Wild Bluff Golf Course Review
Wild Bluff Golf Course
Brimley, Michigan
Grade: B
Teacher’s Comments: A pleasant round in the Upper Peninsula. Well kept.
Wild Bluff is a fun resort course in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where the eponymous bluff overlooks Waiska Bay off Lake Superior.
Wild Bluff is owned by the Bay Mills Indian Community, one of several federally recognized bands of Chippewa (Ojibwa). Its architect is Mike Husby, who also designed the Lake Course in Gaylord, Newberry Country Club in Newberry and Indian Lake Country Club in Manistique.
Most of the Wild Bluff is cut through woodland on the plateau above the bluff. The terrain is surprisingly flat for a Northern Michigan course, with just three holes taking advantage of the bluff’s elevation change (all three are downhill).
Weirdly, in spite of its geographic location, much of Wild Bluff gave me the vibe of a South Carolina low country course — minus the alligators and spanish moss.
Fairways at Wild Bluff are comfortably wide, with treelines well back. Unlike a lot of Northern Michigan courses, a bogey golfer should not lose many balls in the trees.
To generate interest on the flat terrain, Wild Bluff incorporates twelve doglegs of varying degrees: seven left and five right. Fairway bunkers pinch landing areas. On several holes, the path from tee to green is interrupted by marsh, streams or ponds, creating interesting decisions about line and distance.
Still, a lot of the holes just looked and felt the same, particularly from the tee. I struggled a bit trying to identify holes when reviewing my notes and photographs.
The first at Wild Bluff is a 351 yard par 4. Fifteen at Wild Bluff is a 209 yard par 3. The eighteenth at Wild Bluff is a 417 yard par 4.
The three holes that utilize the bluff all have dizzying downhill shots. The fifteenth is a classic Michigan downhill par 3. The eighteenth is a really spectacular finishing par four with a great view of Waiska Bay and Lake Superior.
In order to do this, however, Wild Bluff had to incorporate some awkward routing. To get to the first, players must drive past the seventeenth and eighteenth holes and then up a hill past the ninth green and path to the tenth tee. It was a bit confusing.
From the back tees, Wild Bluff measures 7, 056 yards and plays to a 74.4/136. A little more forward are tees at 6, 781 yards playing to a 73.5/135. At 6, 156 yards, the white tees play at a 70./125. In all there are six sets of tees, including a combo Men’s and Women’s tee.
A view from the fairway on Wild Bluff’s ninth. The ninth at Wild Bluff is a 545 yard par 5. A scenic view of the ninth green at Wild Bluff. That’s Waiska Bay, off Lake Superior, in the distance.
My favorite hole at Wild Bluff was the par five ninth. It’s a dogleg right that starts with a tee shot through a relatively narrow (for this course) tree lined corridor.
At around 250 to the green, the hole opens up a bit, creating a decent landing zone, but incorporating a fairway bunker on the left.
A direct line to is interrupted by a marshy pond that begins at about 100 yards to the green. A strip of fairway on the other side of the pond runs at a nearly right angle to the main line.
The second shot, therefore, will need to either a) be truly great and fly the pond to the green while avoiding a threatening bunker b) lay up short of the pond, setting up a high shot into the green or c) play left of the pond to the strip, which is a shorter carry over the pond, and leaves a straight shot into an open green.
Behind the green, with a nice view of the bay and lake are three tall, skinny trees which put me in mind of the “Big W” in Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Conditions on the day I played were very good. Wild Bluff absolutely was one of the better conditioned courses I played in the summer of 2021.
I don’t make many trips to the UP for golf, but were I to go again, I would consider a return to Wild Bluff.
The Wild Bluff Golf Course Review was first published on GolfBlogger.Com on January 5, 2021 from notes and photos taken on a round played July 23, 2020. For all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course reviews, follow the link.
A Wild Bluff Course tour follows:
The first at Wild Bluff is a 351 yard par 4. Wild Bluff’s second is a 387 yard par 4. Wild Bluff’s third is a 468 yard par 4. The fourth at Wild Bluff is a 445 yard par 4. The fifth at Wild Bluff is a 449 yard par 4. A view from the fairway on Wild Bluffs’ fifth. That’s Waiska Bay, off Lake Superior, in the distance. The sixth at Wild Bluff is a 182 yard par 3. The seventh at Wild Bluff is a 569 yard par 5. Eight at Wild Bluff is a 187 yard par 3. The ninth at Wild Bluff is a 545 yard par 5. A view from the fairway on Wild Bluff’s ninth. A scenic view of the ninth green at Wild Bluff. That’s Waiska Bay, off Lake Superior, in the distance. Ten at Wild Bluff is a 438 yard par 4. The tenth at Wild Bluffs from more forward tees so you can see the fairway. The eleventh at Wild Bluff is a 505 yard par 5. A view from the fairway on Wild Bluff’s 505 yard par five. Twelve at Wild Bluff is a 389 yard par 4. A view from the fairway on Wild Bluff’s twelfth Thirteen at Wild Bluff is a 134 yard par 3 Wild Bluff’s fourteenth is a 453 yard par 4. Fifteen at Wild Bluff is a 209 yard par 3. The sixteenth at Wild Bluff is a 372 yard par 4. Seventeen at Wild Bluff is a 556 yard par 5. A better view of the hole from the more forward tees at Wild Bluff’s seventeenth. The eighteenth at Wild Bluff is a 417 yard par 4.
Discover more from GolfBlogger Golf Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
