(June 19th) Day 14 - Kalamazoo, MI   drove 204 miles

My PLAN for this day was to play golf at Diamond Springs GC in Hamilton, MI, and since I had an early afternoon tee time I decided it was a good time to do my laundry, something you have to consider when going on an extended road trip like this one. It went smoothly and I was back on the road. 

There was an "outing" (a scramble) at Diamond Springs. I knew about it, but I checked in at the pro shop, gabbed with the gals there about what I was doing and I was supposed to be the first one off after the scramble was done. I went back out into the parking lot and fired up my mobile hot spot and did a little catch-up surfing and booked a motel and tee time for the next day.

AND THEN THE SKIES OPENED UP and man did it rain HARD. It wasn't a shower, it was a downpour and not a short one. The rain stopped, the scramble tried to restart and the skies opened up again. It actually rained a little HARDER on the 2nd downpour! 

I know a bad sign when I see one and when I walked back into the pro shop the golf course had decided to close. This was a pre-paid tee time, they refunded me and I was on my way to find a place I COULD play in Michigan, because I really wasn't planning to be anywhere near there again unless I drastically changed my routing. I found a muni in Kalamazoo that I could get on, Eastern Hills, a course I had dismissed while planning the trip. Kalamazoo is east and south of Grand Rapids and had only caught the edge of the rain storm. The pro said he could get me on, gave me a tee time and I hustled on down there as quickly as I could.

More road construction meant I had a tough time getting to the course because the main road to it was closed and GPS sucks when you are trying to navigate through streets that are blocked off. I got there in time and I must say my only disappointment with the course was the poor beer selection at the cafe/bar. When I opened the icy bag (out on the course, no going back!) the bartender had given me, I did NOT have the Miller High Life I thought I ordered, but two cans of Lite Beer from Miller, a truly tasteless brew, particularly for a robust dark beer lover like myself. A decidedly minor calamity, I, of course, survived. 

 There is nothing special about this golf course, but for $29 including cart it was certainly worth the price and solved my Michigan dilemma better than I thought it would. The greens were the slowest I have played (through 6/27) on the trip, but they rolled true and after adjusting to them they were fine. There ARE a few interesting holes, mostly on the back nine, some water, a little sand and quite a few doglegs. While this was not my first (or even second) choice, I would play it again. The maintenance was pretty good and all the people I talked to (on the course as many let me play through) were very friendly. Eastern Hills is fairly level and would be a pretty easy walk for a dedicated walker.

After golf I drove to Fort Wayne, IN to spend the night and when I got to my room I checked my phone (I almost NEVER carry it with me on the golf course) and SURPRIZE, I had a phone message from the Pro (whom I hadn't spoken to) from Diamond Springs. His pro shop girls told him what I was doing and evidently he felt bad that I didn't get to play his course. SO his message (now several hours old!) was that if I wanted to I could come back and they would open the course JUST FOR ME! I called back and by that time the golf course was closed, so I left a message. I thanked the guy for his magnanimous gesture let him know how thoughtful it was, but I was already on my way and wouldn't be back. When I opened up my e-mail a little later, they had booked me for a foursome the next day (Sunday) and it was shown as free of charge. WOW!  If I ever get back to Michigan, I WILL certainly play Diamond Springs, and probably Eastern Hills too. I will just check my beer bag before I head out on the course!

Eastern Hills has four sets of tees that range from 6725 yards to 5164. I played the white tees at 6341 yards, course rating 69.9 and slope of 122 (NOT scorecard, but GHIN slope and rating!).

           Randy’s golf course             ratings           play again               could recommend              Price

Prairieview GC (Byron, IL)                5                   YES                             YES                            $

Wine Valley (Walla Walla, WA)          5                   YES                             YES                            $$$

Dakota Winds (Hankinson, ND)         5                   YES                              YES                            $$

Raccoon Creek (Littleton, CO)          4.5                 YES                              YES                            $$

Brooks Golf (Okoboji, IA)                  4                   YES                              YES                            $$

Awarii Dunes (Kearney, NE)              4                    YES                              YES                            $$ 

Lake Panorama Nat. (Panora, IA)       4                     no*1                            YES                            $$

Brandon GC (Brandon, SD)                4                   YES                              YES                            $

Viroqua Hills GC (Viroqua, WI)         4                   YES                              YES                            $

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID)                   3.5                    ??                                YES                           $

Eastern Hills (Kalamazoo, MI)      3.5                   YES                              YES                          $

Birch Creek (Smithfield,UT)             3.5                    no                       good golfers only!             $

Kimball Golf Club (Kimball, MN)     3                      no                                 no                             $

Buffalo Golf Club (Buffalo, WY)       3                      no                                 no                             $$

Pryor Creek (Huntley, MT)                 3                      no                                 no                             $        Johnny Walker Course (there’s also a Country Club course, but you need to play with a member!)

*1 = would play again if a different yardage was offered, with slope and course ratings

Another course with few pictures. They actually have 27 holes here, the other nine is a par 36 course called "The West Nine" and if I'm ever back there again I will play it too.