Playing The Meadows At Grand Valley State

Playing The Meadows At Grand Valley State

On the advice of a loyal reader, I made the trek to Grand Valley State yesterday to play The Meadows.

It was a lot of fun and distinctly different from so many Michigan courses.

The Meadows is a prairie and marsh course, with only a smattering of trees except for the par 4 sixth and par 3 seventh. On occasion, though, a tree is in position to block offline shots.

The temptation is to call The Meadows a links course, but as it is not on the shores of one of our inland freshwater seas, I am hesitant to call it such. The wind on this day, however, was quite blustery.

The only elevation of any significance is on the par 3 seventeenth.

Most of the challenge at The Meadows is in avoiding the rough and marshy areas. The rough was brutal and one of my playing partners said it well: It wears you out.

In spite of the numerous hazards, The Meadows at Grand Valley State was quite playable. I managed to avoid the numerous bunkers and marsh areas; the rough was another matter. I appreciated the open fronts to the greens that allowed a variety of approach shots.

Conditions were very good, which is commendable in the current Michigan drought.

Our group was the first out behind a US Junior Amateur qualifier which was being held there. A playoff on the eighteenth stalled our progress momentarily, but only momentarily.

Curious, I looked up the results when I got home.

Unsurprisingly, P.J. Maybank of Cheboygan took top honors at the qualifier, shooting a two under 69. Maybank has been scorching Michigan Junior competitions for several years now. This was his second medalist honor at a US Junior Am qualifier.

Maybank was in US Open qualifiers earlier this month, but did not punch a ticket to the big event in Los Angeles.

The 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur is July 24-29 at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C.,

I’ll have a full review on the Meadows in due course.