Lochenheath

Lochenheath - Williamsburg, MI

architect Steve Smyers

Steve Smyers was a collegiate golfer at the University of Florida and got to play golf with some really good guys - North, Koch, Bean, Hancock, former USGA President and Amateur Champion Fred Ridley and others. He remains a top-notch amateur player today garnering invitations to the prestigous Crump and Coleman Cups among others each year. So proficient a player is he that the knock by some on his courses is that they are too tough.

I have been told that Lochenheath has undergone a bit of a softening from its initial iteration and I guess that I believe it as it is a bit kinder and gentler Smyers, but this is no pushover. It was originally open to the public and is now in a gated community. His courses tend to be very demanding around the greens and are at times very unforgiving. His having headed Balls and Implements Committee as well as sitting on the USGA Executive Committee will likely prevent a course of his from becoming a USGA Open venue in his lifetime and that's really too bad. We are seeing modern courses come to the fore and one would hope that as he builds truly thinking man's courses and always plans for the future golfer that one of his might be chosen. In fact in his trip around Old Memorial in Tampa, perhaps as good a flat course as exists we chose to play one up on the tees, something I don't usually do on a day that has less than 25 mph winds. We had plenty to do that day. There at Old Memorial the Mrs. had to play it at 6000 yards and she still recalls Old Memorial as one of her favorites, never complaining that it was too hard, just toooo good.

He has been influenced by Mackenzian bunkering styles, recognizable by many. Bunkers are that visual fetish of many an architectural devotee - a hot commodity just now. Smyers is married to an Australian lady and certainly one often sees that Oz look to his bunkering. So much that felt by some to be "over-bunkered" some bunkers were removed from Central New Jersey's East Course at Royce Brook - the Mackenzie style of the two courses there. The other is often referred to as the Ross style course. Anyone can play the public Ross East, but the West is limited to Members and their guests. Between holes one and nine there a once massive several acre bunker once was laid, but it is only half-sized and still quite a hazard. That style is seen here at Lochenheath and it is also the predominant style at Old Memorial - in fact Steve Smyers proudly told me that Greg Norman told him quite directly that Old Memorial most recalled Royal Melbourne for him as much as any course that he, Norman, had ever played. No faint praise as I suspect that Norman's not the kind of guy to boost another competitor architect's ego.

I have had the pleasure of many a Smyers course including Grande Pines in Orlando, a short-gamers paradsie at Marriott's property near Walt Disney World and the now extinct Blue Heron Pines East in Atlantic City, New Jersey - sadly SOLD OFF FOR HOUSING (right adjacent to the airport!) after hosting the USGA Publinks among others. Yes, I do in fact seek them out as I prefer challenging strategic golf courses that reward the player who reads and executes. So why am I featuring Lochenheath first of all of these great courses?

First off, it's rather good and can stand on its own, a hidden modern gem if you will. For one I think it embodies many of Smyers style points, a good dose of the challenge and it stands out in that golf-rich area of Northwest L.P. Michigan. That area is truly quite a neighborhood in which to be distinguished. I checked on line for current aerials of the newly created eleventh and twelfth holes, found none so far but found that daily access play is apparently now available. Go and play it if you are nearby, skip the Weiskopf as a Michigan architecture savvy pal of mine put this way: "You've played Weiskopf, haven't you? You've played it." If you have been to Arizona, you've played better and you're not going to be able to see the lake from Roscommons as you are at Williamsburg. Not as much as at Arcadia Bluffs, that Chamber of Commerce rather than Chamber of Horrors course on the west coast of the L.P. Not to suggest that Lochenheath is that tough, but it is a good deal more demanding than Arcadia.

Yardages given are only Back / Front on each hole described.

Total yardages are approximate at 7200/6900/6400/5350. Estimated Stroke / Slope : 76/145, 73/138, 71/133, 70.5/128

Hole One 427/312 Par 4

A blind drive yields the views seen below as the fairway dramatically sweeps you down and towards the green - which keeps on sweping down, You won't lose a ball, but you'll lose a stroke or a few if you aren't paying attention. fairway continues sharply down the hill if you do not keep your ball under control on the green.