WorldGolf.com readers are golfing on my old college stomping grounds: Indiana and Michigan

Browsing through the recent WorldGolf.com Reader Exit Polls has me taking a post-dinner stroll down memory lane. Turns out, readers have recently reviewed both a course in my hometown, the University of Michigan Golf Course, as well as my Alma Mater Indiana University Golf Course.

Both were given 4/5 stars by its respective readers. One of them is right, one is a knucklehead.

The U of M course is Top 100 in the Country worthy and easily the best course in Ann Arbor. It’s a classic Alister Mackenzie course with some of the finest holes you’ll ever play that continually peak your interest even if you’ve played the course 40-50 times like I have. It’s got two salivating short par 4s (one of which I’ve eagled, ahem), along with a killer finishing hole with the city of Ann Arbor skyline as a backdrop.

The only problem with the U of M course is that it’s private, open only to students, faculty and alumni. You would think for a public institution that accepts taxpayer money, the school would keep it open to the public or at least Michigan residents.

Of course, that didn’t stop a resourceful local teen like myself from sneaking onto the course on a constant basis, thanks to knowing most of the staff there. I even teed it up with Tom Brady one summer afternoon.

I have less familiarity with Indiana University’s Golf Course, because I wasn’t golfing much during my college days (who has $12 to spend on golf when you’re in college, anyways? That can last you a weekend). But I did play it a few times and I was never that impressed. It reminded me of one of Metro Detroit’s serviceable metropark courses like Kensington Golf Course. The back nine has eight par 4s and a par 3. It’s the most unremarkable college course I’ve ever played. There are better MAC courses, like Eastern Michigan’s Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti.

IU’s golf club has a great, lighted range and a par-3 course, but the main championship course needs a facelift, though it was good enough for 2003 PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel, an IU grad.

In fact, all of IU’s athletic facilities are pretty brutal. Assembly Hall is one of the most fan-unfriendly arenas out there, the football stadium is the worst in the Big Ten and the hockey rink, which I played at for three years, is off-campus and utter junk. Mark Cuban needs to donate some serious cash to his school’s athletics.

Thanks to both these readers for giving me a glimpse back into the good ol’ days. Now if someone could review Huron Hills for me - and better yet, upload a photo - now that would tickle me pink.