Tag: golf

Forest Dunes Golf Course

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We stayed the night and played Forest Dunes Golf Course this morning, which is ranked #5 in Michigan by Golf Digest for 2017-18. It’s a great course, but after having so much fun on the Loop, we think our expectations may have been too high. After the round, we struggled to think of more than one hole (#9) that was really memorable. The course was similar to a lot of other places in the state, only a lot more expensive. Don’t get me wrong, the course was in excellent condition and I loved putting on their greens, but if we were to go back, we both said we’d rather play the Loop twice so we could play both directions.

Exactly how my round went
Jere teeing off on #9

Nestled on 500 acres of heavily wooded land within the Huron National Forest, Forest Dunes has become one of the country’s most peaceful and exciting golf experiences.

In this pristine setting, British Open Champion Tom Weiskopf designed a parkland-style classic with modern enhancements.

“Forest Dunes replicates classic style and emulates a risk/reward involvement on most every hole,” Weiskopf said. “I consider this golf course to be in the top three which I have ever been involved in the United States.”

Forest Dunes features a number of intriguing challenges including wide open meadows, hardwoods, century-old red and jack pines, rugged native dunes, scruffy sand areas and water features. The front nine at Forest Dunes highlights parkland-style holes meandering through corridors of red and jack pines, with elaborate bunkering and sandy waste areas on the sidelines.

forestdunesgolf.com

The Loop – Red

Nick Momrik2 Comments

Today, I played The Loop course at Forest Dunes with my buddy Jere. Hands down the funnest course I’ve ever played.

The Loop is a one of a kind because the 18 greens can be played in two different directions. One day the course is played clockwise, referred to as the Black version, and the next day it reverses as the Red, which is what we played. It switches back and forth every day all season. The course won Golf Digest’s best new public course for 2016. In GD’s rankings for 2017-18 it’s rated as #8 in Michigan.

The Red routing plays counter-clockwise around The Loop, starting to the right of the 18th green and playing toward the red flag in the distance. There are red flags on the front nine and white flags on the back, but if you’re ever unsure of which way to go, keep right except to pass!

The Red is a more traditional design, in the sense that the starting holes give you a bit of time to loosen up. There are a couple of hard holes going out, but the challenge really turns up a notch from the 8th through 11th holes, and the short par-4 12th can produce a six as easily as a 4, for those who get too greedy. The last four holes are a difficult finish.

forestdunesgolf.com

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Teeing off on a par 3
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Putting from way off the green

Refinished Golf Balls

Nick Momrik3 Comments

I don’t remember the last time I bought new golf balls. I’ve written about the topic several times over the years because golf can be an expensive sport. Losing balls on the course can add up really fast if you’re paying retail, especially for the best balls on the market. I’ve played plenty of rounds where I lost 5 or more Titleist Pro V1s, which go for about $4/ball new if you buy a dozen.

All of the tests I’ve seen find very small differences in the performance between new and used golf balls. As a golfer with a 12-15 handicap over the last few years, I doubt I or most of the guys I golf with would be able to tell the difference between new and used balls. After all, a golf ball is only new until you hit it. 😉

My supply was running low, so this time around I decided to try some refinished balls from Foundgolfballs.com. After a 20% off special (which most of these golf ball places seem to constantly run), I picked up 10 dozen Titleist Pro V1x 2014 Mint Factory Refinished No Logos Golf Balls for $144.80 plus free shipping. That’s less that $1.21 per ball for a 70% savings over new balls.

Are you looking for a golf ball that looks and plays just like new, but at half the price of new? With Mint quality refinished golf balls from Foundgolfballs.com, you get a ball with no player or pen marks or other cosmetic damage, no corporate or sports team logos and balls, which play almost like new. Our extensive testing has proven that new balls and factory refinished mint balls have less than 1 yard difference.

The stamping on these isn’t perfect but nobody would ever look close enough to notice unless I said something.

Warwick Hills Hole #14

Nick Momrik3 Comments

Warwick Hills Country Club hosted the Buick Open from 1958 to 1969 and from 1979 until 2009, when GM ended its sponsorship of the tournament. I attended 4 or 5 times and always had a lot of fun. When my buddy Alex texted me yesterday, inviting me to go play, I jumped at the chance and took today off work.

It was a great day for golf and the course was in just as good of shape as I remember from walking it when it was set up for the pros to play. The greens were some of the fastest I’ve ever played, especially if you were above the hole.

Whenever we attended the tournament I liked to walk to the back corner of the course because the crowds were smaller and you could get a lot closer to the players. The 14th hole was always one of my favorites to watch. It’s a short par 4 where the long hitters would try to drive the green.

For us, playing from the white tees, the hole was listed at 302 yards. I had to go for it. I hit it far enough, but pushed it right of the cart path as you can see below. There was a big bunker left of the tree, so I had to play to the right. Of course I bounced it off the cart path and all the way across the green. After a shitty chip shot I was left with about 15-20 feet. Drained the put for par and enjoyed my own moment on the 14th.

Review: My Golf Locker

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I decided to try out a new service, My Golf Locker, which sends you golf clothing and accessories matching a schedule and budget you select in your account. It looked neat.

It was not.

Their terrible web site should have tipped me off. Whenever you log in or visit your account page, you get a popup informing you of your successful log in, even if you were already logged in! Click out to another page, then click to access your account… “You’ve successfully logged in!” Talk about annoying.

The service lets you browse items on the site and select something if you want it included in your next shipment. Problem was, another piece of the service, would email you each day reminding you of an item you liked. It did this even after a box, which included the item they were relentlessly reminding me about, had been shipped.

When I looked at the contents of that first box, it included the rain pants I had selected and only 1 other item. A Nike golf shirt for $110! I don’t know who pays that much for a shirt, but definitely not me! If it was guaranteed to take 10 strokes off my score I might consider it.

I ended up finding a similar pair of rain pants at the Under Armor outlet in Birch Run for much cheaper so I returned the entire box. When the refund showed up on my credit card, I closed my account.

Don’t waste your time or money on My Golf Locker.

Remembering Arnold Palmer

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Sunday at the Masters. I walked my first 9 holes of the year this morning with Alex, hitting some good shots. When I got home I brewed an iced tea and lemonade, also known as an Arnold Palmer. Now I’m going to relax all day. First up is watching the special “Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta: Arnold Palmer – His Last […]