Links At Lake Erie Course Review

Links At Lake Erie
Monroe, MI

Grade: D+
Teacher’s Comments: There’s not much here to recommend.

Find discount tee times at the Links at Lake Erie and other local courses.

Michigan has a number of fine links style courses carved through lowlands (and highlands) overlooking the inland seas known as the Great Lakes. In spite of its name, The Links At Lake Erie is not one of them. The only views you will get at this course are of overhead power lines, an RV campground, railroad tracks and a truckstop. It is clearly a former farmstead turned into a course.

Links at Lake Erie was built in 1988, and designed by Michigan based architect Scott Thacker. Thacker also designed Fox Hills’ Lakes and Woods courses and New Hudson’s Coyote Golf Club.

The layout is entirely flat, save for some mounding and elevated greens. Links at Lake Erie is for the most part wide open, and a wayward shot won’t be too costly unless you land in one of the ponds. Water comes into play on twelve of the holes. A couple of dozen bunkers —almost all around the greens—are the course’s other defense. However, the fronts of the greens are all open, so landing a shot short and letting it bound up is the safe play for a low score. Once on, the greens putt straight and true.

In all, the layout was not that interesting to me. Hit the ball. Hit the ball again. Putt. I didn’t find that it forced many decisions or risk assessments.

The bogey golfer will score well at Links At Lake Erie, which might account for its otherwise inexplicable popularity. From the back tees, it measures 6,575 yards and plays to a 70.0/120. From the middle tees, it measures 6,168 yards and plays to a 67.9/116.

Conditions on the day I played game me the feeling that management was undecided on whether to continue to operate as a golf course, or allow it to return to use as a cow pasture. There was plenty of mowed grass, but the fairway and rough boundaries were not always clear. I also found a lot of wet, soggy areas.

If you live in the area, this might be a course to play on occasion. I cannot, however, recommend that anyone seek it out.

More photos below: