Lansing Review: Eagle Eye and Forest Akers(West)

[golfortennis]

So the wife and I made a trip to Lansing this weekend. The hope was for my wife to make up for striking out on her previous shopping trip, but I said the clubs were coming this time. So I booked times at Eagle Eye for Friday and Forest Akers Saturday to check them out.

 

I think the drive to Eagle Eye was harbinger of things to come, as SR 127 was closed where 496 splits off, so we were backed up on the freeway and then sent into Lansing. Took some scrambling but I got there still with some time to warm up. Had a real nice guy check me in in the pro shop, and got to hit on a pretty nice range. Had a 9:20 am tee time, so got over to the first tee about 10 minutes ahead of time. The starter Jack was a real nice guy(even remembered me when I saw him at the mall the following day) and gave me some pertinent info. I was being paired up with a twosome which was good because the tee sheet was stacked with foursomes ahead.

 

The Good: The conditioning was very good. Aside from the idiots who could not fix ballmarks, the course was in very good shape. On par 3s, each tee had the distance to the pin lasered, which I found a real nice touch.

 

The Bad: Slow play. It was a 5 hour round. We waited on every single shot. And lest you think it was the fact we were a threesome, the foursomes in front of us had the same experience. The course has a generous 4:30 time par, which I think is too slow for the course, and it couldn't be met. We saw a marshal once on the front nine who basically zoomed by while we're on a green, and same on the back nine. Jack then came around when we were on the 16th tee, and was saying how he had come from 18 and every one was where they should be... I hated to pile on him, but I pointed out that the hay was in the barn at that point, and the problem group(s) were very likely off the course at that point.

 

I should be glowing about the course. The 15th hole is a terrific short hole with a green that is perched up with closely mown slopes all around. I do wonder if a couple holes on the front aren't a little tricked up(par 3 with water all along for example), but overall, the golf course itself is worthy of some of it hype. But it was so darn slow. I can pay a whole lot less money to stand around and do nothing like I did then. A Friday morning.....unreal.

 

Anyway, the next day brought me to Forest Akers, and well, while I hate saying good things about anything Sparty :-) this was a real treat. Walked into the pro shop and had a nice chat with the GM. Paid my green fee, and larrybud arrived for our 8 am tee time. We rode over to the range at the East Course to warm up. This is a very coordinated operation given the fact it's a 4 minute cart ride from one to the other. We warmed up, and other than an incident of someone taking our cart since we took our bags with us, it was a smooth process. Rolled a few putts and off to the first tee we went.

 

The Good: This is a challenging course that requires not only good shots, but a good strategy. There are long holes, short holes, and medium length holes, with plenty of elevation change, without going overboard. The greens have slopes that can be very pronounced, but they are not cut at such a speed as to ruin a hole. It's a slight adjustment if you are accustomed to faster greens, but it's better than the alternative. We were a twosome and never waited at all. We could not believe the lightness of the tee sheet. The practice facilities alone would make a membership there worth it if you live in the area.

 

I can't really say there is anything bad I can say about the course. My two suggestions to the GM, based on a question he asked, were 1)a little more information on the greens in the yardage book. There were several times where knowing the greens would have changed the approach shots we played, and 2) a set of tees in between the ones they have. At 7,000 yds, the tournament tees are a little much for some people, whereas the green tees, at 6,400 were too short for me. Something in between would be good. Easier said than done, but would be helpful.

 

Why am I not as hard on Forest Akers? Well the green fee at Eagle Eye is $89, and Forest Akers is $41. Eagle Eye is not that much better conditioned/loaded with awe inspiring views so as to justify that difference in green fees *and* write off the slow play. At that rate I would expect there to be marshals on top of things right from the beginning. There are no real distances from one hole to another, that even in carts should take very long to get to. 4:30 is very generous under the conditions. Forest Akers has a bit of unusual routing in a couple of spots, but it moves smoothly.

 

It was a good weekend, and I may or may not be willing to give Eagle Eye another shot, but I can certainly say that Forest Akers is worth the money and more.

[knickerbocker]

Nice review. I am glad you enjoyed the area.

I really enjoy Akers West - one of my favorite courses in the state and never gets the attention it deserves.

Eagle Eye is fun, but tough. I really like the 9th hole - a fun par 5. I agree that the one par 3 on the front is silly hard. I have never had an issue with slow play there. That being said, I don't think I would pay $89 - I have played it usually for $50 to $60.

And having played both the 17 at Sawgrass and 17 at Eagle Eye, they are similar, but not the same. Green at Eagle is Eye is larger for sure.

[BG5]

Great review...... 5 hour rounds suck and its unfortunate they did not have a Marshall doing their job.

[golfortennis]

This probably isn't the place for it, but when people started saying about how it's a tough golf course, it kind of brought up in my mind the whole notion of a handicap maximum in order to play. I played the black tees I believe(whatever the one ups are), and most every one I saw, including the twosome I was paied with, played the middle tees, and yet it was still slow.

I don't know the solution, if there is one, but many, many people did not belong out on that golf course. It was too much for them.

[MichiganSRT8]

Good review, glad more people are getting to Akers West that haven't before. While I was at State I loved getting out there. Great deal for the price for sure.

[BG5]

It always goes back to playing the appropriate tees and unfortunately most people don't do it. I usually play the whites at Eagle Eye which play around 5800 and its still a very tough test. When you get middle handicappers playing from 6400 yards your in trouble.

Additionally the problem lies with the Marshall's......gotta keep on slow groups

[jlh1508]

You were backed up on the highway by a semi that blew a tire and rolled over, dumping human waste all over the highway


Forest Akers west is a great course. I think it is very underrated. Sorry your experience at Eagle Eye was not the best

[golfortennis]

Oh man, that sounds horrible. Thankfully I still got there in decent time. I actually wasn't displeased with my play on the front nine, but waiting and waiting and waiting took its toll.

I think if I decide to give Eagle Eye another go, I need to make sure I'm first off. Don't wait to make a tee time.

I have to say I'm a little torn about praising Forest Akers too much. If it gets too popular, they'll restrict access like U of M, and I won't get to play it either!

[UCBananaboy]

Played both of these courses last month (along with EE's sister course Hawk Hollow).

 

We played Akers in the afternoon and I was impressed with it. It is significantly easier than some of the other D-I college courses I've played (Scarlet, Purdue, South Carolina) but it reminded me of an older country club you might find in Midwest US. The only complaint about this course was that they had a league go off the back 9 at 4:00p and we teed off at 2:15. They didn't tell us either.

 

Luckily the kid working was quite accommodating and asked us to jump ahead and then wrap around on the way back. We ended up playing 15-18 then the whole Back 9 again.

 

Eagle Eye was a great track too. We stayed at a hotel for two nights and played both courses for $120/person. The track is tough (we played the tips) and it was probably 30 mph sustained winds on the day we played. I felt that the Par 3s were the best collection of Par 3s I've ever played on a single course, obviously culminating with the #17 replica of Sawgrass. I can see what OP said about the Par 3s being overly demanding -- especially since they are pure carry with little bailout area. Overall, the course was very tough. My buddy ended up eagling #18 going Driver 3-wood to finish our trip though!

 

Obligatory pic of the 17th!

 

[HighSpeedScene]

I love FA west since I practiced golf for state - saying I actually played would be a misrepresentation - but I dislike the routing now. Yes, better finish, arguably, but I miss the old routing.

Always hated when they over-watered, though, and the sand when I was there was simply awful...heavy and soft, the worst kind.

[knickerbocker]

[quote name='HighSpeedScene' timestamp='1407893299' post='9921247']
I love FA west since I practiced golf for state - saying I actually played would be a misrepresentation - but I dislike the routing now. Yes, better finish, arguably, but I miss the old routing.

Always hated when they over-watered, though, and the sand when I was there was simply awful...heavy and soft, the worst kind.
[/quote]

I agree that I like the old routing more. I thought 17 and 18 of the old routing was a fun finish.

I remember playing the course back in the early 90s before the big renovation and then playing there in HS State Finals right when they opened up and they us playing the back tees - it was damn near impossible!

[UCBananaboy]

Curious to hear how the routing changed?

[larrybud]

I enjoyed my round, but 7000 yards was too much for me. A little boring hitting so many hybrids into greens! And I'm sure I'll get crap in this crowd about a driver on a par 3 (hey, it was into a stiff wind... BUT I hit it pin high left, 20 feet!).

We should have looked at the card and made a hybrid set of tees ourselves!

[HighSpeedScene]

[quote name='UCBananaboy' timestamp='1407938848' post='9923815']
Curious to hear how the routing changed?
[/quote]

Not sure I can remember all of the new routing - but 1 was 15, 18 was 6...the short downhill 4 was 10, while the short uphill 4 was 18...

[Mike_C]

Went to MSU for grad school, got out in 85. I played FA West a lot those two years. I liked the old layout, but what I remember best, was it was $7 green fee for students.......

[UCBananaboy]

[quote name='HighSpeedScene' timestamp='1407971818' post='9927629']

Not sure I can remember all of the new routing - but 1 was 15, 18 was 6...the short downhill 4 was 10, while the short uphill 4 was 18...
[/quote]

Interesting. So #10 and #18 weren't close to the Clubhouse (if I'm remembering the course correctly).

[Mike_C]

[quote name='UCBananaboy' timestamp='1408023301' post='9931157']
[quote name='HighSpeedScene' timestamp='1407971818' post='9927629']
Not sure I can remember all of the new routing - but 1 was 15, 18 was 6...the short downhill 4 was 10, while the short uphill 4 was 18...
[/quote]

Interesting. So #10 and #18 weren't close to the Clubhouse (if I'm remembering the course correctly).
[/quote]

The old clubhouse was on the east side of the course, you came in off of Harrison Rd., It was just a small cinder-block building, it is where it looks like there is a short game practice area and parking lot.. The old #1 and 10 were close by. The old #10 went north/NE towards the corner of Harrison/Mt. Hope. They also totally redid at least one hole, the old layout had a sharply uphill short par 4, which went right where the new clubhouse is. It was the hole after the one that parallels US 127, which I think was also redone from a long par 4 into a par 5. I haven't been to the course in 10 years, my memory could be faulty on the new layout a bit, I only saw it once, and that was as a spectator, but I remember the old layout quite well

[UCBananaboy]

Ah that makes more sense. Thanks!

[dearth12]

Played Eagle Eye on our golf trip last summer. Thought the course was very demanding, great conditions, and 17 was fun to play since I have never had the chance to play the real thing.

Especially, cool that day was who we got to play behind and talk to on a few occasions. As I was putting on the practice green before the round a bigger guy walked by me and began putting right next to me. At first glance I thought I recognized the guy, but since I'm from Ohio I figured I was just mistaken. Upon further look I realized it was John Smoltz!! Then we get to the first tee to see that he would be in the group directly in front of us. Watching him hit a number of shots on the course that day it was obvious the guy can really play and takes the game seriously.