The Washtenaw Golf Club in Ypsilanti first formed in 1899 and became a 9-hole course. Now the 18-hole gem is under new ownership, anchored by award-winning golf instructor Dave Kendall.
Its biggest shift will be making the golf course fully public.
“This is a great opportunity and we have a business plan to make it successful as a public course,” said Kendall, a former member of the club for six years. “And this course is a jewel with a notable past.”
Washtenaw’s origins trace back to 1898 when the original founders—Cora Henry, Newton Swift and Daniel Quirk—persuaded a local farmer in Ypsilanti to allow them to stick three empty tomato cans in his hay field and invite their cronies for a round of golf. A year later, the trio were joined by a dozen others who formed the Washtenaw County Club still at its current location off Packard Road in Ypsilanti.
Kendall will continue teaching at the acclaimed Kendall Academy at Miles of Golf, just a couple miles away. MGJ
