After golfing at Beeches I went for a bonus round. I drove past Lake Michigan Hills Golf Club last weekend and again today. The course is visible from the interstate and looked to have some charm – at least from what I could see from the road!

I stopped by about 5pm and the proshop got me out right away. I cruised around in less than three hours on what turned out to be a beautiful evening. It was still a bit chilly, but the wind died down and the course sparkled in the sunlight the entire round.

Lake Michigan Hills is a Charles Maddox Sr. design in Benton Harbor, MI. The course is probably 10/15 minutes from downtown and located between I-196 and I-94. Maddox appears to have been a mostly Midwest architect – not a name I’ve heard before.

Lake Michigan Hills opened in 1969 and I found quite a bit to like about it. I’d say the course has a hilly parkland style layout. The “hills” part of the course’s name fits since there is a good amount of elevation change. There are a number of elevated tee shots and two holes on the back nine play quite a bit uphill. The par-4 12th is one of those uphill holes. It is 347 yards, but plays probably two clubs uphill.

Besides the elevation change, I enjoyed the presentation of Lake Michigan Hills. Many mature trees line the tees and fairways. On a sunny afternoon the shadows looked pretty awesome. The bunkers and the tall grass helped with the look here as well.

I played the blue tees which are 71.2/130/6396. The course doesn’t look like much on the scorecard, but I found it to be a tough course with my questionable tee game. Tee shots and approach shots need to get through narrow gaps. I wouldn’t mind seeing some trees removed for the sake of playability. The greens have tricky slopes and the bunkers, while not very deep, are quite large. Accuracy is important around Lake Michigan Hills.

Overall, the conditions were solid. Many greens slope from back to front, so putts uphill are slower and putts downhill are faster. Not many bumps. The turf was a little thinner here compared to the other courses nearby that I’ve played recently. Still, everything was playable. I paid about $45 to ride for a late afternoon round. Not a bad deal considering the cost of golf these days.

Lake Michigan Hills was a course I enjoyed, even though it doesn’t fit my game. It isn’t a destination course, but is worth a look if you are in the area. The course presents well, provides a good value, and has a mix of challenges. The one thing I’d like to see though – are some trees removed. For example, the 7th and the 11th seem unnecessarily tight.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):