Wawashikimo

We rode our hire bikes a mile or so inland to Wawashkimo Golf Club, a touch of Scotland in the midst of the Midwest. Wawashkamo is one of Michigan’s ‘Most Historic Golf Courses’ established by Alex Smith from Carnoustie, Scotland back in 1892. I discovered it years ago and it has become a place of pilgrimage.

They invited me

It’s a simple design over a flat tract of land but it throws up some surprising twists, especially when you play it with a set of Hickory Clubs as we did, available for hire from the golf shop.

Playing with hickory is much different than with modern clubs. You could, as Chuck Olson, the club professional gently warned us, easily snap a shaft. Hickories require a slower, more flowing motion to compensate for the shaft’s natural whippiness. We soon got used to them and enjoyed a tremendous round. “This is my favourite round of the entire trip,” said Ewan. The 3rd green is Wawashikamo's most unusual, surrounded by a high, grassy circle. Known as the “Circus Ring” for obvious reasons, this feature was in put in early in the course’s life. It was much higher then and encircled the green completely encouraging golfers to loft the ball. Now the grass is not so high and it has an opening to aim for.

You'll also notice how 'burned out' the grass looks at Wawashkamo, harking back again to old Scottish links when during the summer months the fairways were never watered. Once again Wawashkamo gets a tick for its authenticity; after all it is the oldest continuously played golf course in The State of Michigan!

Another interesting morsel from here is Frank Dufina, the first 'Native American' golf professional, commenced his career at Wawashkimo in the 1890's when the club was newly opened. He was fourteen years old then and rose to become the club's professional, not giving up that post until he reached the grand old age of eighty-four. I guess he liked it too!