his is a drive with more twists and turns than a Grisham novel, a veritable Hitchcockian thriller played out across perilously potholed pavement. Yes, it’s anything but easy finding the beautiful Bedford Valley Golf Club, tucked away in the blink-and-you-missed-it burg of Bedford Charter Township, just north of Battle Creek, Michigan.

But once you get there you’ll agree: you’ve really found something special.

“Yes it's a bit tricky finding it,” confesses Jim Scott, the second-generation owner and operator of Gull Lake View Golf Resort, which owns the course. “But it’s not really that hard to find when you know where it is.”

The Kramer family certainly knew where it was when they decided to build the place — then called Bedford Valley Country Club — in the early 1960s. In fact, this tract of rolling farmland and forest, just a stone’s throw from Waubascon Lake, must have seemed perfectly positioned for the building boom about to hit Battle Creek’s north side of town.

You see, the 1950s and 60s were a heyday for Cereal City, as Post and Kellogg’s made the town a great way to start the day. So with all the added traffic coming through the area, the highway department had some pretty grand plans for the city, and especially for a long, rural stretch of north-south road called M-37, which was due to get a major makeover of the expressway variety.

The little highway stretches from I-94 to the south all the way up through Grand Rapids and Traverse City, dead-ending at the famous Mission Point Lighthouse on Old Mission Peninsula. It offers what passes for the straightest shot to Bedford Valley Golf Club. It wasn’t much of a stretch to think Bedford Valley would become an accessible — and sought after — golfing destination for a booming part of town, with thousands of cars rolling by every day.

In the meantime, the Battle Creek area was in the midst of a golfing Gold Rush. The Kramers knew they had to compete with the Battle Creek Country Club, which the famous Willie Park, Jr., built a half-century before, the established Marywood Country Club, and the Scott family, who was building a brand-new course of their own design not far away in Richland. So the Kramers, as close to oil magnates as you’ll find in the Midwest, brought over a fancy, big-name golf course architect to build their course for them.

They found a blue-blooded Bostoner named William Mitchell, who was racking up quite a resume to his credit, including Rolling Hills Country Club in Florida, where Caddyshack would one day be filmed. He is also the man credited with coining the phrase “Executive Course.”

Mitchell had been in the golf business since he was 19, working as a greenskeeper in New Hampshire. He then began assisting an architect named Orrin Smith, giving him a taste for his future claim to fame. He became superintendent at Charles River CC near Boston after World War II before forming his own design firm in the late 1940s.

The Kramers invited him out to Battle Creek in the early 1960s, and in marched Mitchell, who must have salivated at the site he was given: rolling elevations, gentle clearings, old-growth stands of oak trees. This was his chance to build a course like all the greats he studied back east: the Oakmonts, the Shinnecocks, the Brooklines.

And that, believe it or not, is exactly what he did.

When Mitchell finished Bedford Valley in 1966, it was immediately recognized as a tough test, a championship track, and weighing in at an enormous 6,795 yards, Bedford quickly became known as simply “The Big Course.” Scott, who grew up competing on (and with) Bedford Valley, said the club earned every bit of its moniker.

“There’s no question,” Scott says. “Back in the ’60s, a golf course that was almost 7,000 yards was a monster.”

Discerning players began to regard Bedford as being a great test, and its long tradition hosting tournaments soon began. There was no question the Big Course had huge potential. Yet, it could have been — should have been — even bigger. Despite being lauded for its layout, Bedford developed a reputation as a less-than-pristine golfing experience, Scott says. It seems the big, bad wolf of a course was also a bit dog-eared.

“We competed against them for years,” notes Scott. “And I played in the Michigan Open there in the 1970s, too. Bedford always had a reputation for poor conditioning. They had a terrible time with the greens. I told my dad [Darl Scott], ‘I just think they water ’em too much.’ After we bought the place [in 1988], we realized that was what was happening.”

The economic winds of the city began to shift as well, which would prove to be a much higher hurdle to overcome. The proposed widening of M-37 never materialized, and the expected boom to Battle Creek’s north side went bust.

More than four decades later, it’s clear the world hasn’t beaten a path to Bedford’s door. The charter township is now a throwback to classic Americana, with the telltale landmarks of a town stood still: a small car lot, the brightly colored stream of flags flying from one light post to another. There’s a classic little barbershop, a post office, tavern, a Lions Club. There’s a nice little park, framed by a babbling brook. There is not, however, a stoplight, or even a stop sign.

But while the town around it might be mired in the past, Bedford Valley Golf Club is enjoying the present and looking at a bright future. The Scott family bought the course from the Kramers in 1988 for a just shy of a $1 million, proudly adding its longtime rival to its collection of golf courses, and began helping it reclaim its potential.

“I always thought Bedford was a really great golf course that never got its due,” Scott says. “We always said if it was on the south side of town, it would have been bigger.”

Yet today, thanks to the Scott family, “The Big Course” is bigger and better than ever, playing most days at a plenty-long 6,915 yards with a sinister slope of 135, and a par of 71. Bedford’s more-open front nine gives way to a wild, woodsy back nine. While there are no cupcakes on this card, it’s not a tricked-up track full of blind shots and hazards.

Like Oakland Hills and the Point O’ Woods, the two Midwest classics it’s most often compared to, Bedford beats you the old-fashioned way: fair and square.

“What really sets Bedford apart is that it’s a ‘full-swing’ golf course,” Scott explains. “For the most part you see the entire hole. You see what’s in front of you. You’re going to be taking a lot of full swings.”
Scott adds that the course has undergone its share of makeovers over the years, but Mitchell’s layout remains the undeniable backbone of Bedford Valley. “After we bought it in ’88, we changed the course quite a bit. We went to an automatic sprinkling system on the greens, and we added about 120 yards. We also changed the par to 71 from the back tees, playing the seventh hole as a 438-yard par 4.”

One thing the Scotts did keep intact was the club’s rich tradition of tournament hosting, even expanding its resume in that regard. Bedford Valley has proudly hosted the Michigan Open, the Michigan Senior Open (12 years running), the Michigan Maxfli PGA Junior Championship, Michigan Publinx State Match Play, and even the 2000 NCAA III National Championship.

The Scotts became even better hosts this June when they cut the ribbon on a brand-new 8,400-square-foot clubhouse. The new facility gives Bedford the ability to host large outings, meetings, and weddings for as many as 200 people. Yet amenities aside, it’s the golf that keeps people coming back to Bedford Valley, and Scott says it doesn’t take long to see why Bedford Valley is such a popular place.

“William Mitchell designed this course like all those classic courses back east. You get on the back nine here, and you look at some of those shots, and the old oak trees, and you think you’re playing Oakmont or Winged Foot. It’s a lot of the same look.”

And like those classics, Scott says Bedford Valley is truly a test of golf that stands up to the test of time.
“I still think, even with the modern equipment, if you’re playing a tournament and you want a tournament champion, Bedford is as good as any. If you want to measure your game, it’s as good a measuring stick as you’ll find anywhere.”

And one that’s well worth finding too.

For more information about Bedford Valley Golf Club and Gull Lake View Golf Resort, visit www.gulllakeview.com or call 800-432-7971.