You are about to find out why St. Ives is not just another golf course. It is an experience not to be missed.

St. Ives is a small town near Cornwell, England. Here in Michigan — on this side of the “Big Pond” — St. Ives is a dramatic melding of hardwoods, wetlands and steep elevation changes. It all adds up to a golfing experience unparalleled south of the 45th parallel.

“ The first time I looked at this land, I was overwhelmed,” St. Ives head professional Kevin O’Brien said. “It is a very dramatic piece of land with elevation changes and wetlands meshed together.

“ We thought we had a pretty good location, but it turned out better than we thought. When you come here, you feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere. But you are somewhere.”

That somewhere — located less than an hour’s drive from either Grand Rapids or Mt. Pleasant — is where myth meets legend. From the surreal crest of that gothic lion to the ideal condition of the championship golf course itself, St. Ives is part beauty and part beast. Golfers can become so mesmerized by their surroundings while playing this 18-hole championship course that it can jump up and bite them before they know it.

“This is a very dramatic piece of land and the owners wanted something unique for the name,” O’Brien said. “We didn’t want an animal name or anything with a ‘THE’ in front of it. St. Andrews wasn’t original.

“ So they went to England and brought the name back with them.”

And while the name is refreshing and the crest is fitting, the golf course stands on its own.

Even before it was named, St. Ives had a lot going for it — namely highly acclaimed West Michigan architect Jerry Matthews and a terrain perfectly suited for an upscale championship golf course.

“ I was struck by the pure beauty and I can remember saying what a great piece of land it would be for a golf course,” O’Brien commented. “You have the elevation changes and the hardwoods. It’s one thing to have a gradual 50-foot elevation change, but these are dramatic changes.

“ There are lake views and wetlands. You just don’t find those combinations all at one golf course very often.”

Selecting the right partners
Principal owners Norm and Judy Browning and Robert Doerr are self-admitted average golfers. The Brownings and Doerr have formed a development partnership that over the past 30 years has transformed Canadian Lakes into a mid-Michigan resort community.

Canadian Lakes features 36 holes of golf that was turned over to membership of the resort community in 1995. St. Ives, the latest and greatest, was next up on the drawing board.

“ With the land we had to work with, we knew we had a chance to build a nice golf course, and we set out to try to build the type of course golfers are looking for,” Norm Browning said. “It turned out beyond my wildest dreams.”

Wild turkeys, bald eagles and hawks — just to name a few of the birdie opportunities — co-exist with the deer and red fox at St. Ives, which is like a sanctuary for wildlife and habitat for golfers. “It is as beautiful of a course as anything up north, and three hours closer,” Browning added.

Matthews, a prominent West Michigan golf architect, provided the expertise to transform the existing terrain into a golfer’s paradise. Matthews has carved a reputation for his ability to mesh golf courses in harmony with wetlands and other sensitive development issues.

“ We had some controversial wetland issues,” Browning said. “Jerry’s experience in Michigan and the Department of Natural Resources really proved true and he came up with a great layout.

“ We wanted to co-exist with the surroundings, not dominate them. We told Jerry to build the best possible golf course he could and use all the land he needed, and that we would worry about residential development later.”

Out of the hills, hardwoods and wetlands emerged the upscale championship golf course featuring manicured bent grass fairways, tees and greens and dramatic elevation changes now known as St. Ives. At a place where nature comes first, a great golfing experience is second nature.

Building a reputation on service
Upon arrival, an attendant is there to greet patrons and transport their golf bags to the golf carts that will take them on the incredible journey. Spotters, starters and player’s assistants — not rangers — are there to help find balls sprayed too far left or right and keep the pace of play flowing in a comfortable sort of way.

“ The golf course is exceptional in itself, but we also pride ourself on the service we provide,” O’Brien said. “You can have a great golf course and clubhouse, but what it comes down to is that you have to take care of the customer.

“ The whole experience — from the golf course itself, to the service we provide, to the clubhouse — is a good blend.”

Locker facilities are available. Fine dining is offered on weekends. The 24,000 square foot clubhouse is equipped with banquet facilities and capabilities for outings, seminars or conventions. The stately manor — with the crest of the gothic lion presiding proudly overhead — was built on the premise of offering a comfort and being adaptable for guests.

“ We decided early on who we were to please and that was the golfer,” Judy Browning said. “We wanted to be able to offer the amenities they wanted and that dictated the capacity and services available.”

As a result, the clubhouse is set up so social events can flow over from one room to the next. Two kitchens, a banquet facility and grill, along with a spacious hall that can be set up for an array of activities and a large outdoor patio.

“ We wanted to give it a beautiful, yet homey feel, and make it practical,” Browning beamed. “There’s something about this clubhouse that just feels homey, even as large as it is.

“ After all, it is a club-HOUSE.”

And, of course, there is the pro shop run by O’Brien and his staff. O’Brien was named 1998 Merchandiser of the Year for public facilities by the Michigan PGA.

Amenities aside, most people come to St. Ives for the golfing experience. And it’s that experience that keeps them coming back.

“ The nicest compliment anyone can give you is repeat business, and we’ve had a lot of that,” Norm Browning said. “We want to make sure they have a great experience every time they play here. They know they’ll have a good time when they’re here.”

Teeing it up on the front
The elevated tees, greens and fairways located throughout the course transcend the golfing experience to another level — both literally and figuratively.

There is potential for trouble at every turn, but at every turn is another spectacular view. Tee it up from the tips and those views are panoramic.

“ It’s a golf course that looks harder to play than it actually is,” O’Brien said. “St. Ives is a playable golf course.

“ It is a risk-and-reward golf course. There are holes you can either play conservatively or take some chances.”

After a solid starting hole — stay right and shoot for the marker to avoid marshes — with target shot to the green, No. 2 is an all-carry par-3 over wetlands with a cute little forward tee neatly notched into the marshes. Elevated, tiered tees begin on No. 3, followed by a reachable-in-two par-5 with a properly placed draw on the drive. The course setup calls for a fade on the No. 5, par-4 dogleg right, which is another hole to score on.

No. 6 is a straight forward hole with an elevated green and another good hole to score on. No. 7 is a beautifully laid out, risk-and-reward par-5 in which another well-placed draw could result in a putt for birdie or even eagle.

The par-3 No. 8 hole has wetlands to the front and side, hardwoods in the back and serenity all around. It is a secluded hole, and for good reason. It is a place to reflect on the round to that point and enjoy the outstanding beauty of St. Ives. An elevated tee on No. 9 presents choices to hit it down the middle, lay up with a long iron or take a chance and try to blast it over the corner of huckleberry marshes for a short chip to the green. It is a beautiful hole and, as the on-course attendant will attest, “It only gets prettier and prettier.”

“ Part of the challenge is focusing on your golf game and not getting caught up in the scenery out here,” advises O’Brien. “But even if you’re not scoring, the beauty all around you makes for a great day on the golf course.”

A divine back nine
Making the turn, the golfer is greeted to another exhilarating view off the tee. Like at No. 1, a shot that strays left will end up in the marshes.

Use the directional bunker — a Matthews’ trait — for guidance on the par-5 No. 11 hole. It has the feel of being carved out of the middle of a hardwood forest with a large landing area on the green. No. 12 also goes through the woods and requires a strategically placed tee shot to avoid existing trees that may disrupt anything coming in from the right side. No. 13 is a par-3 with a “water-ful” look to it and sometimes plays longer than it seems, depending on the direction of the wind.

Then you enter what Doerr refers to as “The Bowl.” It is a series of holes that wind around, through and between huckleberry marshes, hardwoods and lake. Major elevation changes and the hazards require strategic drives and solid iron play.

At No. 14, a layup to the wetlands is required with a second shot requiring a carry to an elevated green. Beds of snap dragons accent this hole, a refreshing touch brought to St. Ives by Judy Browning.

“ Flowers aren’t the first thing on golf course designers’ minds,” Judy Browning says. “Too many flowers on a golf course can detract from the golfing experience and too much time has to be spent on upkeep.

“ But they have flowers at Augusta and we have them here. If all we had to offer was flowers, they wouldn’t be golfing here. But a little added color never hurt anything.”

A strong draw over the omnipresent huckleberry marshes can create a short chip-and-putt opportunity for birdie at No. 15, but be careful not to drive through the fairway, which would create major negotiations with trees on the second shot.

The peninsula green on the par-3 No. 16 rivals that of any in Michigan. The all-carry shot to the landing area surrounded by water has a TPC-like feel to it.

Another risk-and-reward opportunity awaits as you leave “The Bowl” at No. 17. This hole has a distinct Florida feel to it with a lake on the right, a row of cedar trees to the left and wide fairways. The drive must be snuggled up close to the lake in order to take a chance of cutting off distance and shooting for the green in two. Bunkers, however, will grab any shot toward the green that isn’t on the mark.

No. 18 is a long and strong finishing hole carved out of the woods.

Every hole at St. Ives brings something slightly different and beautiful to the round.

“ We don’t have a signature hole, because there are too many out here that could be signature holes,” Doerr said.

With greens fees of $75 that includes cart for weekend play ($65 weekdays), St. Ives is as competitively priced as it is to play. It also is accessible to all golfers.

“ So many golfers are men, we also had to consider the ladies and how we set things up to accommodate them was not an afterthought,” Judy Browning said. “We borrowed ideas from each other to provide a setting the golf community — men as well as women — would find pleasing. Everything with a golf operation is important and we paid great attention to details.”

Those efforts did not go unnoticed. Golf For Women rated St. Ives among its 100 top female-friendly courses based on service, playability and overall golfing experience. St. Ives was ranked No. 5 by Golf Digest in 1997 among the best new public courses in the United States. The four courses ranked ahead of it are warm weather courses out west, which made St. Ives “No. 1 east of the Mississippi.”

With no other golf course quite like it on this side of the “Big Pond,” St. Ives is destined to become another Michigan legend. And that’s no myth.