Monroe Golf And Country Club Review
Monroe Golf and Country Club
Monroe, Michigan
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A classic Donald Ross
See all of The Golf Blogger’s Michigan Golf Course Reviews
Dating to 1919, Monroe Golf And Country Club is a classic Donald Ross design. I knew from the first hole that I was going to like it. Monroe Golf Club is absolutely charming.
Befitting its age, Monroe is a parklands course with lots of tight, tree-lined parallel fairways. Greens are relatively small, and usually flanked by bunkers. The topography is flat with the exception of a three-hole stretch on the front nine, which incorporate some small rises and depressions in a creek/flood plain.
Monroe Golf Club is thus a course that rewards accuracy over power. Players absolutely must put the ball in the fairway to avoid being trapped by trees. Nearly as important is placing the ball in a spot on the fairway that allows you to take full advantage of the open fronts of the greens.
For my part, I found that an ideal approach shot was to let the ball land short, then roll up onto the green between the bunkers. I wasn’t going flag hunting, but that strategy meant that I could throttle back off the tee and successfully take a longer, lower flying shot at the green.
From the back tees, Monroe Golf club stretches to 6, 400 yards and plays to a 71.0/130. The middle tees come in at 6, 055 yards at 69.2/125 for men and 74.6/132 for women. The forward tees are at 5, 515 and play at 66.9/122 for the men and 71.7/128 for the women
My favorite hole was the par 4 fifth. The hole begins on an artificially elevated tee box that players access from a set of steps behind a hedge. It’s quaint.
From the teebox, the fairway heads straight out, then dips dips down to what likely was once a creek bed. The fairway just might be the widest on the course. The approach is slightly uphill, with the green set on a small hillock to the left of center.
The fifth is not by any means a strategic hole, or even a particularly challenging one. It was, however, a fun hole. Climb up five or six stairs to the tee box; belt one down the fairway; take an extra club and then loft one into the green.
A more challenging hole was the par five ninth. The only hole with any meaningful water, the ninth begins with a shot down a narrow, tree-lined fairway. From there, the hole opens up, with the fairway wrapping left around a large pond.
Long hitters will be tempted to try a shot into the shallow green on their second. Too far, and you’ll end up in a bunker, or on the small rise behind the green. Too short, and the ball is drowned.
A more conservative tactic is to to follow the fairway left of the pond with the second shot. From there, the third shot offers a deep green that can accommodate shots that are either slightly short or long.
I’ll also single out the par 3 sixteenth, which features an elevated green, guarded by menacing bunkers.
Conditions on the day I played were excellent. — country club quality, if you will. The greens were smooth; the fairways even, and the tee boxes fresh.
Monroe Golf and Country Club is a semi-private course, open to the public for a modest fee. The one disappointing aspect is that visitors MUST ride a cart. Makes no sense to me.
Still, if you’re in the mood to play a well-kept Donald Ross course, Monroe Golf and Country Club is a great choice.
The Monroe Golf and Country Club Golf Course Review was first published February 3, 2020 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2019.
More photos of Monroe Golf and Country Club follow:
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