Golfers at the Gull Lake View Resort in southwest Michigan, US, can now get a sneak preview of the club’s new Stoatin Brae course, which has opened for limited play.

A Renaissance Golf Design project, the development of the Stoatin Brae course has been overseen by a number of senior associates at the firm, such as Eric Iverson, Brian Schneider, Don Placek and Brian Slawnik.

Part of Stoatin Brae can now be played as twelve-hole loop, ahead of the course’s full opening next year. The club has said that, once complete, the 18-hole layout will have a par of 71 and cover 6,800 yards.

“A number of our regular guests have already visited the course and given us some real positive comments,” said Jon Scott of the Scott family, who have owned and operated the Gull Lake View Resort for three generations.

The Stoatin Brae course is the sixth to open at Gull Lake View. Other layouts at the resort include the Charles Scott-designed Stonehenge South course and the Bedford Valley course, which was designed by William Mitchell.

The new course has been built on the site of a former apple orchard, which has been stripped of trees and replanted with prairie grasses.

“We need to be able to offer golf as a pastime to everyone, not just the guy who can hit the ball 275 yards,” says Bill Johnson, vice president of Gull Lake View. “This is too good of a site to keep for just a select group. We want everyone to come out and enjoy the experience that this ground has to offer.”