Rustic Glen Golf Course Review

Rustic Glen Golf Course
Saline Michigan

Overall Grade: C+
Value: C ($21 - $37)
Walkability: A
Course Conditions: C+
Course Design: C+
Practice Facility: B
Food: B - nothing fancy.
Teacher’s Comments: You won’t mistake this for a premium course, but it’s fun nonetheless.

I had fun at Rustic Glen.

There aren’t any particularly memorable holes. Course conditions were merely adequate. And the routing can sometimes be confusing. It is frankly, not a great course.

But I had fun. And if you’re looking for a cheap and relaxing round of golf, I think you will too.

Rustic Glenn is a farm course, laid out on land adjacent to US 12 six miles west of Saline. The original nine were constructed some thirty years ago; the second in 1999.

The course has a good mix of holes. Some take you across open fields, others through thin woods. There are uphill and downhill tee shots and forced carries. Some require target golf; others are “grip ‘em and rip ‘em.”

Greens are, for the most par, large and not particuarly tricky.

At 469 yards, the number one handicap hole is the par 4 third. The fairway heads straight out from the tee, bending just slightly left about two thirds of the way down. To the left is a line of threes that separates this hole from the eighth; the right has scattered hedges that if you are unlucky could block your line of sight. I think the difficulty here comes from a slight dip in front of the green, which makes the distance seem shorter than it actually is.

My major beef with the course design is the routing. Several of the holes are awkwardly positioned, and tee boxes do not naturally follow the greens. To get from the seventh to the eighth, for example, requires you to cross over part of the fourth. A trip to the fifteenth tee requires you to pass just behind the seventeenth green, which in turn requires you to pass the fifteenth tee to get to eighteen.

The course has an unusual way of classifying the tees: The hack tees are a yellow color, and are called “The Eagle”; next in are the Hawk, Owl and Robin tees. It’s an annoying affectation.

Course conditions were playable and about what you might expect from a farm course. The fairways are filled in, but with lots of clover. The greens are tidy; the tee boxes just ok.

So the big question is: Would I play this course again? And the answer is “yes.”

For more photos and a course walk-through, click here.