By Len Ziehm
Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses and renovated another 150 in his long career as a course architect. Few modern-day architects can match those numbers.
Hills, now 90 years old is officially retired and spends most of his time on the east coast of Florida, but his work is being honored in the area that was his long-time home base. Hills, working with long-time partner Steve Forrest, was based in the Toledo area and now Ohio Golf Journal publisher Fred Altvater and several club operators are developing the Arthur Hills Golf Trail.
The Trail was officially launched at the Toledo Golf Show in 2019. Pandemic issues slowed its takeoff, but Altvater sees bigger days ahead. Based on the work Hills has done world-wide there’s no question he deserves his own Trail.
In addition to his American designs – the best-known of which may be Half Moon Bay in California — Hills has designed courses in Portugal, Croatia, Sweden, Mexico and Norway.
The Arthur Hills Golf Trail currently includes five courses, all within a short drive of Toledo. Three layouts lie just across the state line in southeast Michigan — The Legacy by Arthur Hills, in Ottawa Lake, plus Stonebridge Golf Club and Leslie Park, both in Ann Arbor. Two are in northwest Ohio – Stone Ridge, in Bowling Green, and Maumee Bay State Park, on the shores of Lake Erie in the town of Oregon.
“There’s probably 10-12 good Arthur Hills designs in the Toledo area,’’ said Altvater. “Down the road we hope to have them involved as well, but these are within 45 minutes of Toledo and have great lodging and fantastic places to eat nearby as well.’’
Altvater is also banking on other nearby attractions, like a world-class zoo, museum, botanical gardens, as well as the AAA Toledo Mud Hens to entice visitors.
Hills’ footprint in the area touches far more destinations than are represented on the present trail. He designed nine courses in Ohio and another 17 in Michigan. The Michigan layouts include one of his very best – the Arthur Hills Course at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs – and 27-hole Bay Harbor, a masterpiece overlooking Little Traverse Bay.
The first course Hills created was in Toledo — Brandywine, in 1967, and he has completed renovations at the historic Inverness Club, site of the 2021 Solheim Cup.
He received degrees from Michigan, Michigan State and the University of Toledo. Hills is indeed a native son of both states.
As for the five Trail courses, the toughest is Stone Ridge – the home course of Bowling Green State University golf teams and is just a long tee shot from the campus. The bunkering there is one of Hills’ finest works, and the course is surrounded by rolling hills and dissected by small creeks and water hazards.
Stonebridge, in Ann Arbor, may be the most beautiful of the Trail layouts. The extremely well-conditioned course blends in well with an array of pleasant homesites. Leslie Park started as a Larry Packard design in 1967 before Hills performed major renovation work 28 years later. Leslie Park has been selected as the best municipal course in Michigan by Golf Digest.
The Legacy by Arthur Hills is dotted with five lakes and includes an island green on the par-3 eighth hole. It opened for play in 1997 and includes the best practice facility in the area.
Most enticing of the lot, though, is Maumee Bay because it offers so much more than golf. With camping and watersports readily available, the park is ideal for family activities. The on-site lodging is also well situated, just a short walk from the golf course.
“Arthur’s hand has touched a lot of golf courses around the area,’’ said Altvater. “He’s a very popular designer in this part of the world, and I’m amazed at the great golf here that nobody knows about. We can put custom-made packages together and, for double occupancy and 18 holes a day, we can do it for about $100. And replay rounds can be less than $25.’’
Watch an interview with Len Ziehm on Back 9 Report TV: https://youtu.be/0sOyPaLgON8
For more information check out www.arthurhillsgolftrail.com or contact Fred Altvater at fred@back9report.com.
