Whispering Pines
Grade: C-
I took a day off last week for some mental R&R and ended up playing a course in Pinckney, Michigan called Whispering Pines.
Built in 1991, it measures 6017 yards from the middle tees with a slope of 121. But it’s much harder than that. So hard, in fact, that I consider it an “unfair” course, and I don’t think I’ll go back.
The unfair part of Whispering Pines is that there doesn’t seem to be a safe landing spot anywhere on the course. Even tee shots that split the middle of the fairway ended up on sidehill lies, or on a difficult uphill (or downhill) slope. It was most discouraging to hit a good tee shot, only to watch the thing roll sideways off the fairway.
Now, I don’t mind a difficult course—in fact, I rather like the challenge of thinking my way around a course that’s really too much for my physical skills. But Whispering Pines didn’t seem to offer anywhere for me to “bail out.”
Back at school the next day, I found that I wasn’t the only one who considered it unfair. It’s apparently on the “do-not-play” list of some of the building’s better golfers.
On the positive side, its a very pretty course that manages to give a woodlands feel while winding its way through a golf course community. The visuals were the only reason this course didn’t flunk.
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I really enjoy playing Whispering Pines. You learn to aim your tee shot so that it does play off the hills. My husband and I play there quite often with another couple who are very good golfers. It is challenging, but not that difficult that you can’t figure out how to play it and achieve a relatively good score. Give it another shot sometime! Plus, they offer very good rates!
I have played this course a number of times over the years. My last visit was in the latter half of the summer of 2023. Over the years they have tried to make the course more player friendly by removing trees. It is still a nightmare for inaccurate or inexperienced players. On some holes one definitely needs to be able to hit to one side of the fairway or the other, depending on the slope. There will be many uneven lies. Also doglegs that need relatively precise driving distances off the tee.
Their rates (2024) are very reasonable, including walking rates. I am not sure that walking the course is a great idea since there are some fairly long drives between a few holes. But the choice is available.
Course conditions last year were good (not great). The course is typically not crowded mid-week. The fairways are primarily bent grass (like exclusive country clubs).
If one sprays the ball a bit or has trouble with uneven lies, don’t expect to escape without donating several (or a lot) balls to the forest and your score is likely to be higher than average.