Put it in reverse

Northern Michigan’s Garland Golf Resort has not seen any major golf-related renovations or construction since the 1990s. That started changing in April 2023 when new general manager David Sanderson proposed adding a par-3 course. 

“Short courses are becoming increasingly popular and given the fact that we had the land right next to our golf shop, and the fact that the land was already ready to go, we did not have to move a lot, it just made sense,” Sanderson says. 

The resort had 10 acres of unused land adjacent to the golf shop, and Sanderson could see its potential. A former senior assistant professional at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Sanderson just so happened to know of a former co-worker who has ventured into golf course architecture: Kelly Shumate.  

“I went up there and just really fell in love with the place,” Shumate says. “It’s a beautiful part of the country. I was very excited to start mapping out and wrapping out a plan of the place.”  

Shumate has designed multiple courses, including The Ashford Short Course at The Greenbrier and the Short Course at Coonskin Park in Charleston, West Virginia. After Shumate’s visit, official planning began in November 2023.  

Garland Golf Resort features four championship golf courses: Fountains, Monarch, Reflections and Swampfire. The resort is sprawled over 3,000 acres in the small town of Lewiston in northern Michigan’s Montmorency County. Lewiston, an unincorporated community, covers only 4.12 square miles, with a population of less than 1,000.  

Shumate strived to design a course that was built for any golfer, no matter the skill level, as Garland attracts customers with wide playing abilities. “I wanted to create something that was a balance between a beginner, that he would be able to go out and play it, but bold enough and strategic enough to where it would challenge better players also,” he says. “That was my goal, that everyone could go out and enjoy this place, and can’t get enough of it, and wants to keep playing it.” 

After a few rough drafts, Sanderson wanted to add one more element to the future course. “A few weeks after that, I went to him and said, ‘Kelly, can we make it reversible?’ And I kind of threw him for a loop, I think,” Sanderson says. After reconsidering design elements, Shumate developed a 10-hole par-3 course that can be played in both directions. 

A reversible course wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Shumate. As a child, he grew up playing Twin Falls State Park, a municipal course in southern West Virginia. After playing the same course so many times, he began to have some fun. “I went out and still played golf at that same course, but I got into playing the course in reverse, and kind of cross-country golf, making my own holes,” Shumate says. “We had a pretty big yard at the house that I grew up in and I kind of made my own holes out in my yard. I’ve always had the bug with designs and creating fun things.” 

Adding the reverse element will ultimately benefit the course. Shumate anticipates the course getting a lot of action and designing it to be played in both directions will allow for walking paths. “They’re going to walk this course. Any way you can take that foot traffic off and direct it to another way of getting on that green, and you do that by flipping directions. I think from a maintenance standpoint and operation standpoint, they’ll get a lot of benefits.”  

Now completing the grow-in process, the course is expected to be ready for play in late spring. 

The land features a mix of hills and flatland incorporated into the course layout. “We have some natural uphill shots, downhill shots, we’ve got some greens built on the side of a hill with a big, bold slope that’s connecting our double grain, but then they go to a softer plateau area,” Shumate says. “There at Garland, we were fortunate to have some really, really great land to work.” 

As Shumate developed the course, he planned with efficiency in mind. “First and foremost, I’m a superintendent,” Shumate says. “I know how important it is to involve the superintendent and his assistants on any project we do because I’m just there for a short time. They have to maintain it and live with the product.” 

The course holds large, short-mow areas that bleed from the approach to the next tee boxes, so Shumate had to be sure superintendent Mick Zajas and his crew would be comfortable with the mowing directions.  

Flat-bottom bunkers were chosen, so washouts are not a worry after heavy rainfall. Fourteen bunkers are dispersed throughout the course. “We shaped the bunkers to where they’re still interesting,” Shumate says. “They just don’t have big, flashing faces.” 

The greens feature 007 bentgrass, and a fescue and bluegrass blend make up the roughs. Construction was led by Todd Godwin of TGC Construction. 

Incorporating a par-3 course will provide another option for resort visitors. “It adds a whole other dynamic to the golf trip,” Sanderson says.  

With par-3 courses on the rise, Sanderson believes it was important Garland add a course for golfers of all skill levels. “If you look across the country, all the premier golf destinations are putting them in,” he says. 

Sanderson says he’s excited to see guests enjoy the new course. Initiating this project was the biggest proposal he has overseen from start to finish. “I think I might have missed my calling as a superintendent,” he says, “because I enjoyed the project so much.”

Kelsie Horner is Golf Course Industry’s assistant editor.