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Michigan Bicycle Reunion in 2006

The wife and I went to Michigan in May for a bike touring reunion. We don’t ride Harleys; we ride Cannondales or Treks. And we are actually bicycling imposters because we only ride bikes in Michigan, and we rent the best bikes we can. We only ride in Michigan because you can get killed riding bikes on these country roads in Kentucky. Did you see Easy Rider or not?

Forget the bikes...on this trip we played 4 nice golf courses. In the Golf Kentucky Links Forum, some opinionated, cross-gender hacker with the code name “Wilma” has been raving about the new course east of Cincinnati called Stonelick Hills ( $ 49 ), so we stopped on the way north to check it out. I liked it. The course was designed by Jeff Osterfeld and opened in 2004. You can read more about Osterfeld on the forum under Stonelick Hills which is under Ohio courses. It’s an interesting story.We played Stonelick the morning after a ¾ inch rain, and the course was soggy with carts on the path. I think I’ve finally put the pieces together now and can explain why I have found “drainage” problems on some well built courses. Some ground just don’t perk!

I have blamed Ault, Clark, and associates for “drainage problems at several Arkansas courses, when it may be that Arkansas “don’t perk”. I had previously played Legendary Run in Cincinnati and found a few soaked fairways. Now this experience at Stonelick has convinced me that parts of southern Ohio just “may not perk”. This is of course one more reason to golf in northern Michigan. The soil is sand and water runs right thru it.! For design, I gave Stonelick Hills 5 excellent, and 13 good holes.

In Michigan, we played a course called Hemlock, which is just outside Ludington, which is right about on the outside of the first knuckle of the little finger. If you don’t get that reference, it’s probably because you don’t live in a state shaped like your hand.

The course is cut out of the Michigan woods and has tightly cut fairways and fast greens. The course had too many bunkers and/or waste areas, and they all had tiny fingers all around them which is, or will become, a maintenance nightmare. I liked the course layout ( by Ray Hearn), which won a top 10 ranking in the “best new affordable” ( under $50) category from Golf Digest in 2002. They already charge $75 for a week-end (including Friday) round! So much for affordable. I gave Hemlock 5 excellent and 13 good holes.

"Nice place, but affordable?"

We got to ride our bikes Saturday, which was a beautiful “Up North” day in May. For lunch we stopped at the Big Apple Bar in Arcadia. Then after our ride we went back to the Big Apple to watch the Preakness. I shouldn’t have to explain how sad that made us. We had to explain to those Michigan car racing fans how that one bad step was probably going to cost the Kentucky Derby winner his life. They don’t shoot Junior when he wrecks! I know I always recommend restaurants too fancy ( read expensive) for some of you, so let me recommend the Big Apple in Arcadia, Michigan. It’s up there near the outside tip of your little finger, and you can get a great soup there any time of year. In the winter of course it will taste even better!

We woke up Sunday to 45° temperature and a 30 knot wind off Lake Michigan. We sat around at breakfast and said, “It’s a reunion – we don’t HAVE to ride!” That type of weather is why I didn’t schedule us for golf until we got back down around Ann Arbor.

The 12th hole at Shepherds Hollow

Monday, we drove south and replayed Shepherd’s Hollow ($ 58) just north of Detroit. It’s 27 holes designed by Art Hills in 2000. We played holes 1 thru 18 even though 19 thru 27 are deemed “the best”. It’s a nice layout over rolling Michigan terrain. I gave it 4 excellent and 14 good holes. The negative on Shepherd’s Hollow is the surly pro shop staff. I’ve been there twice now and didn’t like their attitude either time. I won’t be back. Of course they won’t even notice because they’re doing great business at $ 58 per round.

My favorite course of the trip turned out to be the last one we played, Elks Run G. C. which was designed by Greg Norman. It’s just east of Cincinnati and $ 55 on a Tuesday.

550 yard 5th hole at Greg Norman's Elks Run

He used a creek which must certainly be called Elks Run to great advantage on several holes on the front side. I tend to like the effective use of water as a hazard on a golf course, so I gave him 7 excellent, and 12 good holes. I did notice several crossing cart paths and a couple of side by side holes which indicate to me that he may have been a few acres short of what he actually needed. The creek did not come out well in the pictures, but I thought it made the front side the tough side – 4 strokes tougher to be exact. This is my second Greg Norman design, and he’s 2 for 2.

After golf we stayed in Cincinnati and had dinner at the Celestial Steakhouse up on Mt. Adams. Since I recommended one bar that’s pretty damn cheap, I think I should get to also recommend one really nice place to eat. The Celestial is in a big building full of condos overlooking the Ohio River. If those people just ride the elevator down for dinner each night they get some great meals, but they have got to be really rich. When I factor in that beautiful view of Kentucky, and that great restaurant; those are expensive condos!

And while those guys woke up Wednesday; called their broker to check their net worth, I drove home to cut the grass and do the wash. That’s OK though; for that Tuesday night I got to sit there with them, toast my golf victory that day with my lovely wife, and enjoy that Kobe beef, and that bottle of Ramshead Pinot Noir. How many days that good do I have to have before I can call it a good life?

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