Black Heath Will Leave You with a Scotish Taste and I Don't Mean Haggis

When you drive north on Rochester Road about five to six miles north of University Drive, it is easy to think you have passed Black Heath Golf Course but I assure you that this golf course sits right on the road and is worth the drive.  The idea for Blackheath came from a trip to Scotland by Kevin Aldrich and he was inspired to build a Scotish style course not from the links but from heathland style course which frequent the Scotish country side.

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Blackheath Golf Course was constructed from rolling farmlands and the rolling fairways and deep bunkers. What I found out from playing this course is that the heather you see in the pictures really does not come into play unless you have a serious mishit. The greens on many holes of this 128 acre course are huge and are rolling and some roll at different speeds than the others.     One thing I found out early is that you better get to Black Heath pretty early. Golfers are already filling out the parking lot before the rooster crows and if you are ten minutes late, you could see a three hour round turn into something more. What I like about his course is really a fun time as you have plenty of different shots to build your score. I actually played the first hole in literally the dark and decided not to review it but the second hole is quite a dandy. It plays only 313 from the black tees and 293 from the blue tees where I played. Blackheath plays at 6768 from the tips and only 6128 yards from the blue tees I decided to challenge myself with. I went with the lesser yardage as I am rebuilding my swing and was not confident of my driver and did not want to spray the ball around in the dark where the rough does not give up a whole lot of golf balls. I will go back up to the higher tees in time. I can tell you that the difference of 600 yards is very noticeable as the longer tees have different bunkers that come into play as well as valleys, water hazards and other problems you do not have to deal with at 6100 yards or less. The second hole is quite a challenge as you will need a decent carry to hit it over the heath. There is bunkering around the green and your ball will move if you do not put it well. Unless you dub your drive you should have a pitch to the green but hit it straight as there are three sand bunkers that are waiting for careless golfers to hit into them. The dogleg right does not give golfers a good look off of the tee.

Number four is the hole that looks very intimidating off of the tee box .It plays to 586 yards from the tips and only 536 from the blues but you will need an above average drive to clear the trees that run both sides of the swampy area that you must carry for nearly 200 yards. The fairway also rises in the landing area but once you hit the ball over that impediment the hole does open up. Do not go short as the heather is mixed with wetlands and your ball will never be seen again. Your second shot must be nutted for you to have any chance at a wedge shot for your third and if you miss your second shot, you could be looking for eagle from 200 + yards out. Parring this hole is a job well done and birdie will have you winning some skins on this second rated hole at Blackheath.      Number six is an uphill then down sloped par four that plays from 356 to 390 with bunkers on both sides of the fairway and more surrounding the green including a nasty one that lays at the right side of the green. The green is large and is very challenging if you go above the hole. Depending on where the hole is laid out for the day, you could have a real twister. The par three holes at Blackheath are actually a relief for most golfers as only one of the five will make you pull out a long iron from the bag and this is not the case on the 179 yard par three. Playing from the blues I only had to shoot at 157 yards and there is wide girth for golfers to put it on the green as only two sand traps will trip you up but this is a pretty easy hole and putting it on is in order. I didn’t though and put it a few yards short and in a sand trap. I hit a good sand shot out but ended up two-putting twisting a putt wide to the pin that was set up short on the green. This green does curl and if you can place the ball it is better to be short than long. The eighth hole is one where there is a fifty-three yard difference in yardage from the black to the blue tees. It is advisable that longer hitters should be the primary golfers that play this piece of property as heather, a pond that goes left side and a bunker that you have to shoot over all stand in your way and are out there at over 200 yards. This dogleg left has a nice rolling fairway so you can blast away and have a wide target to shoot at. Watch out though. There are a plethora of bunkers surrounding the green and they lay high obscuring the hole. The green is massive here and you may hit it on the green in regulation but you could be over 100 feet from the pin. Hitting a downhill put could leave you with a certain three-putt unless you have deft touch.

The 10th green has a huge depression in front of it.

So you want to bomb away? Here is the 11th Fairway

This awaits you if you miss the 11th fairway on your second shot right.

     The 11^th hole at Black Heath is a bombs away 600 yard par five that is a long arching dogleg left. The scorecard is not 100 accurate here as it appears that a huge bunker is in the landing area right side to keep golfers honest from cutting the corner. In the landing area awaits a slope that will carry drives that make it perhaps another 20 to thirty yards and leaves you with a three wood with a good angle to the pin but a long carry awaits you with a shot of over 250 yards. Pot bunkers fish and chips style are deep and if you can stay out of them to the right side less than 100 yards from the green and you can have a chip and run or lob wedge to the green. I went into the bunker but had a good lie and actually used a 9 iron out of the sand and went to the green and hit my shot flush and went over the green and chipped back on for my birdie attempt. There is no way to know if you hit the pot bunker which club to use. I thought I could play it almost like a fairway shot. The key for me is whether I could carry the links style lip which was a good 4-5 feet high and I hit it flush and perhaps too much so. The green here is very undulated and I chipped it about 10-12 feet past the hole and darned if I did not turn a 6 into a five as my putt worked right to left just like I thought. I hit all solid shots. Only my wedge from around the green ran long.

While Blackheath plays surprisingly open, number 13 is a close shave with a demand of a well-placed tee shot that is very different from most golf holes and is refreshing.  This 427 yard hole (355 from the blues) has woods that come into play on the left side and hitting the fairway leftside could leave you with a pop and drop shot left side. You drive nearly diagonally from your right to left and the woods come into play for drives hit very well and you will make a donation if you hit it too firmly. You also can hit what you think is a superb drive and find out that you are blocked out from either going for the green if you cannot hit your drive too close to the woods and have to shoot over the trees with a blind shot to the green or are blocked out if you cannot lift your drive over the tree line. You might say ‘let’s drive right but there are multiple sand bunkers there. Your best bet is to just put your drive out there  or smoke a three or five wood and give yourself a shot of 120-150 yards to the hole. I put my drive right down the middle and was slightly blocked out but had a nearly clean shot and only a mishit would hurt my chances. My second shot was a little thin but well struck and my ball ended up a few feet from the green at the top of a slight hill that guards the hole. I then chipped to about 5 feet and I took care of my business from there and pared this tricky hole.

While the 13^th was a unique hole, 14 was just as challenging. The tee box overlooking the layout was mouth watering and I mean the room you had to maneuver the ball the wetlands that nearly saw this hole in half. I really thought that the left side was the way to go as you have another 20 yards to drive the ball and I figured that like 13, a well- placed tee shot was even more important than smoking the ball as trying to drive the wetlands would bring a potential penalty into play. So what do I do, I hit a very solid golf shot. So solid a shot that when I looked for my ball on the left side I did not find it. In what may have been a very lucky stroke of luck, my ball rolled through the end of the fairway where a collar acts like a buffer before the wetlands and is maybe 3-4’ feet and that is where I found my ball. Whew! What luck. When seeing that I still had more work, I saw that the cattails would most likely clip my second shot and in fact did clip my three metal wood. This shot was hit less than flush and did clip this shot and it headed solid but right and cleared the mogul hill on the hole and rested about 80 yards from the large green. My loft wedge found the green and I worked my putt just wide of the hole and tapped in for a par on a well played hole.

The par three 15 is a 155 effort where putting your ball anywhere around the green or on it and you should have a par or bogey on this hole. It is the 18^th ranked handicap hole on the course. On this day, the blue and black tees where one and the same. A easily swung 8 iron was put nearly even with the pin but about 25 feet away and a putt that would move slightly left to right was stroked and my birdie putt just missed. There are bunkers on this hole that guard the hole in the front but they are not deep. Going short of this green will not hurt you as you can hit it right at the pin by rolling it up there.

While number 15 is the easiest hole on the scorecard, just two holes later the very tough 149 yard par four will demand that you whale away so that your second shot will not be a fairway wood or high iron. Your ball will carry well on this hole but if you goof your drive and go right you will drive the ball on an adjacent hole. Popping up on this hole is not smart as there are multiple trouble spots including a pond, and fescues that could have you playing for bogey if you are not smart off of the tee. I drove right on this hole into the rough that was not to difficult to play from. I then hit a very mediocre three wood that left me under 100 yards from a very reachable green and then put my shot on top of the crowned green just off of the dog hair. My chip from there was not very good and I was still 20-25 feet from the pin and I missed my  bogey putt and settled for a double. That is my do over hole as I just played this hole poorly. Four is really a good score here and you can birdie this hole but it is a super accomplishment for two well struck shots then a birdie putt.

The bottom Line: Here's the Skinny...

Customer Service- 8.5- They have a friendly staff  from Tom and the starters. More than one golf course mower kept mowing and this includes when you waived at them. Some mow next to the green when you are putting.   

Course Markings- 9.0 - Very Good. Course staked at each 50 yard interval. No suggestions on playing the course as for individual holes. Number 16 had two sets of flags to let you know how far it was to the wetlands.  

Conditions -8.0 - Course in excellent shape. Score goes down as a lot of mowed grass was left in the fairways and lots of sand and grass was on my ball after each hole without a ball washer. I was constantly toweling off golf balls during the round.    

Playability 9.5- This is a good scoring track. The course plays much different depending on your tee box played.   The greens are tough at this course and you really need to watch your speed. .

Course Design- 10 - Course laid out with the average to  very above average golfer in mind. For you to go in the heather/heath on this course, you did some serious shanking.

The bottom line. I give it a 9.0/10.0. I like the course and it is a very great value for the money. This course gets tons of play as it is a super track to play. Come on out as you will love coming back.

Blackheath Golf Club

Phone: 248.601.8000

Fax: 248.601.8007

Address: 3311 N. Rochester Road Rochester Hills, MI 48306

Here is a link to the course. There are specials on the home page of the site.
 http://www.blackheathgolfclub.com/content.php?link=home.php