Rippling Rapids Golf Course Review

Rippling Rapids Golf Course Review

Rippling Rapids Golf Course
Cheboygan, Michigan
Grade: D
Teachers’ Comments: A local course that needs some work.

At some level it is refreshing to find a low cost Mom-and-Pop course in Northern Michigan among the scores of resort courses with their resort-course prices. It at least partially answers the question: Where do the locals play, because I can’t imagine they are regularly paying $80 a round (for those outside of Michigan, you need to understand that $80 is an expensive course. Yes, we have it good.)

Among the three hundred some courses I’ve played and reviewed, there are several dozen unpretentious, value-priced courses serving both small towns and large where I have left thinking: I can’t recommend anyone travel any great distance to play at that course, but the locals are lucky to have it.

Rippling Rapids is very clearly aimed at a local golf market, but in this case, with a little more work, the locals would be better served.

The course is former farmland — wide open, with occasional stands of trees, an irrigating creek and a farm pond. If there was no signage or building, one might drive by and see only acreage left fallow.

Rippling Rapids’ holes are mostly straight back and forth affairs. The routing takes good advantage of what interest the land offers in locating several tees and greens on rises and by incorporating a pond in front of a tee box. The pond is of little consequence, but it is the thought that matters.

On the downside, I had several truly befuddling moments where I was completely unsure where I was supposed to hit the ball. On a couple others, I had no idea where the tee box was located. This was particularly perplexing on one hole where after finishing at the green, I had to traverse back down the length of the hole to get back to the next tee. They were parallel, but not sequential.

Much of the problem was that the entire field seemed to be cut to a uniform height: mid level rough. The fairways were mowed to at least the height of a typical first cut of rough. And so was the rough. Worse, the same vegitation (mostly not grass) that covered the rough comprised the fairways. It all looked the same to me.

Rippling Rapids could greatly improve that situation by letting the spaces between holes grow out a bit to define the fairways. The bunkers could also use work.

And while I’m making suggestions, I have a couple more: 1) add some more signs to help with directions and 2) get aggressive with the trees on the back nine.

About that back nine: five of the holes are across a creek in a semi-wooded area. It’s a nice change of pace, but trees blocked the line of play on several holes. Or maybe they didn’t. As I still had problems knowing where the tees and fairways were, I may have been aiming in the wrong direction.

Rippling Rapids is a par 70 that comes in at 5, 060 yards.

In the final analysis, I can’t recommend a trip to Rippling Rapids. I will note, however, that there were several groups out on the day I played and they seemed to be having fun. Rippling Rapids also has a restaurant and bar that were busy.

The Rippling Rapids golf course review was published December 28, 2024 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2024. For all of GolfBlogger’s golf course reviews, follow the link.

A photo tour of Rippling Rapids follows: