100 Years: Elk Rapids Golf Club

By Tom Lang

Donald Ross designed.

A century of service.

Vintage.

Beautiful waterfront on turquoise-tinted Elk Lake.

Playable and filled with charm.

All are appropriate descriptions of the 100-year-old Elk Rapids Golf Club, a half hour drive north of Traverse City up the coastline of Grand Traverse Bay.

Prior to opening on July 17, 1924, the townspeople of Elk Rapids were struggling to make the area relevant for tourism after the logging and ironworks industries began to slow down in the early 1900s. Summertime retreats were not all the rage as they became more so a few decades ago, but Elk Rapids had a great location squeezed between the GT Bay and area lakes to draw people out of Chicago and Detroit for relaxing retreats.

Historians indicate that Ross must have been swayed to help guide a design for their small town by wealthy Chicagoans who frequented Michigan’s northern woods in an era when Ross was at the height of his golf design business.

The course is classic Ross, a links style using the shores of Elk Lake – which can be seen from every single hole except No. 8 – as the main core. 

The course opens with and closes with par 5s. With yardages ranging from 2465 to 3067 yards, most golfers will not need driver. Accuracy is more important on the open yet heather-lined fairways.

Fairway bunkers are trimmed with tall grasses and have elevated ridges on the back side of each, requiring a higher-lofted club to get out. Some, but not all, greens have typical Ross ‘false fronts.’

My playing partner in June was Chris Blasy, a Midland native. We had never met before and although he visits in the summer, like me he had never tried the course before.

"Beautiful little track. A lot of fun and great for just a nice afternoon round to catch 9 holes,” Blasy said. “You could shift around to different tees and play it twice, or just being able to fit in a quick 9 before going out on the lake.

"The layout was very playable. I've played several Ross courses but don't remember the specifics about them, but absolutely this was made very playable and a fun track, and you can score."

My favorite stretch were holes 4-6. 

No. 4 runs along the south edge of the property and heads toward the lake. The approach shot is blind to the green because of a slight ridge before reaching the more sunken green complex near water’s edge.

No. 5 is a par 3 right along the lake. The green is elevated with a false front and is guarded by a natural mound framing the hole on the left side, and a huge tree on the back right.

No. 6 is the longest par 4 on the layout, also along the beach.

Most golfers walk this course. It was designed that way in the first place, and although it’s not flat, the slightly rolling hills are not taxing. When it rains, the course drains dramatically well with its sand base and natural drainage to Elk Lake.

Members have made recent improvements in and around the already nice-looking clubhouse in anticipation of reaching the century mark. 

If you cannot have fun on this course, you might want to consider playing a different sport.

More info at: www.golfelkrapids.com