Macatawa Legends Golf & Country Club lives on in Holland, Mich.
HOLLAND, Mich. -- Almost every Michigan beach town along Lake Michigan -- from St. Joseph/Benton Harbor in the south to Harbor Springs in the north -- offers a good public golf course. Holland almost lost theirs. Macatawa Legends Golf & Country Club, a Ray Hearn design that opened in 2005, went into receivership in 2009, putting the course in jeopardy and closing the Sunset Lounge in the clubhouse for several years.
You would never know it these days.
Once the recession cleared, Macatawa Legends came back to life. Hearn did his usual bang-up job by designing intriguing holes on an extremely flat site. The 7,246-yard layout has a links look with fescue lining enormous fairways. Big, slick greens with subtle breaks are easy to three-putt. Lakes frame all four of the par 5s, and the 462-yard ninth hole that feels like a par 5.
Golf Advisor user "shaeffercat" praised Macatawa Legends Golf & Country Club's playability in her review. "As a novice golfer, I had a great time, and my husband, who is a very skilled golfer, enjoyed the course as well," she wrote. "The conditions were excellent and the greens were fast. Had a nice meal afterwards. Very impressive facility."
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(based on 4 reviews)