Inkster Valley Golf Club a fine Michigan muni

INKSTER, Mich. – It’s rare I tee it up at a Michigan golf course I’ve never seen before.

I’ve played nearly 200 of them, which amazingly is only a quarter of the state’s 800-plus places to play.

Today’s visit to Inkster Valley Golf Club was my first. It won’t be my last. The course, a municipal track part of the the Wayne County parks system, is less than a half hour from my house, and I thoroughly enjoyed its challenges. The photo above is of the par-5 ninth hole.

It’s stocked with target golf around and over ball-gobbling streams, wetlands and hazards. Harry Bowers cut the 6,709-yard course through the woods in 1998. There are a handful of blind, and semi-blind shots, off the tee. It’s one of those courses you must play several times to appreciate its design. I lost five balls and still broke 90. That’s how tricky tough it plays for rookies.

I didn’t mind hitting all those bad shots. It was a beautiful day – one of the precious few left this fall – on a course I could see myself getting to know better next time.