Text: R. Collins // Photography: Lynx Golf Club
Like northern Michigan, western Michigan’s fall season comes filled with robust color canopies that are second to none, and they can often make golf in the state that much more of a prominent experience for those who choose to golf here. West Michigan, however, has an advantage in which its verdant tree canopies change slightly later into the fall season, extending fall golf just a little longer.
In Otsego, on a property tucked before a quaint brook and wrapping around the Kalamazoo River, the Lynx Golf Club takes full advantage of the late season color changes with its own unique Fall Color Tour and other fall events that service everyone from golfers to families. Typically, the course will stay open until Thanksgiving or as long as the changing weather permits, allowing everyone to enjoy the former Christmas tree farm’s bounty of pine, oak, and cherry trees as they change color.
“That’s really the uniqueness of our property: because of our elevation changes we have just a whole palette of color. We use the moniker of ‘up north golf without the drive,’ but this is up north color without the drive,” said Jim Szilagyi, general manager at The Lynx Golf Club.
The exposed Kalamazoo River on the 14th and 15th holes make for an especially scenic backdrop on the course, but Szilagyi’s favorite photo opportunity comes at the 10th hole, a signature, which is perched next to the clubhouse and provides a full vista of the river and a steep hill across from it filled with more memorable colors. To share these scenic views with fall-loving onlookers and extend the availability of its grill into the cold seasons, the golf club created its Fall Color Tour to the enthusiasm of those who have participated.
“When we first came here, we were looking for ways to extend our restaurant throughout the fall and continue those operations and give people who don’t golf an opportunity to see what the golf course is all about. What we’ve done is created a Color Tour for golfers and non-golfers that is a family oriented and couple-oriented function,” Szilagyi said.
When guests buy a ticket for the Fall Color Tour, they’re given the keys to a golf cart, a mapped route to explore, and then led to a warming station at the 14th hole where they’re offered wine and beer samples as well as cider, donuts, and hors d’oeuvres, and fall activities like pumpkin carving. From there, each ticket includes a meal credit for guests to use at the course grill. The grill includes accessible meals like sandwiches, soups, entrees, and salads, as well as homemade desserts and a menu that also changes with the Michigan seasons. For more information on the Fall Color Tour and other fall-focused events at the Lynx, visit lynxgc.com.
