Readers Tee Off: Letters to the MichiganGolf.com editor

Arcadia Bluffs falls a bit short

Regarding your recent review of Arcadia Bluffs: I played there with friends as part of a vacation we took to the Traverse City area in late June. No doubt about it, it's a beautiful course with some spectacular views, and many of the holes are well-designed and challenging but fair.

However, several of the greens are much too difficult with their severe undulations and/or multiple tiers considering the approach shots needed, especially for those unfamiliar with the course. They seem to reflect a design-for-design's-sake point of view. And on the first tee we were given a lecture by the starter about keeping up the pace of play - i.e., stay close to the group in front of you. We had twilight tee times (4 and 4:10 on a Sunday), which at that time of year should have left plenty of daylight. But we were immediately behind an outing, and to be kind, they were pathetically slow.

We finished just before total darkness descended, at almost 10. And not once did we see a ranger or players' assistant out there to monitor play. Overall, we figured the experience rated about a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10.

Maurice L. Mitterling, Walden, NY

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.