Welcome to our August Newsletter!
Congratulations to
Tim T.
You are the winner of the July Newsletter – You submitted the correct answer – I got my birdie on hole 11!
I emailed you requesting the address you would like your Golf Up North Schwag sent to!
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August is National Golf Month
Life Catches Up, Golf Slows Down
I am not golfing as much as I had hoped, and I am not happy about it. BUT the golfing I am getting in I am seeing great improvement. In fact, got my SECOND BIRDIE of the year! Two in one year is unheard of!
Been a Busy July
The Virginia kids were here late June/Early July as well as my Brother-in-law and his family. The VA kids now have a vacation home here, so they stayed at their place and my BIL and family stayed with us.
Right after everyone left, we headed over to the Harrison area to stay the night with one of my sons and his girlfriend in their new cabin. Decided to find a course along the way and ended up golfing in Cadillac (more about that later).
The boys “fish camp” trip this year started at Black Lake Golf Club for a round/night and then on to Garland Resort for 3 nights and multiple rounds. There were very few pictures this year, I am thinking they may have had a little too much fun! 😊
From Tuesday evening until Saturday evening, they golfed 117 holes (6 ½ rounds)! Pretty impressive, so I have to forgive the lack of pictures. Sunday was a recovery/travel day.
“Don’t play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.” – Harry Varden
Harry Vardon was a golfer from Jersey, an island in the English Channel who became a professional in 1890. Between 1896 and 1914 he won the British Open 6 times and no one has yet to match his record. He also won the U.S. Open in 1900.
While the mouse is away….
I try to golf a lot while Guy is off on his trips but this year I was not feeling well. I went to the golf outing fundraiser for the boy’s old high school football team but ended up leaving early because I did not feel well. Then I was down for the weekend.
We are still planning a couple of golf trips into the Upper Peninsula this year. I am so excited to check more courses off my bucket list.
Pit Stop in Cadillac for some Golf
As mentioned, we decided to get a round in on our way to the kid’s cabin. Cadillac seemed like a great spot to stop and would only be about an hour from the kids.
Guy mentioned that he golfed years ago at some course somewhere off of M55 and we should go to that one. So, I got on golfupnorth.com and put Cadillac, MI in the location search and all the listing for the courses in a 25-mile radius of Cadillac popped up which was great, but that did not tell us which one was off of M55. When a search is done on Golf Up North a map also shows all the results.
From there it was easy, we enlarged the map found there were 3 courses off of M55 so we clicked on each of their listings and determined that Lakewood on the Green was the course he was remembering.
It was easy to book online from the website and we were all set with an 11:20 tee time. My credit was only charged the fee ($4.98) that their booking service charge for the convenience of booking online, we would pay the $55 for each of the rounds at the golf course.
We started off Saturday morning in sunshine
By the time we turned onto m55 off of US115 there were a few raindrops hitting our windshield. Rain does not bother me, so we continued on. The drive into the course was nice with farms along the way. We then turned into a nice older neighborhood with the same name as the course.
The course sits in the middle of the sub with parking across the street. At this point it had started raining a little heavier but still was not concerned. We were met at our car with a cart and our clubs were loaded. We hopped in our cart and headed to check in and pay for our rounds. There was a large group at the turn next to the clubhouse and they were concerned we were behind them. We told them we were not. It did not register why they were worried until much later in our round.
Because of the weather I was going to buy a jacket or long-sleeved shirt. I did not care if it was a men or women style, just wanting something to keep me warm. Unfortunately, their selection was thin and there was not anything that would work. They also had some golf bags, one that Guy liked and we asked the price and the kids behind the register did not know. They said they would get a price for us and let us know when we came in at the turn. Never got a price.
We gave them our credit card to pay the $110 for the golf, and I signed my name, and we were on our way to the first hole. We had to drive on the sub road for a bit to get to the entrance to the course for the first hole. Was not a big deal, not a busy road at all.
Let the games begin!
At the point we got to hole #1 tees, the downpour began. We decided to go for it, we were going to be soaking wet no matter our decision we might as well have fun do it. I grabbed one of Guy’s hats to keep the rain out of my eyes and played on.
Even in the rain, wind and cold I was having fun. I was surprised that my swing was not really affected by how wet I was, but everything seemed normal except the waterfall off the bill of my cap.
We were pleasantly surprised that most of the holes seemed to have good drainage. There was little standing water on the fair or greens and based on how hard it was raining there should have been.
Front Nine played, time to warm up a little
We played the front nine and decided that we would head into the clubhouse and warm up and have a cocktail. Far as we could tell we were the only ones out there so we would not be slowing anyone down. There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot (assumed employees).
There is a large dining room with a bar that looks out over the 10th hole. A little dated but so am I, so I like it. The bartender was friendly as were the 2 pro shop guys and we chatted a little. From what they knew the course/sub had been around for a while and everybody in the sub was friendly and many belonged to the club. We had a short, pleasant visit, warmed up a little and then it was back out in the rain.
On to the back nine
As mentioned earlier the 10 hole is alongside the clubhouse so just a step out the door and we were there. Hole 10 is considered their signature hole, was curious why, it looked simple enough.
There were not any sand bunkers, and the green was a nice size. To me looked like any other hole. Sure, there was water that ran along side the right of the hole, but I shoot straight so it would not be an issue for me (it was not). Besides the water the only other issue was that the fairway and green slanted right towards the water.
Different reviews I have read seemed to make this a big deal. I do not know if it was because the course was wet or if we are just that good, but hole 10 did not seem all that different than most holes in terms of difficulty.
The group from earlier
We continued on and around hole 14 or 15 we caught up with a group. Remember the group we talked to when we first got there. Yep, it was them. We had played at least 13 holes, stopped in the clubhouse for a break and they had only played 4 or 5 holes during that time. I wonder if they sat it out for a bit in the clubhouse since it started raining hard once we got to the course.
There was not anyone behind us, so we were not being pressured, so we just patiently waited. There were 4 carts/6 guys all playing together. Looked like they were supposed to be 2 groups of 3, but with a dead course they knew they would get away with it.
The back nine was a tad wetter than the front, which may have to do with the number of wetlands that were back there. But it was not bad enough to seriously impact our game.
The last hole in the freezing rain
We came up to hole 18 and probably one of the few times I was anxious to just be finished. I was cold and tired, playing in a downpour does take it out of you. Was ready for the warm car and to see my youngest.
Hole 18 is a nice and straight par 4 and only 211 yards from the red tees. The perfect hole for me. Had a great drive and was on the green in 2. When I saw where my ball was, I was ecstatic! I could definitely 2 putt this and get par!!!
No par for me ☹
I GOT A BIRDIE!!! That is the 2nd one this year.
Although I ended with a score of 110 (I know, I know), was sopping wet, golfing through glasses covered in raindrops I did have fun. I liked the course and not just because it gave me a birdie and I want to go back and do it again when it is dry, sunny, and warm.
One thing and this was totally my fault, I was not paying attention when we were paying and did not notice that they overcharged me by $40. I called on Monday and they looked, said I was charged for a rider. I told them it was just me and my husband and they put the credit through. The young man should have been more careful, but I was too busy looking at the bag my husband liked.
Found this saying, author unknown, but it was so appropriate for our round at Lakewood on The Green after my birdie on 18!
“A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.”
Isn’t that what they say, that every round there is that one shot that brings you back to play again?
The course
The course took 7 years to build by the father and son team, Norm & Pete Smith. The original course opened in 1980. By 1985 it was rated as “Michigan’s toughest, prettiest nine-hole golf course” in The Wedge (National Golf Foundation Market Report.
The course went through different owners and names over the years and became an 18-hole course. In 2013 the property returned to its original name and was under new management.
There are rolling and winding fairways, bunkers I mostly avoided. There was also a 15-acre lake on the course which I also avoided.
To see all the pictures we took that day click here.
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