Golf in Port Huron

Mark McCucumber’s keen architectural mind gave birth to the 18 championship holes that nestle amid Devil’s Ridge Golf Club’s 400 acres of woods, wetlands, and hills. Trees line the emerald fairways, which challenge golfers with rolling terrain that reaches elevation changes of up to 80 feet, inspiring some players to conscript mountain goats as caddies. Four sets of tees invite golfers of all stripes to aim their orbs away from the rippling surface of water hazards and more than a dozen mischievously placed sand bunkers. Sixty tee stations await golfers at the driving range to help them warm up before hitting the course. Then, after working up an appetite sawing down aim-blocking trees, they can relax with a bite to eat at The Devil’s Grille.

The 2012 golf season at Mulberry Hills Golf Club marks 50 years since architect Hank Clayton unveiled his verdant brainchild, a celebration that showcases the course’s maturation of ancient oak trees and tangled heather that now engulf the site's 188 meadowed acres. The natural habitat invites all players, from greenhorns to green-jacket holders, to take on the 18-hole excursion that covers 6,635 yards of pristine fairways, well-kempt greens, and vibrant flowers that border playable areas. As players captain their GPS–equipped 2012 Yamaha golf carts over the terrain, they encounter a gauntlet of obstacles that attempts to thwart drives, putts, and 3-iron swordfights. The par 3, 155-yard fourth hole presents a difficult forced carry over water onto a peninsula green, the most challenging of the four holes featuring shots over water. The course superintendants keep rounds moving with a pace-of-play program that ensures rounds last 4.5 hours or less, leaving plenty of daylight for sunbathing golf balls or knitting a skirt from collected divots. After the round, players can celebrate their dominance over nature at Hank's Place Bar & Grill with a menu of American fare, draft beers, and free WiFi.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course

• Total length of 6,635 yards from the back tees

• Course rating of 70.9 from the back tees

• Course slope of 122 from the back tees

• Four sets of tees per hole

• Designed by Hank Clayton

The Bogey Golf Tour grants golfers a chance to take to the links and compete against fellow amateurs in tournaments scheduled at some of the finest courses in the London, Windsor, Detroit, and Kitchener/Waterloo areas. At each event, scratch golfers compete in the Birdie division, 0–15 handicaps square off in the Par division, and 16+ handicappers trade pinpoint approaches and sequined divot tools in the Bogey division. The top five finishers in each division receive prize money—which can be paid out in gift certificates or cash—and the Tour also holds prize competitions for longest drive, closest to the pin, and 3-iron jousting. The Tour publishes the results from each tournament in local newspapers, and players can chart the peaks and valleys of their careers on the Tour Members list, which compiles all of their tournament results. Along with providing an outlet for amateur golfers to exercise their long-suppressed competitive side, the Tour and its sponsors have raised $74,000 for various area charities since 2003.

Evolution Sportsplex’s dome structure houses 60,000 square feet of artificial turf, which doubles as an athletics field and an indoor driving range. There, as well as outdoors, a golfer can improve their swing, thereby eliminating the need for the pneumatic hammer taped to the end of their club. Visitors can also putt their way through a manicured miniature-golf course peppered with shady trees and refuel at the concession stand before hitting the indoor field, which can be converted for sports ranging from football to softball.

In 1914, golf-course architects incorporated the three branches of the Sydenham River to form a wishbone in the middle of Bear Creek Golf Club's 6,154-yard layout. Coming into play on nine holes, the waterway factors prominently into the par-5 10th hole, where it flows just beyond the tee box, crosses the heart of the fairway, and snakes along the front of the green, providing an ideal venue to practice skipping ball markers across the surface. Tall trees hover at the edges of most fairways, waiting to complicate play after errant drives or approaches.

After putting out on 18th green, guests can watch fellow golfers traverse the course from the raised deck at Bear Creek’s Golfview Restaurant. Inside, aromas of chicken wings, quesadillas, and burgers fill the air along with the warmth from a stone fireplace, where golfers can destroy incriminating scorecards or Petrarchan sonnets they wrote about their sand wedge.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Length of 6,154 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 70.8 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 128 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

Open year round, Hydeaway Golf Club's 18-hole, par 71 course unfurls across 130 acres of kempt fairways framed by trees and tranquil ponds. Water hazards come into play on more than half of the holes, creating strategic quandaries such as when to attempt to carry a distant pond and how to tell if provocative messages in a bottle were intended for you. Tall tree lines further complicate golfers' passage, stretching out their twiggy arms in a quenchless desire to scuff up dimpled orbs. Golfers can choose to loop the emerald links on their own bipedal steam or enlist a GasCar golf cart to help hunt down errant balls or misplaced playing partners.