Arcadia Bluffs - Arcadia, MI

Hey guys. I'm just curious if any of you have played Arcadia Bluffs in Michigan? I am going on a vacation up there in mid-June and will be playing a round on the course. The course looks beautiful, but I wanted to get some feedback from someone who has actually played on it.

http://www.arcadiabluffs.com

I've played it several times.  (In fact it's my avatar).  It's a beautiful course and facility, and you have awesome views throughout the course.  It's a tough course to play, especially if the wind is strong coming off the lake.  When the wind is really blowing, it takes a while to get dialed in on the club adjustments.  Playing a lot of knockdowns helps, but you still have to deal with it.

You'll love the course.  It's on par with anything in the country and certainly one of the best public tracks in the Midwest.  I play it at least once a year, and it's always a treat.

I think it's significantly better than Whistling Straits (which is also a great course).  If it was easier to get to and had better amenities nearby, it would be top 10 public.

I have played Arcadia several times, although it has been a couple of years since I made it up there.

It is absolutely worth it - besides an amazing view of the lake from every hole, the course itself can be very challenging (depending on the weather). Every time I've been there the staff in the pro shop, on the course and in the restaurant have been very friendly and helpful.

There are people I play with locally that won't go there due to a 3+ hour drive, it really is pretty close to the middle of nowhere; and the fees $180 prime time - but compared to what I've paid to play other destination courses in CA and NC, that is a bargain for what you are playing.

If you can stay for sunset and dinner - it is truly worth the experience.

I have family & friends coming up for an event this July & hopefully I can get a few of them over to Arcadia for a round or two.

Awesome, thanks for the input guys. I definitely cannot wait.

eich41 - Your avatar is the hole that I am most looking forward to playing! I saw that on their website and was speechless. You don't really get views like that here in NE Ohio. Though, we do have beautiful courses with a lot of streams, rocky little waterfalls and forest scenery - the "edge of the lake" experience will definitely be new to me.

The course drew me in because it looked like something I would only find if I flew out to Ireland or Scotland or something.

Spyder,

It's a pretty cool place.  Entirely artificial golf course with unbelievable views and a whole bunch of thrilling shots.

Here's a course review with a lot of pictures: http://onegolferstravels.blogspot.ca/2012/01/arcadia-bluffs-golf-club-review.html

If you can figure a way to get on to either, don't miss The Kingsley Club (http://www.kingsleyclub.com) or Crystal Downs (http://onegolferstravels.blogspot.ca/2011/12/crystal-downs-cc.html)

I haven't played there, but hear good things about Belvedere, a Willie Watson design(!): http://www.belvederegolfclub.com

Thank you so much for posting this! This is definitely helpful and very, very thorough.

In all honesty, I am only fearing the craters out there (bunkers).... because what I'm used to is a nice, shallow, soft and fluffy bunker. I've never played in a bunker that is taller than I am lol.

Belvedere is a nice track, but it's not close to Arcadia.  It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive with no slow traffic.  There's just not a good way to get there from Arcadia.  Also if you were going to go to Charlevoix, I'd just say go another 25 minutes and play Bay Harbor, which is probably the second best golf "experience" in Michigan behind Arcadia (Public courses anyways).  Or save yourself an hour and a half of driving and just play Lochenheath in Traverse City.

Crystal Downs is the best course in Michigan, and rivals anything else in the country (it's routinely listed in the top 10 tracks in the nation.  However, it's impossible to play unless you know a member.  It's pretty much as private as private gets in Michigan.

Kingsley Club is also a great one, and a little easier to access but still private.

Other courses of note in the area:

Manistee National - Cutter's Ridge is a pretty nice course that's on your way to Arcadia.  A lot of people will pair this with Arcadia and play 36.

Crystal Mountain has free golf this year from 12-3.  I forget the details, but I believe it's M-Th, 12-3, on their Mountain Ridge course which is a decent track.  A little hike from Arcadia, but not too bad (45 minutes to an hour).

Heathlands in Onekema is an okay track.

It should be noted that none of these courses even remotely begin to compare to Arcadia, but are solid tracks at reasonable rates that can be played along with AB.  Cutter's Ridge is definitely the best of the group.

Excellent, thank you so much for all of the information!

I may very well have to take your advice and try Cutter's Ridge as well. Damn, if I play 36 I will definitely have to make it up to my wife and take her to one of the nicer wineries in the area or suffer the wrath of the couch....

I thought there was a thread on this, but I can't find it.
Arcadia Bluffs is adding a 2nd course, south of the original course. It will be an inland course, about a mile or two from the first one.
Here is a short GC video about it, with just a glimpse or two of some of what they are doing.

http://www.golfchannel.com/video/sharp-angles-greens-arcadia-bluffs-south-course/

I drove by there in early July, could only see construction and at that time I only saw dirt being groomed no grass or traps or structure.

I've got to save up the pennies and play the original course one of these days. It's only a 40 minute drive from my house.

I just looked at the rates and after September 1st, they drop to $50 after 3pm. That makes the butt-kicking that course will give me almost worth it.

Paging @tlazzol, @Wally Fairway, @dennyjones or anyone else who has played Arcadia Bluffs.

I'm playing there tomorrow and while I'm looking forward to it, I don't know what to expect. What I've heard is that you're rarely on a flat lie and the greens are challenging. Some of the bunkers look pretty nasty as well.

Besides what has been posted above, any words of wisdom on how to approach this course? I'm probably going to play from the gold tees (5661) instead of the whites (6389).

Jon,

I've not played it.   Pics or it didn't happen!   Enjoy it.

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

Jon,

I've not played it.   Pics or it didn't happen!   Enjoy it.

Agreed with @dennyjones here. Take a lot of pics and just enjoy the round. Bucket list course for sure!

Thanks @dennyjones and @HJJ003. That's the plan. Don't care if I shoot 120.

It'll be the first time ever playing a really nice course (received the pass as a gift).

@JonMA1 I've played Arcadia a couple of times, but the last time was over 10 years ago so I'm not sure what has changed or how the course has matured. The approach is very straight forward, hit the fairways & hit the greens

From my recollection the fairways are pretty wide, and the greens are big multi-level targets. IMO the course was very playable, but neither time that I played it was the wind up. I will say that the views are very spectacular, you get a view of Lake Michigan from every hole. And I believe it is almost a must do thing to hit a ball from the No 12 tee out into the lake, I was amazed how long it took for that ball to actually hit the water (it is the only hole that the tee box is close to the edge of the bluff.

Hope you have a great time, looks like the weather could be a little wet, but not unplayable. Like they said above, pictures or it didn't happen.

14 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

The approach is very straight forward, hit the fairways & hit the greens

It doesn't look terrible through the images online, but it's impossible to know until I miss my first fairway. I'm used to courses with trees lining the fairway, but tall fescue (or whatever that is) can sometimes be worse. Lots of bunkers to avoid. The greens look like a lot of fun. I hope they haven't slowed down much from all the rain. 

I'll get some pictures and post them for sure.

The course was beautiful. Nice scenery, well-maintained. But boy, it was painfully slow. I'm just not used to 5 plus hour rounds, waiting for a group who are waiting on a group while the folks behind are waiting on us.

My partner and I were paired up with a father and son who were both single-digits. While it was cool to watch that level of skill, it couldn't have been much fun for them to play with us. Anyway, they were playing from almost 6400 yards so we decided to play from there as well. The extra distance didn't hurt but the greens were by far the most difficult I've ever played - which was exactly what I was hoping for.

@Wally Fairway you were 100% right when you said the course was playable. I agree the fairways are plenty wide enough. (Even so, I still lost a couple of balls today off the tee, but that's just my game.)

The bunkers were tough. I landed in one of them and it took a couple strokes to get out. But really, the greens were the story. While they held every shot I landed onto them, the ball would roll so much. Even uphill putts could get away from you. It was awesome!

Overall, the experience was just ok. The staff couldn't have been any nicer. They were caddies. valets, cart girls, marshals, and employees who's job is was to let you know when the blind fairway was clear. They even had some guy out there dressed in a kilt playing bagpipes. Every one of the employees I encountered treated me like royalty. I took pictures @dennyjones but they don't do the course justice. As beautiful as it was, after a few holes all I really wanted to think about was hitting good shots. After five hours, all I wanted to think about was getting home.

I suppose all that peripheral stuff may not be my cup of tee. I play golf for the challenge and in that way, this course definitely lived up to expectations.