Private Golf Course

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Always unassuming and very low-key, the Dunes Club opened in 1995 and has slowly grown in membership. Currently there are less than 100 members of this exclusive Club, however it appears that most of the contingent prefers to keep the Club as it has always been ... unassuming and very low-key.

The Dunes Club is so low-key that many Southwest Michigan golfers wonder if the Club, hidden in the woods and dunes along Lake Michigan, really exists or is it just a mythical legend.

The experience begins by entering the Dunes Club via an unmarked dirt drive and requires that the player find a parking spot among the many tall trees of the surrounding woods. The quaint Clubhouse warmly welcomes one to a "new" adventure in golf that harkens back to the days of yesteryear. The course is in immaculate condition and kept that way, in part, because there you will find no golf carts. A caddy will instead lead you to each hole walking either a wooded path or through a stretch of sand.

Designer Dick Nugent and Dunes Club owner Mike Keiser created some very challenging and beautiful holes with as many as 8 sets of tees on a given hole. Hole locations are often changed during the middle of a round for a very different feel the second time through, completing your eighteen holes of play from this otherwise nine-hole course. By changing tee shot locations, players can play a course that ranges from 6,250 to 6,984 yards.

The layout of the Dunes Club course is testament that designers and management, with special thanks to Mother Nature, can work together to create a memorable golf experience ... or that they have interesting senses of humor! On the Par-5 5th hole, for example, a large tree overhangs the usual flight of the approach shot and you will find a tall oak overhanging much of the Par-3 6th hole making a fade shot very challenging.

When asked about the Dunes Club's signature hole, Club Manager Dave Hettinga says "There has been a lot of debate on that. Everyone seems to have a different idea with so many wonderful holes to choose from. I personally like number 8!"

The greens will hold a well-placed approach shot, but be careful putting. Augusta National has nothing on the speed of these greens. However, rather than Augusta National, the Dunes Club is often compared to the Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey.

The famous sportswriter Dan Jenkins rated the Dunes Club as "the best nine-hole course in the country." Many golf publications agree. The Dunes Club is frequently included as one of the top 50 courses within the United States; whether 9 or 18 holes.

If an opportunity presents itself to play the "mythical" Dunes Club, drop everything you're doing and go for it! You may never play a course like it again!

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