Playing Diamond Springs In Hamilton, Michigan

Playing Diamond Springs, Hamilton, Michigan

I recently had the chance to play Diamond Springs, a Mike DeVries design near Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s a terrific course that I think is in the conversation for top ten public courses in Michigan.

Diamond Springs has an organic and unforced feel. Immense fairways flow with the landscape and are bordered by prairie grasses and treelines. It is hard to miss a fairway here, but the key is to find the right spots in those oceans of grass for a good approach shot.

Of note is that Diamond Springs for the most part doesn’t have tee boxes, but rather teeing grounds that flow smoothly into the fairways. There are a few holes where a carry over a ravine or marsh interrupts this (particularly on par threes), but aside from those the design is consistent. Holes flow smoothly from tee to green. It’s like a wavy sea of grass.

The design makes it an enjoyable walk. With the exception of a three hole stretch around a ravine on the back nine, Diamond Springs is quite easy to navigate. My partner was carrying his bag. I was pushing my cart. The holes on the back are not hard to walk, but the ravine necessitates some extra yardage and back tracking over a series of bridges. All told, I walked a total of around seven miles.

This is the third Mike DeVries course that I’ve had the chance to play. The others are Greywalls in the Upper Peninsula and Pilgrim’s Run in Pierson. I am now a huge fan of DeVries work and am making it my mission to try to play his other Michigan courses, The Mines and Kingsley Club. The Mines is a public course in Grand Rapids, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Kingsley, on the other hand is private and is much less likely.

I have heard nothing but good things about Diamond Springs for years, and for me it lived up to expectations.

I’ll have a full review in the near future.