Newly Renovated Manitou Passage Golf Club Re-Opens

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(GLEN ARBOR, MI) -- Manitou Passage Golf Club, an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course situated close to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Leelanau, re-opened for play June 18 after an extensive renovation to the course.

When a group of golf devotees purchased the course (formally Kings Challenge Golf Club) last year, they did so with the goal of creating a destination course featuring exceptional playing conditions and unmatched service. That group, led by Bob Kuras, president of The Homestead, brought the Arnold Palmer Design Company, Peridian International, and the Wadsworth Golf Construction Company in to assist with renovation efforts and creating the course that Arnold Palmer envisioned when he first designed the course in 1998.

Manitou Passage now measures 6,700 yards, a few hundred yards longer then its former self and plays to a par 71. Each hole features five new repositioned rectangular tee boxes, a popular style from the classic architecture era of the early 20th century. Other changes included the lengthening of holes, restoring areas with native grasses, and clearing trees and brush to open up vistas around the course. Additionally, the green complexes, the pride of Palmer Design, have been redone and will now live up to golfers expectations.

Some of the signature holes also underwent major changes including the 18th hole, which was lengthened to more than 500 yards with new fairway lines setting up a beautiful finish with the new clubhouse as a backdrop. The 17th hole, a picturesque par-3 with one of the best views of the Leelanau countryside, had bunker changes and teeing areas repositioned so the green can be seen from each tee-box now. The 16th hole, a demanding par-4, has now become a great hole by moving the tee boxes fifty yards to the west and removing trees on the corner, which has opened up the driving area and created a challenging and fair risk reward shot off the tee.

Other holes that have seen significant improvements include the second and fourth holes, where tees were repositioned and trees removed allowing much better angles and room off the tee and more favorable routings to the greens.

The exclamation point on the renovations to Manitou Passage was achieved at the eighth hole, a par-5 Wadsworth once referred to as "the worst golf hole in the world." It's anything but that now. The hole was entirely rebuilt with trees being removed, tee boxes repositioned, new fairway lines, providing a spectacular hole that begins with the one of the best views in northern Michigan playing downhill with a risk reward second shot to a green guarded by a pond.

Complementing the course renovations, the investment group also completed a beautiful renovation of the clubhouse and entrance facilities. The new clubhouse features a beautiful stone and cedar shake exterior with an attractive porch area where guests can view shots into the 18th hole. The inside of the clubhouse features a warm rich interior design including a stone fireplace, leather sofas, and open-air ceilings that expand from the new entrance area, dining area, and a new golf shop. The upgrades also include new locker room areas.

"We are very excited with the renovation work to the golf course, clubhouse, and entrance areas," Kuras said. "Now when golfers arrive, they will feel right away, as they pull into the entrance, that they are going to experience a world-class golf facility from the moment they arrive, as well as on the course, to when they leave."

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