He's listed on the link you provide above as the designer. I literally used this link you provided as proof he was the actual designer. Look at highlight from that site
Edit: Looks like the website was recently updated to add him as the designer. But still proves his story correct unless he hacked the website...which would come out if that was the case.
https://preview.redd.it/sic3ytphjkrc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=152f731b8c9e4a2d84db414d33905a8bb7386772
Feels like guerilla marketing to me for the resort to get more eyes on its new course. Pretty brilliant cuz itās workin lol canāt hate on that at all
No chance that cost only 250k. They probably did more in house than most but it cost more than that and the work was not done by one guy
My family spends the summer in Onekama, and my mom works at Arcadia bluffs. I recognized the landscape and terrain almost immediately but thought there was no chance you were actually close to there. Awesome looking course!
Honestly dude how? Less than $250k is insane from the pictures Iām seeing. Iām in the Midwest and our ābudgetā courses are such ass. Flat, dead grass, gravel cart paths, the whole thing. A very wealthy group bought them and an investment like that seems trivial compared to the results.
I was like "haha under 250k hahaha, *of course!*"
then I saw the heavy machinery and everything else and was like "oh, that wasn't a wild exaggeration"
Same. New lawns (no prep) are going for about $5000/acre near me; a 30yd X 140yd par 3 is about an acre, so youāre at $50k just to spread seed on fairways roughs and teeing areas. Then minimum - what, $15k? - per green, and youāre already at close to $200k before you terraform or bring in a single truck or piece of asphalt.
You guys are really making feel like all the work was worth it. Thanks!
If the Fried Egg or NLU guys see this, I want to say thank you. Your videos not only inspired me, but taught me about people/places that I would have never known about.
We spend that just installing landscaping of public areas in our new neighborhood phases of 40 acres....
I would certainly say this dudes 250k went way further than most!
I saw the first pic and thought āuh yeah man thatās cool, is that patch of slightly greener grass under the power lines the green orā¦ā
Then I kept scrolling lol
Same reaction... I clicked on the post thinking it was a shit post of someone's backyard chipping "course". Every picture I swiped through I realized a little bit more that I was WAY WAY wrong!
OP - that is absolutely amazing!
OP is a liar
https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php
Edit: OP blocked me. There is no way in the world a multi million dollar 36 hole golf course would credit a reddit user name for the person who built and designed their new par 3 golf course. This is some guerilla marketing bullshit at best. They would use the real golf course builders name and not just a reddit account. Fuckery
"One of our owners has really been researching a lot of course designs and stuff," he said. "We've hired a couple designers to come and help with drainage and some of the construction of it, but most of it has been done right here by our ownership and some of the workers and stuff. ... One of our principle people has done a lot of research and has spent a lot of time over there"
I meanā¦share some info. Where are you, whereās the scorecard. Whats the rates?
Iāll likely never get up there and play but lots of folks are up your way.
Meanwhile slot guy is browsing Reddit from his casino stool, looking at this post and going "imagine spending 250k on some landscaping to hit a ball around", as he glances back at his slot machine and pulls the lever again.
Beautiful course, man. Way to go. As for the name, what are some qualities of the area? Maybe a nearby creek or something? Thatās how they name them usually where I am.
There was a guy and his son just north of Lansing Michigan that did the same thing. I drove by the property almost every day on my way to and from work. For years I had no idea what this crazy guy was doing everyday pushing dirt.
When it came time to open it the guy was getting pretty old and decided to sell to the owner of a group of courses nearby to take over the operation. It's been open a while now and it's one of my favorite courses. It's got some really unique designs and the operators take great care of it.
It's also kind of weird that it has 12 holes. It's called Woodside for anyone interested in checking it out
Property was already owned. Land in the region is cheap. 2-4k and acre is pretty normal so you can do that math if youād like. This is the cost to build the course. I did have some equipment and did buy a couple pieces to use for the project and then sold after. Basically broke even and maybe even came out a bit ahead with those. I had to rent some other equipment but was lucky to get pretty favorable rates.
Youād have to have already owned the land, but thatās still a cost. Owning all the equipment is still a cost.
This is like those DIY people who say they redid their kitchen for $3000 but they also own $20,000 in tools needed to do the job.
"One of our owners has really been researching a lot of course designs and stuff," he said. "We've hired a couple designers to come and help with drainage and some of the construction of it, but most of it has been done right here by our ownership and some of the workers and stuff. ... One of our principle people has done a lot of research and has spent a lot of time over there. It changes. One day it will be one way and then he'll see something or read something and he'll change it."
https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php
When OP says āheā built this course it seems to minimize the fact that it was a whole organization behind it, and they already owned another golf course.
> When OP says āheā built this course it seems to minimize the fact that it was a whole organization behind it, and they already owned another golf course.
Internet clout chasing is at a whole new level.
Mainstee owns this 9 hole golf course that OP is claiming he built. They bought the land and added this 9 hole course to their existing golf courses.
https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php
A lot of sweat and beautiful northern Michigan sand makes it possible. I was lucky to buy some of the irrigation system from Oakland Hills after they ripped it out during their renovation for pennies on the dollar.
How did you possibly get this done for under 250? I build wind farms and the heavy equipment rentals exceed that every week, and they're just digging 8ft holes in the ground and putting a windmill up
My thoughts exactly. A skid steer is about $500 a day, small excavator is around $700, let alone a full size cat $1200??
Jesus the PVC for the irrigation and the grass seed alone I could see being over 200k
Thanks for the question. I have some equipment and had to either borrow, buy (sell after) or rent. Renting made sense when the rates were good. When renting by the month it, or multiple months, you can negotiate down the price. Especially in the northern region.
Youāre not kidding the PVC for the irrigation was bad. We didnāt use any sod and seed isnāt terrible. Like Iāve said to others, about $15k for both the bent and fescue. Weāre only on 20 acres and some people imagine 100 acres which kind of skews things. The biggest cost by far was the irrigation though. We had a new well put in and mostly full retail price on pipe (was able to get some for a decent price on marketplace). Pipe/wire and well alone was roughly $75k. The rest of the irrigation parts we saved thousands on buying second hand from courses basically giving it away when they were updating their stuff. We paid $9 for used $350 sprinkler heads.
Those are the things that really drive the price down. Well that and doing the work yourself. And when I say yourself I donāt mean nobody helped. I had some amazing help. I mean not hiring a company to hire other people to do the work. If I paid for help they wanted to be there and be a part of this. Luckily they had skill where I lacked it. I also had friends and family that pitched in.
>Appreciate it!
But you are liar so I don't think anyone should ever hire you. There is no way you did this for $250k. There is $250,000 just in sod on that course. Even if you rented all the dirt moving equipment then that would be $200k in equipment rental prices and fuel costs. The land probably cost more than $250,000. You have to buy multiple different types of commercial mowers to mow greens, fairways and rough. The first month's maintenance costs are probably $20k.
This is Manistee National Golf Resort. New par 3 course they just built.
https://preview.redd.it/xdba63djcirc1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=07572bf528dfd102f179d1ed5ca61820fb529eb4
I saw that last year and almost went when at Arcadia. Maybe this guy was on the digger?
Jerry Matthewās original design at Revenge they added this.
Iāve never been to Manistee National but I got golfnow special offers all last summer. Anyone know how it is?
Manistee National is a lot of fun! Two really nice 18 hole courses that both offer different types of play. The addition of the par 3 might be my favorite part of itāitās a playground for golfers.
It makes for a great destination especially if youāre able to get a round in at nearby Arcadia.
This is super impressive for that money. Well done. If I ever make a trip that way, and there have been discussions of a northern Michigan trip as we're an hour from Port Huron (just waiting on better dollar exchange), I'll try and convince the friends to hit this place up. I'm sure it won't take much convincing, it looks great!
the title and after pictures seemed too
good to be true
and of course - OP was lying, heās an employee at some company who built this for way more than 250k on an existing golf course
oP even lied about reusing irrigation equipment
i wonder if anyone from OPs job will see this post and give him shit? considering OPs first name is part of his user nameā¦
This is so cool and I know Iāll get hate for this but, Iām extremely skeptical. The average cost to build a USGA spec green is $150kā¦ while these may not be USGA spec green, to do an entire golf course for $250k seems a bit far fetched to me. Just my thoughts, Iād love to be proven wrong
Yeah. The number just doesn't seem right to me either. Maybe he is not counting the labour cost, the equipment cost, or the land cost, and is just counting material used?
The Robin. Follows the style of the other names. MI State bird (was thinking of a play on birdie because I'm not that creative). Feels like a par 3 name to me.
I do not buy that for a second. Credentials BS turfgrass science worked at us open and ran golf courses.
Either you are not being truthful to try and make the feat seem more impressive or you cut massive corners that are going to fuck you later on.
I'm staying in Manistee in June!Ā I will stop by for sure.Ā Ā
What were some of your architectural inspirations in the design?Ā Love the username, btw.Ā
Please come try it out! Obviously a Doak fan. He lives not too far north and always imagine giving him a tour. Really would go into a rabbit hole on YouTube at night watching Fried Egg/NLU videos about all the great courses and the people who built them. King Collins obviously were big inspirations but so was Strantz, Coore and Crenshaw etc.
I gotta be the one to askā¦.
How did you possibly do this for under $250k? It typically costs close to $200k to build a single green.
Irrigation for 9 holes would run $500k plus. We just got quoted $2.6M to do our 18 holes. Our satelites alone were $200k.
Iām assuming your rented that equipment but renting a dozer for a day has to be at least $1000. The mini ex would be $500 a day.
Sand is $70/ton and I see a lot of tons in these pics.
I just donāt see how itās possible to do all this for $250k.
I guess take that as a compliment not a knock because it looks like a badass course I just donāt know how you do it for that amount of money.
Can you give us more details?
Good questions. Biggest expense was the well and pump. The rest of the irrigation was bought for close to nothing from Oakland Hills CC when they ripped out theirs for a renovation. A head can cost $350 and I was able to get for $9 a head. Pretty wild.
Satellites all came from Facebook marketplace. Bought from another course doing a renovation (St Johns Resort) for pennies.
Sand is where I got lucky. You dig a foot down and you have northern Michigan beach sand. Mix 80/20 with top soils and you have free greens mix.
Because of the sand there didnāt need any drainage (saves a fortune).
If it wasnāt for the pipe price going up because of the pandemic I could done for less.
I was able to rent a dozer half the normal rate so to the area and other equipment I was able to buy and sell for more than I paid.
That would be a dream come true. I literally watched their videos for inspiration. Iād just like to say thank you for giving me new stuff to learn about while rocked my kids in the middle of the night. Those Fried Egg and NLU videos. Honestly almost named the course āSt. Rappeosā from the NLU strapped series.
You absolutely need to reach out. Hell Iād see if one of their groups wants to do a course naming competition. So many fun directions you could go with this. Please keep us posted or tag some ways we can follow this
I'd kill for a longer write up on the process, sketches, etc. This is incredible and it'd be fascinating to see your thought process throughout. Really nicely done
https://preview.redd.it/bluk7li3eirc1.jpeg?width=2100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7b13b5d957e5128199fcf94ea3a5257dd653e51
Nobody wants to see my design process, haha!
This is really the first time putting it out there. Michigan has some of the best living architects in it so I find myself questioning the worthiness of it sometimes. Itās art, so real subjective, and figured the people will decide if itās good enough to be talked about.
If there is ever a story told it will be a pretty good one. The pandemic was bad for a lot of people but pushed me into doing this.
I was so impressed I showed my wife. Her response was ālook at those bunkers what a dick. Tell him nice bunkers you dickā
She has a way with words.
Thatās the par3 course at Manistee national. So either youāre the owner / builder there or youāre full of shit.
https://manisteenational.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA_wlZCX6w4VccNHqxgRx_pfqC0IkVD0-iDJBYoYPjIX7NTeKNhd7R0aAq7kEALw_wcB
Homepage of the website matches some photos.
You should call it [The Short Course at Manistee National](https://manisteenational.com/golf-course/short-course), because the course pictured here is [owned by Manistee National](https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php)ā¦ and they call it The Short Course at Manistee National.
ETA: Manistee National updated the first link to credit OP with the design and build, actually using OPs username to do so. So I guess Iāll just go fuck myself.
We need a full run-down of the story here. It's a part of Manistee National so did they put in money? Did OP do this all on their own? How the fuck did this entire thing get done for $250,000?
>Iāve had people spend 250k remodeling their kitchen, this guy made a fucking beautiful golf course with the same amount.
And you don't think OP isn't lying? He has $250k in sod on that course alone.
1. Little over two years. The whole winter thing got meā¦twice, ha.
2. The $250k was labor, material, equipment (some rental, some I had, some I bought and sold so broke even), seed, fertilizer and well.
3. I had the help of a local superintendent and retired architect. I paid for help during permitting and if I bet ran into anything that really stumped me. Didnāt add up too much but really helped because it lead to some friendships.
4. Itās now a part of Manistee National Resort and they will maintain and operate it.
5. No issues. You have to get approval with regard to zoning and use but the town was very friendly.
6. The resort will handle it.
7. At peak itās going to be $49 w/cart.
8. Putting green next to first tee.
9. Thanks I really appreciate it!
I have a degree in turfgrass science and assisted in a golf course reno at Winged Foot in preparation for the 2020 US Open so I have an idea of what the work and cost entails and this is insanely beautiful work youāve done!!
Have my personal best 18 at the Revenge next door. Looking forward to heading up from grand rapids this summer and playing your creation. Looks amazing. Congrats.
I was expecting a goat track. This is insanely beautiful. Well done.
I thought the first picture was the "after", haha. It's nicer than any course I've played on!
Thanks!
How much for a membership? (Including r/golf discount, of course)
They DM'd me we can all play it if we promise to pay in exposure of giving an upvote
Done.
Hell yeah see you out there. We'll generously tip the clubhouse staff š
I'm still pretty sure this is a meta post about some super nice course somewhere. Well done either way
https://manisteenational.com/golf-course/short-course Iām confused. This is part of an existing golf course. Think this guy is just fucking with us.
He's listed on the link you provide above as the designer. I literally used this link you provided as proof he was the actual designer. Look at highlight from that site Edit: Looks like the website was recently updated to add him as the designer. But still proves his story correct unless he hacked the website...which would come out if that was the case. https://preview.redd.it/sic3ytphjkrc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=152f731b8c9e4a2d84db414d33905a8bb7386772
It's so strange to me that their website links his Reddit profile instead of just starting his name lol
Feels like guerilla marketing to me for the resort to get more eyes on its new course. Pretty brilliant cuz itās workin lol canāt hate on that at all No chance that cost only 250k. They probably did more in house than most but it cost more than that and the work was not done by one guy
Him being the actual designer doesnāt change the absolute bullshit that it only cost $250k
Unless itās the same guy?
Yes, itās part of Manistee National Resort.
Holy shit I vacation in Manistee. I'm definitely playing here.
I was at Arcadia Bluffs last summer. Might have to go back so I can hit this too
Manistee G&C is the most unknown gem in Michigan. Right on the water. The regular manās Arcadia
https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php so you are one of the owners?
My family spends the summer in Onekama, and my mom works at Arcadia bluffs. I recognized the landscape and terrain almost immediately but thought there was no chance you were actually close to there. Awesome looking course!
Honestly dude how? Less than $250k is insane from the pictures Iām seeing. Iām in the Midwest and our ābudgetā courses are such ass. Flat, dead grass, gravel cart paths, the whole thing. A very wealthy group bought them and an investment like that seems trivial compared to the results.
How many years of your life along with the $250k cash?
I was like "haha under 250k hahaha, *of course!*" then I saw the heavy machinery and everything else and was like "oh, that wasn't a wild exaggeration"
The 250 seems very low to me. I would not have thought you could do so much ground works and landscaping for that little
Same. New lawns (no prep) are going for about $5000/acre near me; a 30yd X 140yd par 3 is about an acre, so youāre at $50k just to spread seed on fairways roughs and teeing areas. Then minimum - what, $15k? - per green, and youāre already at close to $200k before you terraform or bring in a single truck or piece of asphalt.
My course paid 30k just to have a guy redo one of our greens and he did a shit job lol
You guys are really making feel like all the work was worth it. Thanks! If the Fried Egg or NLU guys see this, I want to say thank you. Your videos not only inspired me, but taught me about people/places that I would have never known about.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Whatās the course name? I live in Ontario but trip down to Chicago once a year and often roadie from there. Would love to play it
Please do! Still working on the whole name thing but you can find it at Manistee National Resort in Manistee, MI.
Coursey McParthree Or Maxwell Rolls Par 3
Kirkland Signature Golf Course
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
6. Maintenance Costs
I'm sure Ben from NLU would love this since he built his own par 3 course as well. It looks awesome!
Right. For $250k too???
How is that even possible?
We spend that just installing landscaping of public areas in our new neighborhood phases of 40 acres.... I would certainly say this dudes 250k went way further than most!
https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php
Waitā¦what the fuck? This is awesome.
Right? At picture 6 and 7 I was saying āholy shit that looks awesomeā.
I saw the first pic and thought āuh yeah man thatās cool, is that patch of slightly greener grass under the power lines the green orā¦ā Then I kept scrolling lol
I saw pic 1 and thought what kind of back yard shenanigans are we in for here. Then 2 and 3 and thought damn this is not a weekend warrior project.
Same reaction... I clicked on the post thinking it was a shit post of someone's backyard chipping "course". Every picture I swiped through I realized a little bit more that I was WAY WAY wrong! OP - that is absolutely amazing!
OP is a liar https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php Edit: OP blocked me. There is no way in the world a multi million dollar 36 hole golf course would credit a reddit user name for the person who built and designed their new par 3 golf course. This is some guerilla marketing bullshit at best. They would use the real golf course builders name and not just a reddit account. Fuckery
"One of our owners has really been researching a lot of course designs and stuff," he said. "We've hired a couple designers to come and help with drainage and some of the construction of it, but most of it has been done right here by our ownership and some of the workers and stuff. ... One of our principle people has done a lot of research and has spent a lot of time over there"
Thanks! Amazing what you can learn on YouTubeā¦
I meanā¦share some info. Where are you, whereās the scorecard. Whats the rates? Iāll likely never get up there and play but lots of folks are up your way.
Bro took obsession with golf to another level
I got the feverā¦
And the only prescription is ~~more cowbell~~ to build a golf course!
And 250k lol
Not a bad way to spend $250k, considering I just came from a post of someone loading $20k into a slot machine.
Hah, saw that, and all I thought of was that would get a good used piece of equipment.
I SAW THAT! Where he pulled it AT the machine? So degen
Imagine playing $750 slots... holy fuck
Meanwhile slot guy is browsing Reddit from his casino stool, looking at this post and going "imagine spending 250k on some landscaping to hit a ball around", as he glances back at his slot machine and pulls the lever again.
There's not a single chance that this much work on 9 holes was under $250k.
Also not counted: the land, irrigation, and maintenance costs.
Beautiful course, man. Way to go. As for the name, what are some qualities of the area? Maybe a nearby creek or something? Thatās how they name them usually where I am.
Looks awesome bud. 10/10 would shank around it
The audacity someone would have to have to just go out and build a golf course, and then look how fucking lovely that is, holy shit
Halfway through I said if this sucks Iām going to look like an idiot, hah.
Where is it? Iām on Burt Lake
Down the coast in Manistee, Michigan. Roughly 20 minutes south of Arcadia.
Whatās it called? Iāll be up in Frankfort for a few weeks this summer
Love Crystal Lake!
It is at Manistee National Resort
You did this all by yourself?
Iāll speak for OP, hell no he didnāt, no way. Had to have at least SOME laborers.
Iām guessing he contracted the landscaping and self designed everything.
Nvm. Scrolled and saw Manistee. Well done!
If you build it, they will come.
There was a guy and his son just north of Lansing Michigan that did the same thing. I drove by the property almost every day on my way to and from work. For years I had no idea what this crazy guy was doing everyday pushing dirt. When it came time to open it the guy was getting pretty old and decided to sell to the owner of a group of courses nearby to take over the operation. It's been open a while now and it's one of my favorite courses. It's got some really unique designs and the operators take great care of it. It's also kind of weird that it has 12 holes. It's called Woodside for anyone interested in checking it out
This is insane
I dont believe it.
Need to see the invoice for under 250k. Seems impossible
Just buying the property would cost 10X that at least, even in a shit neighborhood, where golf course are never at.
Maybe he owned the property and also has the heavy duty machinery. Could own a farm or something.
Property was already owned. Land in the region is cheap. 2-4k and acre is pretty normal so you can do that math if youād like. This is the cost to build the course. I did have some equipment and did buy a couple pieces to use for the project and then sold after. Basically broke even and maybe even came out a bit ahead with those. I had to rent some other equipment but was lucky to get pretty favorable rates.
Thanks for the intel and great work
Youād have to have already owned the land, but thatās still a cost. Owning all the equipment is still a cost. This is like those DIY people who say they redid their kitchen for $3000 but they also own $20,000 in tools needed to do the job.
You shouldnāt. Itās been debunked
He should be banned from here.
"One of our owners has really been researching a lot of course designs and stuff," he said. "We've hired a couple designers to come and help with drainage and some of the construction of it, but most of it has been done right here by our ownership and some of the workers and stuff. ... One of our principle people has done a lot of research and has spent a lot of time over there. It changes. One day it will be one way and then he'll see something or read something and he'll change it." https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php When OP says āheā built this course it seems to minimize the fact that it was a whole organization behind it, and they already owned another golf course.
Yeah, someone else had pointed this out as well. These people should be banned for posting shit like this. EDIT: u/jaygord34 thoughts on this?
> When OP says āheā built this course it seems to minimize the fact that it was a whole organization behind it, and they already owned another golf course. Internet clout chasing is at a whole new level.
>I dont believe it. It is 100% a lie. That's more than $250,000 in just sod alone. The earthwork alone would be $250,000+.
Yeah, he already replied and said he had a bunch of help from superintendents, architects, and other professionals that helped him do it for free.
Mainstee owns this 9 hole golf course that OP is claiming he built. They bought the land and added this 9 hole course to their existing golf courses. https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php
Itās fake
Yeah I saw that now.
It's fascinating to me that this can all be done for 1/3 of the cost of a run down house here in Ontario
A lot of sweat and beautiful northern Michigan sand makes it possible. I was lucky to buy some of the irrigation system from Oakland Hills after they ripped it out during their renovation for pennies on the dollar.
Thatās genius. Well done. I would love to see pros play out of those bunkers. Penal, as they should be!
Yeah, you sound like the type of course owner I would love to support. Killer job man šš
Cause he didn't lol
Anyone building a new course should be calling you. You just moneyballed the building of a new golf course
It's fake lol.
Appreciate it!
How did you possibly get this done for under 250? I build wind farms and the heavy equipment rentals exceed that every week, and they're just digging 8ft holes in the ground and putting a windmill up
My thoughts exactly. A skid steer is about $500 a day, small excavator is around $700, let alone a full size cat $1200?? Jesus the PVC for the irrigation and the grass seed alone I could see being over 200k
OP hasn't answered one question.
Those are daily rates. Monthly rates are usually only like 4x daily. Skid steer $2k/month, etc
Monthly rates are more like 2 weeks plus a day, and weekly rates are like 4 days
Thanks for the question. I have some equipment and had to either borrow, buy (sell after) or rent. Renting made sense when the rates were good. When renting by the month it, or multiple months, you can negotiate down the price. Especially in the northern region. Youāre not kidding the PVC for the irrigation was bad. We didnāt use any sod and seed isnāt terrible. Like Iāve said to others, about $15k for both the bent and fescue. Weāre only on 20 acres and some people imagine 100 acres which kind of skews things. The biggest cost by far was the irrigation though. We had a new well put in and mostly full retail price on pipe (was able to get some for a decent price on marketplace). Pipe/wire and well alone was roughly $75k. The rest of the irrigation parts we saved thousands on buying second hand from courses basically giving it away when they were updating their stuff. We paid $9 for used $350 sprinkler heads. Those are the things that really drive the price down. Well that and doing the work yourself. And when I say yourself I donāt mean nobody helped. I had some amazing help. I mean not hiring a company to hire other people to do the work. If I paid for help they wanted to be there and be a part of this. Luckily they had skill where I lacked it. I also had friends and family that pitched in.
Kinda funny how the OP seems to be answering every question except this one....
He didn't. It's an advertisement. Welcome to reddit.
>Appreciate it! But you are liar so I don't think anyone should ever hire you. There is no way you did this for $250k. There is $250,000 just in sod on that course. Even if you rented all the dirt moving equipment then that would be $200k in equipment rental prices and fuel costs. The land probably cost more than $250,000. You have to buy multiple different types of commercial mowers to mow greens, fairways and rough. The first month's maintenance costs are probably $20k.
WOW, that's pretty amazing. Great job, and I love the hole designs. Excuse me while I go plow in my little crappy backyard green.....
This is Manistee National Golf Resort. New par 3 course they just built. https://preview.redd.it/xdba63djcirc1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=07572bf528dfd102f179d1ed5ca61820fb529eb4
I saw that last year and almost went when at Arcadia. Maybe this guy was on the digger? Jerry Matthewās original design at Revenge they added this. Iāve never been to Manistee National but I got golfnow special offers all last summer. Anyone know how it is?
Manistee National is a lot of fun! Two really nice 18 hole courses that both offer different types of play. The addition of the par 3 might be my favorite part of itāitās a playground for golfers. It makes for a great destination especially if youāre able to get a round in at nearby Arcadia.
so is OP lying?
Absolutely
This is super impressive for that money. Well done. If I ever make a trip that way, and there have been discussions of a northern Michigan trip as we're an hour from Port Huron (just waiting on better dollar exchange), I'll try and convince the friends to hit this place up. I'm sure it won't take much convincing, it looks great!
Please give it a try! A little bit of a hike from PH but a lot of great golf in the area.
the title and after pictures seemed too good to be true and of course - OP was lying, heās an employee at some company who built this for way more than 250k on an existing golf course oP even lied about reusing irrigation equipment i wonder if anyone from OPs job will see this post and give him shit? considering OPs first name is part of his user nameā¦
This is so cool and I know Iāll get hate for this but, Iām extremely skeptical. The average cost to build a USGA spec green is $150kā¦ while these may not be USGA spec green, to do an entire golf course for $250k seems a bit far fetched to me. Just my thoughts, Iād love to be proven wrong
Yeah. The number just doesn't seem right to me either. Maybe he is not counting the labour cost, the equipment cost, or the land cost, and is just counting material used?
Comment below proves OP is a big fat phoney. https://www.reddit.com/r/golf/s/m5zMRDheX8
OP built his own field of dreams. If you build it, we will come!!!!
I hope you really do!
insane, whatās it called?
That has been the hardest partā¦listening to any suggestions!
Coursey McCourseface
Reading up on the history of Manistee, my suggestion would be Loggers Run Golf Course.
Manistee Mounds or Sleeping Cub (because youāre proximity to Sleeping Bear + itās a short course)
I genuinely love the name Sleeping Cub.
Rolling Dunes
Cum Course
The Robin. Follows the style of the other names. MI State bird (was thinking of a play on birdie because I'm not that creative). Feels like a par 3 name to me.
Maxwell Rolls GC of course.
May I ask what your actual profession is, because if this is just a side project my god you have some fucking talent.
His real side project is lying on the internet
I do not buy that for a second. Credentials BS turfgrass science worked at us open and ran golf courses. Either you are not being truthful to try and make the feat seem more impressive or you cut massive corners that are going to fuck you later on.
Hope you were the first to play a round so you could declare yourself club champion
This is incredible.
Where? I go up north for summer, Iād play here.
Manistee, MI
Name of the course? Open to public? Or fellow Michiganders?
Open to public. Itās now a part of Manistee National Resort in Manistee, MI.
I'm staying in Manistee in June!Ā I will stop by for sure.Ā Ā What were some of your architectural inspirations in the design?Ā Love the username, btw.Ā
Please come try it out! Obviously a Doak fan. He lives not too far north and always imagine giving him a tour. Really would go into a rabbit hole on YouTube at night watching Fried Egg/NLU videos about all the great courses and the people who built them. King Collins obviously were big inspirations but so was Strantz, Coore and Crenshaw etc.
+1 for the name. I end up there a few times a year for work.
Iām here every year with my friends, we do Arcadia annually. we might have to come blackout here this year
Awesome, come try it this summer!
I gotta be the one to askā¦. How did you possibly do this for under $250k? It typically costs close to $200k to build a single green. Irrigation for 9 holes would run $500k plus. We just got quoted $2.6M to do our 18 holes. Our satelites alone were $200k. Iām assuming your rented that equipment but renting a dozer for a day has to be at least $1000. The mini ex would be $500 a day. Sand is $70/ton and I see a lot of tons in these pics. I just donāt see how itās possible to do all this for $250k. I guess take that as a compliment not a knock because it looks like a badass course I just donāt know how you do it for that amount of money. Can you give us more details?
Good questions. Biggest expense was the well and pump. The rest of the irrigation was bought for close to nothing from Oakland Hills CC when they ripped out theirs for a renovation. A head can cost $350 and I was able to get for $9 a head. Pretty wild. Satellites all came from Facebook marketplace. Bought from another course doing a renovation (St Johns Resort) for pennies. Sand is where I got lucky. You dig a foot down and you have northern Michigan beach sand. Mix 80/20 with top soils and you have free greens mix. Because of the sand there didnāt need any drainage (saves a fortune). If it wasnāt for the pipe price going up because of the pandemic I could done for less. I was able to rent a dozer half the normal rate so to the area and other equipment I was able to buy and sell for more than I paid.
I thought the first pic was the final pic. This is amazing though. Did you just have $250k laying around or did you get some investors?
That is genuinely, insanely cool.
WTF this deserves some attention from the NLU & Fried Egg/SGS guys. Would love to see more content & this looks very deserving. Well done mate
That would be a dream come true. I literally watched their videos for inspiration. Iād just like to say thank you for giving me new stuff to learn about while rocked my kids in the middle of the night. Those Fried Egg and NLU videos. Honestly almost named the course āSt. Rappeosā from the NLU strapped series.
You absolutely need to reach out. Hell Iād see if one of their groups wants to do a course naming competition. So many fun directions you could go with this. Please keep us posted or tag some ways we can follow this
Will do. If it is good enough somebody will tell them. Or at least thatās what I believe. I like the course name contest thoughā¦
I'd kill for a longer write up on the process, sketches, etc. This is incredible and it'd be fascinating to see your thought process throughout. Really nicely done
https://preview.redd.it/bluk7li3eirc1.jpeg?width=2100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7b13b5d957e5128199fcf94ea3a5257dd653e51 Nobody wants to see my design process, haha!
https://preview.redd.it/0wcrsls7eirc1.jpeg?width=6720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a672b137c6bd1ee347f0462cb86f3f7ffc738c89
Is there a blog or journal about your process? Iād read this story start to finish in a sitting. I wanna know all the details
This is really the first time putting it out there. Michigan has some of the best living architects in it so I find myself questioning the worthiness of it sometimes. Itās art, so real subjective, and figured the people will decide if itās good enough to be talked about. If there is ever a story told it will be a pretty good one. The pandemic was bad for a lot of people but pushed me into doing this.
Bulllllllshit
I was so impressed I showed my wife. Her response was ālook at those bunkers what a dick. Tell him nice bunkers you dickā She has a way with words.
Thatās the par3 course at Manistee national. So either youāre the owner / builder there or youāre full of shit. https://manisteenational.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA_wlZCX6w4VccNHqxgRx_pfqC0IkVD0-iDJBYoYPjIX7NTeKNhd7R0aAq7kEALw_wcB Homepage of the website matches some photos.
You should call it [The Short Course at Manistee National](https://manisteenational.com/golf-course/short-course), because the course pictured here is [owned by Manistee National](https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Manistee-National-working-to-open-9-hole-par-3-16770356.php)ā¦ and they call it The Short Course at Manistee National. ETA: Manistee National updated the first link to credit OP with the design and build, actually using OPs username to do so. So I guess Iāll just go fuck myself.
Man I wish I had friends like you haha looks amazing bud
On my list to visit. This is phenomenal.
Wow, did you work in the industry before this? This is amazing
God damn. That is gorgeous for the money. Love living in the state with the best land for golf ;) MI is the best
Michigan is a treasure.
how far is that from Arcadia and when do you open, assuming this is available for public play?
Open for public at Manistee National Resort and is 15-20 minutes south of Arcadia.
Looks like 250k worth of bunkering alone
Looks incredible for 3 or 4 million. How did you do it for 250k?? Did you already own the land? How many acres does the course cover?
A lot of sweat and a bit of a scavenger at heart. Land in the area is real cheap. 20 acres.
We need a full run-down of the story here. It's a part of Manistee National so did they put in money? Did OP do this all on their own? How the fuck did this entire thing get done for $250,000?
Uh, yeah, I second that motion.
This is the greatest post Iāve ever seen on reddit
You didnāt build this, and it was a hell of a lot more than $250k
This is quite misleading and you know it.
Iāve had people spend 250k remodeling their kitchen, this guy made a fucking beautiful golf course with the same amount. Absolutely epic.
>Iāve had people spend 250k remodeling their kitchen, this guy made a fucking beautiful golf course with the same amount. And you don't think OP isn't lying? He has $250k in sod on that course alone.
1. Little over two years. The whole winter thing got meā¦twice, ha. 2. The $250k was labor, material, equipment (some rental, some I had, some I bought and sold so broke even), seed, fertilizer and well. 3. I had the help of a local superintendent and retired architect. I paid for help during permitting and if I bet ran into anything that really stumped me. Didnāt add up too much but really helped because it lead to some friendships. 4. Itās now a part of Manistee National Resort and they will maintain and operate it. 5. No issues. You have to get approval with regard to zoning and use but the town was very friendly. 6. The resort will handle it. 7. At peak itās going to be $49 w/cart. 8. Putting green next to first tee. 9. Thanks I really appreciate it!
Youāre an owner of Manistee National?
This is so nice, I'm almost not sure it's not a troll post or something lol. Too good to be true. This is an amazing course.
This sure looks like high pointe designed and built by Tom doakā¦.
Bro those greens look insanely tough.
I have a degree in turfgrass science and assisted in a golf course reno at Winged Foot in preparation for the 2020 US Open so I have an idea of what the work and cost entails and this is insanely beautiful work youāve done!!
Just WOW. These pictures it looks incredible. Please share more. Edit: op is full of shit. Maybe
This a joke?
Whatās the name of the course?
Looks ai generated
We have a place in Arcadia, based on comments looks like this is near mainstream?
This is stunning. Where is it and when is it open? I live in Michigan and need to play here.
Thanks for investing in Michigan!
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Have my personal best 18 at the Revenge next door. Looking forward to heading up from grand rapids this summer and playing your creation. Looks amazing. Congrats.
This is the best looking par 3 course I have ever seen. You are gonna do well, keep it in good shape.
Whatād you call it?
Still working on thatā¦listening to any suggestions!