Golf in Grand Rapids MI

SMAKCruiser · August 28, 2014

I will be in this area over the next few days and was hoping you guys could give me some suggestions on where to play. I will be on the east side of town near Ada. Worst case scenario if I can't play, I was hoping there was a club that had a nice practice facility with grass tee boxes. Thanks

VNutz · August 28, 2014

Well, there aren't a ton of nice practice facilities out that way, most of those are at private country clubs. Maple Hill is more on the south and west side of town and has a good range and an awesome selection of used equipment that you can hit. They even let you hit some new stuff out on the range to test. Sascatoon also has a grass range as well as three 9 hole courses and a 3 hole practice course. The range is pretty wide open though, you can bake there in the summer.

As to courses on that end of town, there aren't a ton of public courses around that immediate vicinity, but probably the best nearby course is Thornapple Point. Otherwise a nicer course on the other side of town is Thousand Oaks. My personal favorite, if you're willing to drive 30-40 minutes, is Pilgrims Run. There are various other courses around, not as nice, but these are generally the nicer public courses in the area.

Cspackler6 · August 28, 2014

Thornapple point, thousand oaks, and quail ridge are all solid courses on the east side of GR. I am pretty sure all 3 have grass practice facilities, but have only used thornapples.

Cspackler6 · August 28, 2014

...thornapple point is 1-3 minutes from the airport. Quail ridge is about 5-6 minutes east of the airport on the west side of Ada. Thousand oaks is about 10-15 minute drive north of the airport.

Cspackler6 · August 28, 2014

Almost forgot to mention, I haven't been to Saskatoon for a number of years but I believe they are in the process of removing a couple hundred trees. I can't remember if they are doing this on all 3 nines or if it is just 1 or 2 of the nines.

golfortennis · August 29, 2014

FYI, because I know some people despise this, Thousand Oaks' range is one of those downhill ranges. It doens't bother me, but I know some people who just can't stand it.

As best as I recall, there are greens at various distances, but they sit up from the main "floor" if you will. The greens are a bit below your level, and the "floor" is significantly lower.

knickerbocker · August 30, 2014

[quote name='Bluefan75' timestamp='1409324430' post='10030767']
FYI, because I know some people despise this, Thousand Oaks' range is one of those downhill ranges. It doens't bother me, but I know some people who just can't stand it.

As best as I recall, there are greens at various distances, but they sit up from the main "floor" if you will. The greens are a bit below your level, and the "floor" is significantly lower.
[/quote]

It can't be as bad as Yarrow.

SMAKCruiser · August 30, 2014

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up checking out Thornapple Pointes range today and I have decided to give the course a try tomorrow morning. The course style is similar to what I play at home and it looks like they keep it in great shape.

The only thing odd I found is that the range is quite a distance from the course. You have to take a cart and drive quite a ways from the club house and underneath the express way. It is a nice range though and it is cool to watch the planes fly in while you're hitting balls

I wanted to check out Thousand Oaks but it appears to not be available to the public on the weekend.

Cspackler6 · August 30, 2014

Yeah sorry. Should have given you a heads up on that.

SMAKCruiser · September 1, 2014

Ended up playing Thornapple Pointe. I ended up with a 78 from the tips, course was quite wet but other than that it was in really good shape.

I ended up walking (which I always do) and regretted it by the third hole. Several holes it is a good 1/4 mile walk between tee boxes. The only hole I did not care for is the 630 yard par 5 on the front nine. I hit my tee shot on the right side of the fairway and had no clue where to even go from there. Didn't even know where the green was. But overall a good experience. I enjoyed watching planes approach their landings over the golf course.

Cspackler6 · September 1, 2014

Oh my, i have never heard of anyone walking that course and surprised they let you. My first time there they STRONGLY recommended against it thank goodness. It is like walking 36 holes! Wouldn't be so bad if they had some baby greens to pitch to between holes. Good score for 1st time and not having a cart to drive ahead to figure out what you are hitting to on a few of the holes.