WHITEHALL — White Lake Golf Club is in the midst of remodeling the Michillinda Road side of its 18-hole course, and Wednesday saw many club members turn out to dedicate the newly completed holes No. 3 and 4.
Fittingly, four of the club's most senior members cut the ribbon and were the first to play the new holes. Rick McCombs, a longtime club member and board member, finished off the ribbon cutting, but he was assisted also by club president Frank Lundell, longtime friend Todd Bartholomew and former club president and honorary member Jim Schmidt.
"We started this process in 2021," McCombs said. "We redid No. 2, then we restored these two holes and then did 5-8 over the winter."
McCombs' history with WLGC goes way back; he said he's been coming to the course and the area since the late 1960s, and he and wife Katrina Veerhuisen spearheaded the creation of the Evan McCombs practice facility, named for their late son. Veerhuisen's family, he said, has been a regular part of the Whitehall area since the 19th century.
Holes 3-4 now feature new tee boxes, making the holes more accessible to "women and elderly people like myself," McCombs joked. The most obvious change, though, is the removal of several trees and installation of natural sand areas, or "waste areas," as McCombs called them. The latter is a fixture in modern golf course design, as natural areas require less maintenance than traditional sand traps, a change that has obvious financial benefits for courses as well as environmental ones.
"The idea was to create hazards around the green that were playable, but they weren't bunkers," McCombs said. "In a bunker, you can't ground your club. In a waste area, you can take a practice swing."
Because the natural areas require less maintenance - just raking the sand a couple times a week rather than the constant oversight required of traditional sand traps - the playing experience can also change from day to day, which adds a layer of the unknown for golfers.
"You might be in a footprint one day and in a perfect lie the next day, so it's just a unique part of the golf course now," WLGC pro Bill Borgman smiled.
Borgman was among the second foursome to play on the new holes, joined by fellow Whitehall golf coach Jim Hams and two of their players, sibling team Grace and Jones McDowell, who are also club members. Their inclusion was somewhat symbolic, as they represent the next generation of club members who will enjoy the renovated course for many years to come. (Young club members Payton Ruback and Deacon Sibley were also featured in the ribbon-cutting as part of the symbolism of the future.)
"It's definitely an honor," Grace McDowell said. "We've been members since we were young, so it's just amazing to be a part of something like this, and just the beautiful White Lake Golf Course getting improved every single day. We're happy to be a part of it."
Following that foursome, club champions and flight champions from last golf season teed off, followed by board members and club contributors.
The club, Borgman said, has a master plan for each hole on the course, and the Michillinda side of the course is the main focus point for now, with all work expected to be complete on those holes before the 2026 golf season begins. As finances allow, the club will keep an eye on its plans for the holes on the South Shore Drive side of the course.
Club members seemed pleased with the final results, with the traditional razzing of the players to christen the new holes taking place throughout the afternoon.
"I think it makes it a much more exciting course to play on the front nine, so it's increased the playability," McCombs said. "I think the other thing is, it's just a beautiful place to be."
"This is a great day to do it, since Rick McCombs could be here, and it's great to have these guys playing and Coach Hams and a bunch of other board members and some other donors that contributed to it all," Borgman said.
