The Fountains Golf Club

I have lived in Oxford for 20 years and have driven past this place occasionally on my way to various other places. I thought it was time to give it a look.

The course is decent. The conditions were actually a lot better than I was expecting. Fairways were clearly defined and tee boxes were flat. The layout was a bit boring if I'm being honest. There was nothing really memorable about any of the holes. But it was fair and fine. If the price is right and there is an available tee time its worth checking out.

I did have a weird thing happen though...the starter sent us off #10 since we were a twosome and there were two foursomes on #1 already. We flew through the back 9 and rounded the corner on #1. I teed off and then we headed up to my wife's tee box. Mid swing some dude with vampire teeth came screaming up on a cart asking us what we were doing. He remarked about my shirt color and said we didn't pay. I told him we were sent off the back and we were just making the turn and he was suspicious and said he needed to go "check out our story" at the clubhouse. What the heck?

Anyway...despite that we had a nice November round with perfect weather and I finished with a birdie on #9 which I was super proud of because it was playing very long into a headwind.

TL:DR - Decent course. Good conditions. Boring layout. Play it if the price is right for you.

Old course that disappointed. Poor hole designs. Bare grass in areas. Wet spots in other areas. Club house was nice but that didn't atone for the poor course conditions.

Drove by this course for 3 years now living in Clarkston and always wanted to play it so I finally did and was a complete waste of my Saturday. Took a full 7 1/2 hours to play 18 holes. So unacceptable for the pace of play and for the staff to not call our foursome before they let an outing of 24 people out in front of us, we didn’t tee off until a half hour past our tee time. We should have gotten a courtesy call to ask if we would of liked to of been bumped up in front of the massive group of all seniors golfing in front of us. This course would do its self a favor and stop catering to baby boomers and retirees and welcome a younger crowd, and also stop pricing people out, that course is not worth the expensive rate they charge. I’d maybe come golf this course if they offered a twilight of $20 at a reasonable time not just 6pm where I’m paying $30 for 9 holes and a cart and to golf in a forest of trees and power lines.

A decent course layout ruined by some silly greens, especially on the front. I don’t mind challenging greens but many are just plain unfair. I don’t want to play on Augusta style greens especially when the green quality is sub-par as they are here.

What can one tell about a golf course that fits like a comfortable old shoe or plays like a worn-out but trusty wedge? The Fountains GC, a typical parkland design, is all of that and more except that it doesn't look old. This course is blessed by a ground keeping crew that takes pride in their work. The greens are several cuts above the quality of the average Muni and rival courses charging 4 or 5 times as much for a round of golf. They even go so far as to protect several green complexes during the Michigan winter months by covering them in protective plastic tarps. Of course, the fairways and bunker complexes are maintained to the same high standards.

This course has surprising elevation changes which come into play on the opening front and back par 5 holes and the finishing front and back par 4s in which golfers must contend with strategically placed hazards protecting their greens.

Still, this course remains "walker friendly" and a delight to play without a cart. (Cart prices are far lower than typical - usually five dollars over the cost of a non-riding round.)

The clubhouse and its staff are everything one would expect from a highly regarded facility.

What more can I say? Just put on a comfortable pair of old golfing shoes and be prepared to enjoy a wonderful "walk in the park" golfing experience at the Fountains.