Arcadia Bluffs

South Course

Arcadia, Michigan

Indebted to the past yet totally unique

Book Tee Time
📷 arcadiabluffs.com
📷 arcadiabluffs.com

Strategic

Open

Modern

Long

Unforgettable Greens

Flat

No, you’re not seeing things – those corners are square. They’re almost unsettling at first, aren’t they? But the longer you look, the easier it is to find beauty in the straight edges and angular turns. At a time when golf courses are focused on a hook or gimmick to show they’re different, the South Course at Arcadia Bluffs manages to truly stand apart as something different. It’s a radically new course, but it’s also one heavily indebted to the past. In this case, the golden age of golf course architecture of the 1920s. Unfortunately for most, almost all these golden age courses are locked away behind private gates. But by crafting a loving tribute to these strategic, fun and dare I say beautiful courses, the South Course has made itself a “must-play” for any visit to Michigan.

Expert Reviews

It’s truly a throwback to the early days of golf design, where cross bunkers were used on virtually every hole. As such, there is strategy everywhere; the bunkers form barriers to progress that golfers must plot their way either over or around.

Golf Course Architecture

Granted, Arcadia Bluffs South certainly looks like Chicago Golf Club, with its gently rolling fairways that play up and over ridgelines, framed by stretches of tall fescue, and those long, skinny rifle-pit bunkers dug in at all angles of attack and those linear putting surfaces with right-angle corners mown at almost fetish intensity. But this is Chicago Golf Club for the Average Joe. Golf Digest

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the Arcadia Bluffs South Course since playing there. One of our playing partners commented “the more time that passes, the more I love that course. It’s interesting, fun to play…” …I think he’s dead on. Playing the South Course is a unique experience that requires creativity and control with a little luck. You have to think your way through each hole. Driving Range Heros

Routed in two distinct loops, across a generous 300-acre and largely treeless parcel of sandy ground, the South course is intended to be a walkable layout where firm and fast surfaces and ever-present wind combine to challenge and delight all comers. The South course is not a facsimile of Chicago Golf Club, it’s an inclusive tribute to the Golden Age.

Top 100 Golf Courses

At first, the South could prove a maddening cocktail of fairway bunker shots and three-putts. Like all great layouts, though, it will need to be studied and learned, and taking advantage of the knowledge gleaned will make future trips round the South an absolute blast.

Links Magazine

It’s broad, inviting and deceptively simply design hides a tract that offers multiple pathways across and over steep-walled, flat-floor bunkers that protrude partly across the line of play without creating a forced carry. The choice of whether to challenge a bunker or play for open space is up to each golfer. Golf Advisor

The course is extremely flat and runs fast. It’s a different style of golf, which is a fun challenge. Nick's Blog

Still, there is a lot of the traditional here. The fairways are wide, offering multiple lines of play. It plays firm and fast — for a Michigan course…l It’s hard to miss the fairways, but often difficult to get the ball in the right position. The South is treeless. It plays fast. Wind is a factor…All of those factors make Arcadia’s South Course a lot of fun. As soon as I finished, I wanted to play again. There are a lot of puzzles to solve here, but it doesn’t beat you up as you work them out. Golf Blogger

It will be interesting to see what the ultimate verdict on the South Course will be. Like the process that created it, and the holes themselves, the answer is likely to be complex. By looking to the architectural past, it is a game changer going forward. We think that the course has more than enough challenge and interest to delight golf nerds in all the right ways. For casual golfers, it will broaden horizons and evoke a wide range of reactions, which is an endorsement in and of itself. The Fried Egg

Rankings

World

 

Not ranked

United States

 

Not ranked

Michigan

 

Not ranked

📷 arcadiabluffs.com
📷 arcadiabluffs.com

Course Photos

arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south
arcadia bluffs south

Course Layout

Course Flyover

What To Know

Yardage & Tees

When to Play

Arcadia Bluffs is open from April through mid November.

Temperatures are relatively mild year-round. Look for temperatures to remain consistently in the 50s later in May through September. Rainfall is relatively consist throughout the year, but it does get wetter as the summer progresses — September is the wettest month.

May through September is a good time to play, with June through August being your best bet.

Temperature

Precipitation

 

Greens Fees

Month

Greens Fees
January Closed
February Closed
March Closed
April $75
May 1-10 $75 Mon-Thurs, $85 Fri-Sun
May 11-30 $100 Mon-Thur, $110 Fri-Sun. $90 after 4pm
June $160. $100 after 4pm, $80 replay
July $160. $100 after 4pm, $80 replay
August $160. $100 after 4pm, $80 replay
September $160. $100 after 4pm, $80 replay
October 1-4 $160. $100 after 4pm, $80 replay
October 7-31 $75
November 1-14 $75
November 15-30 Closed
December Closed

Note: All rates include Golf Cart and Unlimited use of the Practice Range

Greens fees last verified October 2019. View them on arcadiabluffs.com

Visitor Tee Times

Visitors may play Arcadia Bluffs seven days a week.

Book a tee time.

Rentals & Caddies

Caddies are $75 for a senior caddie and $50 for a junior caddie.

Clubs are available for $75. 

Golf shoes are available for rent for $10

Golf carts are available.

 

Getting There
Address:

13637 Northwood Hwy. Arcadia, MI

Nearest Airport:

Grand Rapids (152 miles / 2 hours 30 minutes)

Other Airports:

Detroit (262 miles / 4 hours 15 minutes)

Practice Facilities

Arcadia Bluffs has a full practice range with a separate short game practice area. 

Other Things To Know

Course Website

Year built: 2018

Architects: Jason Straka & Dana Fry

Lodging: Arcadia Bluffs offers on-site lodging. Learn more about here.

Course tour: Check out Arcadia Bluffs’ course tour here.

Go deeper: Arcadia Bluffs South Course architect Dana Fry spoke about the course on Golf Advisor’s podcast. Listen here.

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