I've played that I really like.  What will dock it hard is the club house is pretty plain and they have no showers.

At Green Mountain I played with three hackers but I must have been in a good mental state because I still played decently half the time.  In a 4 hole stretch on the back 9 I went Birdie, Par, Birdie, Birdie and I've never done that before.  Pretty cool, huh!  Now if I hadn't started out Triple, Bogey, Double I'd have shot better than a 40 on the back nine.  lol  What a round!!  But I really did enjoy the guys and their histrionics.  Thanks guys for a fun day.

Enjoy the pics.

Atkinson G:

Green Mountain:

Maine Golf

Maine golf is fantastic, really.  There were three courses I was to have played but one, and probably the most spectacular of the three, won't open for business until this coming Friday and I have plans to be other places.  I may come back to play it, we'll just have to see how the job market/money holds up.

As for the two courses I did play, Sunday River and Belgrade Lakes, Sunday River is the much more beautiful overall while Belgrade Lakes - from the clubhouse, has the best scenic view of any I've seen in quite a while.  Neither course had showers which for reasons that are obvious to those following me is important.  What was nice was that the Pro at Sunday River was able to pull some strings and he got me access to the Jordan Resort health club to shower.  Like I said above, Sunday River, all around was a very nice environment.

Both courses were well manicured with very few rough or dry spots on the courses.  And the couple I played with at Sunday River really made the course much more manageable.  Now if I could only talk him into taking me to Fisher's Island to golf with him I'd be set.  lol

Enjoy the picks.

Belgrade Lakes:

Sunday River:

Maryland Golf

Maryland supposedly had three courses in the Top 100 but someone forgot to tell Beechtree - they closed there doors so they could make more money selling there land to home developers.  The American way, what can I say.  So that brought Maryland down to two courses and I have to say for a state where the first thing you usually think of isn't golf I enjoyed both courses and absolutely loved The Links and Lighthouse Sound.  This is not to put down Bulle Rock as it was a great course and will challenge even the best golfers, it just doesn't have the WOW effect of The Links.  As for the courses in Maryland, the state is certainly one of my favorites.

The Links is definitely one of my favorites, from the golf course, to the people working there, to the clubhouse it would be an excellent stop for anyone wanting to not only have a great round of golf but enjoy the scenic view of the Bishopville Prong of the St. Lawrence River leading to the Atlantic Ocean.  Besides who wouldn't want to experience the 1500+ foot long cart bridge leading from the 7th green to the 8th tee box.  Wow!  It is touted as the longest cart bridge in the world.

Enjoy the pics:
Bulle Rock

The Links at Lighthouse Sound

Team Effort NCAA Lettermans Club II Cooler Golf Cart Bag (Maryland)

(4) Maryland Terrapins Golf Ball Markers

Virginia Golf

For some unknow reason I've been struggling to write my blog on Virginia golf.  Not that it is bad or anything, in fact there are two courses that I really enjoyed and are pretty close to the top of my list even though I haven't played Homestead.

Virginia has four courses in the Top 100, Homestead, Tradition, Highland at Primland and Golden Horsehoe.  Again, I speak of Homestead because I didn't play it.  However, I did play a fourth in Virginia on the recommendation of a gentleman I met eating breakfast.  I played the River Course at Virginia Tech in Radford, VA.  A good thing too, as for Virginia courses, it along with Highland at Primland Resort are my two favorite courses.  And only because of the location do I place Highland at the top.  But don't let that distract from playing The River Course - it is absolutely beautiful, challenging and has plenty of 'ah ha' moments.  The river holes are breath taking.

Highland is my favorite for just that reason, it is at the top of the mountain.  Some of the views I'm sure would only be duplicated if you were a hiker hiking up a mountain only to hit the peak and be awestruck with the panoramic view.  You get that feeling several times while playing Highland.

The Golden Horseshoe has some great holes but over all it doesn't make my favorites list.  I would take a few holes and play them over and over but that kind of difficult to do.  Holes #12 and #16 are especially beautiful and challenging.

Enjoy the picks:

Highland at Primland Resort

River Course @ Virginia Tech

Golden Horseshoe

Tradition