Course
Review:
The Glacier Club
The Glacier Club
By Mark “Sparky”
Honey
from Two Guys Who Golf
The GLACIER CLUB (810-786-0800), located near Van Dyke and 27
Mile road in north metro Detroit, Michigan, is a first class golf
experience and as close as you will get to playing a PGA tour
style property in this part of the state.
There is a great grass driving range and a huge practice green for putting and chipping, along with a practice bunker. The 7000 yard Billy Newcomb design features 5 sets of tees, allowing numerous choices for varying the difficulty of play.
Glacier also has excellent outing and banquet facilities. Click here to view their website for information on the course, their residential community, memberships, and banquet/outing facilities.
The opening hole (a long par 5) will catch your attention. Keep
it in the fairway and be happy if you reach in three, the sloping
green which plays uphill.
After an easy par 4 second, the par 3 third requires an accurate shot to the correct section of the green - or you will have a tough uphill/downhill lag on the tiered putting surface.
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A birdie or par can be had on this reasonable par 5. Holes # 7, 8 and 9 are challenging, requiring accuracy and length, with unenviable approaches if you land too far left or right.
Overall, the front nine presents an opportunity to score well if you can keep your ball in the fairway, as the rough is extremely strong and penal. The back plays a little tougher, with some tight fairways and doglegs to challenge your shot making ability. The par 5's at # 11 and 14 are particularly interesting, with huge greens and considerable trouble lurking.
Number 16 is a beautiful par 3 surrounded by bunkers and plays
over a narrow marsh. Seventeen gives you a last opportunity for
a birdie, playing quite easily if you can put your drive in the
fairway. The par 4 eighteenth is a great finishing hole, where
par is a good score. The water on the left is sneaky close, and
the bunker fronting the green is one you will want to avoid.
Be sure to take notice of the pin placement on your approach. The entire course is well marked, with a very good pin placement system (different colored flags) in place.
Glacier has been home to many US Open and amateur qualifying events.
The quality and speed of their greens is quite different from
most of the area courses. Be sure to arrive early and make use
of their expansive practice green, which runs very similar to
the ones you will encounter on the course.
The most telling number however, will be how many fairways you hit. Stay out of the rough and you have a good chance of scoring your handicap or better. Visit the rough often and you will pay far less per shot to play this course.
A great course - US Open / private club quality - highly recommended ! Good deals on Monday and Tuesday.
