New Holes Growing in at Oceana

By Tom Lang

Oceana Golf Club is one of my favorite ‘feel good’ golf stories in all the years I have covered this industry in the Mitten State.

On the brink of extinction just a few short years ago, this truly American icon small town type golf course got new life when Shelby native and former high school golfer, Jason Wenk, who used his financial skills knowledge to create several investment companies, bought a majority stake in the golf course to keep it alive. 

This was a true service to the town that raised him, but it’s also become a beacon for new golfing opportunities for the locals and others who stop in on their way north along US 31.

Now the course is growing – again.

In 2022, with extra land on the southern edge of the 18-hole layout, Wenk, long-time staff PGA pro Marc Inglis, head superintendent Corey Parmalee (since 2009) and crew added a new downhill par 3 to provide a fresh look and an Up North feel. That hole 5 has since grown in beautifully and is a wonderful addition to the front nine that also allowed for a former short par 4 and a par 3 to be merged into a nice dogleg left par 4.

Now it’s the back 9 getting some redesign ‘love.’

Wenk scouted out and purchased some land on the northern edge of the property, making room for a new par 4, a second downhill par 3 (the future 14th and 15th holes), and the ability to elevate the soon-to-be 16th tee off to the side, turning that hole from a straight-ahead par 5 (currently the 14th hole) to a slight turn dogleg right.

Inglis told me on a visit this fall that a main reason for the expansion was to incorporate some of the natural terrain in the area that wasn’t being utilized – and eliminate some of the back-and-forth layout of the original back nine that was designed and laid out by the townspeople in the 1960s using more primitive means.

“This gives us a little bit more of the northern Michigan feel, like we added last year by putting in the downhill par 3 fifth hole,” Inglis said. “We still hear a lot of great responses for doing that.”

In both cases, Oceana acquired neighboring land that wasn’t available to the original creators of the small-town course. From my golfer perspective, it adds a burst of excitement in the middle of the back nine.

“They didn’t have the equipment back then to do what we did, nor could they have done it economically,” Inglis added. “We don’t want to change the feeling of Oceana, we just want to improve the experience of Oceana.”

That it will. 

And so will the new future driving range, operable ideally by early 2025. In nearly 60 years of local golf, patrons had just a net to hit into for warming up. Inglis said being land-locked all those decades was something that Wenk knew needed addressing.

Oceana is using local people and the grounds crew staff for creating the new holes.  Staff – many of whom are Shelby natives – have been doing most of the soil work, connecting irrigation lines to the current system, and smoothing of the finer surfaces like tees and green complexes. Heavy equipment work and tree removal was done by local Van Denzande Excavating.

“Jason is a visionary in everything he does,” Inglis said. “Just look at his track record for his (financial) companies that he’s started up.

“Corey is a designer by trade in the other (side) work he does. He can see things laid out, and even could see the holes here when the trees were still standing – where all I see is hunting property,” he said with a chuckle.

The new driving range and short game practice area will be where the current 15th and 16th holes are, before the layout crosses back over the public road to finish at the clubhouse.

Expanding Youth Golf:

Inglis’ vision includes adding a small building at the range, a teaching pro giving many lessons and storage for the West Michigan First Tee, which has expanded into Oceana County. His daughter, McKenna, is the program director for the region. 

“My dream is that they can have a permanent home here, to build a facility that can house their needs,” Inglis said of the First Tee. “A place to store their equipment besides my car and my daughter’s car, which is full of golf clubs every week.

“One of the things we want to do is increase our junior golf participation, and the best way is from the ground up. We’ve got a market for that here.”

Just like they did when Wenk and others were growing up in the rural, fruit producing landscape.

What could be more hometown All-American than that?