On my exclusive Yikes-meter scale of 1 to 10, this course starts at an 11.
Michigan Golf: Greywalls & Mines
Two New DeVries Deisgns: Greywalls and The Mines
Golfdom on Mike DeVries
"Great designs are built on-site by reacting to what's inherent in the landscape. By seeking out the diverse characteristics of a site, more options and variety will be designed into the golf course strategy." - Mike DeVries
Mike DeVries for the Golfer: Rocking & Rolling
Many of the world's best golf courses possess a wild green or two. By "wild" I mean greens that possess bold contours, an eccentric configuration , unusual corresponding hazards or even a combination of these characteristics. Whatever it may be, there is a fine line between a wild green and a radical one that is plain gimmicky.
Links features Kingsley as Modern Classic
The co-existance of traditional golf, rugged rolling terrain, and visually dynamic scenary that elevates the game above a mere physical pursuit.
Golf Magazine: Pilgrim’s Run in Top Courses
"Pilgrim's Run (No. 98). Opened in 1998, this attractive layout 30 minutes from Grand Rapids, Michigan, offers a memorable collection of holes, and it's a bargain with a weekday green fee of $49."
Golfweek: Kingsley One of America’s Best Courses
" The retro look is not simply a matter of the Classical courses. There's something of a traditionally oriented, back-la-basics movement in Modem course design. The four leading courses on the Modem list all sport firm, fast fescue fairways - quite a contrast to the lush, green look of American parkland golf. ... Modern golfers accustomed to pure visibility might balk at some of the quirkiness, semi-blind tee shots and scruffiness of Mike DeVries' new Kingsley (Mich.) Club (No. 98). But that's the beauty of such a list. It's fodder for discussion. And material for road trips."
Golf Today profiles Mike DeVries
Mike DeVries, New Architect, Loaded With Talent
Links: Kingsley—Head of the Class
"Federal law prohibits a golf periodical from publishing any best of list that doesn't include a course in northern Michigan. The Kingsley Club fills that requirement for this list, and it may be the most architecturally ambitious layout in the bunch. Mike DeVries did the design work, with visions of Crystal Downs and Sand Hills dancing in his head. His 6,911-yard course includes a par-5 on the back nine that plays 617 yards from the ego tees. Despite that one colossus, the rest of this Audubon-approved golf landscape is a study in the shotmaker's art."
Links profiles Mike DeVries
The Fine Art of Mike DeVries
Golf Course News features Kingsley
DeVries debuts first solo course design
GolfWorld profiles Kingsley
Proof Michigan may have the best pure golfing terrain in the nation. Mike DeVries let a rolling landscape of hills and sink holes dictate his routing, then spiced it up with shaggy, woolly old-school bunkering.
Golf Course News features Kingsley
Great site, great soils at Kingsley Club
Golf Digest on Pilgrim’s Run
"But the ultimate committee project may be fourth-place Pilgrim's Run Golf Club, north of Grand Rapids, Mich. After former superintendent Kris Shumaker drew up a routing, owner Bob Van Kampen (of Chicago's Van Kampen Mutual Funds) invited six employees to design three holes apiece. Young golf architect Mike DeVries then designed the greens and bunkers and consulted on the building of the course."
GolfWeek Profiles Mike DeVries
DeVries' influences appear Crystal clear
Pilgrim’s Run in Golf Course News
Six men and a golf course - Pilgrim's Run comes to life for armchair architects.