MichiganGolf.com Notebook: News from Around the Green

By Jason Scott Deegan, Senior Staff Writer

CANTON TOWNSHIP, MI -- When golfers visit the new nine holes at the Pheasant Run Golf Club, they are in for a surprise.

If you've played the course before, you'll recognize the "new" No. 19th and No. 27 holes - both were a part of the original 18 holes that opened in 1995 at the site on Summit Parkway in the middle of a large housing development.

Architect Steve Forrest, of Arthur Hills and Associates, was brought in to figure out how to put the pieces of the puzzle for the new nine together. His staff and course officials figured out a way to reconfigure the entire 27 holes, creating two new holes in a wooded area on the original back nine and to add the other seven new holes on the portion of the property originally slated for a third nine.

The changes were made mainly for logistics purposes, but they also have transformed the new holes into a blockbuster new nine.

"If we didn't do what we did, you'd have to drive the length of (old holes) No. 17 and 18 to play the third nine," Forrest said. "To shuttle people out (to the third nine) takes time and energy. We didn't want to do that. Plus, if we developed all nine holes (in the new area), that would have taken up additional (housing) development land. The two wetland holes didn't eat up any development land and it really added character to the existing course."

The only drawback to the new nine is that No. 19, formerly No. 17, requires a monster drive over a huge pond. "Normally, you do not want to have water in front of the tee on a first hole," Forrest admitted.

No. 27, the old No. 18, still plays like a great finishing hole. The par-5 bends 540 yards around a huge pond that runs all the way to the green. Three fairway bunkers guard the left side to keep golfers from bailing out too far away from the trouble.

Forrest, who also had a hand in the original design, said the new nine had more natural features than the original 18, which at times, runs too close to the hundreds of houses that line the fairway.

The new holes on the original back nine - the 430-yard 15th hole and the 506-yard 16th - are both artfully carved out of a wooded wetland area. No. 17, a 196-yard par-3, and No. 18, a 476-yard par 5, used to be holes No. 15 and 16 in the original design.

"We tried to build strategy into all the holes with quite a few diagonal hazards, like the edge of a pond or lake or stream," Forrest said. "It's the philosophy that you can bite off as much as you can chew or play risk-reward shots. It's a very strategic course. There's good variety in the holes."

The other major difference in the new nine is the bunkering, which is dramatically contoured.

"There's more movement in the sand line," Forrest said. "It's something we've made an improvement in since the original design."

For more information on playing at Pheasant Run, call the course at 734-397-6460.

UPGRADE IN THE WORKS: The Grand Haven Golf Club is getting a total makeover of both its facilities and its course. The club, formerly owned by architect Bruce Matthews, will be adding a new pro shop, restaurant, outdoor pavilion and meeting center. As for the course, a pond will be added to No. 9.

BAY MILLS OPEN: The Bay Mills Open, the first Canadian Tour event to come to Michigan, is ready to take off, with players competing May 30-June 2 at the Wild Bluff Golf Course in Brimley. The field should be stocked with talent, including 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion Jeff Quinney and runner-up James Driscoll, and several other winners on this year's Canadian tour -- Mario Tiziani (Panama Open), Rob McMillian (Barefoot Classic) and Derek Gillespie (Barefoot Championship). But two of the more interesting entrees continue to be Hall of Fall Hockey players Grant Fuhr of the Edmonton Oilers and former Detroit Red Wing Dino Ciccarelli, who are trying to succeed in professional golf. For more information, visit http://baymillsopen.com.

NEW GOLF ASSOCIATION FORMING: Course owners and officials in southeast Michigan have definitely noticed the boom of visitors to the resort country in northern Michigan. Courses there have banded together to create relationships to help attract more visitors by combining their marketing efforts. To help courses in metro Detroit and southeast Michigan do the same, Kim Hodge and David Hyde are trying to jump-start the Southeast Michigan Golf Association. For more information on this project, which is still in its early stages of being hatched, call Hodge at 248-497-1268.

MANISTEE NATIONAL UPDATE: Mike Biber is the new owner of the Manistee National Golf Resort after making the highest bid at the public auction held in Grand Rapids in April. The former owners were trying to sell the resort and its two courses for $9 million, but had to settle for half that in the auction.

The National's two courses - Canthooke Valley and Cutter's Ridge - along with the 42-room inn, are all relatively new. Designed by Gary Pulsipher, the Valley course was built in 1993 as a traditional northern Michigan layout cut through the forest. It plays to 6,619 yards from the tips. The 6,707-yard Cutter's Ridge design was completed by Jerry Matthews in 2000.

Both courses cost $45 to play on weekdays and $60 on weekends, a mid-range price for northern Michigan golf. The Inn, which features an indoor pool and whirlpool, was completed in 1997. Rooms with hot tubs and suites are available. Stay and play packages are currently listed between $60 and $100 for two players sharing the same room during the high summer season.

There are sure to be changes as Biber tries to stimulate interest in the property.

"I certainly appreciated what the prior owners did in building Manistee National, but I think our property is now in the best hands it could be," director of golf Doug Bell has been quoted as saying.

AWARD: Plymouth resident Craig Brass, author of "How to Quit Golf", the humorous look at the trials and tribulations of everyday golfers, was given an Outstanding Achievement Award in the book category at the ING meeting just concluded at Pinehurst, N.C.

May 28, 2002