Early Season at Arcadia Bluffs

Gents,

I have played Arcadia a few times but am considering an early season 36 hole day at Arcadia. Looking at early May and am well aware of weather possibilities. The question I have is for those that have played early in the year how have course conditions been? Greens rolled halfway descent?

Gents,

 

I have played Arcadia a few times but am considering an early season 36 hole day at Arcadia. Looking at early May and am well aware of weather possibilities. The question I have is for those that have played early in the year how have course conditions been? Greens rolled halfway descent?

Ground temp needs to be 58* for grass to grow. So really depends on how early ground frost breaks and if temps remain warm enough. Typically, mid to late May before significant growth, then can be mowed, rolled, etc.

i played at the end of may last year. Windy as hell but absolutely beautiful course.

Really depends....last year we went in early May and a couple greens were still under repair (needed more growing time). Honestly, the greens there are so tricked up in spots that I just go to enjoy the course and take what the greens give you (good and bad). Good luck getting 36 in May though, unless you stay on property.

Thanks for the feedback. Arcadia is a tough track no doubt but the views are unreal. Forest Dunes is also an option and we have yet to play the Loop so that is also getting strong consideration. We have even considered driving to Sand Valley to see how SV stacks up with Northern Michigan golf. Weather and wind will play a big part in our decision. Winter cannot end fast enough. I'm ready to play some rounds and it appears all this snow will be gone in a few days ??

Thanks for the feedback. Arcadia is a tough track no doubt but the views are unreal. Forest Dunes is also an option and we have yet to play the Loop so that is also getting strong consideration. We have even considered driving to Sand Valley to see how SV stacks up with Northern Michigan golf. Weather and wind will play a big part in our decision. Winter cannot end fast enough. I'm ready to play some rounds and it appears all this snow will be gone in a few days

Forest Dunes >> Arcadia IMO. It's a fairer / funner / more straight forward track. Forest Dunes is so good.

Arcadia is a once in a lifetime - the views are amazing the service was unreal the whole experience was great. But honestly I dont remember the holes or certain aspects of the course.

I've played forest dunes maybe 6 times and pretty much remember hole by hole.

Played after they aerated last oct greens were fine course is always remarkable just hate the pin postions. They had the pin right in front on #15 over green in 3 took a 12 dam false front.

Played first week of May @9am tee time last year, 32-37 degrees with 15-35mph winds. Even with cart covers and heaters it wasn’t great, but still an awesome course. Had one of my best shots that year too though. We were into the teeth at probably 30mph on 12, hit a good low drive that squeaks out to 230, then hit the 3w of my life 200 (normal 255-260 and i got everything on the screws) to leave me 6ft. Missed the putt of course.

Doing it again this year same weekend, so hopefully the weather is better!

is lodging at the resort - either arcadia or fd - required for a tee time? ... don't think it is at fd, but not sure about arcadia ...

is lodging at the resort - either arcadia or fd - required for a tee time? ... don't think it is at fd, but not sure about arcadia ...

Not required for either course.

IMO Arcadia >>> Forest Dunes. Forest Dunes was in awesome shape (better than arcadia), but to me the design is for the most part typical northern michigan. It's the best of that style no doubt but Arcadia outclasses it. Aware this is an unpopular opinion and also Arcadia is very very hard (especially on/around the greens), but the experience is out of this world.

Played it in very early May, early fall, and dead of summer. When the wind blows it can be brutally difficult and damn cold, but still fun. All three times the course and greens were perfect. That May we were very surprised how quick the greens were for so early in the season, but we didn't have an extended Michigan winter like this one. Call em up and ask for an honest opinion. They will tell you exactly how it's playing.

thinking about the last week of may for arcadia, forest dunes and the loop ... assume they'll be open and up to par, condition wise, for the most part ... weather would be 50-60 during the day and 30-40 at night?

Played this past weekend and posted this in ATMG, but will post here as well to get my post count up, LOL.

Played 54 at Arcadia Friday/Saturday....cold and windy, but playable and actually had my lowest 9 hole and 18 hole scores. On Friday when we played 36, there were only 30 rounds all day. It was awesome! Some ice damage on the front left of #2 green, and still some tarps in a few of the traps. Also some snow in low lying areas that face north. Greens should start speeding up once they get more growth and can mow them tighter.

On another note, I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen of the south course from the road. Looks like a big open field with no views of the lake. I’m imagining it being like Stoatin Brae but with a little less dramatic elevation change.

Played it twice at the twilight rate when you could still play 18. They limited it to 9 holes about 8-10 years ago. Finished the 18th at 10pm in the dark. Caught the 5pm group at the 16th. That was the best deal in golf. My guess is management caught on. To bad because they've priced themselves out of my market and they'll probably will do the same with the new course.