Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course: A Unique Golf Experience

It ain't easy to reach Arcadia, Michigan, a tiny hamlet hard on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and a good four-plus hour drive from Detroit. Yet, as you make the turn into the service road to Arcadia Bluffs Golf Club and spy the red-roofed modern clubhouse sitting on a hill overlooking the lake and 18 gorgeous holes of golf course, you start to think it might just have been worth getting up at 6:00 a.m. to make the long trek.

Arcadia Bluffs is ranked 56th on Golf Digest's current listing of 100 greatest courses, and 10th on its companion listing of greatest public courses.

It deserves the high rankings. The Curmudgeon had the good fortune to play Arcadia Bluffs this week with a buddy and two very good-natured Michigan hosts. (That's the 13th hole, a par three across a ravine, into the wind coming off Lake Michigan, above.)

Standing on any one of the elevated tees, looking out at Lake Michigan pounding the shore nearly 80 feet below, one could easily think he had been transported to the Oregon coast. Had a whale breached the water, the Curmudgeon wouldn't have been at all surprised (although his Michigan playing companions certainly would've been shocked).

We had Oregon weather as well. The pro shop should have been the tip-off. Apart from the usual stock of shirts, balls, gloves and like, Arcadia's pro shop has an extensive line of rain gear, pullovers, special gloves and the like.

As we pulled up to the clubhouse in our white stretch Excursion (a bit of excess, but a great way to travel), it began to drizzle. By the time we got to the quaint driving range--reminiscent of a muni course with its token-operated ball machine--it was sprinkling drops of cold rain. Dark clouds boiled over the horizon on Lake Michigan as mist began to envelope the course. As we teed off on the first hole it rained lightly. By the fifth hole we were battling a driving rain off the lake.

The air was cool--no more than 65 degrees despite it being the middle of an August day. Fortunately, our Michigan hosts had warned us that it might not be exactly like hot, humid Washington, where no one would even think of bringing along a warm pullover in the summer!

Despite the rain, the course held its charm. Built into rolling hills on the bluffs overlooking the lake, Arcadia features narrow green fairways surrounded by steep hillsides covered with brown heather. From some vantage points the brown hills look more like a moonscape than a golf course.

Errant drives from the tee are punished by time-consuming and usually fruitless searches for balls in the brown stuff. A good tee shot, however, usually sets up a fairly open approach shot to the fast, undulating greens at Arcadia. It was not unusual to see a putt struck from one side of the green to a pin in the middle end up on the other side of the green after curving down a big slope, accompanied by a muttering of curse words from the unfortunate golfer who'd made the putt.

By the time we started the back nine, the rain stopped. We even got sunshine for the last few holes, which dried us out and lifted our spirits as we ground through the final holes. With the change in weather it was like playing on two different days.

The final hole starts with an elevated tee, with Lake Michigan to your back. A well struck ball will end up in a valley, with the next shot played up a steep hill toward the clubhouse, where guests can sit on a porch and watch smugly as golfers trudge in for their last couple of putts. We had a small gallery of women who did their best to cheer us on as we uniformly butchered the hole!

Apart from the golf, Arcadia has an attractive, nicely apportioned clubhouse with a good-sized dining room and decent food--a necessity given its isolation.

After finishing up, all we had to do was make the four hour trek back to the environs of Detroit.

So, if you happen to find yourself in northwestern Michigan, make sure to check out Arcadia Bluffs. Dress warmly, and bring your rain gear.