Boulder Pointe in Oxford gives you a super golf experience

A beautiful clubhouse from any angle

     Golfers looking for an upscale golf resort experience without the long drive will find your needs met at Boulder Pointe in Oxford. While there is no hotel on the property, you will find a links style experience where instead of an overnight stay you will find upscale homes that can be seen but you will not come in contact with the property owners. That’s a good thing. There are some golf properties where you feel as though you really better hit it straight or you will roll up your sleeves with the neighbors and the neighbors really do not want you anywhere near their place. That is not the case at Boulder Pointe and that is a good thing. They live on a golf course and golfers have not only nature to look at but have a good look at how the upper middle class and above live.

   As for the golf, the signature of the golf course is not just a hole or two but the very wide fairways where it looks easy to split them time after time. That is not always the case as long carries, a wind that never stops circulating and very undulated greens that make you hit lasers not only to the green but to certain areas if you want to score. With 27 holes that are titled Bluffs, Peaks, and Dunes, you get the idea that you will see quite a variety of land and that is true.  With five sets of tees you can play the course with vantage points from the shortest nine (Peaks at 2645) to the longest nine (Dunes at 3862). If you do the math, that’s 3,862 x2 =7624 yards. That is PGA Tour stuff and I do not mean one of their lightweight courses.

To make things simple, we will tour the course from the green tees which is the second from longest tees on the course.

The green past the valley

     The Bluffs gives you a test right out of the gate. The first hole is framed with heather on both sides and a slight dogleg left. What you do not see on this 391 yard par four is a deep slope into a valley about 140 yards from the pin. A 240 yard tee shot is not big these days but the slope that a is runoff into a valley is frought with unpleasant rough and a downhill lie that is an instant bogey maker. If you simply hit a fairway wood off the tee, you will have a wedge to six iron shot depending on how you hit it and how strong the ever persistent wind is. The first is a very pretty hole and many golfers will drive it into the valley. If you do, bogey or worse could be waiting. The putt is not going to be easy but it is manageable.

     A hole that is a playing delight is the 5^th hole. This par five (505 yards) is one where you can whale away but you better go straight or at least play an angle to the pin and a fade to the right will put you into play. A bending slope is waiting on the right side and harsh dunes are waiting to the left. This dog leg left is slight but going into the slope will give you a game of twister and you will be chipping back to the fairway and you will have a slight downhill shot to the green. Split the fairway and you can hit a second shot that could hit the green. Shots that just miss the green have multiple sand bunkers in front of the green with a short cut that will funnel your shot in front of the green. A waste area is to the right of the green and hitting out of that will not be good for your golf clubs.

There is a lot of trouble from the landing area in

A hole that is brutal is the 7^th. This 439 yard par four is nothing less than a punch in the nose. Hitting your drive straight is very recommended. To the right side are trees, heather and a chip back to the fairway. A crushed drive could carry you to a downhill slope. For me, both times I played it I got it up into the wind and it left me with a blind downhill shot to a green that resides on the other side of a valley. Errant second shots will find the woods to the left, a sand bunker left and right and unplayable mogels to the right. The green is also very undulated and golfers lucky enough to make it will most likely not be able to place a mid to high iron or hybrid very close to the green. A par on this number one handicap hole on this nine is a very good score. A birdie here will give you a skin guaranteed.

A lot of room to bend your drive- The neighborhood is in play

     My favorite hole on this nine is number nine. It plays much different depending on which tee box you play and the forward (white tees) play at only 335 and the gold tees make for a much different hole at 423 yards. Whether you play the hole long or short, you have a long carry over a pond short and driving it through the fairway is very possible. Heather awaits if you drive it through the fairway with tall pine trees. Most golfers will like the various options you have to play driver, hybrid, fairway wood and so forth. You can miss hitting just about any club and put it on the fairway. Most golfers will have anywhere from 100 to 200 yards for a second shot. It just depends on where you put the ball. If you slice, it will certainly help you here. The green is large but multi-tiered. This is certainly a birdie hole and anything less than par will put you a shot behind the field.

View of the second green

Another view of the second green

    Moving to the second nine is the longest nine on a public course in Oakland County. Playing this nine is easily one of the toughest challenges a golfer will face at a local course. The nine starts out with a par five and a par three and then on the eighth goes par three and par five. There are five straight par fours that will test your ability to hit the big clubs in your bag and restrain you from hitting them for your best chance at scoring. The second hole is really a pretty golf hole. This par three 186 yard hole has a wide and deep green and if you do not hit it, there is a pretty good chance you will have a lost ball. There is a creek that runs in front of the hole with trees to the right and left. The green is undulated but most golfers can two-putt the hole. Par is a good score but birdie is possible. I witnessed a near ace that was about 3” from the hole. Plenty more high school players I witnessed were within 25’ from the hole and all two-putted except for the near miss.

A true drivers delight belongs to the very next hole.

Wide driving fairway but do not go left

     Playing at 468 yards, you are playing downhill into a swirling wind. You can crush the golf ball over 300 yards and still have a mid-iron shot. With bunkers along the right side and plenty of sand everywhere, missing the green will give you a high probability of a sand shot with a multi-tiered green. With many golfers hitting the ball closer to 240-260 yards, a fairway wood or hybrid will give you pause before your second shot of around 200 yards.

The landing area if you go right

This is a par hole. Take your score and move along to the fourth. A birdie here and you can light your cigar.

Going in this is not a good option

     




     

      The most brutal hole in my mind on the entire course is the 7^th. Playing from another  elevated tee, a field of sand, fescues and unplayable marsh and sand awaits to those that miss the fairway.

A view from the 7th tee

A view from the marsh

A long carry awaits those going for a par four in two

Wind circulates at most of the holes on this course but at this 429 yard par four. I saw several high school bombers barely make it to the tee box of the silver tees. Many put it into the fairway about 270 yards and left a mid-iron shot to the green. With the wind, you had better think twice or heck make it three times. A pond is waiting to the right. A very wide creek is waiting any shot that is short to this green. It is green or bust. This hole plays very slow due to most golfers not wanting to lay up 50-70 yards short and using a wedge into the green as your birdie opportunity. The first time I played it I had my less than stellar tee shot find the creek. Gee’ I had no idea the creek was there. I imagine that you must have a lot of golfers hitting provisional second shots here. If the wind is not circulating you have a chance. All four times I visited this hole it was causing golfers fits including me. This is most certainly one of the toughest holes in southeastern Michigan.

The eighth is a hole that is as scenic as the seventh is brutal to your scorecard. Playing at nearly 190 yards, you will pull out a mid to high iron here. There is marsh in front of the tee box, a lake to the left, woods to the right and marsh lining the left side of the fairway.

Wildlife is everywhere

You will not have this look off the tee of the 8th green

While the hole does not have a long carry, you can go short here if you are in the fairway. If the pin is to the right, you can aim at the flag. If it is to the left, the marsh will obstruct your view. Birdies are possible but I have not seen any one of a dozen golfers get it close. A par is a good score here. A few weeks ago in late-May, there was a family of swans using the marsh for a nest and there were other nests that were vacated.  This hole could certainly make a postcard picture.

      










     The Peaks is the final nine I played and while the Dunes was longer and tougher the Peaks had plenty of beautiful and very challenging.

It's green or bust here-Chipping downhill behind the green

will be tough

The second hole was a long carry par three with yardage at nearly 190 yards. With sand well placed, it guarded the large green and kept you honest to avoid bouncing a ball onto the green. You could tell the geese used the hole to drop presents and missing the green to the right would allow you to chip it on. The swirling winds will most likely have you clubbing it up one club. This is a birdie hole and the large green will leave a lot of two or three putts. 
Get your score at number one and two described here. Number three is much tougher.

     The third hole is a par five that has water surrounding the green. Playing at over 540 yards, this par five is elevated with housing to the right and left but not in play. The fairway is very wide and you will be tempted to whale away.

The fairway is wide and the pin is to the right at the lake

Doing this is most likely a huge mistake. The only time I played this hole I thought that the green was straight and then to the left. It turns out it is to the right. The fairway does narrow as you move down toward the green and hitting the ball to the right will make you hit your second shot left. This is to give you some maneuverability to go right as you approach the hole. It will also give you a wedge or high iron to the hole. You also have to watch the water as your fairway wood will funnel slightly into the water. A botched tee shot with either distance or a hook to the right. This is not an easy hole to score at. There is little room at the green to miss as water waits everywhere but the front of the finish.

This picture does not do the drop justice

One of the most fun holes is the 4^th. If you have ever played Threetops at Treetops, you will most likely remember the second hole. While this hole is no where as close to being as scenic or has the hangtime that hole has, it is a slight reminder of the hole. Your elevated tee shot drops a good 30 feet and this 125 yard par three has a long and deep multi-tiered green and you must strategize whether you should take the lake out of play and leave yourself potentially a longer putt and putt down the slope. Those that execute their shots will have a birdie putt of 30’ or less and birdies should be common for those that like risk and reward. Putts slope toward the lake so take that into account.

The 7^th hole is simply a brutal par four. Another elevated par four of better than 470 yards, it demands a premium tee shot that splits the fairway.

Anything to the left will not hurt you but go to the right and you will either go ob, have a tough or obstructed high iron or fairway wood shot (I hit hybrid). The green is huge.
Walmart could put a store on this green and jokes aside, it is very deep and you could easily three putt the toughest handicapped hole on this side. The hole is a good judge of where your golf game and par is a very good score here. I cannot imagine very many birdies here.

Very undulated green

It's short but trouble lurks in the landing areas

The ninth hole is extremely fun and pictures will tell the story here. 



 The skinny on Boulder Pointe

This is a golfers golf course. While PGA Professional Rich Morgan said that this course caters to the average golfer, in my mind, you better practice and have some game before coming. 4 Stars here. 

Service- The people are nice and accommodating- 4 Stars here.
 
Course condition- Scot J. Gardiner does a great job 4 again
One strange thing is a lack of rakes at the course for all of the sand traps. Many of the traps are huge and on some holes, there is one rake for all of the traps. Some golfers might just say forget about it. 

Course design- 3 1/2- I say this by nitpicking. The course is extremely well designed but one thing that got on my nerves was quite a few sand traps had gravel mixed with sand. There is no way I will take my new irons and chip out of a gravel trap. Just saying. A few holes back up as golfers have to layup (no. 7 on the Dunes) and on busy days, the tees will have to be moved up to prevent 5 hour play. They take superb care of this course and so do their customers.

Value- Outstanding- There are plenty of outstanding and tough holes. This is a course worth revisiting.
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www.boulderpointe.net/‎