History of the Marquette
MGC was founded in 1926 with an original 9 hole route designed by Langford & Moreau out of the Chicago
MGCC was renamed to Marquette Golf Club (MGC); the old course is now entitled The Heritage and our newest course Greywalls.
We feel MGC is ‘The best deal in golf’- just read our member billing menu and you will agree.
Greywalls & The Heritage Golf Courses make up the 36 hole Marquette Golf Club facility that is located in the City of Marquette, Michigan. Marquette is the cultural hub in the U.P. of Michigan Cool City ’ by the State it is the home of Northern Michigan University
Greywalls Facts and Course Features
-Designed by Architect Mike DeVries
-Construction began the fall of 2002 with some tree clearing and completed in 2003. The first complete full season of play was in 2007.
-6828 yard, par 71 (from black Tees ) 73 rating/144 slope
-Numerous awards and accolades such as….
Golf Digest – Best Courses in the State
Golfweek – America ’s “Best Courses You Can Play” State-by-State - #2 Michigan
Golfweek – Golfweek’s Top 100 Best Modern Courses - #79
The unique property on which Greywalls was constructed is rugged and very picturesque. Specific course features are abundant and awe inspiring.
-Minimalist designed course routed to fit into the lay of the land.
-Options off the tee are very numerous and provide great strategic opportunities.
-Rolling fairways provide very interesting lies and challenge one to hit a variety of shots.
-Green complexes provide multiple options with the approach shot; one could play an aerial option or utilize more of a ground game and work the ball into and around the lay of the land, which is more times than not the best options to take.
-Green surfaces are smooth and true with undulations that will inspire golfers of any skill level and test their imagination on how to best get the ball in the hole.
-Par threes that all boast their own identity and require not only a different club selection but also different shot making.
-Variety of short and long par fours that can be attacked many different ways.
-Three distinctively different par fives all providing their own defense and challenges.
-Views of Lake Superior or as the Chippewa Indians called it Kitchi-gummi (translation Great-water or Great Lake Pictured Rocks National Park Great Lakes in surface area and volume. Lake Superior could contain all the other Great Lakes plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie .
-Numerous Granite outcrops (Grey-walls) come into play within the fairway margins. The outcrops also border many of the holes creating numerous natural hazards and jaw dropping backgrounds.
-Seasonal waterfall flows behind #3 Green, between the forward and back tees of #4.
-Acres of natural/fescue areas that provide habitat for numerous wildlife species and help define the holes of play as the fescue waves to you in the wind.
Turf Varieties
Greens - L-93 Bentgrass
Fairways – Unique personal blend of low-mow bluegrass and fine fescue
Nu Destiny Kentucky Bluegrass 17.37%
Rugby II Kentucky Bluegrass 17.35%
Award Kentucky Bluegrass 17.33%
Tsunami Kentucky Bluegrass 17.32%
Native/Natural Areas - Sheep Fescue, Little Blue Stem, Red Top
Native indigenous species and wildflowers have since moved in to share the habitat
*All varieties were chosen to provide a superb playing surface with desirable traits which allow them to be maintained with minimal inputs in our unique climate.
Heritage Facts and Course Features
-Designed as an 18 hole loop in 1926 by Golden age architect William Langford & his side kick Engineer Theodore Moreau with only 9 holes originally constructed.
-Expanded to 18 holes in the 1960’s. The additional 9 holes designed by L & M could not be added because home site development had taken place around the club. David Gill was hired by the club to design a new 9 holes and the hole numbers were shuffled around to make the centrally flowing 18 hole loop as it is today.
-During the additional 9 hole construction in the 1960’s our irrigation pond between holes number 2 and 3 was built. During the same time The Heritage pump-house was constructed; with some rebuilding and upgrades in the last five years, it is still in operation.
-The Heritage irrigation pond is still supplied with water from the Orianna creek (its original source) and still flows through the original water line.
-The first hydraulically controlled automatic irrigation system was installed in the mid 1980’s and is still in use today.
-6272 yard, par 71 (from blue Tees ) 71.2 rating/134 slope
-Views of Lake Superior on several different holes.
-The Original 9 hole route was #10, #11, #7, #8, #4, #5, #6 (as a par three), #12 and finished on #13 (teeing off North of Grove St.)
-Numerous in-house cosmetic changes have taken place on the original 9 hole course (bunker placement, putting green surface sizes and tree plantings) changing the original design intent of the course. Because these changes were done in-house they were not dramatic. The original land forms still exist and could one day be revitalized with no major earth moving.
-The original large dramatic green complexes constructed by L & M are a thing of beauty and have stayed the test of time with no major earth moving changes.
-Work is now in place, on several of the original 9 green complexes, to move the putting surface edges back out to their former size after years and years of shrinkage. Lost pin placements and corridors will be reborn and those greens will once again become large surfaces that play small as originally designed.
Turf Varieties
Greens – Poa/Old German bents plus over-seeded with many new modern bentgrass varieties over the years
Fairways – Poa/Bent/Bluegrass/Fescue/Ryegrass (Mixture of many different cool season Grasses)
Native/Natural Areas – Mixture of old fescue varieties
