The Lynx
by John Block

A northern Michigan golf experience will be available to southwestern Michigan golfers in mid-summer.

That's when The Lynx, which is located on M-89 between Otsego and Allegan, is scheduled to open.

The course was designed by the father-son team of Charlie and Jon Scott, of the Gull Lake View Scotts.

"It's a great site and will be an interesting course," says Charlie, not blowing his horn. "All the holes are real good.

"It will be a fair course. There are lots of doglegs and no two holes run parallel to each other. There are some holes along the Kalamazoo River that are really isolated. You'll feel as if you're playing in the woods all by yourself."

The course won't be overly long. It will measure a little over 6,400 yards from the back tees.

"We wanted it to be player friendly for the average golfer," says Marty Reed, one of the developers. "We will have only one par four over 400 yards, but the par fives will all be 530 yards or longer."

The course will have a lot of rolling top-ography, and all players will be required to ride carts.

"It's a public fee course," Reed says, "and we want to keep the flow of play constant."

The rate schedule will vary according to time of day and day of week, but Reed says the weekend fee, including cart, will be around $36.

"There's quite a lot of elevation change," Scott admits. "There are two water holes on the front side and two nice par 3s along the river. There's a good par five that's close to 600 yards."

The eighth hole is a 530-yard par five, but is all uphill and Scott says the elevation goes up 60 feet from tee to green. The signature hole, though, he feels will be the par three 14th.

"It plays about 165, 170 yards," Scott says. It runs along the river and the river curls behind the green. There's a bunker in front and to the left of the green, too.

"It's a relaxing type course. There are a lot of interesting views. The most unique is at the clubhouse, which sits on a hill. On a clear day, you can see for five miles."

The course was completely seeded last fall and now it just needs growing weather. Reed says the window for opening the area's newest layout for play is July or August.

"There will be 15 single home sites on the perimeter," Reed says, "but we wanted a golf course first. There won't be any homes on most of the holes. We wanted to preserve the northern Michigan atmosphere with the hills, woods and river."

Charlie Scott has designed six or seven courses himself and this is the second he's done with son Jon, the first being Stonehedge North. If The Lynx measures up to his past efforts, and there's no reason to think it won't, it will be worth the wait.

Call (616) 694-5969.