TRAVEL: Forest Dunes Debuts New 10-Hole Short Course

We recently talked about Forest Dunes Golf Club, a golf course destination located in Northern Michigan that’s already home to THREE of America’s Top 50 Public Courses. And despite already being armed with 54 holes of top rated golf, Forest Dunes has decided to add 10 more unique holes that will be entirely different from those already on the property.

Starting August 1st, Forest Dunes will be opening its new 10-hole, 1,135-yard Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns-designed Short Course. Situated on a peaceful, rolling bulge of land positioned perfectly between The Loop and Forest Dunes courses and near the spacious clubhouse, pavilion, practice area and massive HillTop Putting Course, the short course, with fun, strategic holes measuring between 65 and 150 yards, is a new focal point and an energetic hot spot for golfers of all ages and skill levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Winter Park Golf Course (@winterparkgolf) on Oct 4, 2019 at 2:22pm PDT

Forest Dunes owner Lew Thompson wanted a fun and playable course for his grandkids and beginning golfers so he entrusted Johns and Rhebb, who helmed the renovation at Orlando’s Winter Park 9 course (pictured above), to build a course with entertaining shot values and an unintimidating sense of fun.

But perhaps most noteworthy about this endeavor is that Thompson wanted it ready for this summer. In response, Johns and Rhebb designed a course that provides excellent shot values while maintaining a playfulness throughout the design. And they got it built and grassed in just 81 days.

“We essentially had carte blanche from Lew, which was awesome, and really the only way we could get the project completed in time,” says Rhebb. One of the few requests Thompson had was to make the course playful––a theme that permeated throughout the design process.

“You don’t often get the chance to get super creative when designing courses, but with the short course we really had the opportunity to have some fun with it. Lew wanted it to be fun and always engaging, and we were able to express that in the design,” Rhebb adds.

The Short Course’s creatively-designed greens are constructed to funnel balls toward pin locations, improving the likelihood of ever-elusive holes-in-one, while a few tee shots tempt you to make use of strategic slopes and banks instead of flying it in the air. The greens showcase a variety of subtle shapes, many being bowl-shaped and some resembling catcher’s mitts or table tops.

A unique feature on the course will be that holes 1 and 10 are crossover holes with a tree protecting from direct ball flight issues. “The land gave us such a great canvas to create something fun that offers a ‘welcoming handshake’ to entry-level players and says ‘this is what golf can be.’ Here you can go out in your flip flops and hit flop shots with a few buddies, try to make an ace on every hole, or use a putter off the tee to try and run one on the green,” says Johns.

Not only does the design lend itself to great on-course fun, its routing also incorporates Forest Dunes’ bustling social scene, with the entire first hole and 10th viewable from the pavilion. “The pavilion is the social hub, it’s where music is playing and people are having drinks, so we wanted to take some of that liveliness and put it into play somehow,” Johns adds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Forest Dunes Golf Club (@forestdunes) on Jul 10, 2020 at 10:44am PDT

Thompson thinks the prime location of the short course will easily entice guests to play it before or after a round on The Loop or Forest Dunes or any time they’re recreating on the resort grounds. “When you come to Forest Dunes, we want you to have a good time,” says Thompson, who says music, bare feet and eightsomes are all fair game on the new par-three course if that’s what it takes to make the game more accessible and fun. “What Keith and Riley have built is bringing a new life and energy to the property. It’s going to bring people together and make their time here more enjoyable.”

Cover Image Via Instagram