Lakeview Hills Country Club: Away from the Hustle and Bustle of Today

By Jason Scott Deegan, Senior Staff Writer

LEXINGTON, Mich. - At first glance, the Lakeview Hills Country Club and Resort looks like just another stop in a crowded golfing landscape in the state of Michigan.

But besides 36 holes of golf, including 18 spectacular ones on the north course, Lakeview Hills, at 6560 Peck Rd. (M-90) in Sanilac County, offers any pleasure that might suit your fancy.

Owned and operated by the Fabbri family, including Emilio and his sons, Tom, Rick, and Dennis, who is the PGA teaching pro, Lakeview Hills offers a family-oriented approach in making your visit a pleasant one.

Want to take a weekend getaway but don't want to drive more than four hours to the great golfing resorts in northern Michigan? Lakeview Hills is a good alternative. The Lakeview Hill's clubhouse and pro shop is connected to a 33-room hotel, including deluxe rooms with a hot tub, or you can stay in the more luxurious 6-person "Shamrock" estate, which is a restored farmhouse with a built-in swimming pool right across the road.

There are also several Bed and Breakfast homes in town, but staying at Lakeview will provide you a number of amenities you won't find anywhere else in the area. Inside the hotel, there are several racquetball and handball courts; a 16-lane bowling alley; a health club/fitness center with free weights and nautilus equipment; three banquet rooms for weddings, family and class reunions, and business seminars and a complete conference center.

The town of Lexington, about a half-hour's drive from Port Huron and the Blue Water bridge to Canada, and about 1-1/2 hours from metro Detroit, can entertain you when you're not on the course. Lexington is a tiny village that has tried to stay away from the hustle and bustle of today's world. There's a handful of specialty antique shops and places to eat in its downtown strip and only two fast-food restaurants.

The resort also provides a shuttle to and from Lexington's harbor, providing boaters with easy access to the course. At the harbor to Lake Huron, you can take a relaxing walk around the village's long pier or you can catch a refreshing boat ride and do some charter fishing.

Oh, did I mention the golf at the resort?

The south course has three sets of tees and the north course has four, but they share a single driving range and putting green. The south course is the older, easier tract of the two. The original nine holes (now the back nine) were designed and played regularly by Walter Hagen earlier this century. The other nine holes were added and opened in 1928.

The south course plays to 6,290 yards from the blue tees with a rating of 70.1 and a simple slope of 119. It is relatively flat, wide open and trouble free with only 22 bunkers, although three holes, No. 4, No. 15 and No. 17, have major water hazards. It is better suited for a beginner or the double-bogey golfer.

Designed by Jeff Gorney, the north course opened in 1991, transforming Lakeview into a true resort destination. It plays to 6,852 yards from the gold tees (73.5 rating/slope 139), but any mortal should play from the blues, which are the length (6,148 yards) and difficulty (131 slope) of most courses' white tees.

This testy championship layout has two distinct personas -- at times, it has a Scottish-links feel where mounding covered with long heather grass runs along the fairways, and there are holes where you feel squeezed in by the towering trees on both sides of the fairways. Many compare these isolated holes favorably with the beautiful, wooded fairways found mainly in northern Michigan.

I played the north course in early September, but I wish I would have waited another month. Seeing the leaves change colors, splashing reds, yellows and oranges throughout the course would be quite a sight.

Besides the woods and the heather, trouble lurks in the form of water on nine of the holes and the 46 strategically placed bunkers. The course will get even tougher over time as the young pines and evergreens mature on several of the more wide-open holes.

There isn't a boring shot on the course, with 12 holes playing to a dogleg right or left. Every putt on these speedy, good-sized greens are sure to keep you guessing. The only disappointing thing with the layout is three of the par-3s are nearly identical shots, playing right around 155 yards from the blue tees or 130 yards from the whites.

The front nine is definitely the harder of the two. After a wide-open first hole, the view from the second tee feels like you've just entered a golfing jail. This 375-yard par-4 is tree-lined from tee to green with two small creeks within driving range.

Your course-management skills will be on display starting at the 285-yard 4th hole, which doglegs hard right. You need to hit a 210-yard iron/drive toward the left side of the fairway for a look at the green down below you.

After a long par-5 (540 yards) and a short par-4 (340 yards), the hardest hole on the course, the 370-yard 7th hole, kicks off a string of three dangerous holes. Although the drive is difficult with heather and bunkers on both sides of the fairway, the approach shot is twice as tough because the green is a peninsula, with water on three sides.

The 175-yard 8th hole requires a tee shot over water as well, especially if the pin is on the right side of the green. The same pond runs along the right side of the fairway for the final 200 yards of the 9th hole.

To stay alive on No. 11 off the tee, you need to kick a field goal between two sets of trees and carry a creek 195 yards away.

The 14th hole starts a dynamic finish to your day. The drive on this 488-yard par-5 looks awkward -- the hole doglegs to the right, but several trees appear to block your chances of hitting it that way -- but trust me, don't hit an iron like many people do, go with your driver. If you're worried about the trees and pull your driver left, a ridge will funnel you back nicely into the fairway and give you a good chance to clear a creek on your next shot.

You can thank the Fabbri family for making No. 16, a 368-yard dogleg left, a little more playable. They filled in the marsh on the right side of the green. With a blind approach shot and such an extreme dogleg, many people actually end up in the marsh-area thinking they hit a good shot to the green.

No. 18 is another shot-maker's hole. You need to place your first ball 190 yards off the tee to stay short of a large pond, leaving you a simple (if you're not hydrophobic) approach shot of 100 yards to the green.

What happens next is up to you. Take that boat ride or head to your room for a nap or grab a bite to eat in Emilio's inside the clubhouse, which features a tasty sampling of seafood entrees, steak and prime rib. Or if you're swing went south on the north course, see Dennis for a private lesson or two. Lakeview Hills prides itself on satisfying your every need.

Locals can take advantage of the membership opportunities or buy into some fairly inexpensive golf course living. Currently, six condos are nestled along the north course's terrain at a base cost of $165,000 each. More are expected to spring up.

The greens fees for 1999 are as follows and might change some in the new millennium: For the north course (where carts are mandatory), it's $42 on weekdays and $49 on the weekends. For the south course, it's $15 for nine holes and $26 for 18 holes walking on a weekday and $17 for nine and $30 for 18 on weekends.

With carts, the rates are $22 for nine and $39 for 18 during the week and $24 and $43 on weekends. Many package deals are available as well. Residents of Canada can take advantage of a great deal on Monday through Thursday when Canadian money is accepted at par. To make a tee time, call (810) 359-8901.

August 21, 2000