Loop Links, no. 20
Apples, Elks and Pits
I’m back from my Up North trip. It rained. A lot. And yet not only did we get all of the golf in, but out of the 108 holes of golf I played, only about 10 of them were played in the rain. The rain killed the bonfire hang every single night, but I guess if I really have to, I’ll sacrifice that for the golf. While I continue to compile videos and thoughts from the weekend, here are some new and old golf finds.
The Pit
The Year of the Short Course continues in Michigan, as The Mines GC in Grand Rapids has officially opened their rendition as of June 26th.
I checked the tee sheet for June 27th (as of this writing), and only one tee time was still available for $9.
Three par-3 holes for $9. And a putting green in the middle.
I’m not going to lie, my first thought is that I don’t quite know how to receive The Pit. Is three holes enough to play by itself? For me it would not be. For my son? Probably not either. He likes to play about 5-6 holes at my executive course. And $9, is that reasonable? Is there a replay rate and availability to keep going? Tee times are spaced 15 minutes apart, so it seems like there is some flexibility built in to the tee sheet to allow for some wandering and multiple balls in the air. Who built the holes, anyway? And what is the putting green for? Is it safe there in the middle?
I will be looking forward to hearing reports back from the ground.
Elk Ridge… Alive?
Last fall I featured an aerial for the old Elk Ridge in Atlanta.
I mentioned in a footnote in a previous newsletter that The Natural, Devil’s Ridge, and Elk Ridge were all recent examples of courses closing and being turned into hunting retreats. What I didn’t do, however, was zoom in on the aerial and notice how some of the holes looked to still be in much better shape than the others.
10 holes, to be exact. That is the number of holes that I’ve been told are still being maintained on the course. While most of the property is, in fact, kept as a hunting lodge and retreat, the owner has instructed staff to keep 10 holes of the golf course in operation.
How do you get to play the holes? Apparently working for the owner’s company is one way.
I’m still trying to learn more details, but here is a pic that made it’s way to me from the past week.
If it’s the Year of the Short Course, the subplot of the year is Private Golf Holes.
Whatever Happened To… Black Forest & Wilderness Valley?
I’m happy to say that this question led me into a deep dive with some interesting results. I knew from looking at the property on Google Earth many times over the years that the land had never been redeveloped, and I was holding out hope that a High Pointe-esque reincarnation may happen some day. While I won’t write off that future completely, sadly it appears that the window for that may finally be closing.
Let’s rewind back to the end of 2018, when it was announced that the IRS had auctioned off the property. The just over 548 acres that featured both the Black Forest and Wilderness Valley courses came under IRS possession due to over $1.2 million in unpaid taxes. After a few delays, the auction eventually kicked of with a starting bid of $353,686 and sold for $510,000 to Hamrick Holdings, LLC.*
Hamrick Holdings, formed in 2014, lists its agent as Jamin Stokes. After looking up Jamin Stokes, I had to check multiple sources to confirm I was looking at the right person. Stokes, according to his Twitter profile, was a World Series of Poker player from 2004 to 2012, and an Mlive article lists his career earnings at over $450,000. Stokes apparently turned his attention to real estate after his poker career was over, as his profile states he “bought 250+homes 2012-2020”.
While his Facebook profile indicates that Stokes is an avid pickeball player, the purchase of the Black Forest and Wilderness Valley property was due more to an interest in real estate than in golf. A Redfin listing for the site indicates it was sold in 2020 for $650,000. Not a bad little turnaround.
*$510,000 for two golf courses, regardless of how much disrepair either was in, is a pretty good rate these days. If someone was looking for a head start on an affordable golf construction project, I think this may have been a huge missed opportunity.
Current Status
Otsego County records show the current owner as Josh Kent. That’s a pretty generic name, but it seems a safe bet that this is an area entrepreneur who has started several ventures in Gaylord, including a t-shirt company called SunFrogs. Kent was most recently in the news for wanting to turn an industrial building in Gaylord into transient housing for up to 150 migrant workers. It’s unclear if those workers were intended for SunFrog, or for his use of the Black Forest and Wilderness Valley property that he proposed in 2022. From the Otsego County minutes:
He had acquired nearly six hundred (600) acres and the property was distressed when purchased. His vision was to be a destination in the winter and fall seasons; the winter season would consist of reindeer, U-Pick Christmas trees, ice skating and cross-country skiing; the fall would consist of U-Pick apples and a cider mill. He stated he had found pictures on the internet to help bring his vision to light.
The fall activities would be a few years down the road because the trees needed to mature. He currently had four to five hundred (400-500) apple trees planted on the fairway of the old golf course with over a thousand (1000) trees planned. The trees needed five to seven (5-7) years of growth before he could open the property up for picking. The cider mill would be located within the storage barn and he envisioned barrels of cider, hard cider and doughnuts as well.
The greenhouse would be used for the sale of baby Christmas trees (10-24”) sold in pots. The reindeer would be brought on site; they had just been approved for four (4) reindeer after being on a list for years. They hoped to get an additional two to four (2-4) more. He stated reindeer were very docile, tame animals, very utilitarian. They would be contained within approximately a one-acre area; they would be not allowed to roam freely on the property. They were very sensitive to the conditions in Michigan so they would be contained in a controlled area. The clubhouse would be decorated in the winter and Santa would visit as well.
The property was originally divided into two (2) golf courses, the Wilderness Valley Golf Course and the Black Forest Golf Course. Skiing would be allowed on the golf cart paths of the Black Forest golf course; the trails would be groomed. Ice skating would be permitted on the pond located on site and there would be igloos placed in this area as well; the pond would be lighted. He emphasized the proposed use was supported by everyone he had spoken with; the Township approved it, the Wilderness Valley Board had approved it, and they had received letters from the City of Gaylord Chamber of Commerce as well as Otsego County Economic Alliance.
There is a lot of minutiae in the rest of the minutes, more than I could fully skim through. That is the last record I located, so other than the most recent aerial which shows some apple trees planted, I’m not sure what the status of the business is. With the apple trees taking years to grow, and the winter operation set to open in 2023, a winter that saw very little snow, it’s unclear how successful of a venture this may be.
For the foreseeable future, at least, there are a lot of golf holes out there that remain untouched. There are no current plans to return it to golf, but unless the place is fully bulldozed, we look to High Pointe as our beacon and hope Tom Doak is someday walking the land at 6500 Nicklaus Drive once again!
