I take a few golf trips each year and one of my usual groups made a venue change this year and it was a solid success.

The Island Hills Golf Club near Centreville, MI is a Ray Hearn design, who’s done a lot of courses in Michigan. The club recently added some condos to kick up their Stay-and-Plan options and it’s a great fit. They have 3 units on the property, with multiple rooms, and each rooom is ensuite with 2 beds. They have full kitchens, most of the tableware and cooking items you need, plus seating areas inside/outside, and a gas grill. And poker can be played to the wee hours.

We stayed Sunday through Wednesday and played a stroke play round each day (for the flighted championships) and a gambling/scramble/fun round on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. I was golfed out by Wednesday (this chassis ain’t in his 30s no more).

The course is solid and proved to be a good test. Tee boxes were mostly level, consistent; the fairways and greens were well maintained, grassed well. Bunkers were on average in good condition. The heather was pretty varied, which adds to the challenges out there. Sometimes you caught a break and played away, while other times it gobbled golf balls like a machine. A little more on that later. I’d put Island Hills in good company as compared to Indy area courses; think of Plum Creek, Eagle Creek and Hickory Stick; overall pretty solid.

Something great about a golf trip to one course is getting to know a place in a hurry. By Monday afternoon, we knew how to get around there.

The club has a nice range and practice green adjacent to the first tee. The front nine kicks off with a stock par 4 with a tee box that kinda points you in the right direction…”kinda” being the operative word. Course knowledge out here is all about the tee balls and getting things going on the right line. IHGC isn’t overly long, and with a good game you can score out there, but it’s really set-up off the tee.

The second hole is an easy bogey trap (or worse) so keep your tee shot to the right or risk being blocked out by the trees. The front nine par 5s are scoring chances, not overly long. I like the sixth hole par 5, with some quirky items in your landing area and heather the whole left side of the hole. The par 4 eighth hole will confound you, I promise. My thoughts is to pound a tee ball past the trees with driver, but I only pulled this off once successfully because it’s a tight shot. The ninth is one of the better holes on the property, picturesque.

I scored better on the back nine almost everyday. Eleven and Sixteen are driveable par 4s, but the better play is keeping the ball left and in play. Unless the wind is helping, you should do the same! The stretch of thirteen-fifteen is my favorite on the course with a longer par 4 on the thirteenth, a par 5 behind that, and a tough driving hole on the fifteenth (hello bunkers). The closing stretch is fun too, with the drop shot par 3 seventeenth hole and the picturesque par 5 eighteenth. On eighteen I suggest you try to murder one left of the bunkers and catch the hill with a draw; that leaves a short shot to the green (which has some serious slope on it). We saw eagles and eights. Fun stuff (risk/reward)!

FIELD NOTES

The staff was great in all ways; 16 of us paid about 450$ per person (double occupancy) and weather was HOT. We only had a bit of rain to contend with. Centreville is the closest town, and there’s not a ton of dining options. But we enjoyed The Local and Roosters restaurants nearby. We also grilled burgers, brats and chicken and just chilled on-site. With a Sunday thru Wed stay, we didn’t have a lot of traffic to deal with, they did have league on Tue night, but it wasn’t a big deal. The putting green is faster than the actual greens, and we all kinda struggled to get the speed right on course. The heather was the real defense out there; the landing areas are pretty big, but the tee box placement does tempt you into trouble. You’ll find a lot of golf balls while looking for yours. We are giving serious thoughts to going back next year. The drive from Indy is about 3.5 hours, so not a nightmare. I was sore, tanned like a touring pro and ready for my own bed by Wed. I lost at golf but gambled well!