By Tom Lang
In the 1920s, not that long after World War I, locals who returned home to the Upper Peninsula after serving overseas – where they were exposed to the game of golf – decided there needed to be a golf course for public play. There was a private course in the area at the time of the great mining boon but not just anyone could play.
“This was a farm back in the 1920s,” said GM Tom Wilson. “A bunch of locals were out here with shovels, and sickles, and it was all done in-house per se. And making it 100 years now is quite impressive being in the U.P. where we have just five months of play.”
Few people walking onto the property would question that the front 9, designed by Alex Jolley, is the original course. The land is perfect for authentic links golf, as our massive Lake Michigan that stretches out to the horizon sits right across the street, almost identical to links courses along the ocean in Great Britan. Trees have grown up over the years between fairways but are not burdensome.
The name of the course derives from sitting on the north shoreline of the same Great Lake.
For the most part, the routing is back and forth, with several side-by-side holes running parallel to each other with some slight bends and turns. The entire course is very walkable. There are some water hazards as well, but they’re not egregious, and they are very avoidable for the vast majority of golfers.
The back nine was created at its 50th anniversary in 1976 at the same time a new clubhouse was erected. It starts out with a unique bunker on the 10th hole, guarding the left side of the green that has a short retaining wall in the bunker which golfers blasting out have to get over to hold on the putting surface.
Hole 11 is a nice short par three with water on the right. Holes number 12 and 13 are aggressive left to right turning dog legs, and 13 is so aggressive it’s almost a 90° turn.
Hole 14 is a nice short par three again with water guarding the backside. No. 15 gets back into dog leg mode with a S-shaped double dogleg for the par five. Don’t go long there over the green, because water guards the backside.
Approximately 400 ash trees in this region of the property have been removed due to the diseases that were plaguing that species. Much of the old stumps look to be outside the bounds of the fairways, but removal of a handful of others have helped improve pace of play because some were fairway obstacles, but no longer.
The 16th is also a dog leg with a slight S flare to it but not as dramatic as the prior hole. Holes 10, 17 and 18 are the only straightaway holes on the back nine.
North Shore is filled with pride of its blue-collar clientele and members, just what a lot of smaller communities need to develop the sport of golf for all comers. It doesn’t have the wow and pizzaz of the large Michigan or Wisconsin resorts, but it has its place in U.P. history and that’s all it needs.
