Bob Kuras has always dreamed of having an 18-hole golf course at his beautiful Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor.
Kuras, president of the resort, fulfilled his dream with the purchase of the former King's Challenge course in nearby Cedar last year. Since then, he has poured his money, energy and spirit into reviving the Arnold Palmer signature course that had fallen into disrepair.
Now that the newly named Manitou Passage Golf Club is in a better place, he can joke about the challenges along the journey. He compared the revival of the course to a home remodel. And we all know how painful those can be, both emotionally and financially.
"You know when you paint the bathroom and it makes the bedroom look bad?" he told a small gathering of golf writers at Monday's media day. "And when you paint the bedroom, the kitchen looks awful. ... Every time we thought we were making progress, we found something else to do."
Unfortunately, I never played the former King's Challenge, but from what I've witnessed during a tour of the course last June to today, the facility has had a complete facelift. The new clubhouse, which was all torn up during my last visit, is now a delight. There's a little library area that honors the history of the "Manitou Passage," the narrow body of water visible from the stunning eighth tee. The cozy bar and grill serves quality food that is best enjoyed on the new multi-tiered patio overlooking the 18th green and a colorful bed of flowers and landscaping. The pro shop is stocked with logo gear.
During media day, I teed it up with Stefan Carlsmith, a longtime instructor with the Dave Pelz Golf School at The Homestead. He was an excellent tour guide who went into greater detail on many of the course changes.
Most of the work focused on the tees and bunkers. Several tees, notably on the fourth and 16th holes, were moved to soften dog legs and give players a better angle to the fairway.
A new tee was added on No. 18 to transform a murderous par-4 into a go-for-broke 492-yard par-5 that longer hitters can eagle if they safely navigate the pond guarding the right side. The course now plays a slightly longer 6,668 yards from the tips.
Dozens of bunkers were reshaped while others were moved or filled in.
Even the signature hole, the par-5 eighth, was extensively reworked. The fairway used to be a hog-back shape that repelled shots into the woods. It was leveled to reward good play.
Overgrown trees and weeds were removed throughout. For example, a fairway was added to the par-3 third hole. The changes were all made to make a tight course play a little friendlier. It still plays much harder than its yardage from the blue tees (6,257 yards) imply.
The course conditioning is just beginning to round into form as well. The grounds crew has aerated the greens nine times within last year, bringing them back to life. They roll true.
Once newly planted fescue grows in to define a number of fairways, the course's visual appeal should jump off the charts.
"The changes have all really helped the golf course," Carlsmith said.
Kuras has talked about bringing world-class golf to the Leelanau Peninsula. He's well on his way to making the dream a reality.
For tee times visit manitoupassagegolfclub.com or call 231-228-6000.
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