Copper Ridge Golf Course Review
Copper Ridge
Davidson, Michigan
Grade: D-
Teacher’s Comments: There’s a decent course here somewhere.
I have rarely played a course as poorly kept as Copper Ridge. Even considering the relatively early season in which I played, it was far, far behind other public and muni courses I played at the time. The bunkers were devoid of anything resembling sand, and instead were packed, hard clay. I had a hard time distinguishing fairway from rough on many of the holes. Major damage was in a number of the fairways in the form of large dead, bare or rotting areas.
That said, behind the poor presentation was a solid course. The hole designs asked for a nice variety of angles and shot shapes and I thought it challenging without being overly so. Played from the proper tees, golfers of any skill level can play this layout.
I counted three holes that bent to the right (if not proper doglegs), and three to the left. Water came into play on six holes. There were a few significant elevation changes, particularly on the back nine.
Copper Ridge is not a particularly scenic course, as it winds through a housing development. The good news on that, however, is that the houses are generally set back far enough to not make a golfer nervous.
From the tips, Copper Ridge stretches to 6, 887 and plays to a 73.2/128. A little shorter are the blue tees at 70.7/123 and the silver tees which measure 5,662 and play to 67.4/118.
My favorite hole was the 334 yard par 4 fifteenth. On this hole, the fairway is to the left of the tees, across a pond. Players must decide how much of the pond to bite off, keeping in mind that with the angle, the fairway is quite narrow. A big fade is probably the best choice here.
Another nice hole design was the 466 yard par 4 ninth. The hole wraps around a pond, so that every attempt to make the second shot shorter brings more of the water into play.
In the final analysis, I would need to be convinced that significant sums had been invested in Copper Ridge to go back to play. I would love for locals to convince me that the conditions I found were an aberration.
The Copper Ridge Golf course review was first published July 6, 2016, from notes taken on the round in April 2016.
More photos of Copper Ridge follow:
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This is the case with many courses in Genesee County. The money isn’t there like Oakland Co. and the quality of the courses suffer. I have played this course many times and have seen a varied amount of conditions. In peak form, it is as you noted a solid course, in off times, not so much.
In the fall, I think the front nine (less housing development, heads west of the clubhouse) is very pretty especially when the hardwoods turn colors. I like #4 (“driveable” par 4, with risk/reward) and #9. The back nine, like you noted, winds in and out of the houses and doesn’t do much for me with the exception of the closing hole (it has ruined a few rounds). I hope, hope, hope that the conditions you experienced were more about timing than anything else. I would hate to see another course in that area fade away. Maybe they will follow-up with you on this. Thanks for the review.
Four is nice, especially with the trees narrowing as you approach the green.
My frame of reference for conditions is not courses in Oakland (where I play only to review courses), but Green Oaks in Ypsilanti, which is an inexpensive muni. That’s my “home” course, where I play when I’m not doing course reviews.
Green Oaks has weeds aplenty, but the weeds cover all the dirt in the fairways, and are kept mowed. The bunkers are not white and fluffy, but do have sand. Damaged areas seem to get staked off and worked on fairly quickly.
Green Oaks and another muni where my league plays were in terrific shape at the time I visited Copper Ridge.