The management at the Shanty Creek Resort laid out the ground
rules for Tom Weiskopf’s Cedar
River’s design: “Do whatever
you want with the 536 acres; just save
us room for a lodge.”
Everything he needed was there, in excess. Masses of tall
oaks and
beech trees. Hills that roller-coastered across 200 feet of elevation
change. Open areas of meadow and scrub that would provide relief from
the
sloping terrain on most holes and allow for a contrasting visual
style. In the
end, it is the distinctive transition zones between
rugged and meadow-style land
(a balanced pair of three-hole strings on
each nine) that give Cedar River its unique flow and keep it strategically and
aesthetically fresh.
For two-thirds of Cedar River’s design, Weiskopf stayed
fairly true
to Michigan’s northland golf heritage—hearty
holes cut through the
forests, spiced by some exquisite bunkering and
illusions—while keeping
in mind his audience.
Weiskopf’s menu begins at the 1st hole with a full-bodied
427-yard
par 4 blasted from the thick of a forest. It’s the first of a five-hole
stretch of steak-and-potatoes architecture that, while robust, allows a
golfer
ample room to land his tee shot. But the approach shots are more
demanding.
On the 4th hole, an uphill, 170-yard par 3, Weiskopf uses a
sprawling maple to distort the apparent distance of the shot, virtually
guaranteeing that a first-time player will under-club. Which brings up
another
hallmark of Cedar River’s design: The
bump-and-run
golfer can have a field day here. In place of constant forced
carries
to the greens, Weiskopf installs many a false front, which are friendly
to running shots and disdainful of tepid wedge shots arriving by air.
The architect completes his initial Hansel-and-Gretel stroll
through
the woods with his favorite hole on the front nine, the 5th. It’s
another par 4, 418 yards, calling for a long drive followed by a deft
iron shot
to a small green fortified on the left by a gaping bunker.
The 295-yard 13th, about as distinctive as a short par 4
gets, was
to have been a par 3 requiring a carry over the rushing Cedar River. The 14th
was to have been a short par-4
requiring a return flight across the
river, but now sits as a dramatic par 3
with a steep, 75-yard descent
to a semi-concealed, rigorously bunkered green 144
yards away. Well
into construction, it was a nearly straightaway par 4 measuring
421
yards. Now the green is tucked seductively to the left, in much the style of
the 11th hole at Augusta National.
All this was made possible by a vocal group of
preservationists who
wanted Weiskopf nowhere near the Cedar
River. The controversy forced
Weiskopf into some changes that, in
the end, pleased all parties. A
tribute to Cedar Ridge’s design is that, for all
the personality that
stretches like 12–14 provide, there’s no real
compartmentalization to
the layout.
The 18th ends at green protected by a pond; chances are slim
that
any player, even a big hitter, could reach this behemoth in two. Better to
play it safe with a wedge, assuming you can stay focused on the shot.
Because
above the green is the 19th hole, populated by a happy band of
vultures enjoying
beer and chicken fingers and waiting to snicker when
you plunk that wedge shot
into the drink.
That’s the Alfred Hitchcock coming out in Weiskopf: He wants
you out
there dreading the specter of that sarcastic communal moan from the
patio. But when you cut one in there to 10 feet and make the putt,
he’ll also be
there with you in spirit, offering congratulations on a
perfect ending to one of
the best rounds of golf you will have played
in an area where one-upmanship is a
hard thing to achieve.
