Cascades Golf Course
Jackson, Michigan

Overall Grade: A-
Value: A+ ($16 - $40, depending on time and day)
Course Conditions: B+
Course Design: B+
Walkability: A
Practice Facility: B+ (there is a range, though its not on the course—its nearby)
Food: B
Teacher’s Comments: A terrific municipal course.

Built in 1927, the Cascades Golf Course in Jackson, Michigan is a part of the city’s wonderful Sparks County Park. The park system also includes a nine hole short course, the Ella Sharp golf course, tennis courts, picnic areas, lagoons, paddleboats, batting cages, an ice cream parlour and the fabulous Cascades—a beautiful giant illuminated waterfall. The waterfall is 64 feet high, and 500 feet in length, with six fountains, sixteen falls, 1,230 electric lights and a system that pumps 2,000 gallons a minute. It’s amazing and worth playing the Cascades at twilight so you can see the falls in all their glory.

The course itself was rated as a four star track by Golf Digest in 2004. It offers challenging length at 6,651 from the blues. A course rating/slope from the blues of 73/136 tells you that it can be a beast.(I shot a 90 and thought myself lucky)

The Cascades offers two of the best opening holes that I’ve seen on a golf course. The first is a 573 yard par 5 (from the blues) that plays downhill to the green. Trees spot the left and right sides, so a wayward shot often won’t offer a direct shot at the green (photo on right, second from top)

The second is a uphill par 5 measuring 530 from the blues. A tee shot of 250 plus is required to carry the first ridge line.

After playing these two, you will be thoroughly warmed up and in the mood for some challenging golf.

The course’s signature hole is number 17, a 388 yard par 4. A canal crosses the fairway 250 yards out.You have a tactical choice here. Try to carry the canal for a better shot at teh green or lay up. I chose to lay up because the green slopes severely from back to front.I then hit a wood into the green, flew the hole, but watched it roll back to give me a short putt.

One of the more interesting holes on the course is the par 3 eleventh. It has the novel concept of a dual green. Men hit the ball 201 yards to the green on the right; women 121 to the green on the left. The right green requires a carry over a pond; theleft is a straight shot down a fairway. The two greens are separated by a stand of pines. (photo on left, third from top)

There aren’t any really easy holes on the course. The short holes challenge with narrowing fairways, well placed bunkers or doglegs.

Conditions at the course were very good on the day I played. There were a few bare spots and some soft spots—particularly down near the ponds—but for a municipal course, it was outstanding.

The clubhouse is simple and offers convenience store food. There is no pro shop to speak of.

In addition to the main Course, the Cascades also offers a “Cascades Short Course”—a nine hole track that has a variety of par 3 and par 4s. It apparently was originally owned by Jackson area PGA player Mike Hill (now on the Champions).

The Cascades Short Course, which lies adjacent to the main course, is exceedingly tight, requiring irons off most of the tees—even the par 4s. Conditions here were not so good ... grass was missing in a lot of areas, and the trees needed some trimming to keep low branches away from the fairways. But the price was right ($8). The short course is a par 33 and measures 2,100 yards.

In all, I think that the Cascades offers one of the better golf experiences in southeastern Michigan.

You can see more photos and a course walk-through here.

In golf’s distant past, “courses” were laid out across pasture land, with hole routing following sheep paths. Grazing sheep clip the grass very close to the ground, sculptingnatural fairways and greens. And sheep nesting down out of the wind on the links lands formed natural sand traps.

When Sam Snead first travelled to St. Andrews by train for the Open Championship, he looked out a window and noticed what looked to him like an old golf course that had been allowed to turn fallow. When he asked what the name of the abandoned course was, he was informed that it was St. Andrews.

Of course, US-style, highly manicured, irrigated, and fertilized courses come at a steep price. And that price has kept many a would-be golfer from the game.

Enter “Pasture Golf.” A recent article by Tim Booth of the Associated Press takes a look at a growing movement where golfers forgo the niceties and play golf as it was originally conceived.

In fact, there’s an entire web site dedicated to pasture golf courses, where players can walk a round at a buck a hole or less.

The Golf Club Atlas is a nice site that I found that focuses on golf course architecture and golf course reviews (that’s “club” as in real estate, not as in “equipment"). There are a lot of articles here worth the read.

Hudson Mills Metropark Golf Course
Saline, Michigan

Overall Grade: C
Value: C ($22 - $27)
Walkability: A+
Course Conditions: B
Course Design: C-
Practice Facility: None to speak of.
Food: C - Gas station cuisine.
Teacher’s Comments: Boring.

The Hudson Mills Golf Course is part of southeastern Michigan’s fabulous Metropark system—a network of parks and recreation areas that includes eight golf courses.

Hudson Mills, located in western Washtenaw county, is a rather dull track. Nearly all of the holes are straight shots from tee to green, with little strategy needed. You simply hit the ball straight as far as you can off the tee, and then take another straight shot into the green.

The course is also very wide open. There’s little danger of losing a ball in the woods or swamp here. I don’t miss a lot of fairways, but when I did, there was no real penalty.

There are a couple of marshes, a few tree lines, some creeks and a pond, but none of them really come into play. In fact, I have a hard time imagining anyone’s ball actually finding these obstacles.

The course measures in at 6,560 with a slope of 118 from the back tees. The whites are at 6,339 with a slope of 116.

Hickory Sticks Golf Course
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Overall Grade: D
Value: D ($15 - $42, depending on time and day)
Course Conditions: D
Course Design: C
Walkability: D ... I wouldn’t try it.
Practice Facility: B
Food: ??
Teacher’s Comments: Don’t bother. There are a lot of better courses in Washtenaw County.

This is a favorite course of a friend of mine, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why. There are plenty of better courses and better bargains in Washtenaw County and southeastern Michigan.

I am sure that designer William Newcomb is not putting this track on his resume. For me, the holes swung between bizarre and uninspiring. Despite the fact that I played well, I just didn’t think the course was a much fun.