Michigan Golf Journal May 2020

23 May 2020 www.michigangolfjournal.com experience that much more rewarding. Here is my brief assessment of both DeVries designs: Course Review: Greywalls, Marquette Greywalls has received a ton of national attention, and rightly so. Its only negative is the remote location, but some golfers like that as a way to keep high traffic down. Greywalls has very unique geographical characteristics that DeVries brought to life in his design and routing. The course is located on rolling land high above downtown Marquette and Lake Superior, filled with sheer granite walls, striking elevation changes, rock outcroppings and more sand than anyone expected to find just under ground level. “Just trying to figure out that puzzle and make it fit together was really the challenge, but fun to figure out,” DeVries once said of the routing he hoped to make as walk-able as possible. “But I think it came out great and it’s an exciting course. It can be a roller coaster at times but it’s really great golf.” Despite the sand base that populates a large portion of the back nine, DeVries didn’t think adding a ton of bunkers was the only option to add challenge. The course has 36 sand traps, and half are placed on just two holes. Instead, DeVries clearly utilized the rock formations as hazards in some cases. “It has so many beautiful rock outcroppings,” he said. “You could never build those. You can’t manufacture that. So, utilizing those as a hazard or a feature. Just like in a bunker you can get a good lie or a bad lie – you can get a good bounce or a bad bounce off a rock outcropping.” Continues on next page >>