Returning to the classics -- like Michigan's Warren Valley Golf Club -- can revive your love of golf

My golf game is experiencing a fall swoon.

After a strong summer - at least by my standards as a fundamentally challenged 10-handicap – I’ve been in a funk lately. I hate to admit this but my most recent rounds have looked eerily similar to the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Medinah.

I played well for long stretches at St. Ives Golf Club, Tullymore Golf Club, Inkster Valley Golf Club and the TPC of Michigan over the past 10 days, but my finishes were utter disasters. I was a collective 24 over par on the final three holes of all four courses. Talk about a letdown.

Thank heavens for places like Warren Valley Golf Club. It was the salve to my wounds. Visiting Warren Valley, a 36-hole municipal facility owned by Michigan’s Wayne County, was just what the doctor ordered for my game. I’m sure it can help yours, too.

Warren Valley features 36 holes of Donald Ross dating to 1922. Its East and West courses have been neglected over the years, but head professional Glenn Busam said they haven’t looked this good in 40 years. Pictured above is the 18th hole on the West course in full fall bloom.

Both the East Course and West Course play less than 6,200 yards from the tips, allowing for a fast and fun round of golf. The lack of fairway bunkers – they’ve been grassed over during the past five decades – allowed me to swing freely and rejuvenate my confidence. I made two birdies on the West course and shot my lowest round in a month. Like a lot of people, I had never bothered to check out this classic place.

“The old stuff (classic courses), there’s not a lot around,” Busam said. “It’s not been cared for. It has kind of been forgotten. But I’ve got guys who grew up next door who come back and say, ‘Wow. What a difference (from what they remember).”

The moral? Don’t dismiss your classic muni courses just because they’re too short, too old school, too scruffy around the edges. Treasure them like I did today.