The Meadows At Grand Valley State Golf Course Review

The Meadows At Grand Valley State Golf Course Review

The Meadows At Grand Valley State
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: An out-of-the-ordinary course worth playing if you’re in the area

The Meadows course at Grand Valley State lives up to its name, for it is routed across a relatively flat and open landscape of grasslands, water and marsh. The temptation would be to call it a links, but the course is at least twenty miles from Lake Michigan. It is instead exactly what the name implies: a meadows course.

Designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan, the Meadows is largely treeless but for a large stand in the northwest corner of the property. The par 4 sixth and par 3 seventh play through that copse. A couple other holes have these trees to one side of the fairway or the other. On occasion, a lone tree makes an appearance to block a line of play.

What the Meadows lacks in trees, however, it makes up for with water, marsh and infuriating tall fescue rough. As a member of my group commented: “The rough just wears you out.”

Mounding and fairway bunkers add interest and challenge to play. While there are few elevation changes of note, mounding makes uneven lies frequent.

Fairways that widen and narrow at irregular intervals prevent the course from becoming a rip it and grip it speedway. Carelessly struck balls are likely to roll into that tall fescue or a bunker.

Water in the form of ponds, marsh or streams come into play on roughly half the holes, often forcing strategic choices.

Dr. Hurdzan made the most of a flat piece of land for his design.

My favorite hole was the par 4 fifiteenth. Although a line can be drawn straight from tee to green, a fairway bunker on the right makes that particular attack perhaps unwise. Mounding on the right and left may have a funnel effect, but also can leave a wayward shot on an uneven lie.

The safest landing zone is short and left of the bunker, but that makes the second shot much longer. Long may not be the worst option, though, for the front of the green is wide open, and receptive to a ball running up.

It is a nice risk-reward hole that doesn’t involve water or trees.

The eighteenth also is very interesting, but is a bit out of character from the rest of the course. A dogleg left with a bunker at the corner, it requires a carry over marsh to a slightly elevated green.

The hole is out of character because nearly every other hole on the course lets a golfer run the ball up to the green, as you might find in a links style course.

Conditions on the day I played were quite good. Tee boxes, fairways and greens were consistently maintained. Michigan was in a bit of a drought at that point, but the grounds crews had kept the course healthy.

From the back tees, The Meadows stretches to 7, 030 yards and plays to a 75/143.

Tee	USGA RATING(Men / Women)	SLOPE(M/W)	YARDAGE
Black	75.0 / na	143 / na	7,030
Blue	71.5 / na	132 / na	6,361
White	69.3 / 74.7	128 / 137	5,886
Gold	71.4 / 71.4	123 / 127	5,304
Red	na / 68.5	na / 119	4,777

The Meadows bills itself as a “Championship Course,” and unlike so many that use that descriptor, it has actually hosted championships. The home course of the Grand Valley State golf team, The Meadows has hosted nine NCAA tournaments. On the day I was there, the course was hosting a US Junior Amateur qualifier.

Greens fees in 2023 at The Meadows were quite reasonable. I walked it for $36. Students at Grand Valley State can play for as little as $20.

I quite enjoyed my round at The Meadows and it is one that — were it closer — I would happily revisit. It is different enough from the usual tree-lined Michigan golf course to stand out.

The Meadows Golf Course Review was first published Decmber 21, 2023 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2023. For all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course Reviews (as well as golf course reviews from other states), follow the link.

A photo tour of The Meadows follows: