Sister Courses Highlight Great Golf in Oceana County
Located near very popular Silver Lake State Park
By Tom Lang
This is the 60th anniversary year for Oceana Golf Club, north up the coastline from Muskegon.
Members and locals are ecstatic to have reached that milestone, especially considering that the local public course – first designed and built by townspeople from Shelby and Hart banding together to make their own hometown course – was about to shut down after Year 57.
Its second lease on life came thanks to a local native who grew up in the area, played golf at Shelby High and eventually made it big in the financial investment services world.
Jason Wenk, 41, lifted the property out of financial stress and sure closure just months before Covid-19 temporarily shut down golf in early 2020 and he has since placed his resources into making improvements that have long-time golfers feeling giddy like a teenage girl feeling her first crush.
Multiple improvements were made two years ago during Covid’s first months; like fixing a serious draining issue on holes 1 and 9, adding new irrigation, remodeling the clubhouse and securing newer power carts.
We first brought you the historical back stories in a 3-part series in 2020.
The most noticeable changes came in late last year and are now open for play – a brand new downhill par 3 and a former drivable par 4 being combined with a nearby par 3 to create a challenging dogleg left par 4 with major risk-reward elements.
“We really looked forward to the new par 3 as they were building it,” said newer member Doug Grigonis, who drives 30+ minutes from Whitehall to play Oceana’s rebirth. “And when they changed the par 4 No. 7 (now combined to make a new Hole 8) with the big dog leg, that really improved that hole. It’s a lot more challenging now, and it’s just a great set up. The front 9 is really improved with these two changes. The whole place is coming up; and it’s nice.”
The new 5th hole is cut out of northern Michigan tall pines that form a horseshoe-shaped barrier around the back and two sides, with a waste bunker covering the right side to save wayward shots from reaching those woods. The drop off from the elevated tee is at least 75 feet, maybe more, and is 172 yards from the upper tips.
The back tees on what used to be hole 5, but is now 6, are still in their elevated location at the highest point on the property with a drop exceeding that of the par 3, to a par-5 fairway below that turns slightly right near the large green. To make up for adding a new hole, the new hard left turn dog-leg 8th hole was reconstructed as described above.
Other additions were some fountains placed in ponds to help aerate the water and help golfers see deceptively hidden water hazards.
Almost a mile-and-a-half of new asphalt cart paths were added to help preserve grass conditions.
Staff also added 15 tee boxes, to spread out the yardages more proportionally front to back and allow people to have added options to fit their games.
“We’re drawing a lot of new people from Muskegon and Whitehall, south of us 30 minutes,” said 31-year head pro Marc Inglis. “They’re willing to make that drive, because of the conditions, and the experience they’re getting here at Oceana Golf Club. The condition Corey (Parmalee) and his grounds crew keep it in is immaculate – which is all part of a capital improvement plan we’ve had going. We’ve improved and added to the equipment, and it makes night and day difference with what you can do with a golf course. It’s really paying off.”
Inglis said staff numbers have doubled since the year 2019 when the doors were almost shuttered.
The back 9 kicks off with the par five 10th hole, which traverses up and over two huge ridges and through two deep valleys to an elevated green. Holes 13 and 15 also have perched greens on the same ridge that holds up No. 10 green, with a neighboring forest as the backdrop on all three.
Benona Shores also sees rebirth:
A neighboring course less than 15 minutes away and closer to the Lake Michigan shoreline, Benona Shores, was also where Wenk played as a child. His only career hole-in-one came there on the 6th hole as a pre-teen. Combined, the two courses are very close to the famous dune rides and other summertime fun activities at Silver Lake State Park on Lake Michigan – which provides breezes almost daily on the course.
Wenk didn’t intend to purchase Benona Shores (where, as a child, he’d pay for golf at the back door of the family farmhouse still on-site), but the previously family-run par 60 course – designed mostly for summer vacationers – recently lost its patriarch leader. Combining the two courses under the same ownership made perfect sense, especially being geographically close with the ability to share resources. The personal family ties didn’t hurt either.
“The two courses, including Benona, we look at it more like we’re the steward of these places, not the owners,” Wenk said. “This is a time in which we have the responsibility to take care of these places and make sure they’re here for a long, long time.
“The course has always been phenomenal. The land is just really special. The biggest mistake we could have made there was messing it up (the course).”
Nothing looked messed up to me – just primed for great community golf and a better-than-normal recreational opportunity for summertime visitors to the region. I played it in late June and had a glorious time. Unfortunately, many people see par 60 and rebuff it as a ‘par 3 executive’ course. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Benona Shores is a tough track, but without any par fives makes it more enjoyable for a wide range of golfers; those people learning the game, while it remains challenging for those more experienced.
I enjoyed most the starting holes on both nines. Hole 1 strikingly goes up hill to the halfway point, then all downhill to the nicely shaped two-tier green. That par 4 is followed by two par 3s that each traverse uphill, followed by strikingly downhill par 4 that sharply turns right at the elbow. All four are tree lined, before getting into a more open part of the course that’s flooded with apple, pear and apricot trees away from the fairways that were left standing from the former orchard the course is carved into. Holes 10 and 11 are us tough and attractive as any par 3-par-4 holes.
It’s clear why Wenk said the course was top-notch already – his investments are almost all to buildings and equipment. The clubhouse has been renovated and is to be expanded; the parking lot is no longer just a beat-up grassy patch, as new landscaping features greet arrivals, and brand-new power carts with super-plush seats await us for traveling the undulations of the land.
Local golf courses mean so much to thousands of people across the state – as gathering places in open green spaces, recreation for good health and well-being, charitable and economic support in the community, socializing with friends, and making new ones.
All of the above and more are why small-town golf courses are critical to communities, and these two sister courses are getting the job done in style.
