Cattails Golf Club

Signature Setup

The cattails are not a marketing name here — they are the hazard. Cattails Golf Club sits in South Lyon, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, and PGA professional John R. Williams routed it through and around a large tract of marshland when it opened in 1991. From the back tees it measures 6,433 yards, par 72, with a course rating of 72.0 and a slope of 133 — a number that tells you the trouble is constant rather than occasional. The front nine travels through and around creeks and wetlands; the back nine is cut through hardwood forest with a few wetland pockets to navigate. Just two holes, both on a small ridge, are free of the cattail-infested water.

I should be straight with you: I've played southeast Michigan public golf, but my notes on this specific routing lean on the scorecard, the regional climate, and the course's own description rather than a dozen rounds on the property. So I'll write what the numbers and the conditions actually tell you, and where I'm reading from regional norms I'll say so. On a course where hazards sit on almost every hole and you are repeatedly hitting over wetland, club selection — and therefore wind and air density — is the whole game.

Hole-by-Hole Wind & Playing Lines

The two nines play like two different golf courses, and the wind is the reason:

• The open front nine (creeks and wetlands): These holes are exposed. Southeast Michigan's prevailing summer wind is out of the southwest, and on a marsh-edge hole a 10–15 mph SW breeze into your face turns a stock 150-yard 8-iron into a 165-yard 6-iron — and the extra carry is over cattails, not short grass. Into the wind, take the extra club and aim at the fat side of the green; the penalty for coming up short here is a lost ball, not a chip.
• The tree-lined back nine (hardwood forest): The hardwoods knock the wind down at ground level, so your yardages behave more honestly. The catch is swirl — wind over a treeline doesn't quit, it eddies. Trust the number more than the flag-feel, and favor the side of the green away from the wetland pockets.
• The cattail par-3s: The course's standout holes are its par-3s over water. On these, the difference between a calm 8 a.m. tee shot and a breezy noon one is a full club. When the SW wind is up, I'd club up and swing easy rather than club down and force it — a hard, low miss into a headwind balloons and falls into the marsh.

Green & Fairway Characteristics

The course is bentgrass throughout — tees, fairways, and greens — which on a Michigan layout means surfaces that hold a well-struck approach in spring and fall and firm up through a dry July. Reviewers consistently describe the greens as undulating and "angulating," with tricky shots around the cattails; that combination rewards a committed approach and punishes a tentative one, because three-putting an undulating surface from the wrong tier costs you as surely as a wet ball. The slope of 133 from 6,433 yards confirms the layout's teeth come from the hazards and the green complexes, not raw length. I don't have a measured Stimp reading for these greens, so I won't invent one — but bentgrass kept healthy in this climate typically runs medium-fast, quicker on a dry, sunny afternoon than after morning dew.

Seasonal Weather Pattern

South Lyon sits in a humid continental climate, and the marsh setting amplifies it. Peak season is May through September: summer highs run 80–85°F in July and August, with humidity that keeps the wetlands generating low-lying morning fog and heavy dew. Afternoon pop-up thunderstorms are a real planning factor June–August — watch the radar after 2 p.m. Spring (April–May) and fall (September–October) are the sweet spots: 55–70°F, firmer footing once the wetlands drain, and the southeast-Michigan fall color through that hardwood back nine is worth the round on its own. The course closes for winter; by late November the marsh holes are cold, wet, and often frosted, and the season effectively ends with the first hard freeze.

Local Play Tips

A detail the scorecard won't give you: on a marshland course, dew and fog are a scoring factor, not just scenery. The open, low-lying front nine holds moisture well past sunrise — wet fairways kill rollout, so your driver number on Hole 1 at 7:30 a.m. is shorter than the same swing at 11 a.m. on dry turf, and a wet ball coming off the cattails grabs less spin on the greens. My own approach on a course like this would be to avoid the very first tee times in summer, take a mid-morning slot instead, and let the sun burn the marsh dry — you trade a little of the calm-air advantage for dry footing and truer rollout, which on a hazard-heavy layout is the better deal. The flip side: if you *do* go early to beat the afternoon storms, plan for soft, slow conditions and club accordingly.

Pre-Round Weather Workflow

Use the 7-day G-Score and windExposure read to time this course — on a marsh layout, the two nines respond to weather differently:

1. Time the front nine for dry, calm conditions. The open wetland holes are most exposed to the SW wind and slowest to dry. A mid-morning G-Score window typically beats both the dewy first hour and the breezy, storm-prone afternoon. 2. Read windExposure by nine. Expect the front to play to the full wind and the tree-lined back to play closer to your stock numbers with some swirl. Adjust club selection nine-by-nine rather than treating the round as one wind profile. 3. Watch the afternoon storm line June–August. If the 7-day shows building afternoon convection, get out early and accept softer, wetter conditions — lightning over open marshland is not a risk to push. 4. In shoulder season, check the overnight low. A frosty Michigan morning over the wetlands means a frost delay and firmer, faster greens once it lifts; give yourself an extra half-club until the surfaces soften under the sun.