A new miniature golf course will open in Glen Arbor for Memorial day weekend, though some community members expressed concerns about the tourist attraction Tuesday night at a public meeting.

One of the holes at The River at Crystal Bend.

Mike Sutherland, owner of “The River at Crystal Bend,” said his new venture will not be like most miniature golf courses.

“It’s almost like a botanical walk with a putter,” he said.

The course will offer no dragon heads, windmills, flashing lights or neon signs. It was built along the Crystal River and Sutherland said he wants participants to feel as if they are on a river walking through an indigenous swamp.

At Tuesday night’s Glen Arbor Planning Commission meeting, which generally attracts a small turnout of the public, hallways were overflowing.

Greg Halik, who owns property adjacent to the new course, is worried about parking. He told the commission he doesn’t want cars to take up spots in his lot or to park on South Oak Street, making it difficult for fire department vehicles to maneuver past.
“I just don’t want to have to put up signs outside my parking (area stating) ‘keep out, towing’,” Halik said.

Concerns that the course would be like a “theme park” were also shared, but Sutherland said he thinks people will have different views when they see the course after it opens.

“It’s frustrating that people are so dog-headed about any change in town. We love the river, we live on the river,” Sutherland said as he pointed to his home, which can be seen from the course. “We love it probably more than anyone in town and are doing what we can to preserve and enhance it.”

Sutherland’s course has 23 parking spots, and he said he will clear another lot to create 34 additional spaces if it is necessary. He said he doesn’t want to clear the lot yet, which would require cutting down a few trees, until he knows how successful the course will be.

Instead of pirate ships, dinosaurs and clown mouths, the 18-hole course will celebrate a Leelanau theme. Each hole has been designed after a piece of Leelanau history, Sutherland said. Old sunken ships such as the Rising Sun and prominent figures in Leelanau’s history like John Dorsey, John Fisher and John LaRue will be featured on the course, he said.

But putt-putt isn’t the only entertainment at The River at Crystal Bend.

“It’s not just golf, were doing a lot of other stuff too,” Sutherland said. “It’s almost like a miniature family eco-park, is what we’re calling it.”

Sutherland said 85 tons of boulders have been brought in to help define the course and estimated that the entire project cost him nearly $300,000, not including the price of the land. The “eco-park” will include horse-drawn carriage rides through the woods, similar to the ones on Mackinac Island, he said, and added that the horses will be wearing diapers.

And there will also be games, but not video games.

“I want to get them playing pinball again, not (the video game) Halo,” Sutherland said. “I’ve got kids and I hate video games. I hate them.”

A pool table, a few pinball machines, a giant human-size chess board and perhaps a foosball table and bocce ball will make up the arcade, he said.

Sutherland also received permission Tuesday to install a 14-foot diameter teepee for children to enjoy. He also said the largest black bear ever shot in the state will be on display, Leelanau history books will be sold, and a Petoskey stone shrine will be included in the gift shop. A gazebo with a fireplace will also be on site.

“So after Art’s (Tavern) they can cozy up, have a cup of coffee and take a hay ride,” he said.

By Freddy Hunt
Enterprise intern