Arcadia Bluffs Spring Review

[BG5]

Was first off at Arcadia Bluffs today (April 28) and our foursome finished in 3 hours 50 minutes. Weather was perfect with no wind and nothing but sunshine ☀️.

 

I played Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run a few days earlier so it was cool to compare with Arcadia.

 

Of all 3 courses Arcadia was by far in the best condition and the greens at Arcadia were far superior at this time of year.

 

From a playability standpoint I prefer Arcadia over the time ther two courses. Whistling Straits is amazing but it is one tricky and tough course. The fact that it host majors and the crazy number of holes that are on the water make Whistling Straights a better track. Add in caddies and the top notch service and you can see why WS is better.

 

But if I’m going on a buddies trip I would much rather play Arcadia Bluffs along with its new South course over 36 holes at WS and Blackwolf Run. The south course is s must for those who have not played it.

 

There will be plenty of people who disagree and that’s fine as ranking courses is so subjective.

 

Arcadia Bluffs Highlights

-amazing conditions

-excellent greens

-course that you can score on if you play correct tees.

 

Problems at Arcadia

-we did Run into a custom service problem at Arcadia that made this specific trip a 1 Star in customer service. I don’t want to give any other info on it but expect it to be taken care this week. Arcadia better make it right and am assuming they will if they truly want to compete with the big boys.

 

I’ll post some pics tonight when I get home.

 

I will also be playing Erin Hills and Sand Valley in the next month.

 

 

[BG5]

 

 

Pics at Arcadia Bluffs

11th Hole Par 5

13th Hole Par 3

 

I birdied both :)

[BG5]

 

[mci711]

The customer service I received at Arcadia when I went was better than just about every other public facility I have been to, so I am shocked to hear this. To say it was a 1-star experience and give no details devalues the review.

 

Enjoy Erin Hills and Sand Valley. Erin may be my favorite course I have played.

[BG5]

Fair enough....If I am posting I received 1 star customer service then I guess its fair for you to call me out. Here is a quick summary of why my group was upset.

 

Monday April 22nd - I called Arcadia and booked my tee times. We were able to grab the first tee time in the morning and I asked about being able to play 36 holes although I stated that since my buddy lives in Southern Indiana we wanted to just make the turn and keep playing. I explained that I totally understand that this may not be an option as there could be groups that have those tee times. I was told over the phone that they would do whatever they could possible to allow us to make the turn as quickly as possible. I also told them that I did not want to make a tee time for the second round in case it was really backed up. So basically were were ready to play 36 holes if possible but also ok with going home after 18 holes. At this point I have no issues

 

Thursday April 25 - I called Arcadia back to confirm my 8:00 tee time and also was concerned with possible weather issues. Areas North of Grand Rapids were supposed to be getting 2-4 inches of snow Saturday night and with our tee time being Sunday morning I wanted to know if the weather got bad if/when we had to cancel our tee times so we would not be charged. Arcadia told me not to worry about it and if there was an issue with weather we would not be charged. I also asked what the afternoon tee times were looking like and they said it was pretty wide open at this point. They never made any mention of me having a tee time in the afternoon as well. I asked them for an email confirmation of my tee time since I did not receive one. This happened to me last year (no email) when I Played the South Course and I was not overly concerned at this point. Again no issues so far.

 

Saturday April 27 - Called Arcadia just to make sure they would be open as the Grand Rapids area was getting 2-4 inches of snow. Arcadia explained that the snow was going to miss them so we are a go. They also told me at that time that I had a 8:00 and 1:50 tee times booked. I explained that the 1:50 tee time would not work for us as that is too late and if they did not have one around noonish then we would just play 18 holes. I was then told that I was going to be charged $360 in a voucher form that never expires. This is where things get a little iffy in my opinion. I was never actually told I had an official tee time in the afternoon until this moment and I was never sent any type of email with my tee times. I told the guy on the phone in a very calm manner that we would not be playing the afternoon round and I asked him not to charge my card. He told me he had to as it was policy and I explained that there was a mistake made by someone at AB. He told me he had to do it so I calmly asked to talk to the GM at Arcadia Bluffs and was sent to his voicemail.

 

Saturday April 27 - I left a message on the GMs line that was very calm and polite. I explained that I would probably be back to Arcadia Bluffs 2-3 times this year and that I preferred not to be charged on my card. I explained what happened and asked that I get a call back when he receives the message.

 

Sunday - We arrive at Arcadia Bluffs at 7:00 am and was told that there would be a delay for frost. No big deal to us so our group purchased $140 of stuff in the proshop such as jackets, bag tags, and balls. We then sat down for breakfast and 3 of the 4 ate and we all had 2 drinks. We then made sure to tell the proshop at check in that we need 10 minutes to warm up putting and range before we tee off. They told us that everything was closed but assured us we would have time to warm up prior to being first off. I simply asked them to come find us in the bar area and let us know when we can begin to warm up.

 

Around 8:55 am the proshop guys come rushing in saying he needs us on the first tee ASAP. I said what about warming up??? He said we dont really have time to do that. We did not make a big deal out of it and went to the first tee.

 

Upon arriving at the first tee the starter was there and greeted us with a friendly smile. The proshop guy at the same time not knowing we were there tried to contact the starter on the walkie talkie and said "hey that group is headed there and keep and eye on these guys because they look like trouble.....make sure they know to play fast and these are the same guys that wanted to talk to the GM" . I was shocked to hear that but ignored the comment. I just think if your going to talk bad about somebody then you better make sure they are not around and up until this point I can see no reason why they would even say this.

 

We teed off and had a great round an finished under 4 hours. I think we came in at 3 hours and 55 minutes and when we were done there was no cart boy or anybody to wipe our clubs and help carry our bags to cars. We typically tip $5 a guy and although not a huge deal just a little surprised. The other issues was the beverage cart. We saw it 1 time all day which was surprising. As we finished the tee box at 1 was backed up with 3 groups so replay was not an option for us.

 

My biggest issue was being told over the phone I was gonna be charged for a tee time that I never made. I was upset I was never sent an email and even asked about it. Lastly, the walkie talkie between the proshop to the starter was flat out classless. I dont have a problem with him saying that to the starter but if he does then the customer should never have heard that. My group is pretty laid back so they are lucky that they did not do this to others.

 

So will I go back to Arcadia Bluffs.....well heck ya....its a great golf experience and prior to this I have never had an issue but this was pretty bad in my opinion. But I also understand that everyone has a bad day and maybe thats the case here. To date I have not been charged for the afternoon round so I am happy. As long as I dont get charged its water under the bridge and I will give them another crack soon.

 

 

[mci711]

> @BG5 said:

 

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like they aren't going to charge you, which would be the biggest issue. I wonder if they had some new people starting out the season because that is quite the mess (not that that is a good excuse). The radio comment would have set me off as well.

 

 

 

[mci711]

deleted, saw other post.

[exgolfpro]

In my opinion, you did everything that you were expected to do from a customer standpoint and it appears from your explanation that this was just a 'bookkeeping' error. Hopefully you won't be charged (I agree that you shouldn't be) and this will all just go away. Thanks for all the info as i hope to go to AB next year.

[MountainKing]

If they fixed the customer service issue to your satisfaction is it really a 1 star rating anymore? 1 start generally means it was as bad as it could be and was never resolved. If you're saying it's water under the bridge then it's not really fair to them to call it a 1 star rating.

[cflo2382]

Thanks for a quick review and sorry to hear about the customer service issue.. I'm playing AB and the South Course on May 19th and 20th. Can't wait!

[sunbeltgolfer]

Leaving on the 27th to head to Arcadia Bluffs. Looks like my usual wet golf weather in the forecast. However, it does brighten up right about the time I depart. Hoping it will be dry enough to enjoy.