SAUGATUCK, Michigan — In response to questions from locals, the new owners of Saugatuck’s Clearbrook Golf Course have written a letter to the community.
“Our family recently purchased the Clearbrook Golf Course from our friends and longtime owners, Jim and Candy Jeltema,” the new owners — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and his wife Julie — wrote. “They have managed the course for many years, making Clearbrook a place of connection and fun for our entire community.”
The course is 35 miles from Grand Rapids and 10 minutes from the small tourist town of Holland and, according to its website, has served as a qualifying site for the Michigan Open and has hosted other regional events like the West Michigan PGA Championship.
The sale didn’t include the Grill Room Restaurant, which remains under the ownership of Jim and Candy.
“West Michigan is a special community, and we have enjoyed living in Saugatuck/Douglas since we built our home here in 2018,” Kirk and Julie Cousins wrote. “As Jim reflected on his future, he wanted to keep the golf course in the community. As we discussed the history of the golf club with Jim, we agreed it is a community treasure and should remain a golf course for the next generation.
“Our family would prefer it not become a housing development or summer rental community. We want to invest in this great community, and we see this purchase as an opportunity to do just that, maintaining the life of a golf course that has been in place since 1926.”
The couple said there are “no concrete plans for changes to the course.”
“We have talked and dreamed about how the course might improve and we will continue to have these conversations in the days ahead,” they wrote. “We want the course to be a great experience for golfers, so we will begin by making small aesthetic changes, such as burying power lines that run overhead through the course and adding some perimeter landscaping.”
For the time being, Jim Jeltema will continue to operate the golf course.
“Jim and Candy will also continue to own and operate The Grill Room, as our family (acquired) the golf course land and golf business, not the clubhouse or the restaurant.
“We hope our community will continue to use and enjoy the golf course, while continuing to support Jim and Candy at the restaurant, as they have for so many years.”
Learn more at clearbrookgolfclub.com.
Contact Holland Sentinel editor Cassandra Lybrink at clybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @CassLybrink.
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