Westwynd is a Tough Test of Golf Where Local Knowledge is Huge

A View of 18 from the patio.

Westwynd Golf Staff
Jason Tignanelli		(248) 608-7820 JasonTig@westwyndgolf.com

The clubhouse is pretty elegant.

     Westwynd Golf and Country Club is a test if golf that requires a tremendous amount of local course knowledge in order for you to score your best. The 7032 yard layout from the golds requires excellent placement of your tee shot and a little luck in order for you to play your level best. This course located on Adams Road in Rochester Hills is located five miles north of Walton Boulevard.

     Westwynd is an upscale public course with a beautiful club house and a staff that is eager to please. Its brick cart paths, tennis and swimming pool help make members feel right at home and having a very nice golf course does not hurt either.

     The first hole is a 375 yard par four from the golds where I played most of the day until I realized my driver was not coming around. Looking into the morning sun rising above the trees made it hard to find my tee shot that was leaking right into the first cut of rough and I hit only about 235 yards including the roll as it was not my best effort. There are multiple sand traps along the driving area to the right side with woods looking to collect seriously errant shots. To the left is a hill and heather and while you can find your ball, it is deep and will require some poking around with your club as I saw someone doing with his group when I played 18 later in the day. My second shot was put on the green but was about 40 feet away and the putt slide by the hole by a foot to the right and kept going. Speaking of keeping on going, this green also serves as a double green (one of two on the course) to 17 and overplaying your iron into the hole will bring you a sure three or four putt. Yes you heard that right as it plays way below by about 20-30 feet below the #1 tee placement and requires a hit it as hard as you can effort to get it back to the first greens pin placement. I had a bogey here and did not feel that great about my start.

The third hole is a 574 yard par five where fairway bunkers guard the fairway right and left and require you to hit between them for longer hitters. I played the gold here and the bunkers were about 235-270 yards out and I do not carry the ball like I used to and looking into the sun, I could not find my ball no matter what I did going back and forth in my cart.  The golf course workers were preparing the course and they basically followed me around during the round. There were two crews and the one crew made me wait multiple times for several minutes instead of waiving me though. Then they would move to the hole in front of me and it happened again and that was frustrating.  They knew I was there but kept running their mowers and raking the bunkers and this happened over and over and finally I stumbled on the second crew and they were much better to work with and I waited for a few minutes for them to finish or they idled their motors while I hit my shot and played on. I did dub a few shots on this hole and went into the heather. My fourth shot was an iron shot that hit the side of the hill to the right side of the green and it caromed onto the cart path and kept rolling. I dropped as it rested on the bricks and with the brush that was not easy. There is plenty of sand on this hole and most of it is to the left side of the green. Don’t go there unless you plan on adding a couple of extra shots to your scorecard.

     The sixth hole is an uphill par three that plays from 70 to 185 yards and is all up hill. Three sand traps guard it right and the woods guards the hole to the right. The slope of the fairway makes it impossible to see most of the green from either the tee box or if you go short where I did to see how deep the green is without taking a look at it. The green is 34’ deep and is bigger than you think but it is quite undulated and I chipped a high and soft sand wedge to about 15 feet and have no idea how it rolled as I could not see it. The hole is pretty. Westwynd prides itself on leaving a lions mane on many of the traps. They mow the traps except for a few inches around the perimeter of the traps giving it an added beauty but diabolical twist to chipping out of the trap as some of it will knock your ball back into the trap.

     While I did not drive it well on this day, I surely did on the 637 yard par five 7^th. The other lawn mower crew was out here and I waited a minute and they spotted me and idled their mower. Thank you and I appreciate it. I rewarded them with a drive that split the middle of the fairway from the elevated tee box. I thought this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with my driver but it wasn’t. The second shot was a Adams rescue three wood and I hit it very solid but not crushed. That left me about 120 yards from the green. Now the fun begins. There is a deep fescue area surrounding the green and a cluster of trees right side that appeared to open up. Instead it was not to be as I mishit my wedge but thought I would be right side with a short chip to the green. How wrong I was as local knowledge is paramount here. My ball was in the brush and now I have a penalty stroke and a lost ball. I took a drop although the proper rule would be to go back and play my shot from a drop area where my ball appeared to go in. Now I am chipping for par instead of putting for birdie and leave it above the hole and two-putt from there. I have a seven when I had dreams of four or five. If I had known about the crazy area to the right side of the green I would never have played that shot and after two fine strokes to begin the hole boy did I screw up.

Tee box from the tips on #10. The big sand bunker is in play from the whites which are about 100 yards shorter.

     Moving onto the back nine, number ten is really a douzy.  It is a 626 yard par five and I played the blues and today the tee was really moved up to where the white tee box and that is around 520 according to the scorecard.  It is shaped like a boomerang  dog leg left and wetlands guard it left side and a 70-80 yard crevasse awaits anyone looking to go for this green in two. My driver was all over and I thought the wetlands, woods and trees on both sides of the tee box would probably add to their golf collection the way I was driving. Instead I found that I hit a solid drive to the right of a fairway bunker where uneven lies and where the real fun on this hole begins. Frankly, if I knew about this course, I would have driven from the gold tees which are nearly 630 yards away and placed it around the corner. I did not have to worry about this as I dubbed my second shot and knew I had to layup for my third shot and left if 50 yards short of the crevasse. I then put my iron onto the green but two-putt for a six and it could have been worse. This hole is a beast and playing the course a few times will help you to navigate this shot.

A long and tough shot awaits you here for an approach shot with fescews.

The 13 hole is a 222 yard par three but I will be honest and let you know I moved into the blue tees which played about 188 according to GAM. Two sand bunkers guard this hole and the green is obscured by a slope where you can only see about half of the pin tops. The slope also runs right side of the green and is no picnic to deal with either.  I aimed for the center of the green and darned it I did not do just that.  The put was tricky and many of them are at WestWynds. I missed my 40 footer going left to right and leaving the putt about four feet past. I did make my putt but was kind of nervous as I did not want to three-putt this tough test of golf.

The fifteenth hole is one crazy place to play golf. It plays to 339 yards from the gold and 320 from the white so there is no advantage to anyone. It is drivable for those of you who have a huge power hook and since most of you that hook the ball do it much sooner than this, the best play is to put it out on the fairway with a 4-5 iron and you will have a second shot with perhaps the same club unless you bite some yardage off this dogleg right par four. I hit a solid shot here but the ball decided to bounce up in the fairway like a golf ball on asphalt and went off the fairway into the woods. I hit a good shot but have no idea what in the Hades happened. I had to drop and instead of hitting my second shot, I hit my third. My second shot also was hit well, this time with a seven iron and was solid but somehow ended up short and into a bog that collects golf balls. I never found my ball but the creek did. I did find a ball that must have been gathering rot from the persimmons days of golf. I took a drop from behind the creek and since this hole is now basically an X. Two good shots and no golf luck here. Local knowledge would have been very important on this hole and instead I left it to play 16 shaking my head.

     A real dandy is the par three 16^th. The tee box goes over wetlands and a sand bunker looks to collect your tee shot on this undulated green. There is also trouble left side and a chip will be very tough for golfers as it is way above the green. I recovered my senses and put it on the green here and barely missed a 10-12’ birdie by a foot and tapped in. A birdie would have been nice.

While I will not review 17 due to space, there is a funny story. I was finishing out my hole when the group playing the number one  green which shares this double green hit and one golfer put it past the lag stick on his side of the green but then trickled down.  First a little and then alot.  The ball ended up near my ball about 70-80 feet past his pin and up that 20’ hill I spoke of earlier. I should have stayed and watched but didn’t. I really feel sorry for the guy.

The number two green overlooking #18   The ball on the left side of the picture is going to the flag up two levels about        80-90' of the pin.

The 18^th is a fitting finishing hole. It is a 442 yard par four and you have to carry a creek and wetlands and your carry must be just under 200 yards. A lake guards the right side of the hole and heather guards it left and this is where I found golfers looking for their golf balls. My second shot was a five hybrid and I could go for the pin over the water or go right side into a series of bunkers that lined up three abreast below the clubhouse patio or in a bunker if I missed. I landed it on the green but went into the trap. I wanted to take the water out of play so I clubbed up one of this double green hole. (It is shared with number two) but did not factor into play on this day. I then chipped out to about 10-12’ past the hole and while putts did not go in on this day, I had a great time making a sand save as I rolled in the putt playing it perfectly leaving a no doubter from the time it left my club.  Do you see why golfers keep coming back? It is great shots like that where I had four good to excellent shots and even though it did not result in birdie I executed and did what I set out to do.

Number two has a double green shared with number 18

Here is the Skinny. 

Customer Service- 8 - Staff Friendly and professional. Golf Course crew # 1 flat out would not move. The rest of the staff including Jason, Blake and the cart person were awesome.

Course Markings- 9.5 - Very good. Some suggestions on playing the course but I would have liked more as this is a huge local knowledge course and you need to play it several times in one season to get a good understanding of where to hit it. Markings at 100, 150, 200 yards and sprinkler heads. Some suggestions on playing the holes also helped.  

Conditions -10 - Course in outstanding shape and the greenskeeper should be commended. 
   

Playability 7- You need to be playing very well and hope to get some good bounces to score here. This is a huge local knowledge course and you need to play it several times to really understand the various ways to best play it.  Greens are tough and not always readable and this is part of local knowledge. Many breaks are not readily apparant. Other than that this is a course that you must put on your to do list as much as possible.

Course Design- 8- The King caters to the better golfer and it is near perfect in design. The homes on the course do not come into play and that works out for everyone.

Pace of Play- N/A I was the first one off and played in 2:40 including some extrended wait times.

The bottom line. I give it a 9.0/10 This is really quite a track to play and you really should give them a call to book a tee time. It is upscale, a super golf course for serious golfers and a memorable time.

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Westwynd Golf Staff
Jason Tignanelli		(248) 608-7820 JasonTig@westwyndgolf.com

4161 N. Adams Rd.
Oakland Township, MI 48306

 Homes are seen but not heard from

Green with hidden pin

His ball is way below the hole. Remember, he is putting uphill to the flag on the upper level.