BEDFORD VALLEY GOLF CLUB (269-965-3385)
Review 5/22/05
General information
Gull Lake View Resort is located in the beautiful lake region of Southwest Michigan, and offers 5 championship golf courses that are rated from 4 to 4-1/2 stars by Golf Digest Places to Play. On-site
accommodations can house up to 256 guests and banquet/meeting facilities can comfortably take care of groups of up to 300 guests. Altogether there are three clubhouses, 2 driving ranges and nine practice
greens, along with dining options at each of the 3 clubhouses. This is a wonderful set of courses, and an
experience at the resort on one of their stay and play packages is a deal that can't go wrong. For more
info on the resort and packages, visit our page for Gull Lake View Resort, with direct link to their website by clicking here.
Each of the five courses provides the same on-course marking system...color coded flags indicate front, middle and back hole locations, 150 yard stakes are visible on the fairways of par fours and fives,
yardage blocks are measured to the center of the green at 100, 150 and 200 yards, and the tee boxes on all par threes also are marked. Each course is wonderfully maintained from tee to green, providing
outstanding conditioning on all playing surfaces.
Bedford Valley
The facilities at Bedford Valley include a clubhouse with small pro shop, locker rooms with showers for men and women, plus a restaurant/lounge that serves bar food and hot and cold sandwiches. The
banquet/outing facilities can accommodate 150 people. There also is a grass range, putting green and short game area with practice bunker.
Bedford Valley is a 4 star (Golf Digest Places to Play) championship design that has served as host to many amateur tournaments and qualifiers, including the 2004 and 2005 Michigan Amateur Qualifying
rounds and has been host to the Michigan Senior Open for 9 straight years. Called "The Big Course", Bedford Valley's claim to fame are the excellent shot values available on this rolling terrain which
features oversized, sloping greens, huge high quality sand bunkers, and manicured fairways that are lined with mighty Oak trees.
Four holes have water in play, and 45 sand traps can be found lining the fairways or situated greenside.
These bunkers often have high lips and can be penal in nature. The two nines here are distinctive, as the front side presents wide fairways bordered by mature pines that are scattered, not densely
populated. The back side is more rolling with tighter fairways that demand precision off the tee, and
small putting surfaces that require accuracy on approaches. There are 4 sets of tees that play to 6915 yards/135 slope, 6573 yards/132 slope, 6103 yards/127 slope and 5104 yards/119 slope at the
forward tees. This is the longest, and perhaps most challenging of the five designs at Gull Lake View.
The course is located about 10 minutes from the resort - a trip well worth taking! For more info, visit our page for the course on our web catalog of courses to plain in Michigan by clicking here.
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