The West at Forest Akers Golf Course
Rating Snapshot
About
The West Course at Forest Akers is one of two 18-hole courses owned and operated by Michigan State University in East Lansing. The West is the premier tournament layout for the Spartan golf teams and also hosted the Division III Women’s National Golf Championship in 2021. The rolling and forested layout was originally designed by Bruce Matthews but was extensively renovated in the 1990s by Arthur Hills and received further updates in 2010. In the early 2000s, a new clubhouse and hotel was built on property that altered the routing of the golf course. There is also an extensive practice facility across the street at the East course and accessible to the public. The West Course is considered one of the Midwest’s finest, public-access campus courses and one of the best layouts in the Lansing area.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 7013 yards | 75.3 | 141 |
| Black (W) | 72 | 7013 yards | 81.9 | 154 |
| Green | 72 | 6412 yards | 71.7 | 137 |
| Green (W) | 72 | 6412 yards | 77.8 | 140 |
| White | 72 | 5694 yards | 68.6 | 127 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5694 yards | 73.6 | 134 |
| Fossum | 72 | 5307 yards | 66.5 | 127 |
| Fossum (W) | 72 | 5307 yards | 71.3 | 129 |
| Silver | 72 | 5012 yards | 65.5 | 114 |
| Silver (W) | 72 | 5012 yards | 69.8 | 126 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 75.3/141 W: 81.9/154 | 423 | 592 | 426 | 322 | 338 | 436 | 202 | 546 | 184 | 3469 | 214 | 414 | 227 | 494 | 415 | 394 | 427 | 514 | 422 | 3521 | 6990 |
| Green M: 71.7/137 W: 77.8/140 | 381 | 562 | 389 | 294 | 316 | 394 | 174 | 495 | 163 | 3168 | 165 | 384 | 213 | 460 | 385 | 366 | 399 | 477 | 385 | 3234 | 6402 |
| White M: 68.2/130 W: 73.6/134 | 340 | 472 | 372 | 279 | 276 | 344 | 145 | 451 | 138 | 2817 | 154 | 346 | 182 | 431 | 356 | 334 | 304 | 428 | 342 | 2877 | 5694 |
| Fossom M: 66.5/127 | 310 | 472 | 322 | 270 | 276 | 290 | 112 | 451 | 114 | 2617 | 154 | 346 | 153 | 431 | 317 | 295 | 304 | 428 | 269 | 2697 | 5314 |
| Fossum W: 71.3/129 | 310 | 472 | 322 | 270 | 276 | 290 | 112 | 451 | 114 | 2617 | 154 | 346 | 153 | 431 | 317 | 295 | 304 | 428 | 269 | 2697 | 5314 |
| Silver M: 65.5/121 W: 69.8/126 | 310 | 406 | 322 | 270 | 252 | 290 | 112 | 420 | 114 | 2496 | 140 | 258 | 153 | 404 | 317 | 295 | 294 | 371 | 269 | 2501 | 4997 |
| Handicap | 11 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 2 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
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Reviewer Photos
This course used to be a premier golf course, but the conditions have gone down tremendously. Hopefully they get the course back and it's premier condition.
A great day on a fine course
The weather absolutely perfect and the course was in excellent condition. I wished to have played better but that's golf.
Disappointed in overall condition
Had high expectations for a top 25 college course, fairways not very good compared to Katke Ferris.
One and done, old layout, noisy.
Good could be better
Peace of play was 5 hours, some spots on course were dead but probably due to being low spots and lots of rain recently. Greens were very good though so no complaints there. Staff was nice but would of been nice to be notified that the snack shack was not open on saturdays. Course just needs a little TLC.
MSU Wedt
Great directions to course. All member friendly. No cart guy to clean clubs or to take you to car. No carts in parking lot. Golf cars are old. No USB port and several had ripped seats. That was disappointed since the rest of the place was top notch for a university. Will play again.
Very good course
Course was in very good shape, even for having a lot of rain the night before. Course was wet, but very playable. Challenging layout, fun to play. Could try to vary lengths of par 3s with tees and pin placements.
Best value in Michigan
$45 and pristine conditions. It’s a very nice, if unspectacular, layout. No tricked up holes… it’s all in front of you. Incredible value for money
It's been awhile...too long
Used to work in Lansing and would play Forest Akers every week. Been a few years since I've been back, but it was like greeting a long lost friend. One of my favorite places to play in Michigan. Course conditions were excellent, staff was excellent, round was excellent. Had a great time again. Worth the ride from the Detroit metro area. I will be back
Poor Course Tee Time Management
So my work mates and I were making the turn and were met with a foursome and another twosome in front of us. When we asked the guy at the desk what was going on he stated leagues were now going off… WHAT?? If we would have stayed to play behind that group it would have added another 3 hrs to our round. Then when I asked for a 9 hole credit I was told I could only get a rain check. Not like East Lansing is right around the corner. I live in Auburn Hills. Poor planning.
We appreciate you taking the time to review the course and rate us. We are going to pass on your feedback to the teams in charge so they can work to make changes. Thanks for visiting The West at Forest Akers Golf Course. We hope you'll give us another try in the future.
9 holes - 3 hours!!
Course was backed up to 3 groups on par 3’s- no Marshall!, told that the league were starting to hurry up with nowhere to go - poorly ran.
Hello, Thank you for reviewing the course. We apologize for the delay of play during your round. This is by no means the standard we strive to achieve. With that in mind, we are working to best control pace and allow everyone to finish in a reasonable amount of time. We will continue to look for ways to improve. Thank you for playing and we hope to see you again soon.
I'll Be Back
Best, best, best...far exceeded expectations. Great value, and look forward to returning again.
Great Championship Course.
Conditions are excellent. Very challenging course layout. Daughter played it in her high school state finals years back and won her division title. First time I got a chance to play it.
Great course, rude employee
I recently played forest Akers west and per usual, it was an overall good experience. The condition of the course and the pace of play were exceptional. However, I had a slight problem with the way a member of the staff treated me. I think he is maybe the manager of the course, as I’ve seen him several times before but never have had a problem before. This time, he was blatantly rude when I came into to pay for my round of golf. Maybe he was having a bad day, but to be rude to a paying customer is pretty sad in my opinion. Other than that, I had a great time and a great golfing experience.
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Thank you so much for leaving us with your feedback. We value our customer experience, so your review is important to us. Please know the current conditions are by no means the standard we strive to achieve. We will continue to work towards a 5-star experience and we hope to see you back!