The Emerald Named 2022 Michigan Golf Course of the Year
By Tom Lang
Some golf courses have a hard time providing a little bit of everything for the wide range of golfers. Challenges for good players. Welcoming to new golfers. Great conditioning. Fair pricing. Friendly to juniors. Supporting the community.
The list goes on.
Yet The Emerald in St. Johns hits all those marks.
It might also be a reason it was selected as the 2022 Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association (MGCA).
The MGCA Course of the Year Award honors a member course that meets four criteria: unique characteristics of the course; exceptional quality of ownership and management; outstanding contribution to its community; and significant contribution to the game.
“We are pleasantly surprised (by the announcement), but we also feel like it is well-deserved because our crew has worked together to maintain our facility inside and out while also making us a welcoming, family friendly place,” said Katie Eccleton, the director of golf operations.
The Emerald was once a 9-hole private facility called Clinton County Country Club. In the mid-1990s, a small partnership of golf industry types bought the property and brought in the late, great Jerry Matthews to design an expanded and new layout to the current 18 holes. It has earned its share of industry awards and has been regarded among the state’s top courses for public play since.
Several years ago it received notation as a top 100 course in the nation for being woman friendly by Golf for Women magazine. Yet it’s also well-known for very fast greens if that’s what you’re looking for.
Variety is the calling card of the 6,619-yard property with multiple tee options. The course offers various dogleg holes, including a double dogleg hole, trees and water on some holes that demand precise play and others that offer the golfer room and multiple angle options for shots.
Troy Looney is the golf course superintendent and deserves the credit for The Emerald’s course great conditioning, according to the former Superintendent Jay Eccleton, Katie’s husband. Jay came to the course in 2000 after many years growing up on a family golf course in Stockbridge. Looney was on his staff and took over grounds care when Jay moved up to Director of Golf Operations in 2006, a title Katie has held the last half dozen years. He credits her, Looney and their overall family atmosphere to the staff’s longevity and loyalty.
“I think people like coming to The Emerald because it’s a very welcoming environment, but on top of that is our quality, playable conditions are paramount,” Jay Eccleton said. “We cannot provide some of the landscape that some of the northern Michigan courses can, whether it’s big gravel pits or huge elevation changes, but what we’ve always prided ourselves with at the Emerald is quality playing conditions tee to green. You get a country club, tournament-style conditions every day. We try to make the experience very personable.
“We’re open and available for Junior leagues and Youth on Course and having entry golf leagues when possible. It allows people to come and enjoy getting an opportunity to learn the game.”
I have played the course many times over the years, including when a MSU Business of Golf class would have its semester-ending outing there. I also did a review of the course as part of our ‘Freeways and Fairways’ series because The Emerald sits along US 127 across the highway from the iconic Uncle John’s Cider Mill between Lansing and Alma
I wrote then: For several years The Emerald hosted many high school state finals, so it supports a good combination of challenges from select tee boxes, yet it remains a course that won’t bury junior golfers and others new to the game.
No. 17 (451 yards from back tee) is one of those reachable par fives that can call out your name and whispers into golfers’ ears, “go for it.” But the approach can be tricky due to a stream that tightens the fairway near the elevated green, making it a great risk/reward hole for those big hitters going for the green in two. Balancing out a hole like 17 on the other side of the course is No. 4, a tough par 3 with water on the right and OB to the left; measuring 223 yards from the tips. Many holes in between are a lot of fun, too.
“We are known for our excellent course conditions and our playability, and we strive to serve golfers of all ages from every group, especially families,” Katie Eccleton said. “Golf can be intimidating, but our course is a fun place to play. We feel like we are a great representative of Michigan golf.”
On the day of the announcement, this comment was posted on Facebook by Mike Maloney Sr.:
“Congratulations to The Emerald Golf Course. Named 2022 Michigan Golf Course of the Year…. My favorite course in mid-Michigan. This course is meticulously groomed. And is enjoyable to play with the elevation changes… you feel like you are up north.”
More information at: https://www.emeraldgolfcourse.com/
