LOCATION: 10 minutes north of Grand Rapids off East Beltline at 5 Mile Road, then East to course ADDRESS: 4100 Thousand Oaks Drive, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 YARDAGE: 5,328/7,147; 4 sets of tees ARCHITECT: Rees Jones YEAR OPENED: 1999 PHONE: (616) 447-7750 WEB SITE: www.thousandoaksgolf.com

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES' CAN BE TOUGH IF THE JONES WE SPEAK OF IS REES JONES, SON TO ROBERT TRENT JONES, SR. AND YOUNGER
brother to Robert Trent Jones, Jr. It is only coincidence that his father collaborated with another famous Jones, Bobby, in designing Peachtree in Atlanta.

Torrey Pines and Pinehurst have each been touched up by the so-called Open Doctor, who again will be in the spotlight as the PGA Championship comes to the famed Donald Ross course at Oakland Hills, Detroit this summer.

Does that set the stage well enough for you to understand the experience that awaits you at Thousand Oaks Golf Club in Grand Rapids? It should at least help. Jones would be the first to tell you that he just let the dramatic elevation changes and heavily wooded setting of the 430-acre site guide his creative hand.

Since its 1999 debut, the course has ranked No. 4 on the Best New Affordable Public Course by Golf Digest and remains a Top 25 favorite. Grand Rapids Magazine readers have rated Thousand Oaks “best public course” four years running.

With large greens and several teeing options, holes can dramatically change via numerous pin positions, changing the angle of attack into each green. Even if you miss a shot, the course is shaped to guide the ball back into the field of play. That allows for playability, even though there are challenges at every turn.

Every detail seems oversized at Thousand Oaks. The fairways are as large as runways, the greens as big as launching pads, and bunkers as deep as craters.

A stretch midway through the round – with three par-5s in four holes – could make or break your score. The 530-yard ninth hole seems like a warm-up compared to the monstrous length of the 630-yard 10th.

New to Thousand Oaks is the much anticipated Golf Academy, a first class learning facility, with the latest innovative teaching equipment and instructors dedicated to making improvements to all facets of your golf game. The academy houses four indoor/outdoor hitting bays equipped with the latest technology for video swing and putting analysis, along with the addition of the MEGSA (Most Efficient Golf Swing Attainable) Perfect Practice swing machines. The Academy features private golf instruction as well as a wide variety of clinics, camps and schools.