Golf Course Architecture - Issue 62: October 2020

Photo: Forest Dunes genius with a putter from as far as 160 yards. His precise thump off the tee with the f lat stick will undoubtedly require a loft adjustment. This is illustrative of the enjoyment built into the design. The same group included some using the land and features to hone their short game on tight lies and some keeping serious score. Others were playing a call-a-club challenge on each hole where each shot was celebrated by laughter. The features and bunkers were fully formed as a championship approach, yet the routing invited equal parts shotmaking and whimsy. That is not an easy task to accomplish and R&R delivered a course for true ‘R&R’. I found myself wanting for more: “That’s it? Ten holes is not enough.” More on golf in Michigan. During one of several enjoyable conversations with Michigan golf writers John Retzer and Tom Lang, I learned that Michigan has between 650 and 850 public golf courses. 69 “The fescue is firmly planted on the packed sand and the course invites the requisite creativity and wagering” The third (foreground), fourth and eighth greens on Riley Johns and Keith Rhebb’s new short course layout at Forest Dunes