[The Salt Vampire]

I have wanted to play Arcadia Bluffs (#10 in the U.S. among Public Courses, 46th overall) for quite sometime. Got a chance at a Memorial Day discounted rate of $110 plus $75 for a replay round. It is in a very remote area of Michigan on the west side of the state about halfway up the coast.

We had a crazy day. A rare fog blanketed the course for much of our morning round (see pics). We could only see about 150-180 yards for much of the front nine. It lifted a bit for the back nine and was mostly gone for our second round. 95% of the people that play this course will say it is the best course they have ever played. The views are great. It is a unique course in that it drops hundreds of feet from its highest to lowest point in a steady decline. The wind blows off of Lake Michigan, the downhill holes play into the wind and the uphill holes play downwind. Picking the right club is a challenge.

The course is very good, but not outstanding. The best holes are fairly early in the round. The third through fifth are terrific, interesting and fun. After that there are many good and very good holes, a few strange holes (10 and 11 play through dramatic canyons, but better fit a desert course and seem contrived) and no truly bad holes.

However, I feel it is an underwhelming design. The bluffs that the course is on are poorly utilized. Only two holes really use the lake as a hazard and they allow the player to bail out if necessary. It just does not seem very well thought out. The par-3s are over the top in their difficulty. Awkward targets, long, and greens that did not hold. The course lacks a fun driveable par-4 as well.

The course does not play that hard from the tee. There is only one truly tight tee shot (14) and not many bunkers in play unless the ball is really hit badly. We played the tips and it is around 7300 yards, but not overwhelming.

The green complexes are ridiculous and somewhat unfair. They are almost like they decided to stitch three small bowls together to make a green. If your ball ends up on the wrong side of a ridge it is an automatic three putt or worse. The player is better off missing the green 40 feet away than having a 40 foot putt as most chips can be hit into a side of the bowl near the flag and will funnel towards the cup. If chipping from on the green wasn't taboo, my group would have done it four or five times. I was lucky enough to be hitting the ball mediocre and missing greens, but getting up and down. My buddy hit 11 greens and took over 40 putts.

The design is not a links. The course does not play firm and fast and does not have the random bunkering and sandy packed soil of a links. It is fairly lush and was in very good shape for May in Michigan. It has links elements including quite a few small pot bunkers.

It is as stunning a piece of property as any golf course I have ever played (including Bandon Dunes). Any course built here would have been great. The layout is just average given the property that it is on. It deserves its accolades, but could be better.

In summary, I would recommend it highly. It is gorgeous. Its shortcomings would likely not be noticed by most golfers.

Customer Service:
The restaurant was just fair and overpriced. We ate lunch and dinner there. The food was bland and overcooked. We wanted breakfast, but strangely it is not available. The town of Arcadia is tiny and only has a couple of restaurants that were not open in the morning. We did not see a grocery store. Bring some fruit if you are staying nearby.

We stayed at the Pleasant Valley Motel in Arcadia. Small Mom and Pop motel. Really clean. Friendly people. It was $60 for a double and good enough for guys that came for the golf.

One of the guys was not feeling well and set out in search of some Rolaids. He found an ice cream shop that was open and the lady that owned it woke up her husband to open the gas station / convenience store for him. Nice people again.

Similar Courses Played:
Arcadia is a really one of a kind. Have played Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bay Harbor on similar land and find those layouts much more fun and interesting.

The four photos attached to this post are of the 3rd hole and 13th holes in the morning and afternoon. Ironically I drove it much better in the morning round (Hmmmm...). It is not really evident in many of the pictures that I have, but Lake Michigan is in view on just about every hole.