The Hive
Plus a country club that's a muni, and Treetops minus trees
New short course openings in Michigan have been greeted over the last few years with widespread coverage, including from Great Lakes Loops. There is the Little Cardinal at St. Johns Resort. Doon Brae at Boyne Highlands. The Dozens at Arcadia. There was even the reddit sensation short course at Manistee National.
I was surprised to find one, then, that I hadn’t heard of. Last fall I found a mention of The Hive at Verona Hills somewhere. It’s been difficult to find info on the place, though. There are two articles from a local news source, here and here, that have covered the opening of the new golf holes, but that is it. The course website doesn’t even mention the course or rates.
So what gives? I was beginning to the think the project didn’t work and the holes were already shut down.
Thankfully it seems to be alive and well, as the short course itself has what appears to be a very active Instagram account, complete with available merch to purchase.
One can only guess that the discreet rollout, or perhaps lack of coverage, depending on your point of view, is due to the course’s location in the thumb, the emphasis on the short in this short course (5 holes - 311 yards), or some combination of both.
If you don’t want to scroll through the ad-laden Huron County View article, here are some key details I pulled out.
The course was conceptualized during Covid when local architect Tom Matteson was back in the area. He designed and shaped the course, with an emphasis on trying to make the greens fit seamlessly with the Verona Hills greens.
Play began in 2022, although an official opening dedication did not occur until July of 2024. The course was dedicated to the late Bob Buckley, a driving force behind the project.
Funds for the construction were crowdsourced from local donors. Brent Wehner (article doesn’t state his position/role): “We came up with some numbers and figured it would cost between $50,000-80,000. We knew the club couldn’t pay for it. So, where I came into play is to see how we can raise that money through donations. If we could get to a point where we’re partway there, maybe we can make this dream into a reality.”
Wehner said around 60-70 families were responsible for the donations to make The Hive a reality, with a final price tag of around $70,000, with $50,000 of that wrapped up in irrigation.
Cost is $5 per person, or unlimited daily play for $10. A single membership is $50 and $95 for a family. Those 12 and under play for free with a supervising adult. The hope is the course will be able to sustain itself through membership and daily fees.
In the scope of golf course construction, this is a low-budget design, and a low-cost option for folks to learn the game, or just to hit a few balls and practice the types of shots that many people rarely practice.1
Consider me a fan of having a casual short course option in the area. Speaking of which…
The Country Club, but the Muni
We bought a family membership to Georgetown Country Club a few years ago when we moved back to Ann Arbor. More accurately, we bought a pool membership for the kids. The included golf membership was a nice bonus, but as a par-28 executive course, I never anticipated that it would mean much to me. The golf snob in me insisted that my only golf “membership” belonged at the University of Michigan Golf Course.
For the first two seasons, I played the course a handful of times, mostly as a quick lunch break round, with the goal of staying for no more than an hour. Last summer, I upped my participation by joining the men’s league, where I certainly reside in the lower percentile of the age group. Part of my motivation was to gradually get more invovled with the course, and see if I could gently persuade the club’s direction from a maintenance and design perspective.
A funny thing happened, though, after I started spending more time at the course and paying attention to who was there.
Case in point, last week I took a handful of Fresh Coast Flock members around the loop twice. During our first nine holes, we played behind a pair of young-ish golfers. Nothing strange there. It was the three non-participating walkers who followed the group during their round that was unusual, with one passing us on the first tee and telling us he was going to watch his grandson play.
I can’t say I’ve seen that often - except on our second trip around we were once again behind two golfers with a three-person gallery following them. Not the same group from the first nine, but an entirely different group altogether!
Midway through that round, a pedestrian, headphones and all, crossed the course from behind the 4th green to the apartments lining the 6th hole.
A young couple played together on the 2nd hole as we approached the end of our round, while an entire family, including young kids, teed off on the 1st hole.
Georgetown has Country Club in the name, and is considered a semi-private facility. Outside of league play, however, tee times are available to the public, and two trips around the course costs less than $25.
As I’ve thought about where Georgetown fits in the golf ecosystem, it finally dawned on me. It’s not city-owned, but I’ll be damned if it’s not The Muni. Everything I’ve seen there, from the clientele, to the dress code, to the kids who play street hockey on the putting green when they probably shouldn’t, screams muni golf to me.
Ann Arbor has two city-owned courses in Leslie Park and Huron Hills. I love Leslie Park, and think it’s one of the better muni courses in the state. I haven’t played Huron Hills in a very long time, but I understand that it’s a place that puts an emphasis on teaching and learning the game for all ages. An important battle that these types of courses can face is trying to be seen as a legitimate, serious golf experience. Muni golf has a history in the US of sometimes being seen as a place for hackers, or as worn-down dog tracks.
But if the past two decades or so have seen a resurgance in appreciation for Golden Age golf design, or minimalist golf design, it’s also seen an embrace of classic muni golf. A place for everyone to learn the game and feel welcome, without the dress code or etiquette police breathing down their neck. That’s a simplification, sure, and by no means am I dismissing the need for certain kinds of etiquette within the game. The muni, though, is where you should be allowed to be yourself.
Georgetown should embrace this identity, and I’ll be there to help. Now it’s time to identify and embrace the other bonafide munis in the state. What is your favorite Michigan course that has a combination of decent golf and a great muni vibe?
This will be a good segway into my next edition of the Detroit Golf Series. Stay tuned for that.
Fieldtops? Meadowtops?
Very briefly, as the golf season looks to get going Up North, it will be worth looking into how the spring ice storm affected certain courses, and what kinds of changes we might see.
Treetops was one of the resorts that shared updates on how hard they were hit by the storm, and we can expect to see signs of tree damage there from the storm. Their recent newsletter suggests that this is in addition to tree removal that they had already undertaken earlier in the winter, especially around the Rick Smith Signature course.
“Healthier greens, improved lines, and many new stunning panoramic views.”
I honestly couldn’t make a better argument for tree maintenance myself. And yes, I am actually about to type these words…
I’m interested in returning to Treetops to see what these changes look like.
I’ve gotten more serious about practicing 100 yards and in shots over the past two years, but still consider myself in the camp of not practicing these enough.
Another excellent read. Thanks Craig!