Michigan Golf and its Courses: Its All About the Lie

1
Michigan Golf and its Courses Its All About
the Lie

• Jason Skantze
• Department of Geography and Planning
• Grand Valley State University
• November 19th, 2004

2
Study Area Golf Facts

• Over 900 courses total.
• Study focuses on the 682 public courses.
• Michigan leads the nation in the number of public
  golf courses per capita.
• Michigan ranks third, behind only the
  warm-weather states of Florida and California, in
  the total number of golf courses.
• Michigans estimated 1.2 million golfers,
  combined with tourists from other states and
  countries, makes Michigan golf a 1 billion
  industry.

3
Objective

• As big a sport golf is in the state, there has
  been little research done to study its impact.
• The goal is to see whether there is a correlation
  between natural landforms and the placement of
  golf courses.
• Are there underlying reasons why courses are
  built where they are or is it simply by chance?

4
Hypothesis

• There are three main factors which determine golf
  course placement
• Population Centers
• Natural landforms
• Accessibility to waters resources

5
Methods

• Information was gathered from various web sites.
• Geographic Names Information System
• Michigan Golf Web
• Map-O-Rama
• ArcView
• Contacting golf courses

6
Population Centers

• 5 major cities
• Detroit (40)
• Grand Rapids (33)
• Kalamazoo (20)
• Lansing (22)
• Traverse City (11)
• 126 out of 661 19.1
• Major cities not included Warren, Sterling
  Heights, Flint, and Marquette (197)

7
Population Centers Contd

• We see that there is a positive correlation
  between population centers and golf course
  placement.
• Depending on classification, 1/5 to 1/3 of all
  courses fall within major city limits.

8
Elevation Relief Maps
9
Course Layouts and Natural Landforms
10
Landform Course Distribution
11
Number of Dominant Landform Types Present
12
Water Resources

• Course type determines water needs.
• Natural water sources help to cut down on
  operational costs.
• 5 7 saved per year.
• Man made water sources also a benefit.
• Links style course sees more benefits.

13
Conclusion

• Population Centers
• Over 20 of public courses fall within 50 miles
  of major city centers.
• Landform Features
• Two landform types hold majority of the courses.
• Glacial Outwash 25
• End Moraine types combined 25
• Landforms present affect construction costs.
• Water Resources
• Course designers are actively seeking existing
  bodies of water and incorporating man-made
  sources at the same time.

14
Limitations of Study

• Some data is only accurate to the city level.
• Confusion as to how many courses there actually
  are in Michigan.
• Only old data sets available through GNIS.
• Not feasible to contact every course.
• Time constraints.