Rush Lake Hills

$16 (cart included), played on Wednesday, April 2023 at 10:30 AM

Decided to try out this 1961 Jim Montville design as the weather was clear and warming from 39 at 10:30am to 55 degrees by the time I finished at 1:00pm. When he told me that Spring Rates were $19 18w/cart, I wondered what kind of course could charge so little and what was I going to find. As I walked out of the clubhouse, perched on the top of the highest hill, I could see why they called it "Rush Lake Hills". These were real hills, that in the winter time you could imagine children sleding on almost every fairway, that you could see. Beautiful dark green grass (without weeds) flowed from fairway to fairway with good tree lined separation and mostly generous landing areas. Though generous, uneven lies, blind 2nd shots and small fast greens will challenge your club selection to those chosen landing areas. The slightly raised and round greens were fast (8-9) rolling smooth and mostly free of damaged pinch marks. Having only three (3) tees the Whites at 3,328/2,874yds / 69.8 / 124 and the Reds at 2,322/2,257yds / 68.1 / 113 will be more of a thinking GPS game than a "Grip & Rip" to score well at this Par 37/36 layout. Side note is that Henry Ford Hospital owns this track and all course profits go to Cancer research, which is a clever way to fund programs and promote outdoor exercise. Front 9 #1 starts out with a 457yd Par 5 Hpc 3 that sounds easy if that tee shot is 275yds, because under that distance is a steep hill that offers no roll or look at the lower small green. The #2 is a sweeping right 331yd Par 4 fairway with a hidden RH ravine to a small green that only offers the top of the flag for distance. The #3 Par 3 at 185yds has a downhill, sidehill green that tips front/right and plays into the wind. The #6 Par 5 is straightaway but rolling 506yds with a downhill 3rd shot and don't miss long. The #7 is a rolling sweeping left 544yd Par 5 that has your 2nd shot hitting into a hill to stop any roll that only offers a view of the flag on this Hcp 1 hole. The #9 Par 4 at 379yds is a dogleg left with another blind 2nd shot if your drive is under 220yds to a downhill green. The Back 9 is about 450yds shorter but is narrow and many different target elevation changes to score here. The #10 is a nice downhill 338yd Par 4 with a RH sidehill green that you MUST hit on the RH side because the green tips left and balls runs off into a swamp. The #11 Par 5 at 475yds is their Hcp 2 because of the steep hill you hit into that leaves a uphill blind 2nd shot to a tree framed fairway around 130yds out from lower placed green. (Driver, 6I, 8I, 2putts:) The #12 Par 4 at 295yds has a sharp LH corner at 200yds (Target) and then uphill to a blind wide green (trap across front) thats 15-18yds deep with long shots going downhill and into the woods. (LH side is deeper than RH) The #16 is a slightly uphill, narrow 201yd Par 3 with OB left and long so play short or miss right. The #18 is a 478yd Par 5 with blind tee shot that has you aiming just left of the little pine in the center of the fairway (240yds out) and you'll run downhill about 50yds more. This green is the one they show on the above insert and gives you the size of most of the greens. This is a really great track that makes you think about every shot because of the many blind views they throw at you. I believe the summer rates M-T for Seniors are $35-$40 18/cart and conditions are great for this time of year. I ended up shooting 40/39 w/30putts because of playing with local Tom B helping me with yardage tips and placements. Worth stopping by and supporting Cancer research at Henry Ford.

Member (cart included), played on Thursday, July 2011 at 8am

Notice the word "hills" in the name of the course.

$21 (cart included), played on Monday, September 2007 at noon

Fun course to play. Very hilly. Very dry in rough so ball rolls a long way. Stay out of the valleys!!!! Not a fancy course, but well worth the money.