Michigan Golf Journal May 2021

have to play your golf ball. I look at it like you have to score early and score late; even though the beauty of it in those first four and last four, they are probably the more getable holes for scoring.” No. 1 gets things started as a par 5 dogleg with no trees in play, but a brook to clear and water to avoid on the edges after the fairway turns left to the green. No. 2 (my favorite) is a par 4 with a drop off at the end of the fairway where golfers must clear the Chippewa River to the green framed by trees in the shallow valley below. Depending on which tee boxes the grounds crew sets up your day, No. 4 can have a straight shot at the par 4 down the right fairway or when going down the left, golfers must turn a little right to access the green. “I’ve played golf all over the world, and this golf course flows as well as any that I’ve played,” Pohl said. “You don’t get stagnant with one look, or stagnant with one shot selection (like all draws or cuts). In my estimation, when people come out, they could play it over and over and never get stale.” Jump to Hole 15 and you’ll find an attractive dogleg left that would otherwise be a drivable par 4. Then comes 16, a mid-range par 5 with three massively-tall pine trees splitting the fairway that can cause fits on your way to a 3-tiered green. “I think that’s the hardest ‘easy’ hole out here (at 455 yards from the white tees),” said GM Dean Paesens. “You can play it in a variety of ways; you could even hit 6-iton, 6-iron, 6-iron and get to the green staying out of trouble. You can hit driver over the wetlands and it’s getable in two – and it’s getable in six,” he added with a chuckle. Michigan Golf Journal Stalk the Cat Hole 16 fairway