New tee box at Washtenaw Golf Club

One of the most interesting things about having a home course is seeing how it evolves over the years. In some cases, it’s as simple as noticing that a particularly nasty tree branch has been removed. On the more complex side, it could be a new bunker or tee box.

Golf courses are a bit like humans in their constant evolution and maturation (hopefully humans mature). Washtenaw Golf Club is over a hundred years old, but it is still a work in progress.

On some level I think it’s true that if you don’t change, you stagnate.

Recently, Washtenaw Golf Club began building a new tee box at the par three twelfth (photo above).

The twelfth in Washtenaw is already a good hole. A downhill par 3, it measures 150 from the tips. The green is a bit of a volcano, rising above the fairway and dropping down on three sides; the back is just a few yards away from Paint Creek and a wilderness of cattails.

The shot is straight, and even though the handicap hole is number 18, I’d say it’s not a cakewalk.

As a side note, I think – and I’m not alone in this – that Washtenaw Golf Club has as good a set of par threes as you’ll find in Michigan.

The new tee box adds ten yards and is located to the left of the current tees.

Adding ten yards may not be a big deal, but the change in angle will complicate the equation. I’m very curious to see how the course raters change the scores the next time the Golf Association of Michigan rates the course.

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