Back at Orchard Hills Golf Club

Orchard Hills Golf Club sits in Shelbyville, Michigan, a small community in Allegan County roughly midway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. The course was designed by Arthur Young, a regional architect active in the mid-twentieth century who worked primarily across Michigan and neighboring states. Young's designs typically emphasize playability for a range of skill levels while incorporating the natural terrain features common to southwestern Michigan—rolling farmland, mature hardwoods, and occasional wetland areas. The routing at Orchard Hills likely reflects this approach, with holes shaped by the property's existing topography rather than dramatic earthmoving.

The landscape around Shelbyville is characterized by agricultural land transitioning to wooded corridors, and courses in this area often feature tree-lined fairways, modest elevation changes, and seasonal water features. Orchard Hills serves as a community-oriented facility, providing golf for local residents and visitors exploring Michigan's lower peninsula. The club operates in a region with a strong tradition of accessible public and semi-private golf, where the emphasis falls on maintaining playable conditions and welcoming atmosphere rather than championship-level difficulty.

Courses of this vintage and setting in Michigan typically offer straightforward strategic choices—risk-reward opportunities around water or bunkers, doglegs through tree corridors, and greens that reward accurate approach play without severe undulation. Orchard Hills fits within this tradition, providing a round shaped by the rural Michigan landscape and the design sensibilities of its era.