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Grand Rapids, MI

Earl W. Brewer Park - North

3.115(based on 19 reviews)
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Earl W. Brewer Park - North reviews

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6 0
BrotherDave
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.8 years 192 played 189 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Northern Exposure 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 13, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Fairly solid course in a typical city park setting. Has some pretty decent length and nice concrete tees. Probably the best thing going for the course are plentiful, mature deciduous trees that mostly provide just enough obstacle factor without ramping up the luckiness or discouraging you from ripping your drive (as opposed to holes so wooded you have to really go into finesse mode).

The variety isn't textbook but the land and hole shape changes enough that you don't feel like you're playing the same hole repeatedly. Fairly decent elevation comes into play from time to time.

Goes without saying, there's another course right next door, which has to be considered a "+" when on a road trip. That never hurts.

Surprisingly devoid of litter. Buckets at each tee provide ample opportunities for disposing trash.

Cons:

Shows some age, especially the baskets and signage. Some old Machs with shallow trays can induce the occasional mind-boggling spit-out. The tee signs are about as detailed as a paleolithic cave painting done by an elementary student. And that's the holes that have them; many do not.

Biggest con are some safety issues. Hole 1 is really short-sighted design. The mando on the kiosk (while necessary and appreciated) isn't going to do anything to negate the very high potential for grip locks straight into the parking lot. I saw 2 golfers do exactly this and they weren't exactly n00bs. Not a good idea to have a hole run parallel to a parking lot, especially when players aren't warmed up yet.

Some of the fairways have a tendency to run pretty close to each other also, raising potential for friendly fire. 11's tee is ridiculously close to 13's basket.

Not a terribly hard test of one's line-shaping ability. If you can throw decently far and straight you stand a good chance of tearing this course up. That being said, the trees do a good job of asking questions of what line you want to take off the tee instead of forcing a particular shot.

Navigation isn't too bad but can be quirky due to obvious signs of redesign and the ability to spot multiple baskets from some tees.

Other Thoughts:

I'd definitely play here again, for sure. Fun, fairly low-stress golf in the classic sense. Probably not my choice for beginners due to the length and some safety issues but I recommend it for anybody in the area.
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3 1
Countchunkula
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 17.9 years 215 played 72 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Meh... 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 31, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Concrete Pads
-Variety of terrain (open, wooded, canopy of mature trees, some elevation change)
-Variety of throws required (Left, right, hitting tight gaps, uphill, downhill, open)

Cons:

-Fairway overlap (Some holes run parallel to each other with no foliage to prevent bad shots from finding neighboring fairways. One hole (4?) offers the distinct possibility of landing in two different fairways other than the one you are aiming for.
-Beat up old baskets
-Poor signage (Signs consist of a small piece of plywood with a basic layout, #, and distance in Sharpie)
-Luck vs. Skill (While I like tight lines, a couple of the gaps off of the tee felt more lucky than fair)
-No true multi-throw holes
-The best way to describe the appearance of this course is a little scruffy lookin'.

Other Thoughts:

This is a decent course that has, for the most part, fun tee shots. With that said, the course has a few issues. The 3,4,5 area of packed together holes in an open field is a major design flaw. It's no fun when you have to wait on a group playing a different hole to clear your fairway. Signage leaves something to be desired, although there are a few directional signs to keep you on track. This is a solid course that I wouldn't mind calling my home course; although I'd be annoyed every round at the backups caused each round by the 3,4,5 sh!tstorm.
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