Detroit area course advice needed

[sabram]

I'll be in the Detroit area in April for some meetings and will have time for two rounds. Trying to decide where to play. I've read good things about the following courses. Have any of you played these? Any thoughts? If you could only play two, which two?

 

Shepperd's Hollow

Cat tails

Moose Ridge

Tanglewood

Lyon Oaks

Eagle Crest

Fieldstone

Fox Hills

Lakes of Taylor

Salem Hills

 

Thanks

[BEND OF THE RIVER GC]

I have played the following:

 

Shepherd's Hollow

 

Awesome course, around $85 and very tough, long!

 

 

Fieldstone

 

Good course, worth playing.

 

Fox Hills

 

Nice as well, it is an Audubon Sanctuary course.

Lakes of Taylor

 

OK, skip it...have played it twice before, a little bit pricey for what you get....

 

You want to try Northville Hills GC, Palmer designed and NICE.

 

Pics of it here:

 

Northville Hills GC

 

Also, The Orchards is a nice golf course, pics of it here:

 

Orchards GC

 

Another good website to read reviews of Michigan courses is here:

 

Michigan Golf Courses

[hoganfan924]

Shepherd's Hollow is a strong #1 on that list. Spectacular elevation changes, lots of elevated tees, cut through the woods, very peaceful setting. Lots of options on tees. Very reminiscent of northern Michigan courses. I've seen deer and red foxes on the course. Very nice clubhouse with an excellent menu too. Good place to eat a nice meal after the round. The course is built for carts, so they don't allow walkers.

 

Of the rest, Lyon Oaks, Moose Ridge and Fieldstone are all tough but very good tracks. Fieldstone is just 12 miles down I-75 from Sheperd's Hollow. Lyon Oaks and Moose Ridge are close to each other but a good hour drive from Sheperd's Hollow.

[jallstar23]

I personally love shepherd hollow. I would definitely play it. Fieldstone is one of my favorite courses in the area, as well as northville hills. Another course that you didnt mention but i like is Pheasant Run.

 

I would not recommend salem hills, fox hills (except for the golden fox), or lakes of taylor.

[alacey]

Play Shephers Hollow without a doubt. Fieldstone is kind of tricked up. I haven't played the other ones.

[sabram]

Thanks to all for the advice.

[TheMotorCity]

Without a doubt 1)Sheperds Hollow

2)The Preserve

3)Northville Hills

 

 

 

Sheperds Hollow is a must play,and without a doubt I would give the Preserve a look

[JNewsted]

Shepperd's Hollow....YES!

Cat tails... NOTHING SPECIAL

Moose Ridge... PRETTY DARN GOOD

Tanglewood... BLAH!

Lyon Oaks???

Eagle Crest???

Fieldstone... TRICKY, VERY NICE THOUGH

Fox Hills.... TRICKY AS WELL, CANT STAND IT

Lakes of Taylor... NICE GREENS BUT 3x CANT STAND IT

Salem Hills... OLDER STYLE, NOTHING SPECIAL.

 

 

Look for Pierce Lake or Timber Trace. Good courses, great values

[itw419]

Shepherds Hollow is a must. Also Moose Ridge. I was not a very big fan of Northville Hills myself. I really like Lakes of Taylor. The greens are great.

[bbslurp413]

Definetly Shepherds Hollow and Moose Ridge. Fieldstone is a close third however

[teek9]

Depends on where you're staying and how far you're willing to drive?

When in April?...weather is questionable at this time.

[JHR]

Shepperd's Hollow....YES!

Cat tails... NOTHING SPECIAL

Moose Ridge... PRETTY DARN GOOD

Tanglewood... BLAH!

Lyon Oaks???

Eagle Crest???

Fieldstone... TRICKY, VERY NICE THOUGH

Fox Hills.... TRICKY AS WELL, CANT STAND IT

Lakes of Taylor... NICE GREENS BUT 3x CANT STAND IT

Salem Hills... OLDER STYLE, NOTHING SPECIAL.

 

I think S. Hollow is nice tee to green, but in the summer the greens can be very unfair.

I really like Moose Ridge, great golf course.

I agree with the nothing special rating on Cattails, many better choices.

Tanglewood is much the same as Cattails.

Fieldstone is a great course, but conditions can be so so , and pace can be very slow.

I liked Lakes of Taylor.

 

Liek stated, The Orchards is a great choice, and several others in the same area as Orchards.

 

 

Look for Pierce Lake or Timber Trace. Good courses, great values

Both of these are great courses.

 

Depends on where you're staying and how far you're willing to drive?

When in April?...weather is questionable at this time.

 

I also agree with this, need to know where you are staying and willingness to travel, weather is a total guess in April.

[mags300]

Depends on where your staying, north of the city: Sugarbush in davison (lapeer) is the best bang for your dollar in the whole detroit area, only problem is it's 90 minutes from metro airport. As earlier stated The orchards in washington ,mi is superb just a little pricey. If your staying west/ northwest of metro i'm in agreement, northville hills, lyon oaks, majestic, the preserve are all great tracks. Another GREAT course is in howell,mi. It's called hunters ridge., it's just a little far out ( northwest 1 hour) :D

[Gripit N Ripit 54]

Shepherds hollow and Mooseridge, for sure. All of those courses are nice, but those two are my favorite of them all.

 

Brian

[RLS III]

Definately Stonebridge in Ann Arbor :) :rolleyes:

[mmp]

Sheperd's Hollow is awesome. The second and thrid nines made the golf digest best public course list last year.

 

I haven't played some of the other courses, but I saw the Orchards was mentioned and that is a nice course as well.

 

If you know any University of Michigan Alumni, students, or staff, you can play the U of M course, an Alister MacKenzie course that is one of my absolute favorites.

[cdesana]

Definately Stonebridge in Ann Arbor :) :rolleyes:

 

I have an old customer that comes up from Toledo to play this course, he and his group love it!!

 

I have only played it once and it seemed a little short from the tees I played it from, I am sure it would have been tons better from further back. Too many lay ups from the tees I played.

[RLS III]

Definately Stonebridge in Ann Arbor :) :rolleyes:

 

I have an old customer that comes up from Toledo to play this course, he and his group love it!!

 

I have only played it once and it seemed a little short from the tees I played it from, I am sure it would have been tons better from further back. Too many lay ups from the tees I played.

 

 

 

There are 4 true lay-ups off the tee #1, 7, 11, and 15. There are a few doglegs that you can cut. From the back tees yardage is over 6900, whites over 6400. The course actually plays a bit longer than actually yardage if you are unable to cut some off the doglegs. Par 3 #6 was ranked in 18 hardest holes in Detroit area.

[cdesana]

I will make it a point in trying it again next time in town.

[slammer]

Sheppard's = pretty dam good, green's can get a little chewed up at times.

 

Katke Cousins on Oakland University's grounds is sweet, right around 7,200 yards from the tips. It can test any good golfer.

[cdesana]

But can anyone get on the Oakland Univ. courses?

[slammer]

Well no, but if any one wants to get on the there they can PM me and I can make it happen.

[RLS III]

Yeah Katke Cousins and the Sharf course at Oakland University are great. Had a PAT at Katke Cousins and what a test. Greens are quick but they roll so well.

[scottyallanb]

Well your list has some great quality courses. Moose Ridge is a great course and if you have heard anything about upper Michigan golf this course will give you that. Timber Trace is a great corse that is a lot of fun to play. The Grande Golf Club in Jackson is a very nice course and has a great practice facility. A course that I really like that is very fair price wise is Coyote Golf Club in New Hudsun. Some very nice golf holes and a few tricked up holes. Hope this helps. ALso all these courses have websites that I will list below.

 

Mosse Ridge: http://www.mooseridgegolf.com

Timber Trace: http://www.timbertracegc.com/

Grande Golf Club: http://www.grandegolfclub.com/

Coyote Golf Club:http://www.coyotegolfclub.com/

 

Hope this helps!!!

 

Scotty B

[cdesana]

Well no, but if any one wants to get on the there they can PM me and I can make it happen.

 

I may take you up on that this summer, I hope to be back in the area a couple of times. I do know for sure I will be back there for the PGA at Oakland Hills in August.

[RusstyPutter]

I'd give Lakes of Taylor a shot. Nice course and has a little bit of everything to challenge you!

 

The others are all great too!

[sabram]

It's been more than a month since i made this post and have received lots of good advice. Thanks to all. Now for another big question.... What is the snow/weather situation? Will any of these courses be open for play 10 days from now?

[3_Jack_Par]

Snow is basically gone now, and the forecast for the next 10 days is from the high 40's to mid-50's. There's quite a bit of rain in the forecast, so any courses that are open will probably be pretty soggy. Everything is brown right now. Not sure if that'll change much in the next week or so. I imagine courses are pretty eager to start making some money, so I could see a lot of them opening this weekend for at least limited play.

[sabram]

I'll check the forecast and call a couple of courses on Thursday and see what they say about playing on Saturday or next Monday.

[RLS III]

We're planning on opening Saturday. Will be weather dependent but it looks like we might be able to get the season rolling.