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Greywalls - Marquette Golf Club
The Site
The property is mature, second-growth forest with a variety of elevation changes and exposed granite rock throughout the site. The southernmost portion of the site is a broad, undulating valley on sand and has an excellent source for irrigation water in the existing well that is used to supply the old course. Mapping of the numerous wetlands on the site, including the Orianna Brook, Westren Brook, and the old plank road was done prior to any design work to account for the environmental restrictions of the land. The combination of rock, elevation, and wetlands restricted the routing of the golf course in many aspects but also presented many opportunities in vistas, natural splendor, and diversity.
The Golf Course
The design of the golf course is a reaction to the inherent properties of the site. It is a response to the intricacies of the land to create unique holes and challenges that are arranged to flow together and provide a rhythm that enhances the entire experience.
Despite the severity of the site, the course flows across the landscape in a manner that is walkable and intimate with respect to the land and the other holes of the golf course. The golfer is able to create a bond with the land as he challenges his game and the elements that ensure that the golf course will never be quite the same and always inspiring.
| Hole |
Championship |
Back |
Middle |
Forward |
Front |
Par |
| 1 |
579 |
545 |
509 |
477 |
416 |
5 |
| 2 |
425 |
397 |
364 |
322 |
287 |
4 |
| 3 |
174 |
174 |
146 |
115 |
94 |
3 |
| 4 |
425 |
425 |
379 |
316 |
256 |
4 |
| 5 |
312 |
312 |
284 |
251 |
158 |
4 |
| 6 |
188 |
188 |
151 |
137 |
85 |
3 |
| 7 |
489 |
489 |
432 |
347 |
304 |
4 |
| 8 |
343 |
328 |
298 |
264 |
237 |
4 |
| 9 |
389 |
389 |
358 |
346 |
284 |
4 |
|
| Out |
3324 |
3247 |
2921 |
2575 |
2121 |
35 |
|
| 10 |
336 |
336 |
320 |
283 |
264 |
4 |
| 11 |
388 |
388 |
363 |
319 |
269 |
4 |
| 12 |
491 |
463 |
450 |
382 |
350 |
4 |
| 13 |
559 |
559 |
534 |
514 |
434 |
5 |
| 14 |
449 |
449 |
414 |
401 |
319 |
4 |
| 15 |
240 |
202 |
179 |
129 |
98 |
3 |
| 16 |
371 |
371 |
349 |
319 |
282 |
4 |
| 17 |
137 |
137 |
121 |
94 |
71 |
3 |
| 18 |
533 |
533 |
463 |
442 |
369 |
5 |
|
| In |
3504 |
3438 |
3193 |
2883 |
2456 |
36 |
|
| Total |
6828 |
6685 |
6114 |
5458 |
4577 |
71 |
Hole #1
The view from the first tee is breath-taking - on a clear day, you will see past Shot Point, Laughing Whitefish Point, and Grand Island to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - over 50 miles! Behind you is the starter shack and 60 feet below that is the finish to the round in the broad, flat valley of the eighteenth. Combined with the back tee is the practice putting green, a novel way to make use of the intimate area at the beginning and turn of the golf course. The first hole lays out before you with a very generous landing area that tumbles down the hill and bends gently to the right. The drive is across a natural chasm to a flattish plateau, with bunkers on the left side buffering the tees of the eighth hole. The second shot on this par 5 opener is across severely undulating ground and sets up a pitch to a green on a rise in the distance. The green is somewhat oblong and draped over a slender ridge, with no bunkers but tight, fairway turf all around it to make for interesting recovery shots. As you look back upon the first hole, you will notice that the tee is high in the distance and the view of Lake Superior is gone, but the hole has swept you down the hill, leading you past the green to the second tee.
Hole #2
The second is a medium-long par four, surrounded by trees. The drive is across a natural wetland and up to a boldly rolling landing area. To the right and protected by trees is the Orianna, to the left is a gap in the trees with a glimpse of the seventh hole, and ahead of you is the green perched on the right of a left-to-right sloping bank. The options are to hit it directly at the green, across a deep ravine, or play a safer shot out to the left and try to work the ball off the bank to the putting surface.
The green setting is tranquil, with the bank high on the left and hemlocks on the right. If you listen closely, you may hear the waterfall on the Orianna gurgling nearby. Turning back on the hole exposes a smoothly domed granite rockface across the approach - it is an unexpectedly beautiful sight. The challenge next time will be to not think about the rock before getting to the green safely!
Hole #3
The first par three on the course is a medium to short iron, with wetlands in front and on the right and the green defended by bunkers behind and right. Behind the green are the tees for the fourth hole and a waterfall that cascades down the hillside in the spring. It is a gorgeous setting and the required shot is simply and directly presented to the golfer.
Hole #4
The fourth is a wonderful tree-lined valley, with a steep granite wall rising along the left side of the hole. The tee shot looks intimidating with the rock wall and a great heaving fairway for the left side of the landing area, but a valley of fairway behind a rock outcropping jutting out short right gives another option to players for a gentler route.
The green rests along a gentle spine with a towering granite slab at its back left. It is visible from either the high left landing area, if the tee shot was hit far enough, or from the low valley on right, as seen between the encroaching hillsides. The green is surrounded by tight fairway turf to allow for a multitude of running or aerial approaches and recovery shots.
Hole #5
After the secluded fourth, you cross over the Orianna to the hill where the fifth tees set. The drive is back across the restored brook and past some massive rock formations to a semi-blind landing area. In the distance is the face of a 60-foot cliff wall (the “Rock”) that rises above the right side of the green. Precision in placing your drive is much more important on this short par 4 than a big strike, as the second shot will be a short pitch and a favorable lie for it will improve your chances of getting the ball close for a birdie opportunity. The landing area is tight with a granite wall on the left mimicking the “Rock” and woods on the right.
The green rolls up into a plateau set between two domes of rock on the left and the huge wall on the right. Behind are a shaved turf bank and a tree-covered rock hill. A gap to the back right leads to the next hole and allows light, air, and wind to blow through the fifth hole. Once again, the green is set in a unique and special setting all its own and golfers will revel in the spectacle of the surrounding environment.
Hole #6
The sixth is a medium par 3, with the tees built upon parts of the “Rock,” opposite and hidden from the fifth green. A beautiful tributary creek and some wetlands are in plain view but not easily noticed because the approach to the green is fronted by a twenty-foot rock escarpment, with the green set in a box canyon above and beyond it.
The green is open from the tees and surrounded on the left, right, and back by rock. The view past the green is open sky and part of that ridge will serve as the tees for hole #9. Access to and from the putting surface is naturally ingenious, with gaps in the rock on an easy grade at the back left and back right, allowing for exceptional air movement and traffic dispersal. This is surely a unique and special hole.
Hole #7
So far, we have had a spectacular view on the first tee to lead off the front nine and then a series of holes that had their own character but didn’t have vistas. Our view from the seventh tee brings back that exhilaration of a long distance view of Lake Superior. The tees are set on a peninsula of rock jutting out from the hillside, dropping off on three sides and leaving the golfer as if he is on the bowsprit of an ancient sailing vessel of the Great Lakes - WOW!!!!
Before you lies the rumpled fairway with a large rock outcropping popping up diagonally in the landing area. This 475 yard par four plays downhill over 100 feet, giving one the feeling that you are at the crest of a great wave and riding it down to the green. The elevation change and hazards will put more emphasis on accuracy off the tee than brute strength, as good placement of your drive will keep you in line to make a good play at the flagstick.
The green rests on a natural roll in the landscape, giving it a crown shape that falls off into a deep swale on the left. Longer approaches can use the bank at the front right to feed the ball into the bunkerless green. There is an opening through the forest to the second hole that provides you a glimpse of an earlier part of the round. Fairway turf extends around the entire green and gives numerous options for recovery play.
Hole #8
After a short interlude through the forest to the eighth tee, the golfer will notice the adjacent first fairway from a different vantage point and view to Lake Superior over the trees in the background. But now, turn around and concentrate on the task at hand: a short par four with trees on the left, rock outcroppings in the middle, and natural areas and bunkers on the right between the seventh and eighth holes. The safe play is a long iron to the left side fairway, but busting a drive over the rocks to leave a short pitch is very tempting, albeit unnerving.
Your approach will be to a green sheltered by trees and set below the monolithic seventh tee complex. This perched green is bunkered left and right, requiring a delicate touch with the wedge to get it close to the hole. What a wonderful contrast to the previous hole.
Hole #9
The cart path to the tee follows an incline covered with rubble and scree. The senior tee is atop the ridge that is behind the sixth green and offers a beautiful vista of the medium-length, par 4 ninth and across to the tenth and eighteenth holes with the Marquette Range in the distance.
The ninth hole is a gentle sweep to the left, with a large fairway bunker on the left side of the landing area and a small rock outcropping long and right of the drive. The green is perched in the distance with a sharp rock drop-off on its left and a cluster of hemlocks on the right. From the landing area, a golfer sees Lake Superior behind the green, which appears to sit directly against the lake and sky.
The green allows for a running approach along the right side of the putting surface or an aerial attack. The left edge and short left are dominated by exposed rock, with maintained turf below and well off to the side to allow for recovery from an errant second shot. After putting out, it is just a short walk past the hemlocks to the tenth tee and starter shack.
Hole #10
With the intimate starter shack behind you and the glorious valley finish of the eighteenth below you on the left, the tenth’s tee shot is out of a narrow chute of trees to a broad expanse that I call the “middle plateau,” consisting of the ninth, tenth, eleventh tees, seventeenth, and eighteenth holes in the center of the golf course. It is a gently crowned area with beautiful views to the east and south and rock outcroppings popping up here and there. A better drive for this short par four will hug the left side of the hole, near the rock outcropping to avoid the rock on the right side of the green on the approach shot.
The approach to the putting surface is a broad swale and the green works its way uphill to the back and right. The right, and particularly back right, flagstick locations are protected by a significant boulder outcropping that make entries to the green from the “safe” right side of the landing area more difficult. The tenth hole is a fine example of requiring a deft touch in placing the tee shot in a spot for the approach’s best angle and not brute force to turn in a good score.
Hole #11
The tees for the medium-length, par 4 eleventh sit on the southwestern precipice of the middle plateau, looking down upon a boldly undulating fairway and across to the north side of the Marquette Range. The severe elevation drop to the landing area shortens the hole and rewards the drive that finds a flatter spot to hit the second shot. A multitude of fairway bunkers will demand golfers make a clear decision on the tee.
The green is tucked behind a ridge fronted by bunkers and with a narrow gap to allow a run-up shot into the flag from the proper angle, but most players will opt to hit in a high-lofted iron. Frequently, one will be have a blind or semi-blind shot into the green, so local knowledge of the green-site and contours will be beneficial. The punchbowl green is integrated into a shelf behind the front ridge and the hillside on the right, with the left side falling away to fairway turf in a bowl below the putting surface.
Hole #12
Following four short par fours, the twelfth is a big strong par 4 of 491 yards from the back tees. A good drive can catch the downside of a broad crest in the land and gain some extra yardage, but many players will have a mid- or long-iron into a difficult green.
The green is perched across a deep swale and is fronted by two bunkers, one left front and one short and right of the small green. The putting surface has a ridge on the left that rolls off to shaved turf in a valley while the right and back sides slope in to a back-to-front tilting green. A shorter hitter with an excellent short game or ability to play his approach in from the right will often win this hole over the long player.
Hole #13
The thirteenth is a long par five playing in the opposite direction of the previous hole and gently uphill most of the way. Clusters of hemlock permit views to and from adjacent holes while still giving a tree-lined feel to the hole. Excellent visibility from the landing area will allow the golfer to choose his line over or around the staggered fairway bunkers and to set up the best approach line to challenge the flagstick.
The approach presents a skyline green with hole eleven as a background. The putting green is generous but severe and will reward a conservative player who avoids going over the back or right of the green, maybe even playing from the bunkers.
Hole #14
A wonderful cape hole, the fourteenth is a long par four and offers great strategy to the crafty player. Natural and created wetlands buffer the left side of play from the sixteenth, whose rock walls overhang and preview what is to come later in the round. A wide landing area will accept most drives but big hitters must be careful not to blast a drive left, as it could end up in the wetland.
The approach shot to the green offers a number of options. From the left, players can fly the ball to the putting surface, but beware the short shot that will fall back down the bank below the green. From the center of the landing area, and the further right the drive is placed, a player can run the ball onto the green, using the slope on the right approach to work the ball onto the putting green. The green runs away to the back left and is perched above the front, left, and back. Fairway cut all around the green will enhance the short game options here.
Hole #15
The fifteenth is the biggest par three on the course, often requiring a full wood to reach it from the tee. The tees are set on a gentle hill, giving all players a good look at the target. The Westren Brook crosses the hole but the ravine that encompasses it is 30-40 yards short of the green.
The green sets in an amphitheater with the “Knobs” forming the back edge of the green and rock outcroppings on the left where the back tee to hole sixteen is located. The bowl-shaped green area will get many on the putting surface but a plateau at the back left will make for difficult flagstick locations and reward the imaginative putter.
Hole #16
The sixteenth was visible from holes 12-14 and its wildly undulating fairway has probably built up some anxiety, especially since the view from the tee doesn’t give one as clear a view of the strategy as some of the other holes. Aggressive players can hit it blind over the large rock outcroppings on the right to cut the corner and leave themselves with a short pitch. The smart play, though, will be conservatively down the left for a better lie and view of the flagstick.
The green is above the landing area and rests at the end of a broad shelf that comes down off a big hill on the right. A swale on the right leads down to the steep drop-off that is behind and to the left of the green. Approaches that go left or over will be caught by bunkers that will prevent the ball from sliding all the way down the bank. Be sure to look back on the hole on your way to the next tee; the rock walls and wetlands are quite a sight.
Hole #17
The shortest par three on the course looks very benign, sitting atop the middle plateau and only 137 yards from the tips to the back of the large and wildly undulating putting surface. The green is fronted diagonally by two deep bunkers and backed by a deep swale. The heavily contoured surface will move many balls away from the cup and reward good shots with a birdie opportunity. This hole will be a testament to the course, providing thrills and fun throughout the round.
Hole #18
As you turn from the seventeenth and make your way to the eighteenth tee, you are looking at the tenth green, maybe waving hello to a friend or remembering your tribulations there earlier. When you turn to face the eighteenth hole, you are met by an incredible sight of the trees on the right and rock on the left framing the wild valley that is the eighteenth hole. And more spectacular yet is the long distance vista of Lake Superior and its coastline above the treetops; one long last reminder of how you started the round staring at a similar view from the first tee.
The tee shot is to a tumble-bumble fairway that heaves like the seas; a big drive will bound down these waves and give a great opportunity to reach this par five in two. The lay-up second shot will rest in a broad, flat valley with towering hemlocks clinging to a rock-face on the left and flanking the hill on the right side of the hole. The contrast with the wild landing area is reminiscent of the ride out at the end of a roller coaster, with the eighteenth green ahead, centered on the Knobs behind it. The bunkerless green offers great strategy in its simplicity and the contours that flow off a small knob in its center.
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