The Bluffs Course

The Bluffs Course of Arcadia Bluffs has been regarded as one of Michigan’s finest publicly available golf courses since it was first opened in 1999.  With its resort setting, sweeping golden hills, and magnificent views of Lake Michigan, it’s easy to understand why people quickly grew to love Arcadia Bluffs.  Warren Henderson’s design spreads over 240 acres of property and is sculpted into a challenging, yet playable golf course for players of all types to enjoy.

Clubhouse

The picture above is a view of the drive up to the Arcadia Bluffs clubhouse.  On the right is the main clubhouse with a pro shop, dining room and bar, and guest rooms.  If you are expecting a comfortably-sized locker room with all of the amenities, you may be underwhelmed at Arcadia Bluffs.  As you can see on the left, there is a second large building which is additional guest lodging.  The original clubhouse is a little small but a tasteful building that’s fitting to mid-90’s lakefront Michigan.  This clubhouse has amazing views and one of the best outdoor patios I’ve seen.

Arcadia’s pro shop is well stocked with the major brands you’d expect to find at a high-end golf resort.  Prices are also typical of a high-end resort so expect that Peter Millar 1/4 zip pullover to cost you a pretty penny.  If you’re looking for that perfect keepsake from your guys trip, they’ll have whatever you need.

If we’re honest, I think the clubhouse is fine, but you come here for the golf.  That’s where Arcadia Bluffs will shine.

Practice Facilities

Practice facilities at Arcadia Bluffs are neat but concise.  The short game area is really nice with a variety of lies to get you prepared for The Bluffs Course.  It can get a little congested, but it’s still plenty serviceable.

The driving range is pretty straightforward with enough targets to get your distances dialed in before your round.  While they only setup a few spots on the range, the churn is fairly quick given the tight-ish tee sheet and the need to keep things moving.  You don’t see people hitting balls just to hit balls.  Additionally, this helps Arcadia Bluffs keep the range tees healthy with a lot of space to shift the boxes around.

Overall, the practice facilities are just right for their purpose.  They’re a little hike from the clubhouse beyond the parking lot and 8th hole.  If you’re walking, they run a shuttle cart to and fro.  Piece of advice, don’t dare try to drive your cart back down there after your round…  More on that later.

The Course

As I mentioned, The Bluffs Course at Arcadia Bluffs does not fall short on views.  Your first hole plays you away from Lake Michigan with a dogleg-right par 5.  Hole 1 won’t strike you as particularly difficult, but you can find yourself in trouble if you let your guard down.  You’ll quickly figure this out about this course as a whole.  The Bluffs isn’t that hard unless you shoot yourself in the foot.  Hole 2 starts to turn you back toward the lake.  It’s a neat little par 3 with an undulating green that’s somewhat deceptive due to the shadow cast by the giant tree to the left.

Once you make it through the first two holes, the best part of Arcadia Bluffs starts to play out.  Throughout most of the course you have great views of Lake Michigan.  When you lose your view of the fresh blue water playing away from the lake, the holes are scenic and make up for it.  My point is, there are no bad looking holes and you get a lot of face time with the eastern side of Lake Michigan.

The Bluffs Course really leans into using bunkers and large waste areas to protect itself.  Hole 8’s massive sod-walled greenside bunker (above) feels a little gimmicky BUT it’s fun and impressive.  I loved it…and so did Jamie when his approach shot came up short.  There’s a mix of natural and sod-walled bunkers throughout the course.  Some of the sod-walled bunkers could have used some help, but they get rebuilt every three to five years so maybe they were just due.

The par-5 5th also stood out to me with its complicated bunkering.  While the views of the lake are stunning, the traps you find yourself in with bad approach shots are terrorizing.  Play it as a three-shot hole.

Last but not least is the golden fescue of The Bluffs Course.  They did a great job using the fescue to make the bluffs more visually appealing, but strategically punishing.  Just ask the guy above who was playing in front of us.  While our group found the fescue a good few times, this poor guy and his caddie were there all day.  If you found yourself in the fescue, you could only pray you’d be able to find your ball and have any chance to play it.

From a conditioning perspective, The Bluffs Course is pretty close to immaculate, as one would expect from a premium golf resort.  That said, we played later in the year and the course was starting to show some wear from a long season of traffic.  Not an uncommon occurrence for popular destination golf.

Arcadia Bluffs Special Mentions

It’s worth drawing attention to a couple specific holes at Arcadia Bluffs.  Through ten holes of golf you’ll already have conceded that The Bluffs Course is a great piece of property worthy of a postcard.  Then you reach the par-5 11th.  Not only is it a monster of a hole, but it’s visually jaw dropping.

From the Champions tee, 11 plays 633 yards!

Naturally, this is where we had to tee off from just for the thrill of it.  The hole plays downhill the whole way with some nice slopes and speed pockets that will shorten the hole up quite a bit.  I think 11 is easily the best hole on the course both visually and how it plays.

After finishing 11, you have a hike up a hill followed by a hike up another hill to your next tee box.  You’re now right on top of Lake Michigan and the tricky par-4 12th.  There’s quite a bit of trouble on this hole requiring a good tee shot.  Get yourself a comfortable number for your second shot because while the green is inviting, there’s no room to miss.  Either way, you can’t beat the view.  Just watch out for that wind off the lake!

Hospitality

I thought the general hospitality in the Arcadia Bluffs clubhouse, pro shop, at the first tee, and on the course was fine.  Nothing really jumped out at me either negatively or positively.

There was one thing, however, I still haven’t been able to let go months later.  After a long day playing at a pace bordering on unacceptable, we were ready to head to our next 18 at the other property.  Given our time crunch, we tried to drive our carts to the parking lot located between the 8th tee box and practice facility.  It was at this time that a younger gentleman working at the bag drop gave us the third degree for even considering such madness.  I’d get it if we were wasted and acting recklessly.  The fact is, we weren’t.  I didn’t appreciate the totally unnecessary lecture like I’ve never been to a real golf course before.

Most of the time, I wouldn’t really mind this.  I’m pretty easygoing when it comes to my golf experience.  That said, when I look at the rates at Arcadia Bluffs – nevermind if I was staying on property – I find this absurd.  It’s not unreasonable to imagine someone’s day between golf, caddies, food, drinks, pro shop swag, etc easily passes $1000.  Hell, this person may even be playing at the course tomorrow and repeating the process.  In my opinion, I think Arcadia Bluffs could focus on this area a little more and take a note from similar resorts like Sand Valley, etc.

Final Thoughts – Arcadia Bluffs

The Bluffs Course at Arcadia Bluffs is a beautiful layout that was perfectly executed on a perfect piece of property.  Credit where credit’s due.  Aside from being aesthetically near perfect, the golf is fun with a very playable course for all skill levels.  That said, I can’t tell you I feel a huge draw back to The Bluffs Course anytime soon.  While I loved the scenery and my time with some friends, I felt the overall value could be improved.  For what people are paying for this experience, I’d like to see improvement in the hospitality for such a high-end golf resort.  I’m sure others may disagree with me there, but this is a lasting impression I took home with me.

Will I be back?  Probably someday, but for now I’d rather play the South Course at Arcadia Bluffs and some of the other hidden gems in the area.  I think the golf at the South Course is much more interesting and my overall experience was more enjoyable.  Still, The Bluffs Course is worth playing at least once in your life.

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