As I mentioned in my last blog, I played Forest Dunes this past weekend. What a fantastic golf course. I played Arcadia Bluffs last year and was blown away by that course. Forest Dunes may not offer the spectacular views you get at the Bluffs, but it is every bit as good a course. They are both must play golf courses for all golfers.
The ride to Forest Dunes from Metro Detroit is only about 2 1/2 hours, making it a nice weekend getaway. The clubhouse is impressive as are the different lodging options. For those of you who did not know, like me, they are adding a unique Tom Doak course. The course will play 1 to 18 and then 18 to 1 on alternating days. If you weren't excited about playing Forest Dunes before, you should be now. This will make for a perfect weekend golf trip. Play the Dunes twice and play each way on the Doak course. I am looking forward to next year.
Back to Forest Dunes, enjoy some of the pictures I took as this is the best way to showcase the golf course.
The second shot into 8.
From 8th fairway looking at 18 and the range.
8th Fairway.
8th green with 18 fairway across the lake.
The next three are from tee box on 9. Par 3. Great Hole!
From the III tee, this played about 175 into the wind.
Mostly carry to a beautiful green and backdrop!
Fun hole cut out of the landscape.
Impressive cart path around the entire course!
18th green. Third shot on par 5.
19th, (Bye Hole) A nice par 3 with a bunker in the middle of the green to settle any unfinished bets!
I hope you enjoy the pictures, and would like to hear from those who have played Forest Dunes to see what you thought of the course.
Disclaimer: I was not paid or reimbursed by either golf course to give my review of Forest Dunes or Arcadia Bluffs.
I love playing golf this time of year. The weather is cooler
and the leaves are changing color. It does require some planning and watching
the weather forecast closely. Do not rely on the forecast alone for your
preparations. I find it always best to check the radar with any of the various
weather apps and look outside your window. Once you decide to go for it, the
best thing to do is be prepared with multiple layers of golf gear. If you are
like me, you can never have enough golf gear. I get a lot of nice gear at
discount from Amazon.com and 6pm.com. Gear from Callaway, Oakley, Under Armour,
and Puma are always on these sites, sometimes for as little as $10. I recommend
checking these websites out.
You have your gear ready, now it is time to pick a course.
You have to be selective this time of year because not all golf courses are
good for fall golf. Not if you want to find your ball anyway. I find the best
courses are Links courses because they have few if any trees. A nice bonus this
time of year is the heather is usually laying down a bit as well making those
errant shots a little easier to find and play. But who hits those? We are lucky
in Michigan and in the Metro Detroit area to have so many great golf courses.
For my top 3, I am using value, course conditions, and course character to
choose my favorites. Not in any particular order, they are:
·Blackheath Golf Club in Rochester
·Sanctuary Lake Golf Course in Troy
·Gateway Golf Club in Romulus
Blackheath #6
Blackheath Par 3
Blackheath Par 3
Sanctuary Lake #1
Sanctuary Lake
These are great fall golf Links style courses. Very few
trees and ball hiding leaves and they all keep course conditions in great
shape. All three can be played for $20 or less in the fall using Golfnow.com or
other discount tee time websites. If you haven’t played these courses, I recommend
you add these to your fall rotation. For those of you who may have played
Gateway in the past few years, they are under new ownership, and the course is
in fantastic shape.
I am planning to go play Forest Dunes this coming weekend to
check another great course off my must play list, so if anyone has any advice,
please share.
Last week I shared some of Dave Pelz's videos on short game. The YouTube video below is from the guys at Meandmygolf.com. They have a lot of videos on YouTube that you can subscribe to and you can send them questions as well. Check them out.
Most of us recreational golfers only get to play once or
twice a week if we are lucky. Adding to this travesty is we practice even less.
This can make for a long day on the golf course when we do get the chance to
break away from the “to-do list” and go play a round with our friends. How do
we get the most enjoyment of these never enough rounds of golf? The answer is
in the short game.
The little time you get to work on your game needs to be
spent on the short game. Focus on 125 yards and in and practice putting. This
is where you will save the most strokes and lower your score. Consistently
making bogeys and pars is the best way to put pressure on your buddies and win
bragging rights for the next week. Using your buddy’s money to buy a “round”
after the round doesn’t hurt either.
I recommend you carry at least four wedges, a pitching
wedge, a gap wedge, a sand wedge, and a lob wedge. Practice with these wedges
getting to know how far your hit each one, and I guarantee you will start
shooting lower scores. Getting hot with the putter helps too. It has helped me
shoot consistently in the low 90’s to low 80’s with a personal best 77
recently. For the recreational, weekend golfer, we cannot expect much more than
this. For most of us, this will help us get the most enjoyment out of weekend
golf.
The short videos below are great and give a nice visual of the things to work on with the short game. Enjoy your next round and share your tips for enjoying the game of golf.
