Once the snow melts—and trust us, it does—Northern Michigan becomes one of the country’s top regions for public golf.
Mines mentioned in Golf Vacation Insider
"There are a lot of golf courses that have replaced far less desirable sites: industrial sites, landfills and other non-golf entities. We’re biased, but we tend to think green spaces are better than metal, smoke and concrete. And if those green spaces happen to have 9 or 18 greens, even better.
Here are our favorite “reclaimed” golf courses:
The Mines Golf Course – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Central Michigan is prime mining country, and The Mines is built on the site of former gypsum mining activities. The course embraces this heritage not just with its name but with one of the best public-course logos we’ve seen. Furthermore, materials from the mining operation were incorporated in the design of the course. An example of the minimalist design philosophy of Mike DeVries, the course only has 31 bunkers – including half a dozen bunkerless holes – so its main defense is a set of fun but potentially fearsome greens. There are not too many courses by name designers whose green fees top out below $54, but The Mines is no ordinary course."
PRESS RELEASE: DeVries Designs Inc. and Infinite Variety Golf Design Form Trans-Atlantic Partnership
Leading course designers to collaborate on projects throughout North America, UK, and Europe
Traverse City, MI – Two leading international golf course design companies are forming a trans-Atlantic partnership to provide clients with unparalleled expertise and experience in golf course architecture.
Mike DeVries, principal partner in DeVries Designs, based in Traverse City, Michigan, and Frank Pont, principal in Infinite Variety Golf Design, based in The Netherlands, will share their passion for golf architecture to create new golf course design projects and restore classic courses throughout the UK, Europe, and North America.
This collaborative partnership offers an innovative way to create new opportunities, specifically in new designs. With DeVries’ success on high profile projects like Cape Wickham Links, recently named No. 24 in the World by Golf Digest, together with Pont’s experience with award-winning courses and his strong network in Europe and the UK, the team is ready to coordinate resources, expertise, and personnel to create outstanding new golf developments for clients.
Pont’s experience in restoring classic designs positions him as the leading expert on the design work of Colt, Alison, Fowler, and Simpson, while DeVries brings his expert knowledge of MacKenzie, Ross, Tillinghast, Raynor, and other classic designers. Together, the partnership will combine their strengths to provide options for clubs across North America and the UK seeking to restore or renovate their historic golf courses.
“I am really excited about the opportunity of working in Europe and with Frank, who is a very forward-thinking practitioner of our craft and respects the character and history of classic golf courses,” said DeVries. “Frank’s understanding of the European golf environment, combined with my knowledge of American architecture, broadens our abilities and makes us a formidable duo to build new, as well as properly restore and renovate classic courses.”
With more than 35 years in the golf business, including growing up and working on the renowned MacKenzie design Crystal Downs in northern Michigan, DeVries has developed an impressive hands-on approach to creating minimalist designs, including shaping his own greens and bunkers, working with owners and construction teams to develop economically feasible golf courses, and paying attention to the details with a “less is more” attitude of designing courses that fully integrate with the landscape.
His award-winning projects include the aforementioned Cape Wickham, as well as the Kingsley Club (#21) and Greywalls (#77) on Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Courses in the USA. Meadow Club (Alister MacKenzie), Siwanoy Country Club (Donald Ross), and Sunningdale Country Club (Raynor, Travis, Tillinghast) are examples of his classic course restorations.
Following a successful career in consulting and investment banking, Pont has spent the last 15 years becoming one of Europe’s leading course designers and experts on restorations. In addition to his work on Colt, Alison, Simpson, Arana and Pennink designs, he has also created several highly acclaimed new course designs in his home country of the Netherlands, including De Swinkelsche, which is ranked in the top 10.
He is currently working with 15 classic golf clubs listed on Golf World’s English and European Top 100. The clubs where he has been working on extensive restorations, such as De Pan (#26 to #3), Hardelot (#98 to #27), Royal Hague (#19 to #6), and Eindhoven (#81 to #33), have all made spectacular improvements in the course rankings in recent years. No other architectural firm in Europe has delivered similar results in such a consistent manner.
“Our partnership is great news, first and foremost for our clients who will benefit from even better and more complete services, but as importantly for ourselves in that Mike and I will be able to have even more fun working together on great projects,” said Pont. “It will follow the example of Colt and Alison who had a similar trans-Atlantic partnership during the Golden Age of golf. I am convinced our partnership will be a game changer in the global arena of golf course architecture that others will find hard to emulate.”
DeVries and Pont are dedicated to the quality and purity of classic golf design, while serving the needs of their clients and advising them as to the most effective and efficient ways of doing things. The synergies of this trans-Atlantic partnership will lead to a new paradigm of economic excellence in golf course design and construction.
For more information about this partnership or each of the respective companies, contact:
DeVries Designs, Inc., www.devriesdesigns.com tel: +1 231-933-9169, mike@devriesdesigns.com
Infinite Variety Golf Design, www.infinitevarietygolf.com,
tel: +31-641058300, fp@frankpont.com
DeVries courses in Golf Week rankings
Top 100 Modern Courses
Kingsley #21 Top 100 Modern Courses
Greywalls #77 Top 100 Modern Courses, #2 in MI for Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play
Best Courses You Can Play
Pilgrim’s Run, #15 in MI for Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play
Best Classic Course
Meadow Club, #133 in Golfweek’s Best Classic Course, Next 100
Siwanoy CC, #150 in Golfweek’s Best Classic Course, Next 100
Golf Inc. ranks Cape Wickham 2nd in 2015 Developments of the Year
"The existing features were utilized in varied strategic ways as the holes twist and turn across thsi beautiful landscape." - Mike Nuzzo
Mike DeVries mentioned in Golf Inc.
DeVries is nominated for the list of Most Influential Architects with this note from David McLay Kidd:
“He’s right on the cusp. He’s getting phenomenal reviews for his course on King Island, and that’s going to earn him an opportunity to score a notable project in the United States.”
DeVries also mentioned in “People in the news“:
“DeVries and Oliver have delivered on their word to design a world-class venue on King Island in Tasmania. Cape Wickham Links placed No. 5 in Golf Australia magazine’s ranking of Australia’s top golf courses. It trails only Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s West Course (No. 1), Kingston Heath Golf Club (No. 3), and the companion courses at Barnbougle Dunes, the Golf Links (No. 2) and Lost Farm (No. 4).”
Golf Digest: Cape Wickham #24 of World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses
#24 (NEW) Cape Wickham Links
King Island, Tasmania, Australia / 6,725 yards, Par 72
“Less than six months old, this design collaboration by American Mike DeVries and Australian golf writer Darius Oliver may be an even bigger surprise than No. 19 Cabot Cliffs. It’s a glorious collection of holes on a breathtaking site along Bass Strait, a notorious stretch of Australian seacoast that once shipwrecked many voyages. Its routing is heart-pounding, starting along rocks and crashing surf, moving inland but not out of the wind, returning to ocean edge at the downhill 10th, pitch-shot 11th and drivable par-4 12th, then wandering into dunes before a crescendo closing hole curving along Victoria Cove beach, which is in play at low tides.”
Golf Australia: King Island is Open for Business
Tucked away in formidable and sometimes volatile Bass Strait, King Island has just become the hottest new destination in golf with two new world class courses opening.
Golf Course Architecture: Why King Island is the world’s newest great golf destination
There may not be a more remote or unlikely place for world-class golf than faraway King Island…
Australian Turfgrass Management: A New Beacon
Cape Wickham Links, one of the most talked about golf course developments in the world, opened its gates on 30 October 2015. ATM editor Brett Robinson catches up with Cape Wickham superintendent John Geary to look back at some of the unique challenges faced growing-in what is expected to be a world top 100 ranked course.
Australian Golf Digest: Fairway to Heaven
Brace yourselves. The world’s most highly anticipated new golf course opens its gates later this month. We thought we’d get in early and play Cape Wickham on Tasmania’s King Island following a wave of international fanfare. Our verdict? Believe the hype.
Tourism Tasmania: The World’s Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year…Tasmania
It is estimated there are 50 million golfers in the world and now these golfers have a newly discovered destination for tee time according to the International Association of Golf Tour Operations (IAGTO). Tasmania has been named the 'Undiscovered Golf Destination of the Year' by over 200 of the world's leading golf travel journalists across 36 countries.
Australian Golf Digest: Cape Wickham at King Island Taking Shape
If you build it, they will come. Something special is coming to the golf world at Tasmania’s King Island, starting with Cape Wickham Links.
PGA.com: Six New Courses You Need to Visit in 2015
How about some good news? This year promises to be a great one for new golf courses. Some are available for play in 2015 and others will debut shortly. Here are some exceptional layouts guaranteed to get any devoted golf traveler excited:
Cape Wickham, King Island, Australia
Set on an island off the southern coast of Australia, this stunning layout is scheduled to open this year. Designed by American golf architect (Greywalls and Kingsley Club), Cape Wickham is predicted to be one of Australia’s top ten courses. Get your camera out as it will have eight holes framed by ocean as well as five other rimming the tee or green.
Ausgolf.com.au: Is this possibly Australia’s best golf course?
That’s the question several judges invited to King Island to preview Cape Wickham Golf Links on a windy day in late March will be asking themselves for the next several months as the course grows in over winter ahead of its official opening in November 2015.
Golf.com: The Most Anticipated New Courses of 2015
Cape Wickham Links, King Island, Tasmania, Australia — “American architect Mike DeVries, best known for his top-ranked Michigan courses — the Kingsley Club and Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club — teamed with Aussie course critic Darius Oliver to create a pulse-racing layout on King Island, located between Tasmania and Melbourne. Highlights include eight holes alongside Bass Strait, a beachside 18th and huge sand dunes and ridges affecting play.”
Cape Wickham Featured in The Golf Travel Guru
Cape Wickham (King Island, Australia)—Set on an island off the southern Coast of Australia, Cape Wickham, scheduled to open in 2015, is being designed by American golf architect Mike DeVries, who’s known for his work in northern Michigan (Greywalls and Kingsley Club). Predicted to be one of Australia’s top ten courses, Cape Wickham will have eight holes framed by ocean as well as five others rimming the tee or green.
Siwanoy CC Restoration Complete Spring 2015
Siwanoy CC in Bronxville, NY is finishing its fall phase of work. Completion of the restoration will happen in spring, 2015.
Cape Wickham Links Completed
Cape Wickham Links on King Island, Tasmania, Australia is complete and opening on March 1, 2015 for preview rounds. See capewickham.com.au for more information on the course.
Enrique Hernandez
It is with great sadness that Enrique Hernandez, our good friend and associate in South America, passed away on June 13, 2014, after a long battle with cancer. Enrique was a great player, winning national amateur championships from the late 1950’s and into the 1990’s. He was a keen observer of the game and truly loved the sport. His knowledge of Argentine and South American golf will be missed, but mostly I will miss his friendship.
Strike it far and sure, Enrique!
Your friend always,
Mike DeVries