Loops Links, no. 2
Shhh... it's the Renovation Edition
We have a few renovations to talk about this week, with The Cardinal, Pine Lake CC, and High Pointe on the menu. We’ll catch up with Trey Wren, the Creative Director at High Pointe. I’ll debut probably my worst feature. And we’ll end with a Mulligan.
New Looks -
The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort
Ray Hearn is behind this three-part renovation, with the full course, the Little Cardinal short course, and the putting course all officially debuting in 2024. The Cardinal is tabbed as a “luxury championship course,” combining two of my least favorite terms in relation to a golf course. The luxury tag will certainly be apt, at least, as early reports indicate greens fees will run at a minimum of $150. Nothing I have seen has given me a reason to believe that a round at the Cardinal is worthy of setting you back more than a round at, say, Belvedere would. However, everything I have seen in Michigan golf lately leads me to believe that the course should still have no trouble packing the tee sheet at that rate.
Hearn worked the PR landscape last summer in preparation for this spring’s opening, and you can find some of his comments here and here. Most of the early photos coming out, really all of the photos coming out, feature greens surrounded by water, which is a predictable strategy and doesn’t do much for me. The resort website does feature a drone video now, though, which looks more interesting to me than the pictures. It gives a better look at some of the fairway and bunker contouring, which doesn’t look too bad other than some church pew bunkers (we’ll have to see how those work out). The resort has already dubbed itself as “Detroit’s Best Public Golf Course”, a bold move for sure, but given the caliber of public golf in the metro area, even that claim might not be that much of a flex.
Pine Lake Country Club -
Like the Cardinal, LaBar Golf Renovations led the construction at Pine Lake CC in 2023, following the master plan of J. Drew Rogers for a full overhaul of the course. If that name sounds familiar, Rogers previously led the much-praised renovation of Plum Hollow CC. Originally a 1917 Willie Park, Jr. design, PLCC as of late had shown its age as a result of perhaps too many nip and tuck jobs. As Superintendent Terry Poley told me, by the time you finished the 3rd hole, you had already seen three different holes by three different architects. The master plan of Rogers was designed to unify the course into a cohesive design that pays homage to Willie Park.
I was able to tour the construction site back in July, and was able to see about 7 different holes in various stages of reconstruction and completion. Based on what I saw, and using the master plan from Rogers, I created a digital representation of what golfers can expect to see in 2024. Hole 1 is below, and a full tour of each hole can be found on the PLCC YouTube page.
I never played or saw Pine Lake in its previous iteration, so I can’t say whether or not the course will be better, per se. I can comment on what I saw, though. The plot is quite small, but somehow Rogers found a way to maximize even more of the land in a more efficient manner. The bunkers were impressive in size despite a fairly flat property, and featured an ultra-new high tech liner that allows water to pass through, but nothing else (it was way above my pay grade). Several of the greens, including the 11th and 15th, showed smart and subtle contours, and looked like they will be an absolute blast to play over and over again. Smart and subtle sort of sums up what I saw in the overall redesign, and I look forward to seeing how the changes are received.
High Pointe -
Undoubtedly the most high-profile of the renovations in the state, this one has been much-anticipated, much-discussed, and broadcast almost in real-time thanks to an extremely active Instagram account from High Pointe. The resurrection story of High Pointe, a former public course that was Tom Doak’s first 18-hole design and closed around 2009, has been told many times already. Part of that story, of course, is the disappointment of some, including me, over the new High Pointe’s ultra-private model, compared to its public past. As frustrating as that is, it likely fits into a greater arc in that public, non-resort golf projects are difficult to fund these days. That’s a story for me to look into in a later newsletter, though.
The remaining back 9 holes from the original High Pointe were reused in the new project, were the first to be finished and grassed in, and have been featured heavily on the social account. There is also a walk and talk with Tom Doak through the front 9 holes, though, so be sure to dig deep in the feed to find those. While we wait to see more of the grow-in this spring and summer, you can take a look back at the original course in PGA 2K23. Here is a playthrough by gamer jim gem.
High Pointe: Documented -
I’m intrigued by the amount of content that the High Pointe social account has kicked out, and I think it’s something we might see more often in the future. Consider me a fan. To learn more about the vision behind this strategy, I reached out to High Pointe’s Creative Director, Trey Wren.
CL: Whose idea, or whose call was it, to document the High Pointe restoration so thoroughly?
TW: It was definitely a joint idea and ultimately (High Pointe owner) Rod Trump's decision to invest in documenting the project. Initially, he and I connected through Pine Tree Golf Club and in 2021-23 I was documenting the construction and story of The Park by Gil Hanse. He told me about the High Pointe story and asked about doing something similar. A few initial conversations led to ideas about making a feature documentary and releasing very little to the public, distributing it after the club opens, but we ultimately decided to use social media to share the architecture and story in real time. Short answer: Rod knew he had a compelling story and wanted to share it. We worked together to decide the best way to do that, and then it was up to me to go do it.
CL: Is there an ultimate vision or reasoning behind choosing to document the project so heavily?
TW: The reason we are documenting it was:
A) We'd never seen a course project documented thoroughly and thought that others would like to see the process. We also wanted the social media presence to be authentic and most people are more interested in something they feel along for the ride with.
B) I am also making a full-length film on the whole project, there is actually a lot of footage I have not shared which I am saving for that.
Overall, we believe this to be a historic and important place in golf architecture. High Pointe is Tom Doak's life and work coming full circle. We thought this was too interesting and meaningful not to document.
CL: How have you balanced getting good content versus staying out of the way of the crew?
TW: That was not an issue at all. I was treated as part of the team and my favorite part of this project has been the people. As far as not being in the way- I've spent a lot of time on golf construction sites, I am a plus handicap and lifelong researcher of the game, and I was on foot with a camera or flying a drone. Neither are very invasive. I captured the crew's work plenty but much of my time was spent on empty holes before and after the work. Big piece of land and a relatively small team working on it.
CL: What is your background, and what are some of the things you will be doing in your role once the course is completed?
TW: My relevant background is a life spent playing and researching golf. I played D1 golf at Temple University, played 2 years of mini tour golf, grew weary of that life, and in 2020 I bought a camera and began making YouTube videos. I put an emphasis on quality over quantity-which led to a modest following. Sticks has turned into a production studio and creative consulting business. Over the past 3 years I have worked with several large golf brands, tour players, top 100 courses, produced commercials, directed a few short films. My role at High Pointe is creative director so I have and will continue to work on: All Media, Logo/Branding, Marketing, Merchandise, Membership, and the overall feel of the product/experience we are delivering.
CL: Any schedule updates on grow-in, opening dates, etc?
TW: Not much to share here unfortunately. We left in October and no decisions are being made on opening until the seasons change and we can assess where the course is at. I can say the entire course was built and seeded by the end of October. We will be having limited preview play this whole 2024 season but how early and which holes is based on the winter we have. 18 holes with clubhouse and lodging will be Summer 2025.
Kill a Course - The Masterpiece at Treetops
We never want to see a course close in the state of Michigan… BUT, if one course had to go, it has to be the Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Masterpiece course at Treetops. (I have a bad feeling about this)
I’m extremely apprehensive about this feature. Just bear with my disclaimer for a minute. I understand that behind every course are countless people who pour blood, sweat, and tears into its operation. This is meant merely as criticism - more of a roast, really. While I stand behind the idea that the course can be better, I am not actually advocating for it to close. It just happens to be extremely cathartic to dunk on questionable course design every once in awhile. Let’s begin.
Most people who have golfed with me or come remotely within my orbit know by now that I have a special place in my heart for the Masterpiece at Treetops. I haven’t played all or even most of the courses in Michigan, but of the ones that I have played, this is unequivocally my least favorite that I’ve had the displeasure of playing multiple times.
Can I get into the details? Because I have details. The 1st hole could be considered a risk-reward par 5, which is an odd choice for an opening hole, but it usually works out to just be a handshake par. Whatever. The second hole is a long-ish, slightly uphill par 3 with a ravine/canyon-type-thing on the right, where balls go to be lost forever. Like the first hole, I don’t have strong feelings about the design, but these first two holes often combine to back up play immediately every time I’ve played the course. I could take or leave these two holes, if it wasn’t for what comes next.
The third hole flat out stinks. A theme at Treetops, the hole is built along the top of a ridge. If you stray from the middle of the fairway, the perimeter of the hole falls away down the ridge, resulting in an insta-lost ball. So let’s break down your options here.
From the one-up tees, you have about 220 yards max until the fairway narrows. That narrow strip of fairway? In addition to being maybe 15 yards wide at the most, it falls off so severely on both sides that it effectively is less than that. Can you hit a driver to a fairway that is less than 15 yards wide? You are laying up. If you max out your lay-up, a risky thing to do given the ravine that is immediately past the cart path (which helps your ball into the abyss), you have about 160 left in. Remember what I said about the fairway? Do it again with the green. It’s 15 yards wide or less, falls sharply away on both sides, and for a lot of people will be approached with a mid- to long-iron. Every problem here is due to these dumb ball-eating ravines.
Deep breath. The 4th hole is next, and it used to be a nice mid- to short-length downhill par 3. Treetops decided to make the original green a short game practice area or something, and then built a new hole to the left while keeping the original tees. The new hole is now a long-iron, uphill, to the blandest green at the entire resort. And to top it off, there are some cottages or whatnot directly, and I mean directly, behind the green, with some nice french patio doors waiting for your bladed tee shot.
Remember the ravines? They come back with a vengeance on the 5th hole, the worst hole on the course. The tee shot is a lot like the 3rd, the farther you attempt to hit your drive, the less fairway is available to hold, as the edges that you see from the tee and look inviting to hit to, actually fall off the face of the earth. If you are able to hold something like a 3-wood or less on the fairway, you have exactly one shot available to hit next, and that is into the greenside bunker. There isn’t enough fairway to hold for a lay-up, and the green can’t be held with a fairway wood. Does this sound like a fun hole yet?
That ends the worst stretch. From here in there are at least several normal golf holes. The downhill par-4 15th is fun, for example, and the par-4 17th hole is a solid two-shotter late in the round. But the weird holes pop up all over the place. The par-3 6th is the signature hole, with a massive drop from tee to green. If it’s the first such hole that you play at Treetops, then sure, it’s a novelty. But stay at the resort for a few days, and you will be lost in Downhill Par 3 Groundhog Day no matter which course you are playing. The guessing game of trying to figure out which club to hit loses its luster after a play or two or 15.
The par-4 8th hole is wacky, asking you to hit a blind shot down what resembles a winding halfpipe between two ridges. It’s not that that shot isn’t fun, but then you are faced with a green that only ranges from 17 yards wide in the back to 8 yards in the front, and is a peninsula surrounded by water. You might have a wedge in your hand, but the margin of error will challenge the dispersion of even a scratch player, let alone the average resort player. And then you have the par-5 10th. After a beautiful downhill tee shot, you have a massive uphill and blind approach for the rest of the hole. I am not against blind holes, they can be a ton of fun. But this one offers no logical aiming point for the 2nd shot, and it doesn’t offer a forgiving lay-up zone or forgiving green to give you the moment of anticipation to see if your shot ended up in a good spot. It’s more like you hit the ball randomly, feel resigned to knowing it won’t end up anywhere good, and just hope you can eventually find it. Just outright poor design.
But here’s the kicker. I could actually live with a lot of those gripes listed above if it wasn’t for the constant browbeating from the resort. Want to know who holds the course record? Of course you don’t, but the starters won’t let you tee off until you are aware that it’s Lee Janzen. Want to know why it’s called the Masterpiece, despite it’s many flaws? Settle in, you are getting that story, too.
“What’s in a name? In this particular case, everything. Michigan is home to some fabulous courses, but not many can boast Robert Trent Jones, Sr. as their architect. In 1985, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. stood at the future site of the first Treetops golf course and decided to build his Masterpiece here. The land overlooks the Pigeon River Valley, featuring heavy forests and rolling hills. When Masterpiece opened in 1987, Golf Digest named it the #2 new resort course in the United States. It continues to be a spectacular course year after year, and we welcome you to test your skills on this one-of-a-kind track.”
It’s not just that the course is littered with bad holes, which isn’t unique to the Masterpiece. It’s that the resort insists that this will be one of the best courses you will ever play in the state, despite what you can see with your own eyes.
That felt good. I love you Treetops!
Hot Mulligan -
Golf-related band name - Check
Golf-related song title - Check
Golf-related lyrics - Not even one
I don’t know why these names are what they are, but this song came across my Spotify playlist and I listened to it before realizing it had nothing to do with golf. I’m not vouching for it, I just think it’s weird. So here’s your parting soundtrack... thanks for reading!