Copper Hills in Oxford, Michigan looks tame enough from Lakeview Road with the trailers and the non descript sign inviting you in but from the time you tee off until you leave the course, it is one wild ride.
This 27 hole course is just over 6,400 (Hills and Marsh) yards from the copper tees and it places a premium on both shot making and tee shots and my advice to you is…. well you will have to wait for my final comments.
Virtually every hole on this course is amazing and every time you think you are going to get a breather such as a par 3 you will find that your wild ride continues and one better struck shot is required. Before you think that I am impressed with every course I play consider this, Golf Digest rated this as the 16th best course that you can play back in 2005 and number nine on theHill course is as diabolical as a par four comes.
Now for the course.
I should have known that I was in for a Scooby Doo mystery on the way out to the course as there was no fog until I reached Lake Orion heading north and the fog became worse and I played the first two holes not knowing where to hit the golf ball. You will really need your scorecard because the course does have holes that jog around and intertwine in several locations but is well-marked and the signage faces the cart paths so you do not pull up to the wrong hole.
The Hill Course
The first hole is a 553 yard par five and you will drive over not one but two ponds during your adventures on this hole. The first pond should not be a problem. The second one will be if you miss either your driver or metal wood shot. Teeing off on the blues 536 yards will not solve your problem. It guards the green and is a good 30 yards wide. You dub either the tee or second shot and you will have a good 180+ shot and while the green can hold a long shot, the chances of you going into the pond or chipping down a sloping green are not desirable. This hole is a good test of golf and I recommend hitting the driving range before playing this eye opening hole.
The 410 yard par four third is also a hole that places a premium on a well hit tee shot. You will fire the ball over water but it does not come into play. I hit my drive right and there are a series of huge moguls that separate this hole from the second and I was hitting on an extremely wet day and had a huge crevasse where my ball would most likely land. It played up hill and with the impediment and a sidehill shot, I hit an iron shot and then played my birdie from over a hundred yards and promptly hit it on another hill with a poor lie. I chipped down and two putt and had a double bogey. All was not lost as a deer that was all by itself popped out of the woods and was not afraid of me. He must have appeared three different times and I saw him dart out on the jungle course later on during the day. 
One of the best features of Copper Hills is the housing. The houses are beautiful and overlook the golf course on some holes without being a part of the course. The owners can watch the action but no shots you strike will end up on their properties unless you are aiming in the wrong direction. This is much better than housing neighborhoods where they are on top of the action and golf balls can go in their yards and they will not put up a fence but will yell at someone who quickly picks up their ball and leaves. That is not the case at Copper Creek.
The par three sixth hole is your first chance to hit an iron off the tee. A wet lands area is in front of the tee and if you hit a golf ball into it, you will never see your ball again. This hole plays from 114 to 140 yards and I played it at the copper level. I hit my ball to the backside of the green and it is a two tiered putting surface. I actually had to chip it onto the dog hair instead of using my putter as my ball was just inches in the rough. Wow, did that ball take off down the slope. It was fairly executed but the ball picked up steam and came to rest off the front side of the green and I wondered if I might be in the fescues .It wasn’t and this time chipped to within 3 feet and made a putt for one of the few times on this nine. I have to admit that while I love the course, putting was an adventure and I am very good with the closing stick.
Now for number nine. The Detroit Free Press came up with their 18 toughest holes the public can play and this hole made the list. My lessons were starting to kick in by this point and I hit a drive about 260 yards (I am not all the way back but am starting to round into form). I split the fairway but noticed that I had an uneven lie and sometimes this is frustrating when it happens nearly every hole. The fescues are plentiful and deep. I believe you have to hit it roughly 70-80 yards over them and when you put this in combination of any yardage you are short on the drive to carry your second shot to the green, you could have a mid iron shot or above and anything short is death. The fescues look like piranhas out there as they are menacing if you let them be and they surround the green left, center and in combination with a cluster of trees are awaiting your ball right. There is a bunker to the back right and a bailout area is there for a fade or hook. Well, how did I do? I hit the green to the far right and breathed a sigh of relief. The pin was left and I chunked my putt about 20 feet short. My second putt tailed off about 2’3” feet and I then made my putt. No birdie, no par and I earned a bogey on this hole when my usually reliable short game messed me up. My advice is to not make a big number here. You better play your best golf here or you will be buying the beer.
The second of the nines I will talk about is the Marsh Course. (The Jungle will be reviewed another day).
The first hole is a risk reward hole and like most of the holes you will fly it over the water. If you can hit it about 200 plus yards, you can take off a lot of yardage on this 318 yard par four. If you decide to wear big boy pants and make it, bully for you as you have a great chance to get on in two with a short pitch or a bump and run shot. Miss and there is a drop area. The green is tricky here but all of the greens are tricky at Copper Hills whether subtle to menacing is the operative word.
I really enjoyed my time at Copper Hills but the third hole on the Marsh is in my mind a very frustrating golf hole. It is a 518 yard par five and darned if I know why it was set up this way. I drove my cart out about 200 yards as the tee overlooked three different holes including number three on the Jungle, and number three and number four on the Marsh. I truly had no idea where to hit the ball even after driving my cart out there. There is a cluster of trees with wetlands to the right which seemed to be in front of the tee box and there was water in play in the landing area for a well struck tee shot. The fairway is wide but there is a cluster of trees separating three or four and if you go to the left side of the fairway, you will have to negotiate them , the pond and a blind shot as the fairway slopes uphill and you cannot see the pin. My suggestion is to put up a sign or marker up in a tree or something the course could suggest to make this hole more playable. Copper Hills does a great job telling you how far it is to ponds and so forth but I played the hole and am still scratching my head. I did drive for the second time up the hill to the other side of the pond and decided to club up as the green was elevated and backed up against the woods. I smoked a hybrid left center on my third shot and never saw my ball again. Yes it was wet and there was standing water in a few places and balls did plug as the crazy spring weather did trick up all Michigan courses but I was frustrated. I did take a drop here on this side of the standing water but boy is it frustrating.
The par three sixth is an elevated tee shot with what else, a pond guarding the green right. There is plenty of slope to the green (it drops from the tee box a good 40 feet) and I went into the water on my first tee shot. I hit the green with the second tee shot from the blue tees (191 yards) and the tee boxes range from 147 to 213 yards. My first putt drifted right. It was well struck but going down a ridge it rested several feet away.
The par four 7th demands another well struck tee shot as anything short will make you hit a long iron into the green. There is a ditch running around the green with the woods running right. The hole ranges from 329 to 398 yards and it has undulated fairways. While the trouble is not as severe as number nine on the Woods course, you must hit two good shots. There is no bailout area and anything short is a lost ball. BIRDIE ALERT. I scored a birdie here. I hit a super drive on this hole and went front side right on the green with a six iron. It struck a tree branch and luck helped me as the ball dropped on the green. My ball would have been on the green anyway but would have been pin high. My 18-20” putt curled and went in. WOW is all I am going to say. I have had better birdie opportunities this year but this one was a real happy place shot for me.
Comments
My advice is for any golfer wanting to see where they stand should make the pilgrimage and play Copper Hills at least once a season and more if you can. If you are a beginning golfer or one that does not drive the ball well, you should probably hone your game before coming to this course as virtually every hole has wetlands, fescues or water to shoot over. Golfers might want to bring some shag balls as most balls hit into the ponds or woods are not findable or will slow up play.
One thing that did frustrate me is the greens. I am very good at reading greens but quite a few times I saw firmly struck putts going one way or another. This in combination with a difficult course makes this one difficult test of golf and trust me, plenty of golfers like this type of challenge including me.
There are tons of wild live on this course. From deer, geese, woodchucks and plenty of turtles, the course is healthy and enjoyable to move around.
I tell you that I would love to see the PGA play this course. I think they would be hard pressed to break par here. There are a few birdie holes here and quite a few more that can make you roll big numbers at anytime.
Customer Service- 9 - Staff Friendly and professional. Mike and his staff were very nice and organize customers to go off in an orderly manner.
Course Markings- 8- Above average. Markings at 100, 150, 200 yards. Scorecard will help you navigate the course and there are carry signage postings at appropriate places. Courses intertwine and signs posted will help you to play the right hole.
Conditions -10 - Course well taken care of and you can find your ball most of the time.
Playability 7- Anyone can play when you hit them long and straight. At this course, you had better add accuracy and I mean especially accuracy.
The greens are frustrating as for me they were tough to read. On the course, you will have plenty of sidehill lies and lies where you will have one foot above or below the other and this includes the fairways and especially the rough. Ball placement on your drives is extremely important. You can cut the yardage on several holes by driving it accurate. Driver is very important at this course. Dubbing drives will find many of your second shots laying up to avoid the fescues guarding the green.
Playability 7- Anyone can play when you hit them long and straight. At this course, you had better add accuracy and I mean especially accuracy.
The greens are frustrating as for me they were tough to read. On the course, you will have plenty of sidehill lies and lies where you will have one foot above or below the other and this includes the fairways and especially the rough. Ball placement on your drives is extremely important. You can cut the yardage on several holes by driving it accurate. Driver is very important at this course. Dubbing drives will find many of your second shots laying up to avoid the fescues guarding the green.
Course Design-9- Curtis Wright did a super job carving out this course. It is very tough and there is trouble and quite a bit of it on pretty much every hole. Perhaps the greens could roll a little truer and there could be more bailout areas as some holes had plenty of trouble and very little place to go but on the green or in the wetlands or fescues on approach shots. Remember, one struggling foresome can back up an entire course and I think many players will be tested to the zenith of their abilities.
Pace of Play 10- I was the first one out there at 6:55 am so that result is most likely not typical.
Course Layout- - Click Link- http://copperhills.com/Pages/Layout.htm
Contact Information
PGA Golf Professional: Michael Seavey 248-969-9808
General Manager: Curtis Wright 248-969-9808
Real Estate: Please call Curtis Wright at 248-969-9808
MAILING ADDRESS: 2125 Lakeville Road, Oxford, MI 48370
PHONE NUMBER: 248-969-9808
e-mail: http://copperhills.com/index.html
You Tube fly over http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z0MGOoQA1s
There are pictures below. For some outstanding ones, see the Copper Hills website.
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