University of Michigan Golf Course
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Overall Grade: A+
Value: A+
Course Conditions: A+
Value: A+ ($25 - $76)
Course Design: A (could be considered short by today’s standards)
Walkability: B (hilly; not for the weak of heart)
Practice Facility: C (there is a range, though its not on the course—its nearby)
Food: ?
Teacher’s Comments: A must play for Southeastern Michigan.

What do Augusta National, Pebble Beach and the University of Michigan Golf Course have in common? All were laid out by master course designer Alistair MacKenzie.

I’m never going to get to play Augusta. And it’s unlikely I’ll get to Pebble Beach ... but the UM “Blue” course is a teriffic substitute.

Salem Hills Golf Club

Overall Grade: C-
Value: C ($24 - $49)
Walkability: A
Course Conditions: D
Course Design: B
Practice Facility: ?
Food: B - nothing fancy.
Teacher’s Comments: Slow play and bad conditions made this an unpleasant experience.

Salem Hills is a potentially good golf course looking for better management.

From a routing and hole design point of view, I think that Salem Hills could be very good, indeed. It has good length and plenty of opportunity for strategy. It’s also very walkable.

But the course’s management, I think, lets it down and for me turned a potentially good experience into a bad one.

Brae Burn Golf Course
Plymouth, Michigan
(734) 453-1900

Overall Grade: B+
Value: A ($
Walkability: B+ (Its hilly, but doable for a healthy walker)
Course Conditions: B+
Practice Facility: B
Food: B - nothing fancy.
Teacher’s Comments: A good basic course.

Brae Burn reminds me a lot of my favorite Uncle. he was never held up as an example for praise in the family, and was a little rough around the edges, but was always a lot of fun.

One of the older courses in Washtenaw County, Brae Burn was built in 1920. As such, it’s a little on the short side, clockign in at 6,411 from the blues and plays to a par 70. The rating/slope is 70/120.

Brae Burn’s biggest claim to fame is “The Monster”, a 617 yard double dogleg par 5. The first bend is left; the second almost 90 degrees right. There is absolutely no way to get to the green in two.

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.

Rolling Meadows Golf Course
Whitmore Lake, Michigan

Overall Grade: C+
Value: B ($19 - $38)
Walkability: A+
Course Conditions: D
Course Design: C+
Practice Facility: B Practice Green and Driving Range.
Food: C - Gas station cuisine. Ther’s also a picnic area.
Teacher’s Comments: There’s just enough here to make me go back.

Built in 1978 by the Fielek family, Rolling Meadows is a friendly course: friendly to the pocketbook and friendly to the player. It has just enough variety and interesting holes, to get me to go back, in spite of some relatively poor course conditions.

The front nine begins with a short dogleg par four, a short straightaway par four and a relatively easy par three. But don’t give way to disappointment, because from there the holes become much more interesting.

I liked the fifth, a slight dogleg par four that slopes down to the 150 marker and from there left back uphill to the green. Treelines will catch a slice or hook, but a good straight blast will give you a chance to hit a lofted iron that will stick to the sloping green.

The eighth is a 145 yard par three over a depression at an elevated green. The treeline on the left will play on your mind and make you think about staying right. But a large solitary tree there hides sand trap trouble. If you’re not confident in your target golf, aim for the wider area in front of the green and then pitch up and on.

On the back nine, the par five 11th is a lot of fun. Rip a driver off the tee to corner of the dogleg left. Then hit a wood and a wedge straight at the flag.

The 14th probably could be called the course’s signature hole, as it calls for a couple of strategic decisions. It’s a dogleg right par four with a pond guarding the front of the green and light woods on the inside of the bend.

From the tee, you need to decide how close to the right you want to cut your shot. If you can keep it close without going into the woods, you can probably take a direct shot over the pond at the green for your second shot. If you swing it left to the far corner of the bend, though, you may find the approach shot too far for comfort. Laying up short of the pond may be a better decision. I like holes with this sort of risk-reward. 

The 14th is rated as the course’s toughest, but I’d actually vote for the 231 yard par three seventeenth. It’s a downhill shot that needs to be threaded between trees over a pond, while keeping it to the left of a bunker. Madness. (Photo, top left)

Fom the back tees, the course measures 6474 with a slope of 119. The whites are 6048 with a slope of 119.

Course conditions on the day I visited were not so good. Tee boxes were in poor shape , and there were bare spots in the fairways. The greens were all in good condition, though.

Another complaint I had was a lack of yardage markers.

Be sure to bring mosquito spray, especially if you are playing in the morning or evening.

You can see more photos and a course walkthrough here.