Cape Wickham was played for the first time this year by Alan Shipnuck.
Cape Wickham, King Island, Australia. Not only the best public course I played this year, but maybe the best course I’ve ever played, public or private. Absolutely epic, and it now stands as one of the game’s ultimate pilgrimages.
Greywalls is #30 on Golfweek’s best public courses of 2019!
Cape Wickham has been mentioned a lot recently at Golf Advisor, and here’s more!
Tim Gavrich and Bradley S. Klein created a list with 24 golf courses that shaped the 2010s. Cape Wickham is mentioned in the 2014 section along with Gamble Sands in Brewster, WA.
Matt Ginella recently posted a podcast about his trip to New Zealand and Australia this summer. (Sound familiar? Alan Shipnuck was also on that trip and said Cape Wickham was his favorite among the courses! See our post about it). He talks with Tim Gavrich about standouts from the trip including Cape Wickham! Listen here, Cape Wickham discussion starts at 25:45.
Thanks for all the recent mentions Golf Advisor!
Tim Gavrich of Golf Advisor summed up 2019 with his “dream 18” of holes he played this year. No. 9 was the Mines!
Of the three Mike DeVries designs in and around the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, this one has the wildest terrain, and the closing hole on the outward nine is perfectly placed through a valley to a plateau green.
Matt Ward recently wrote a post about the Mines on Golf Content Network.
The 13th, a par-4 of 468 yards, plays uphill and turns right in the drive zone. It is essential to avoid that bunker but come near enough without venturing into it. Even for the strongest of players carrying one’s tee shot over that bunker requires a Herculean effort of nearly 300 yards. Complicating matters is that the prevailing wind pattern is often against you.
Cape Wickham has moved up 12 spots this year on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World list putting it at #60!
Mike has been renovating holes 3, 4, 10, 12, and 16 at Pelham Country Club this fall. Check out this cool drone video with the progress!
Alan Shipnuck of GOLF wrote an article about his recent trip to Australia and New Zealand where he played 11 of the highest rated courses the area has to offer. After all said and done, Cape Wickham was his favorite.
On paper, the final hole at Cape Wickham is just an ordinary doglegged par-4. But having to carry a drive over crashing waves of the Bass Strait is what makes your heart pound.
Thanks for making Cape Wickham your #1 pick of the trip, Alan!
UK Golf Guy recently wrote a glowing post about Cape Wickham.
This is one of the most incredible golf experiences you will find anywhere on the planet. To travel anywhere near this part of the world and not see Cape Wickham would be a crying shame.
Thanks, UK Golf Guy!
UK Golf Guy recently chatted with Mike about his favorite courses. Check out the list!
Exciting news! Mike is teaming up with Mike Clayton, Frank Pont, and Edward Cartwright for a truly global partnership. With more than 80 years of experience between them, CDP will be working throughout the world on a variety of projects, including new builds, historical restorations, and relevant renovations.
Listen to Clayton, DeVries & Pont talk about their new partnership on State of the Game and check out their website and twitter for more information.
Mike shared his favorite “hidden gem” with Links Magazine, Belvedere Golf Club.
Belvedere Golf Club is a William Watson design in Northern Michigan from the mid-1920s. It occupies old rolling farmland and touches on forest in a few spots. The layout features excellent putting contours and wide variety throughout the course, including some wildly undulating surfaces (Nos. 6, 9, 11, 13, 18) as well as subtler greens that are perched on a plateau or hillside (Nos. 4 and 16). There are many outstanding holes and the interest is in the shots required and the recovery shot options when you miscalculate a shot. The charm of the course is evident in the quaintness of a small pro shop and simple clubhouse (members only). The hospitality of the club is genuine and warrants a visit by any golfer who seeks what is good in the game.
Tim Gavrich of Golf Advisor wrote a lovely article about Mike’s Grand Rapids area courses.
Golf courses are sculptures we are allowed to interact with. Like plain, mostly decorative sculptures, mediocre golf courses don't hold our attention for very long. But when they are assembled by someone with deeper intent - someone like Calder, like DeVries - they tend to linger a bit in our memories, and make us want to return to experience them again. All three of these golf courses function on that more sophisticated level, such that any golfer with an interest in how an imaginative course can elevate the experience of playing the game would do well to visit Grand Rapids.
Thanks, Tim! Check out the rest of the article for a more in-depth look at Pilgrim’s Run, the Mines, and Diamond Springs.
Our friend, Andy Johnson of The Fried Egg, recently posted a review of Greywalls.
“Greywalls possesses a supreme diversity of landscapes. There are stunning views of Lake Superior, gargantuan granite outcroppings, the Oriana Creek, ravines, and a sandy dunescape. The setting is unique in the world of golf. But Greywalls is not just about views; it also has a stellar design by Mike DeVries.”
Thanks, Andy!
Golf Advisor created a list of the most beautiful golf courses in the world, including Cape Wickham!
Check out the list for other picturesque courses around the globe.
Bloomfield Hills Country Club (“BHCC”) of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has formally committed to the restoration of its golf course. Originally laid out by Harry Colt in 1913, it is the last remaining one in the United States to have been designed by him alone.
A long-term plan has been developed by Mike DeVries of DeVries Designs, Inc. and Frank Pont of Infinite Variety Golf Design (“IVGD”) which will provide the key framework for the delivery of a structured and faithful restoration. This is the first project to be undertaken by this Trans-Atlantic partnership of two of the world’s most renowned golf architects, both of whom are proven experts in the restoration of classic golf courses.
LaBar Golf Renovations will be the on-site contractor working closely with Mike DeVries throughout the project with Frank Pont providing regular insight. Work will commence in 2020.
Bunkering will be restored to an early vintage Colt style and edge margins of the putting surfaces will be reclaimed in order to enhance the topography’s beauty and provide the golfer with more options when undertaking recovery shots around the green. Dan Billette, BHCC’s Golf Course Manager, re-grassed the greens several years ago with Pure Distinction. This process will continue throughout the reclaimed areas. Additionally, the course’s irrigation system will be wholly updated, ensuring that its infrastructure is well positioned to satisfy the club’s needs well into the future.
A redesign of the 3rd and 4th holes will allow a lost and challenging par three to be reinstated. Colt originally designed the 3rd as a long par four and the 4th as a long par three. However, during the Depression, these holes were changed to become a mid-length par four and a short par four respectively. The new 3rd will be a 255-yard downhill par three. The 4th will become a long par four of 440 yards. This combination will restore the balance of holes throughout the routing and provide golfers with more varied shot-making opportunities.
The driving range will be also redeveloped. It will be widened in order to enhance visibility and provide more teeing space. A new practice putting green will integrate with the 1st hole’s teeing ground, providing more room for events and enhancing movement around the recently renovated clubhouse. The porch balcony will provide a dramatic vista across a new joint fairway which will be shared by the par five 1st and 18th holes, rolling away from the clubhouse as a continuous swath of closely mown ground interspersed with bunkers.
BHCC’s Colt course has a very special place in the annals of golf architecture in North America. 2021 will herald it shining anew, its classic features restored, its agronomy improved in preparation for its next century of golf.
About Mike DeVries & DeVries Designs:
Mike apprenticed with golf architect Tom Doak before attending the University of Michigan where he earned his Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture. Following a stint as an on-site design coordinator with architect Tom Fazio, he has designed six new courses and consulted to numerous clubs with regard to their course renovations.
DeVries Designs’ restoration projects have included Meadow Club in Fairfax, California (designed by Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter in 1927) and Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York (designed by Donald Ross in 1901). Its most noteworthy new design is Cape Wickham Links in Tasmania, Australia, currently ranked #24 in the world by Golf Digest magazine.
About Frank Pont & IVGD:
Having earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, Frank studied golf course architecture at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, where he studied the works of Harry Colt and Tom Simpson. Subsequently, he undertook apprenticeships working with architect David McLay Kidd in Ireland and Hawaii.
IVGD is currently advising seven of the top fifty courses in Golf World magazine’s most recent rankings for Continental Europe. Its Colt restoration projects include Utrecht De Pan (designed by Harry Colt in 1929 and now ranked #2 in Europe) and Royal Hague (designed by Harry Colt and Charles Alison in 1938 and ranked #5). The company has or is currently providing advisory services to 26 clubs with Colt designed courses.
About LaBar Golf :
LaBar Golf is a high-end golf course construction and renovation company based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Founded by Rich LaBar in 2012, the company operates primarily in the Northeast region, and recently expanded nationally for select projects across the United States. The company touts an expert management team with over 100 years combined experience and outstanding labor crews. With an exceptional track record for timeliness, thoroughness, and dedication, LaBar Golf brings an unparalleled level of excellence to every project. Among LaBar Golf's client portfolio are some of the most prestigious golf courses in the country, such as: Winged Foot Golf Club, Merion Golf Club, Shoal Creek, Omaha Country Club, Oak Hill Country Club, Sunningdale Country Club (DeVries Designs) and Siwanoy Country Club (DeVries Designs).
For more information, please contact:
DeVries Designs (Traverse City): Mike DeVries +1(231) 633 9495, mike@devriesdesigns.com
IVGD (London): Edward Cartwright, +44 7785 227922, edcartwri@gmail.com
Raters at Golf voted for the best courses to walk in the world and placed Cape Wickham at #7!
Check out the others here
Golf Advisor made a list of the best value driven golf courses in America’s urban areas with Pilgrim’s Run being number one in Grand Rapids!
1. Pilgrim's Run (4.72)
2. Cedar Chase (4.60)
3. Moss Ridge Golf Club (4.55)Pilgrim's Run is one of the best values in the country. Two other Mike DeVries specials aren't on this podium but are worth a shout out. Diamond Springs and The Mines present architecturally interesting layouts for budget-conscious golfers.
Check out the article for other budget friendly courses around the country.
Rohan Clarke said, “in a nutshell, the entire Wickham experience is Australian golf’s best-kept secret.”
