Loop Links, no. 23
Mistakes and Remakes
In producing these newsletters, I’ve wanted to make a few things clear. I don’t know if I’ve actually made them clear, but I know I’ve wanted them to be. One is that I won’t be afraid to offer criticism. This mostly refers to golf courses, as I think that if we say that everything is great, we won’t know what is truly great, and we won’t be helping lesser courses make changes to improve. This, of course, could also refer to other areas of golf besides course design.
The second is that I won’t be afraid to present my feelings or be vulnerable. Maybe a third item is needed as a necessity of the first two. I won’t be afraid to admit when I’m wrong, went too far in my criticism, or didn’t consider another point of view.
A few weeks ago I put out an essay about playing the course that you are on. I received a lot of positive feedback from that one, and many could empathize with the same feeling I described. I missed a perspective, though, and didn’t fully conclude the piece the way that I should have.
I wrote about playing at Meadowbrook CC and Franklin Hills back-to-back, and how I felt entirely out of my element in the conversations. I certainly had nowhere near the caliber of courses played in my lifetime as my groups at both courses did, and it was hard not to feel like I was out of place.
I touched on it a little bit later in the piece, but I didn’t hammer the point home. These types of box-checking conversations happen everywhere, not just at fancy private courses. And the groups I played with those days ultimately weren’t different in any way. They simply had more impressive lists. But it didn’t occur to me as I was playing those rounds. It took me a few more years to notice how similar my private and public experiences actually are.
Second, I didn’t emphasize two other points. One is that between my day at Meadowbrook and my day at Franklin Hills, I wouldn’t turn down another round with any of the guys I played with*. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a local course or another high-end private course, I enjoy talking golf with good players and good people. I highlighted my imposter syndrome during those rounds, but not the enjoyment of my rounds. The other thing I didn’t fairly highlight enough is that the round at Meadowbrook was a Fried Egg event, and the rounds the next day were organized by the Fried Egg guys. We were literally all there to play and talk about golf course design.
So simultaneously, I am glad I struck a cord with many of my readers, while also completely regretting not painting a complete picture of the groups I played with on those days. As I said in the original piece, “where have you played?” is fine. We all do it. We just need pauses to make sure we are focused on the course we are playing, and probably more importantly, we also need a pause to appreciate the people we are playing with. Especially if they have different perspectives, different life experiences, and yes, different lists of courses played.
*I should extend this as well to another foursome I described playing with, who I thought might never be satisfied with the course they were playing, regardless of how elite or famous it was. At least one of those guys plays literally everywhere, from the big resorts, to the elite clubs in Detroit, to the most remote 9-holers. He might just be nuts about golf, and can’t stop talking about the next place to play.
The Evans at Canal Shores
In Great Lakes news, I was pleased to receive an email recently announcing the re-opening of Canal Shores in Evanston, now rebranded as the Evans at Canal Shores. When I lived on the north side of Chicago, Evanston was often our quickest escape out of the city, and easily the quickest place for me to reach to get in some golf. Probably around 2015 or 2016 I started making regular trips to Canal Shores to help clean up the course, clearing away years and years of buckthorn and other invasive species, opening up corridors, and providing some much needed relief for the native trees still on the property.
Back then, there was a lot of talk about redoing the course, which is a not-for-profit entity dating back to its construction in 1919 by Tom Bendelow. There was talk of Luke Donald being involved, and of the 18-hole executive course being converted to a 9-hole course, a short game course, and a practice facility that was focused on hosting the First Tee. As a place that was completely funded by private donations (despite it often being mistaken for a municipal course), such a project was an exciting yet daunting possibility. By the time I moved away at the beginning of 2020, my intuition was that the renovation would likely never happen.
Lo and behold, somehow they did it. According to their website, KemperSports was heavily involved, along with a number of other associations and private donors. Here is some other key info on the course and the project:
The 3,600-yard, par-60 layout has undeniable charm and just enough challenge. Dubbed “the gem in your backyard,” the course winds through urban and suburban neighborhoods along the North Shore branch of the Chicago River. Golfers play through a 100-year-old oak forest alongside Chicago’s “L” and Metra train tracks, traverse several road crossings and are treated to beautiful views of the Bahá’í House of Worship, which creates a golf experience unlike any other.
The golf course renovation, which started in 2022 and is led by architect Todd Quitno, is the modernization and reimagination of the urban golf course. Located alongside the North Shore Canal which feeds into the Chicago River, The Evans at Canal Shores will serve as a beacon for youth golf development and a youth caddie training facility through partnerships with the First Tee – Greater Chicago and the Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation.
The new name represents a deep connection to the namesake of the Evans Scholars Foundation, Chick Evans, who attended high school in Evanston and became one of the greatest amateur golfers of all time. Instead of turning professional, Evans worked with the Western Golf Association to use the earnings from his golf career to establish the Evans Scholars Foundation in 1930. To date, the Foundation has awarded full tuition and college scholarships to more than 13,000 youth caddies, including the 1,130 Evans Scholars enrolled in 24 leading universities nationwide this year. The Evans at Canal Shores is located less than a mile from the first Evans Scholarship House, established in 1940 on the campus of Northwestern University.
It’s hard to get a good read on the course at the moment, as there aren’t many pictures available or updated aerial imagery. A rendering of the routing is available, although not at a high resolution, so you have to squint to see some of the details.
I notice a Biarritz green on the 11th, and a Road hole green on 18. And the previous first hole has been turned into a massive practice green, while the second hole has become the first. I think what will now be the 7th hole might be new, along with a green labeled “17B”. It looks unorthodox and funky, and if this Instagram reel is to be believed, the greens might be a little wild.
I’m here for it. Beginners (and non-beginners alike) are more than capable of 3-putting benign greens. Since most of us stink at it, why not have a little fun in the process?
Latitudes
A tweet by @JayCoda recently made the rounds, presenting this interesting graphic:
This is a cool breakdown, and not a surprise given that Michigan and New York are in the top 5 for states with the most golf courses, and I believe Ohio and Pennsylvania are also quite high*. But I knew something was amiss here, as Florida actually has the most courses. They mostly share a latitude with ocean, so the numbers are skewed.
Thankfully, this twitter user also provided a map arranged by longitude that didn’t receive nearly the same amount of attention.
This accounts for the amount of golf in Florida (if not so much California). When you cross reference both graphics, one thing is undeniable. The biggest intersection of golf in America is the Great Lakes region.
Enough said.
*I’ve looked up the information several times, and it always seems to be in flux and the numbers always different. The only things I know for sure are the Florida and California have the most courses, and that Michigan is almost always top 5.
Eggman at Wolf River
The Fried Egg crew was in the area last week hosting an event at Oakland Hills after the U.S. Junior Am concluded. Thanks to one of our own on the ground getting into Andy Johnson’s ear, he included a stop at Wolf River on his subsequent swing through the Traverse City area.
He didn’t offer any thoughts on the course, other than sharing a handful of pictures, and I’m not sure if he will in the future or not. I for one am hoping to hear his perspective soon, though.
In the meantime, I can finally share my thoughts on what I saw and experienced there back in June, and what I think it means for golf in the state.
As I walked off the 17th green at Wolf River, I told my host for the day, the man in charge of operating Wolf River and the man behind the renovation work on the course, Steven Biehl, “I think you just ruined public golf for me.” The statement was made tongue-in-cheek, but the feeling behind it was 100% real. As I now play a typical public course that has acres and acres of mown rough, trees hemming in the playing corridors, and small round greens that have shrunk over time, I will never be able to shake the feeling that the Wolf River philosophy could transform the playing experience just about anywhere.
What is the Wolf River philosophy?
Single-cut, easier maintenance - The overwhelmingly dominant trait at Wolf River is the single fairway cut, similar to what you might see at Diamond Springs or The Loop. This means anything that isn’t green surface is either cut at fairway height, or not cut at all. I can’t tell you how good this looks. The tee boxes flow right into the landscape, and the difference between fairway and native areas lends so much texture across the property. It looks more like you are in nature, and less like you are in someone’s backyard.
From a playing standpoint, it increases the amount of area to play for high handicappers, and can add strategy for low handicappers with the right set of strategic greens. More offline shots can still manage to find fairway in a single cut system, but balls that would normally hang up in rough also travel further offline. For a player trying to set up a scoring angle into the green, this can be quite unhelpful. Near the greens, short grass surrounds are less intimidating for those with poor short games, but can puzzle better players by not dictating the exact type of shot that needs to be played.
On the maintenance side, Biehl has assured me that everything becomes so much easier and efficient. Sure, the amount of fairway acreage that needs to be mowed at Wolf River has increased dramatically, but larger mowers that cover more ground in less time can be used for the entire course. The only major drawback to the single cut system is the threat of losing balls in the native areas. I don’t think I lost a ball all day at Wolf River, but I can at least acknowledge where that wouldn’t be the case for everyone. Thoughtful placement of the native areas away from common playing areas and out of the reach of irrigation is one strategy that could help mitigate this issue. It’s certainly something that is up for further discussion.
My personal stance is that it looks better, and it’s a ton of fun to play. It’s not something I know well from experience, but hitting fairways is a blast!
Fewer trees, highlight the best native trees - This goes hand in hand with the single cut system. With fairway occupying many places that used to be rough, a lot of trees will make much less sense where they are. Conveniently, many of the same courses that I feel are ripe for single cut, are also overrun by excessive and mostly non-native trees. So often the best trees on a course are hidden behind decades of junk. Removing the junk allows the eye to be drawn to the best trees on the property, while also letting them breathe. It also allows the turf to breathe, which will look so much better now that it is shorter, while also playing better. And the layers and textures created by the single cut will be more visible across the property with fewer obstacles in the way.
Larger greens, more interest - Again, the first two ingredients make the third all the more possible. Over the decades, greens at most courses, but especially publics, lose surface area due to mowing practices, along with losing their uniqueness. As greens shrink, they become more circular, pinnable areas are lost, and approach play becomes drawn more and more into the center of the green.
With fewer trees encroaching the green, and with short grass surrounding it, recovering lost surface area becomes more of a possibility. With more pinnable areas, tougher and more interesting hole placements become available, which require better angles into the green to get close. Thankfully the fairways will be bigger, bringing strategy off of the tee back into play. “Hit it straight” can still be a strategy, I suppose. But not if that’s the strategy on every single hole, which is what happens with narrow, rough- and tree-lined holes.
Had Steven needed to get approval of a greens committee to make these changes at Wolf River, or had he needed to get a faction of the course’s golfers onboard, it never would have happened (thankfully, he didn’t need their approval). Americans have been playing narrow, tree-lined golf for, I don’t know, 70 years now? Changes like the ones at Wolf River can be jarring for the average golfer, and some of Steven’s regulars have asked him, “when can we get our rough back?” Yet the overwhelming response he has received is that it’s more fun. I couldn’t agree more. The vast majority of golfers need more fun, and less “championship golf” in their lives (although there is plenty of that still available for those more inclined towards punishment rather than fun).
Making changes like these will be difficult at just about any course, so I don’t expect to see it happen anytime soon. It just needs a small amount of momentum, with a course here or there doing it in different parts of the state. Once more people play this style of golf, then I think we might start to see more consideration of the style by both golfers and course operators.
Can I make the first suggestion in my neck of the woods?
Leslie Park. Part of the course is already a butterfly sanctuary. Other areas of the course are primed for replacing rough with more native vegetation, and the Leslie Science Center is right next door to help get it done. As an added benefit, any thought of shutting the course down and turning it into housing becomes more difficult when it involves paving over pollinator sanctuaries.
This needs to happen yesterday.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for much for reading this week! Consider subscribing if you haven’t already, and if you’ve subscribed, consider supporting my 100-hole marathon this fall to benefit the First Tee of Greater Detroit. I’ll be completely belaboring the point over the next two months, so get a head start by checking out my pledge page:
I’ll make a recommendation, Heather Hills. You featured it a few months back. Great rolling hills, just a nice piece of property, but suffers from overgrown trees and the 80s special spruce tree planting that is just the worst idea ever.