Quail Ridge Golf Club

Getting To Know: Quail Ridge Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Kyle D. Holmes, Head Golf Professional/Assistant General Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Kyle D. Holmes who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Quail Ridge Golf Club, located on a serene piece of property in Ada, MI is one of the best courses in West Michigan. Nestled on over 300 acres of rolling hills, Quail Ridge Golf Club provides the golfer with a feeling of complete seclude from the daily commotion, while only being a few miles from Grand Rapids.

With 5 sets of tees on every hole, large fairways, and generous greens all meticulously maintained, Quail Ridge Golf Club provides the friendliest and best value in West Michigan.

Quail Ridge Golf Club has a sprawling practice facility to sharpen all aspects of your game, and is open daily from dawn to dusk.

New in 2015 - Come on out and see our complete renovation of the clubhouse. With new paint, trim, floors, bathrooms, pro shop, and bar, Quail Ridge Golf Club now offers the perfect place to host a wedding, outing, banquet, or a nice lunch on the patio.

Come see the new and improved Quail Ridge Golf Club, you will not be disappointed!

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Hands down, you will not find a better value or experience. Quail Ridge Golf Club is the perfect golf course for players of all abilities, and the course is always in perfect condition. From the moment you turn into our drive and wind through the opening holes, to that last putt on #18, you will be experiencing pure golf bliss.

But do not take it from us! Come out to Quail Ridge Golf Club and experience what most people already know. When it comes to West Michigan Golf, it does not get any better than Quail Ridge Golf Club.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The greens at Quail Ridge Golf Club are incredibly large, which makes for more hit greens, but many more lag putts. Spend some of your warm up time on one our two practice putting greens honing in the speed of the greens to make lag putting easier.

And of course, if that does not work, find one of our beverage carts or visit the bar inside for game improvement drinks.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We are extremely proud of the 14 week renovation that took place over the winter. Our entire clubhouse is new, from floor to ceiling, and looks exceptional.

Pair that with the best maintained golf course around, and Quail Ridge Golf Club is no doubt to skyrocket straight to the top of your list of favorite golf courses to play.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#11. It is a beautifully designed par 4 with an elevated tee box set back in the edge of the woods. Looking out from the tee is a beautiful view of the hole, lined by a pond up the entire left side of the fairway. Many golfers bail out to the right to avoid the water, but be careful, because your approach shot involves a carry over a fairly deep green side bunker.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My favorite hole is #3. It is a challenging yet reachable par 5. The key to the hole is the tee shot. With the hole dog-legging left at about 250 yards, the ideal tee shot is a draw down the left side of the fairway. But be careful, too far left and your in the hazard or blocked out. Too far right and you will be too far to reach the green in 2.

And speaking of that 2nd shot, hit it straight! Leave it to the right, and your faced with a downhill carry over a bunker with the green running away from you. Miss it left and you most likely will kick into the hazard on the left.

Thinking about laying up? Do so accurately, as their is a group of bunkers in the middle of the ideal landing zone.

This hole takes creativity, execution, and a little luck.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Chicken Ranch Wrap and a Bells Oberon on draft.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6938
Slope: 139
Rating: 73.1

More Information
Quail Ridge Golf Club
8375 36th Street SE
Ada, MI, 49301
(616) 676-2000
www.quailridgegc.com

Revised: 06/23/2015 - Article Viewed 30,950 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.