Crystal Downs Cc

Crystal Downs occupies a spectacular ridge of glacial land near Frankfort, Michigan, framed by Lake Michigan to the west and Crystal Lake to the east. An initial nine came into play in 1927, but the club's fame rests on the redesign by Alister MacKenzie, who toured the site in the late 1920s not long after completing Cypress Point and shortly before Augusta National. His Midwest associate Perry Maxwell lived on-site and built the full eighteen to MacKenzie's plans in the early 1930s, exercising some artistic license of his own. The result is a compact, walkable course celebrated for its wild green contours, bold bunkering and the unforgettable kidney-shaped seventh green. Rarely open to the public, Crystal Downs is consistently ranked among MacKenzie's finest work, alongside Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne and Augusta National.