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Now here are some dedicated golfers! The organizer and captain had put golf on a "back burner" and taken up boating as his summer activity of choice. But the once in a lifetime allure of Whistling Straits provided the best of both worlds, a Lake Michigan crossing and world class golf.
Here is their story.
In November 2007 the idea was consummated and the arrangements made by Golf Exclusives in January 2008. We knew we were doing something special when at that seven month advance date there were no morning tee times left!
The 44 foot Sea Ray , "Sum Escape", left Grand Haven Michigan on Friday evening July 18 for Saturday afternoon tee times at Whistling Straits. The lake was almost dead calm and an uneventful, beautiful 87 mile crossing was made in a little over three hours with the sun setting off the bow of the boat. Water temps changed from 75 degrees in Grand Haven to 57 degrees at the pierhead in Sheboygan...not a good omen for temperature inversion induced fog. After a bite to eat in a local Sheboygan Wisconsin watering hole, four of the golfers headed to accommodations at the American Club while the balance stayed aboard.
We awoke Saturday to rain and fog. After breakfast in town, we refueled the boat to ready it for the return trip across Lake Michigan and got the clubs ready for the days challenge. And what a challenge it was! After a little practice range work and the swing oil (bloody marys) were ordered in the lounge, we proceeded to the first tee accompanied by our caddies Kyle and Justin. The first hole provided enough visibility in the now partially lifting fog to see one's shot for its entire trajectory. This however soon changed as the fog came and went for the entire round. At times it was "target golf"..."Go over the towel I laid on the end of the tee box....don't go over 230 and right is better than left" could have been the caddie's advice. On other holes, especially par 3's, one caddy would go to the green and yell "all clear" when we were able to take our shots. Not exactly what we had hoped for with the pristine views afforded by this lake shore setting. We did have about 10 holes with pretty good visibility, unfortunately these were not the "postcard" holes.
The caddies were very good at tracking shots, errant or otherwise, and very few balls were lost even with the challenge of the fog. They knew the course and could read the trajectory of the balls disappearing into the fog very well indeed. They really made a difference. It took us 6 hours to complete the 18 holes due to the challenge of the weather, but it would have been much longer without caddies.
The course was very challenging, but was adjudged very playable. Greens rolled true (if one listened to their caddie!!!) and provided just enough challenge...not like the greens at Arcadia Bluffs with their three or four tier shelfs which are just plain unfair. Bunkers abound and the rain of the night before made them wet and solid....a real challenge for most. And the sand was not "pro caliber" sand....very hard, not the fluffy stuff you see on TV! The course was an excellent layout, however at $400 a pop one would expect better grass in the fairways. Taking into account the sand base turf and recent amounts of rain, some of the shortfalls were understandable. Every tee box is a forced carry and "worm burners" were severely penalized. Overall more playable than expected but a good test as well. All in all, a very enjoyable and memorable round of golf.
Just a couple other golf related comments. The neighboring gun club practice range proved quite annoying. Our knowledgeable caddie says they are trying to cut a deal to make it go away....that would be welcomed by this group. And the wildlife was phenomenal... a red tailed hawk hunting for a sea gull dinner, salmon in the lake and sheep grazing the course. Very picturesque.
The American Club was a very nice place to stay and probably a little more elegant than the average golfer needs... unless you like to practice your morning swing in the white bathrobe that was provided! Service was good and the hotel was very clean. Being owned by the Kohler company the bathroom fixtures were quite exotic. Rumor has it that the hotel was formally the dormitory for the Kohler factory workers however it has been updated in all the necessary ways but keeping the antique wood feel. If you plan on eating dinner in the restaurant you may want to confirm if a jacket is necessary for gentlemen as we did not dine there. All in all a very nice place to stay.
The trip home across the lake on Sunday was quite foggy most of the way but most of the crew was busy watching Greg Norman blow his lead in the British Open on satellite TV. Midway through our trip home, we were hailed on the marine radio by the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw to warn us that our course would be taking us through the 100th running of the Chicago to Mackinaw Island sailboat race. Approximately 400 boats were entered into this race and we saw many boats on radar, but only passed close enough to a few of them to see them through the fog.
Upon arrival at our home port of Grand Haven, the group agreed that this boating and golf combination needs to be an annual event. Perhaps a trip to northern Michigan next year is in order....or should it be the harbor in Chicago or Milwaukee?....we'll have to plan it in November again so we all have something to look forward to during the long cold Michigan winter.....
Submitted by:
Tom Van Hall (Captain), Gary Breuer, Don Van Zee, Brian Van Hall, Mike Malone, Gary Gerlach, Kevin McKenna and Brett Van Hall
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Golf Exclusives 
