Kingsley Club adds second 18-hole course, new clubhouse in major expansion

Kingsley Club is taking its footprint far beyond the original 400-acre property south of Traverse City, adding a second 18-hole course and a new clubhouse on a 520-acre parcel southeast of the existing site. The $40 million project turns one of Grand Traverse County’s most exclusive golf properties into a larger private campus with a broader land-use footprint on the edge of Kingsley.

Escalante Golf, which bought the club in 2022 from co-founders Ed Walker and Art Preston, has already begun tree clearing on the new parcel. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are designing the second course, which is expected to play as a par-72 layout of about 7,200 yards. The routing will use fescue playing surfaces, native grasses and minimal land disturbance, with a walkable design that includes a 19th “bye hole” returning players to the clubhouse after the first six holes.

Limited preview play is expected in late 2028, with full opening planned for the 2029 season. The second course will sit alongside the existing Mike DeVries design, which opened with the club in 2001 and is currently ranked No. 108 on Golf Digest’s Second 100 Greatest Courses list and No. 4 in Michigan. That gives Kingsley Club a stronger claim to the regional golf market already anchored by high-end courses that draw players from well beyond Grand Traverse County.

A new clubhouse is rising in parallel and is expected to open in spring 2027. Mark P. Finlay Architects designed the building, which will add 4,000 square feet of indoor space and an 850-square-foot covered patio. The plan also calls for expanded dining, a full-service bar, an outdoor fire pit, an enhanced pro shop, upgraded locker room facilities and a larger practice green.

General manager Justin Mack has said the project is about “evolution, not change,” and Escalante is describing the build-out as a way to preserve the club’s minimalist, “Spirit of the Game” identity while evolving the property. For Kingsley and the county around it, the most immediate effects are physical: more land converted to golf use, more construction activity, and a far larger private complex in a part of the region where golf already plays an outsized role in the local recreation economy.