How to break 100 and have a good time at the Coyote Golf Club in Michigan

LYON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Forget all those instruction pages in golf magazines. Ignore all those swing tips from Pelz, Flick and Harmon.

Today I discovered the best way to motivate high-handicappers and bogey golfers to break 100. Just add an incentive almost every golfer can relate to … beer.

Coyote Golf Club General Manager/Director of Golf Jason Raney said the club runs a regular promotion where golfers can purchase their first post-round beer in the clubhouse for a penny a shot. Shoot 78? That’s a cheap drink. Shoot 98? Well, at least you get change back on the dollar.

Considering how open and forgiving much of the course is, there’s a chance to go low. There is trouble in spots, like the watery 18th hole, a par-5 that skips over a wetland on the second shot and a pond near the green on the approach. See the photo above.

I didn’t play all that well. The wind was howling, and my game is kind of in a funk. Good thing I wasn’t thirsty. That 88-cent beer would have tasted a whole lot better if it were a dime cheaper.