Loop Links, no. 18
So Much Drama in the LBC
I recently received a message, asking if I knew what this was, located just a mile or two down the road to the West of Dunmaglas in Charlevoix:
For as often as I look at Google Maps, I hadn’t seen these golf holes before. Although to be fair, there isn’t much imagery available right now that includes all 4 of these holes, so it’s pretty new.
It doesn’t take much to send me on a deep dive, so imagery of some new, unexplained golf holes in Michigan was enough to make me drop everything.
All good local stalking starts on Zillow, where I quickly identified the address of the property. With that in hand, a refined Google search led to a process of peeling back layer after layer to the story behind these golf holes. I didn’t know I was in for a Drama.
The owners of the property are T. Scott and Debra Law from Zionsville, Indiana. The Laws began buying up property near Lake Charlevoix several years ago, eventually amassing almost 500 acres. Scott Law is the founder and CEO of Zotec Partners, a medical billing software company established in 1998.
What does a medical billing company do, and how does it lead the CEO to buy up 500 acres of land in Northern Michigan? In his own words, they “turn medical encounters into cash.”
That’s from the video below, which is worth a watch. It might be one of the worst interviews I’ve ever seen.
Other than the quote from above, and the interviewer’s corny, “that’s a catchy phrase!” response, there are more gems in here:
The awkward camera glances
Law continually referring to patients as consumers, and saying, “consumers do what consumers will do”, describing how they complain and want deals and want to, you know, actually receive healthcare instead of just siphoning all of their money to insurance and medical billing companies with nothing in return.
Quotes: Calling himself the person “who collects the money.” “Our clients are under siege. There are a lot of opportunities for our physician clients to be better… on the financial side.”
The interviewer’s, “that’s great” and “good for you” after each answer Law gives about trying to collect more money from healthcare patients.
They sound like wonderful neighbors.
Around 2019, the Laws started filing for permits to build what they classified as a private retreat for their corporation, built around their currently existing house on the property. In an exchange with Hayes Township (where the property sits) Supervisor Ron Van Zee, Law described their intentions:
"One of the main goals of buying what is now over 400 acres was to allow people from our charitable foundation, our employees, family and friends the opportunity to benefit from this property . . . We are building log cabins to accommodate our guests on the property . . . Our future plans include zip lines, horse barn for trail riding and therapeutic activity, a dining facility for guest [sic] and events, a winery facility, fly fishing lake and possible golf holes. All private use for friends, family, charity and local organizations as we see fit!"
While the township was satisfied enough with the plans to approve permits for a “boathouse” and waterfront pavilion on the site, next door neighbor LuAnne Kozma eventually found out that, among other things, the Laws were intending to build what would essentially be their own marina next to their house. Even the house possibly wasn’t even a house, as project plans actually revealed it was being converted to a clubhouse.
Kozma was convinced that the marina was a clear violation of local ordinances pertaining to shoreline development, and that the plans plainly laid out a vision for a resort, rather than a private retreat. So she kicked off both a website and Facebook group called “Protect Lake Charlevoix’s Shoreland Strip” in an attempt to gather support and block the project.
The first issue at play here was the Laws’ plans to build a boathouse 130 feet inland from the shore, requiring a 73-foot wide channel to be dredged from the lake to the building. The plan for the boathouse was approved in 2019 by Hayes Township, although that did not include approval for the dredging, according to Van Zee. Because Lake Charlevoix connects to Lake Michigan, it qualifies as part of the Great Lakes and is therefore under the jurisdiction of both the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Army Corps of Engineers.
“[Shoreline dredging] is outside of our jurisdiction,” said Van Zee. “So, if the Laws were to start excavating based on the permits they were previously granted, that violates our ordinance and I have to issue a stop-work order. The township doesn’t have the authority to allow them to dig the basin. So, if the Army Corps turns them down [for the federal shoreline permit], my guess is they will probably drop the whole thing.”
According to Kozma, the channel also violates the township’s shoreland protection ordinance, which creates a “protection strip” that extends 50 feet inland from the shoreline and covers all Lake Charlevoix shoreline within the township. This ordinance heavily restricts what property owners are able to do within that strip. Dredging a canal would obviously be one of those restrictions, according to Kozma.
The second issue at play is the boathouse itself. While the lower floor of the boathouse would do what boathouses do - hold boats - it’s the upper level where things get interesting. The plans submitted for permitting indicate the top floor would hold a commercial kitchen, six bathrooms, and enough space “to hold 700 people standing up or 350 people sitting around tables.” That sounds a whole lot like a commercial operation, Kozma thought.
Van Zee didn’t see it that way, however. “It’s all private,” Van Zee says of the Laws’ plans for their property. “They do have a lot of people from their corporation that come up, and that’s why they built three lodges. But it’s just a private retreat area. They don’t charge for anything, and they are not open to the public. It’s just a larger scale of private use than what their neighbors might have. And as long as [the use of the property] meets the ordinance requirements, there’s not a lot we can do it. If it did actually become commercial—like if the Laws’ wanted to make a hotel, or a bed and breakfast, or something like that, and they started charging people to be there—obviously, they would then have to come back before planning commission to do that.”
So was this a backhanded plan to build up a commercial resort under the guise of a private retreat? Or do the Laws just really like hosting hundreds of people at a time as an extreme act of generosity?
"This is a commercial, corporate retreat being secretly planned and built — in a residential zone — nearby my home along Boyne City Road, in Hayes Township," Kozma claimed.
Township supervisor Ron Van Zee said the township is trying to keep up with modern development demands and still keep in line with the intent of the ordinance.
"Do I like these projects? No, I don't like them," Van Zee said in a previous interview. "But I know that it is really really tough to stop this type of development when we have such little resources."
Ultimately, it seems possible that we may never find out the true intent of the Laws. A lawsuit between Kozma and the Laws was dismissed in 2022 while the Laws waited to see if their channel would be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. And then the last update of any kind came from the Protect Lake Charlevoix’s Shoreland Strip facebook page in April of 2023:
Scott and Debra Law seem to be deep-sixing their boathouse and excavation project. And they're selling off some of their land on the Lake Charlevoix waterfront. The reason could be this: their family-controlled company Zotec Partners is in serious financial trouble, and owes $307 million in the next 12 months after losing its major customer.
Still, they have a federal permit and state permit to do the project. And Hayes Township Planning Commissioners are re-drafting the zoning ordinance to permit such an excavation if state and federal permits are in hand.
The major customer in question was Optum, with the linked article in the facebook post matching Kozma’s claim:
The Carmel, Indiana-based revenue cycle management provider holds some $307 million in term loans that are due within 12 months. Zotec Partners has previously tried to restructure its obligations but has been unable to, facing “significant refinancing risk due to current market conditions and upcoming debt maturities.”
So as far as the story goes, that’s where we seem to be at the moment. There was a lot more to the story than my quick summary, including alleged helicopter buzzing. Here are the sources I looked through if you want to get the full picture of all of the drama.
Protect Lake Charlevoic Shoreland website: https://protectlakecharlevoixshoreland.org/corporate-resort/
Northern Express article: https://www.northernexpress.com/news/feature/dredging-in-paradise/
Kozma v Law case notes: https://casetext.com/case/kozma-v-scott-law-debra-law
Petoskey News article: https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/2022/02/25/fight-against-hayes-township-waterfront-development-persists/6842623001/
The Golf Holes
On to more important things - the golf holes. Somewhere in the links above the neighbor Kozma said 6 holes had been built. I haven’t been able to find any imagery among about 7 different sources that shows anything other than the 4 in the first image.
What I need to know is, who designed the holes? And are they any good?
As to the first question, I was hoping the bunker or hole designs would reveal some clues. The bunkers do seem to give a hint of Jim Engh, who built True North not too far away in Harbor Springs. These holes don’t seem to have any of the signature Engh bunkers that are long, thin, and amoeba-shaped. Although there are plenty of small round bunkers, which is a feature at True North.
So for now I will submit a cautious guess that Engh is a possibility, but the evidence is pretty thin.
Now let’s look at the hole designs. The first hole built was the hole with the moat. Frankly, it’s an abomination.
Next is this dogleg right snaking down to the clubhouse. Looking at it in Google Earth, it plays downhill towards the lake on the approach, and could be a really cool hole. It measures about 511 yards on a direct line from tee to green.
Now going uphill away from the clubhouse is this hole. It’s about 425 yards tee to green, and that first group of bunkers seems to be about 245-250 uphill to clear. Frankly I don’t understand the bunker pattern here at all, or what the intended strategy is supposed to be.
Lastly is another par 5, playing about 575 to the left green and 540 to the right. It looks fine, I guess? It’s not apparent to me what you would gain by playing for the narrower fairway on the right rather than the left. I don’t see much inherent benefit, unless you were trying to leave as short of a 3rd shot as possible to the right green.
Honestly, breaking these down makes me skeptical that Jim Engh, who has very well-respected designs in True North and Tullymore, is behind these holes. A more realistic theory to me is that someone in the area who is a big fan of True North tried their best Jim Engh impression.
Are We Growing the Game?!
Lastly, it has to be asked, is a project like this and the way that it has played out good for golf?
On one hand, I would say no. If, that is, this has turned out to be a sly attempt to skirt zoning restrictions in the area and build a commercial operation under false pretenses. That hasn’t really in any way been proven, mind you.
On the other hand, the golf holes were never really a part of the issue. No ordinance violations have been committed in their construction, nor have neighbors complained about the holes, as far as I was able to tell.
So mostly, I will say this is neutral for the game. If the land is being sold off, the holes could end up just going away. Or potentially they could become part of a different project and eventually be played by the public. Who could say? But no harm, no foul at the moment.
Mostly Substantiated Rumor - Garland Short Course
Thanks to the Refuge at No Laying Up for this tip. Construction is underway on a 10-hole, par-3 short course at Garland. Per the head of golf at Garland, if construction and grow-in stay on schedule without any major weather delays, they hope to have the course open at the beginning of next year’s golf season.
This was the best estimate I was given on the approximate location. I’ve never been to Garland, and frankly don’t know a whole lot about the place, so I’m just passing along what I’ve heard. That looks like a golf hole to me, though, so it’s hard to imagine what they could fit in that space. There is no new imagery of the construction, so we’ll need to keep an ear to the ground this season for more info on the progress.
How far will this short course boom go in Michigan? Recently we’ve seen Doon Brae added at Boyne and the short course at Manistee National. The Little Cardinal is on offer at the revamped Saint John’s Resort. The Dozen at Arcadia Bluffs was recently announced.
The new breed of short courses - quick, walkable, and allowing for a variety of shots - really has the original Michigan short course, Threetops, looking quite antiquated these days. Let’s see what Garland can produce.