Valley at Old Channel Trail Golf Club

Old Channel Trail Golf Club's Valley course sits in Montague, a small town on Michigan's western shore near Muskegon and White Lake. Designed by Jerry Matthews, a Michigan-based architect known for his work throughout the Great Lakes region, the course occupies rolling terrain characteristic of the area's glacial topography. The routing takes advantage of natural elevation changes and wooded corridors that define many holes, with fairways carved through mature hardwoods and pines typical of western Michigan's coastal forest belt.

The layout reflects Matthews' approach to working within existing landforms rather than imposing dramatic reshaping. Players encounter a mix of elevation shifts, doglegs that follow the land's natural contours, and green sites that incorporate the property's slopes and ridges. The course name references the historical channels and waterways that once connected White Lake to Lake Michigan, though the routing itself focuses primarily on the forested upland portions of the property rather than wetland or links-style terrain.

Old Channel Trail serves as a daily-fee facility accessible to the public and visiting golfers exploring Michigan's western golf corridor. The course provides a straightforward test suited to a range of skill levels, with length and challenge coming more from strategic positioning and elevation management than from severe hazards or extreme length. It represents the kind of regional design work that characterizes much of Michigan's golf landscape outside the state's most celebrated resort destinations.