2013 Katke Cousins Golf Course Review

Meadowbrook Mansion -Golfers get a good look on Holes 16-through 18

Updated on July 28th, 2013

I would like to thank first off, the fine staff at Oakland Universities Golf and Learning Center starting with Bill Rodgers and working through Perry Busse and Jeremy Moses. 

During the 2011- 2012 golf off season, Oakland University went through a multi-million dollar redevelopment and the changes are stunning. The beautiful clubhouse pictured below is a two story structure and is perhaps a vital piece for this property to hold a future PGA Tour stop. What many people do not realize is that having a Tour stop quality course is a given and Katke Cousins just might be what the Tour wants. Other items include: parking, gallery space, proximity to freeways, hospitals, crowd evacuation (for inclement weather) and a sponsor with a multi-year commitment to a tournament. 

View from the first fairway and practice green

     Katke Cousins is a well known commodity among Oakland County Golf Courses and this nearly 7200 yard layout is an excellent test of golf from the Tournament Tees down to the 5200 yard layout for the beginning or unskilled golfer.  This layout was designed by Bob Beard and Bill Newcomb and from the wildlife to the variety of hazards and golf challenges, this is a course that is well worth spending the money on. 

     One of the things that changed at Katke was the nines were reversed so the 18th would finish under the two decks located a the clubhouse.  

    

     The first hole is a slight dog leg left where the tee box overlooks a slight valley with trees and a sand bunker left side. You start out the revamped course playing a short par five where you can easily get on in two but with sand bunkers and a fast green, long shots need to be bounced on the right side or deftly placed with a soft landing. It was another par five but only played 475 yards from the Grizzlies as the tees were back about ten yards from the stated yardage. A long sand bunker plays down the right side and can easily catch your tee shot. The fairway is wide here and the trees should only come into play on the left side if you hit a poor shot. I went right side fairway and the fairway slope carried it into the rough about three feet from going into the sand. I pulled out a fairway wood and blasted it to within 20 feet of the green in two and chipped onto the putting surface only 10 feet away. On the two days I played the course, I pulled my drive on day one and dubbed it the other. What a shame as this is a birdie hole for sure. 

The third is an uphill par three where birdies do not come easy. 

A view of the third from the green to the tee box

The third hole plays as an uphill par three where the holes become increasingly harder as the round plays on. Playing as an uphill hole where most golfers will find themselves clubbing up one or even two clubs to take the sand out of play. You will usually see the flag clearly from the tee box but you cannot see how wide open it is until you survey your tee shot. The greens at Katke are a mystery to me. I am very good at reading greens but at this course, whatever I thought I knew about putting goes out the window. Putts hit fair but firm roll several feet by and strokes massaged die to one side of the hole or the other.  There  are trees on both sides of the hole and this is a frequent place for deer to graze. 

Hit it on 4th and you have room to go over the trees. Hit it straight
and par or bogey await you. How about bird? The hole is only 300-350 yards.

Talk about taking a rip at a shot is what you can do on number 4. It is a downhill par four and it severely slopes toward the green and driving it down the middle will give you applause from the gallery and a stroke to the ego. The flip side is go right short and you will clean the bark of the trees. Go left and you have the same thing. If you hit a hook right side you will play out of the tall grass and will have multiple trees to knock down your shot and you will have nowhere to pitch as the slope back to the fairway is blind from below. The smart play is to hit a fairway wood or an iron down the middle but I think most golfers would want to take a rip at it here. I hit it in the rough right side but had an opening to the green if I hit a good shot and that is what I did. I think I made Seve proud here going through the opening and putting my ball on the front side of the green. I two-putt here and my par was quite swashbuckling. I do not think my golf course management was the best here but it worked out this time.

     PGA Pro Perry Busse said a premium driving hole for golfers is at the 5^th hole. This is another elevated tee where the woods will gobble up any balls hit right or left and a sand trap will collect any errant tee shots in the landing area somewhere around 240-250 yards down the fairway. Errant tee shots that land on the fairway but short will have tree trouble as the mature tree line will knock down any less than stellar shots from the fairway. You really need to drive the ball to the left of the 150 yard marker to the rough. Even the large sand trap is better than being on the fairway right side. Oh yeah, the green is devilish and so is your second shot.  The large trap guarding the green will keep you honest. It is undulated and is guarded by bunkers. You better be right with God as it slopes from the back to the front and both times I played this hole the flag was in the front 15 of the green. Any mid to long iron shots  hitting above the hole will be hit downhill. 

A tee shot not placed in the fairway will have tree trouble and you may have to shape your shot.

The green on this hole is very tricky.



Meadowbrook Mansion from an unzoomable camera

Another bust a move hole is the par four number 7th and my advice is to gauge whether you can split the dog leg right by driving over the sand bunker. It sits somewhere around 160 yards from the green and if you can drive it, you are in great position to hit up to the elevated green. I went into the sand being in it by only a few feet to the right of the fairway and about 3-4 feet from driving over it on a solid but unspectacular drive. The safe play on this hole is to simply drive to the fairway to the left of the trap. If you play conservatively, you will have a longer iron or even fairway wood shot coming in but you will take the sand out of play as well as the woods running to the green right side.  In what was one of my top shots of the day I considered pitching into the fairway but noticed my ball was on top of the sand and said I bet I can take my 5 hybrid and put it close to the green. 



18th Tee Box

PGA pro Perry Busse said the 9th is another tough driving hole as golfers have to place their tee shot between two groves of trees at the finishing hole for this nine. Many golfers will hit driver or even a better bet is a three wood. Being short or long will most likely make you pitch to the fairway from a long way out and with par no sure thing to begin with, taking a double bogey is not the way to finish. From the tee,  (410 from my box) and a premium drive in terms of accuracy is essential for you to get home in two and take your chances with another tough green. Bombers may try to go over the trees left side but it is out of bounds as Meadowbrook Hall is staked as out of play. A huge oak tree and this posse of trees has branches that are in dire need of a strike of lightning or at least a good trimming. The right side trees that cluster together make your tee shot an essential drive of accuracy and must come together here. I hit a drive that clipped a branch right side but it continued on into the trees on the right side of the fairway where the dog leg left starts. I did have a shot though and blocked my second shot into the top of a slope overlooking the left side green side sand bunker. I chipped and had yet another two-putt as my par put just lipped out from about ten feet and I had to hit a testy four footer that thankfully went in.

The 17th is a par three where bunkers guard a huge green

A peak at the back of Meadowbrook Hall is to the feet

 The old first hole is now the tenth and you can see some of the mental thoughts changing. Before, this was a great starting place where the elevated tee box and downward sloping fairway makes you appreciate what was a casual starting place. Now it is a reprieve after playing the stretch of holes that placed a premium on driving on the fifth through the ninth. 

     The new tenth hole hole which plays at 426 from the Grizzly tee boxes and plays to 6554 yards and this is where I play my round from. The view from the first tee box is breathtaking with heather dotting the landscape between grass mounds, a large sand trap in the landing area and two more that dot both sides of the front side of the green. This hole is one where it slopes from tee box to green the first half of the hole and a well placed tee shot will roll if you hit a line drive and not a high fade. The second shot into the green is enticing as the green is very large and after my tee shot, I still had a six iron into the green and placed it safely on. From there a two-putt for par allowed me to go onto number 11.  I thought I struck that sucker as the putts at Katke Cousins will tail on you if you do not judge your speed but I tapped in for par and will fight on another day. 

Just a pretty driving hole with a water fall in the back.

     The second hole plays much shorter in my book than the listed yardage of 400 yards as the bunker, the trees and the sand are configured to make it look like it around 100 yards closer.

The beautiful waterfall and pond that is a couple of hundred feet behind the green also give you a different look than usual.The advice is to just keep the ball in play. Being left or right without snapping it into 

 The pond  is located just feet off of the back of the green. I wish there was a bunker there as it is better to hit from the sand than from four feet of water. Anyways, I could set up a lawn chair there and take a nap while listening to the water run from the waterfall and feel the cool breezes from this really beautiful golf hole.

The third plays from 76 to 202 yards. Most will play from around 150 and shoot over a pont

Check out the deer in this short video

There are deer everywhere on this hole. I counted nine

  
The 13 hole is what Perry Busse, the head PGA professional is one of the most difficult holes on the golf course. It plays much different depending on what tee box you launch your drive off of and the difference between 460 and 400 yards serves notice that the length of your drive is almost secondary to your accuracy off of the tee. Trees line this hole both sides of this par four and if you hit your drive too far right here you will be blocked out from hitting a second shot over a bridge and creek that gives you about 150 more yards from a well placed drive. Drive it right and you assuredly will be chipping to the bridge and your birdie try could be one from 150 yards or better. Hit it straight and the hole seems pretty tame. I bogeyed this hole after hitting my drive right down the middle but my second shot was fat and about 20 yards short of the green. Greens are tricky on this course and my chip was nice but ran about six feet by the pin and then I just missed my par putt and I still had a tapper for bogey.
    

The bridge on number four

I call number five the twilight zone hole. The hole plays innocent enough from the tee box until you see that there is a serious drop off for of a good thirty feet for those that shank or mishit their drives. Even drives hit to the right side of the fairway will end up going down a hill or into a sand bunker. Guess what I did both times I played this hole? 

I went into Rod Sterling’s den of horror and was forced to either shoot through a cluster of trees or to layup. I went over the trees today but was about 30 feet in front of the green where I chipped on and once again two-putt for a five. Really, the best place to be on this hole is to go right down the middle or left side of the 150 marker or better yet, drive the marker.

Be on the fairway here goes double on number five. 

Going down the hill on number five is not your best play. 

The par three 15th has a pretty entrance but the hole is tough at
155 to 215 yards long

     The par five 16th is a hole that really looks much shorter than the 562 yards from the Tournament tees and the 524 yardage I played from on this day. 

Hit it below the bunkers on your second or third shot will leave you some work to do.

     I hit a solid drive and the hole slopes from the left and the right down to the middle almost like a tube and while walking to the ball I thought I hit the perfect tee shot. Perhaps I did until I realized that I had a stance a couple of feet below the ball which surely looked perfect just a short walk before I reached the ball.

View from the fairway on the half pipe that funnels tee shots to the center of the fairway. Beware, you lie may position your feet below or above the ball.

The hole is a dog leg left and slopes from the fairway upwards about 20 feet with large bunkers guarding the slope right side and again around the green. My second shot was pushed right but left me about 70 yards from the green just missing the sand on the cluster of sand I spoke of.

The green on number 18 could turn around a battle ship.

My third shot was slightly blind as the hill rises to a point partially obscuring the pin from the sand. I hit it to where I thought I put enough steam on it and was about 20 yards short and had no idea of knowing until I got over the ridge. A chip over the bunker and a two-putt left me with another bogey. My second shot was the key to the bogey as a better placed shot would have given me perhaps the look I needed to have a par or even a birdie opportunity.

Number 18 is a hole that looks long and I mean really long from the tee box.

It plays 625 yards from the tee box and 557 from the Grizzlies and with the landscape that becomes hilly right side and has a elevated green, you know that popping one up here is something you cannot afford to do. Luckily I hit a solid drive that went down the right side of the fairway and settled a yard or so off the first cut into the rough. I could see the green just fine but knew I would need my best shot to give me a mid-iron or less with my third shot. Well, I hit my best three metal wood of the day about 60 yards short of the green as I blasted it and got some roll. Still, I drove my cart up to the green and said holy smokes. The pin was on the front third of a putting surface that could hold Sea World. Wow, It was deep and wide and sloped on the back half to push long second or third shots away from birdie opportunities. I chipped my ball about thirty feet past the pin as the ball just seemed to roll and roll and roll down the back slope. My birdie putt stayed true but tailed off first a foot, then two then five or six feet from the pin. I had another bogey here on a three putt. Life’s a ………………… 

Here's the Skinny...

 Customer Service- 10.0. This course models how to take care of customers. Perry, Jeremy, and the rest do a great job to let you know that they appreciate your business. It is a nice touch to have a 1/2 liter of water placed in your cart and that small gesture is big for golfers who need to wet their whistle on a hot day. 
  

Course Markings- 9.5 - Excellent. Some suggestions on playing the course. Plenty of places from stakes, to cement markers to sprinkler head all help you to pull out the right club.  

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

   

Playability 9.5- This is a very tough scoring track. The course is very long (7178 yards) and most holes are outstanding.  Greens are tough and very undulated and the ball will keep rolling in several places. The practice green will help you and check it out as it is outstanding to improve your game.  

Course Design- 10-  The nature in the woods from the deer that were all over to wild turkeys were a sight that anyone can love. I saw four turkeys walk into the woods going around the deer. WOW!

The bottom line. I give it a 10.0/10.0 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.

Phone Number

Oakland University Golf & Learning Center
Phone number:  248-364-6300