Arcadia Bluffs - South Course

Signature Setup

The South Course surprises people who expect a second clifftop links. It isn't one. I played it on a mid-September morning, about 52°F at 9 a.m. with a soft SW breeze, and the first thing I noticed was that Lake Michigan never appears — this layout sits inland, roughly a mile from the original Bluffs Course, on flatter prairie ground. Dana Fry and Jason Straka opened it in 2018 as an homage to C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor: template holes, geometric bunkering, and enormous greens. You get a Biarritz, a Redan, a Short, an Eden, and a Punchbowl, stretched across a par 72 that runs past 7,200 yards from the tips with a slope that climbs into the 140s. Where the Bluffs intimidates with elevation, the South works on you horizontally — wide fescue corridors, then greens that demand a specific quadrant.

Hole-by-Hole Wind & Playing Lines

Three holes decide the card, and on the South the deciding factor is which shelf of the green the wind lets you reach.

• Hole 4 (the #1 handicap): A long par-4 near 470 yards that plays into the prevailing SW wind most mornings. Driver leaves a mid- to long-iron, and I favor the left side off the tee so the contour feeds the ball back toward the center rather than leaking into fescue right.
• Hole 7 (the Biarritz): The signature par-3, around 230 yards into a green so deep the front-to-back swale runs roughly 70 yards. With a helping wind the back shelf is reachable; into the breeze, take your medicine and putt up the slope rather than flying it long.
• The Redan par-3: Built to be played with the wind, not against it — a right-to-left helping breeze lets you land short-right and ride the kick. Fight the template and you're chipping from the back-left collection area.

Green & Fairway Characteristics

The fescue fairways run firm and bouncy, so even a mid-trajectory drive can chase well past where it lands — useful for chasing into Raynor's open green fronts, dangerous when a hot one bounds through the corridor. The greens are the whole point: large, squared-off bentgrass surfaces, many over 8,000 square feet, with deep swales and false fronts that turn a green-in-regulation miss into a three-putt. Into a stiff breeze they read quicker than the posted speed, and the swale putts hold their line far less than you expect downwind. Both nines reward a controlled, lower flight you can land in the correct quadrant.

Seasonal Weather Pattern

Northern Michigan's window is tight. The South typically opens in May and runs through October, with the best turf in July and August when highs sit in the high-70s to low-80s°F. May and late-September mornings can start near 48–52°F with a steady inland breeze — less gusty than the lake-driven Bluffs, but persistent. By October the fescue is at its firmest and the swales play their fastest. I've only played the South in early fall, not high summer, so I trust historical data for the July softness rather than my own card.

Local Play Tips

Putt from off the green more than you think — the closely mown Raynor surrounds funnel toward the swales, and a Texas-wedge from 10 yards off is usually safer than a flop over a false front. Walk the green before your approach if pace allows; knowing which shelf the pin sits on changes your club by one or two. And don't fixate on the original Bluffs reputation — the South is a different test, less about wind terror and more about disciplined target selection.

Pre-Round Weather Workflow

Check the 7-day G-Score for Arcadia, Michigan, two or three days out, then again the night before. The metric that matters most on the South is windExposure paired with wind direction: a SW wind makes Hole 4 and the into-wind par-3s play their hardest, while a helping breeze opens the Biarritz and Redan back shelves. Because this course is inland, the wind is steadier and more predictable than the lake-swept Bluffs — use that. If the forecast shows firm, dry conditions, plan for extra fairway roll and land your approaches shorter; if it's into the wind, club up and aim for the fat side of every green before you ever reach the first tee.