Why American Dunes Golf Club feels like a Fourth of July party while honoring fallen soldiers

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – Everything stopped.

Bartenders, cooks and waiters came from the clubhouse and stood silently on the patio at American Dunes — a new golf course that feels like a July Fourth party held at a monument for fallen soldiers.

Up and down fairways, golfers paused and took off their caps. Those on the patio faced a giant American flag that loomed over the course.

A trumpet played “Taps” over the loudspeaker system, which happens every day at 1 p.m. – 1300 hours, standard military time. It was followed by 13 chimes, representing the 13 times a flag is folded at a military funeral.

I kept standing, the emotion building in my gut.

I’m not much of a golfer but playing American Dunes was a surprising, incredible, inspiring and reverential experience. It’s like going to Washington, D.C., to visit the monuments — you walk away feeling pumped up with patriotism and awash with thankfulness for those who fought for our freedoms.

The golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and it’s simply beautiful, but the golf was actually secondary for me.

Because of what this place stands for.

Walking in the paths of those who served

You feel it as soon as you arrive at this course in west Michigan, built on the sand, not far from Lake Michigan.

You walk across the parking lot toward a memorial in front of the clubhouse. Nicklaus’ words are emblazoned on an 8-foot wall: “I love the game of golf, but I love my country even more.”

His “Bear” logo was changed to Red, White and Blue.

Nicklaus waived his normal $3 million design fee to turn the Grand Haven Golf Club into American Dunes because this course is unlike any other. The profits are given as scholarships to the children of fallen military members through the Folds of Honor Foundation.

The memorial looks like an open-air tunnel, the walls covered with 13 plaques honoring fallen soldiers. You walk down the path, reading about the soldiers — and it hits you in your gut.

You look at the ground and the soldiers’ boot prints are cast in bronze; it’s as if you are walking with them.

Or maybe, they are walking with you.

“This place is so special,” said Wesley Bauguess, whose husband, Army Maj. Larry Bauguess, was killed in action while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in 2007 in Pakistan.

A plaque there honors him.

“There’s just a sweet spirit there,” Wesley Bauguess said. “The course is majestic, but there is a deeper meaning. I think it is exceptional. American Dunes is pristine. Just breathe in the patriotism, breathe in the respect for our country and breathe in the respect for our service members.”

Wesley Bauguess’ two daughters have been given scholarships from American Folds, a foundation that has given out more than 29,000 scholarships worth about $145 million — 41 percent to minorities.

“A Folds of Honor scholarship far outweighs the dollar value,” Bauguess said. “It represents a group of amazing patriots who are remembering Larry. They’re remembering his daughters. They’re remembering us as a family.”

A most patriotic welcome

The pro shop reminded me of a Team USA store at the Olympics. Everything is Red, White and Blue.

The bar is decorated like a fighter pilot lounge. A missile is fixed to the wall and it has been turned into the beer tap. If nothing else, military people remain resourceful.

Two miniature jets hang from the ceiling and the walls are covered with pictures of fighter pilots.

I played American Dunes with three close friends from college. Before playing, we went to the bar, and one of my friends asked the bartender to give us the full experience.

“You gotta have a shot of Jeremiah Weed,” she said.

My friend ordered a round of Jeremiah Weed, a chilled 100-proof whiskey favored by fighter pilots.

We raised our glasses and downed the shots.

Smooth as kerosene.

Golfing for a purpose

The greens fees are steep at $150 a round but easy to justify, at least in my mind: it’s for the children of fallen soldiers.

The golf carts are decked out with a fantastic speaker system, a Bluetooth connection and a video screen with a GPS system that gives yardage to the hole.

But that screen did something surprising.

As we left the clubhouse and headed to the first hole, Nicklaus automatically appeared on video and talked about the mission of the course.

At the first tee, a worker gave each of us a nickel without explaining why, just hinting we would need it later. I slipped it into my pocket and forgot about it.

The course was tough but fair, and nearly every hole looked like a picture out of a golf magazine.

Near each tee, different plaques honored a fallen service member and one of Nicklaus’ 18 majors.

“I wanted to put everything in this place; it was really sacred and important to me,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, the founder of Folds of Honor and the driving force behind American Dunes. “It’s the culmination of my life experience. American Dunes is the manifestation of my soul, as a PGA member and a pilot.”

Last fall at a news conference, Rooney leaned over and talked to Nicklaus.

“Have you ever been to a golf course opening like this in your career?” Rooney asked.

Nicklaus paused.

“I’ve never been to anything like this in my life,” Nicklaus said.

Rooney met with Nicklaus in February 2018 to discuss his vision and construction began in March 2019. The course opened this spring.

“We had weather issues,” Rooney said. “We had COVID issues. Literally, every week, there was another challenge or setback that presented itself. We got a massive windstorm that went through and did significant damage during construction. I mean, it was crazy, right. But we made it. And thank God we did.”

An honorable 18 holes

Near the 17th tee, there is a giant cross and players are urged to toss nickels in the grass in honor of the fallen, a long-standing tradition of pilots.

So I tossed my nickel at the monument.

I never served in the military but I covered the war in Iraq as an embedded reporter. I crossed the Iraq border in a truck, sitting on a box of explosives, shoulder to shoulder with Marines. I’ve stood on an aircraft carrier, watching jets take off. And I’ve sat in a bunker, wearing a gas mask, as missiles flew overhead.

I’ve talked to commanders at the Pentagon, written about the injured at Walter Reed and have covered military funerals from Arlington National Cemetery to little towns across Michigan.

I can’t tell you how much respect I have for the military. They are true heroes, and I am in awe of their courage and sacrifice.

But the thing that always touched me, perhaps more than anything, was talking to the families of the fallen.

The wives — or husbands — left behind. The children growing up without a parent. Their sacrifice is profound.

When I finished this round of golf, I felt overwhelmed, thinking that in a small way, I was helping a family.

“It’s crazy because the golf course is so good but it’s the fifth thing somebody talks about,” Rooney said. “We wanted golf to be the reason they showed up but not the why. And I think that’s the thing that resonates in my heart. Most people talk about the memorial, they talk about the nickel in the grass, they talk about 1300. They talk about being in the bar. And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, Jack. Yeah, we played one of Jack’s courses, and it was one of the best we’ve ever played in our lives.’ ”

It was that and more.

As you leave the course, you walk through the memorial one last time, past several slogans: “Freedom is not free.”

“Honor their sacrifice. Educate their legacy.”

When I left, I’ve never felt so good after a round.

Inspired and uplifted.

Thankful and touched.

It was the most amazing 18 holes of my life.

And it had nothing to do with the golf.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.