Woodside Golf Course

Whether you lack the time for a full 18-hole round or simply put up your best scores nine holes at a time, today's feature is presented with you in mind: $9 for 9 Holes with Cart at Woodside Golf Course near Lansing ($21 Value. Good Any Day, Any Time Until December 31, 2012.)

Woodside Golf Course is a nine-hole facility that stretches over 146 acres along Wood Road, for which this course is aptly named, just north of Lansing. Woodside has been making waves in the Michigan golf scene of late with its construction of three additional holes — currently being built — making it the state's first and only official 12-hole golf course.

With its original nine holes starting construction in the 1990s by the Kazenko family, Woodside took nearly two decades to complete. During its construction, Woodside was carved out of the earth with blood, sweat and tears, before being handed off in a recent sale to the owners of the well-known Hawk Hollow, Eagle Eye and Falcon properties for a final push to complete the course. And now, under new leadership, this labor of love is open for the public, and a perfect home for those who want a faster alternative to a round of golf.

Starting off with a challenging downhill dogleg-right, Woodside Golf Course can at times be a handful, but the crafty design promises to be fair right from the get-go. Though Woodside's Kentucky Blue Grass fairways are closely framed with no small number of tall, ominous hardwoods, its greens ready to be attacked by approach shots with a decent lie. As promised, the course is fair; you'll be rewarded for good shots, and forced to dig yourself out of holes with bad ones.

So if you're a busy-body that bemoans the set of idle clubs calling softly from your trunk, let Woodside Golf Course be your mark for a quick post-work round this season!