Chasing Dreams in the Boondocks: A Golf Course Comes to Life
Bill Haney
Crofton Creek Press
Chasing Dreams in the Boondocks is Bill Haney’s account of transplanting his family from a comfortable college town to a rundown popcorn farm in rural Michigan in order to build a championship length golf course. Without any money beyond a modest income as a writer, no formal training as a golf course architect, and not much experience with construction equipment, Haney planned to discover the ultimate golf course hidden in those gentle rolling acres, to “restore the land to the way the glacier left it and then build into it a course that fit so naturally it seemed it had always been there.”
What started as a monumental solo task for one family grew into something greater. Haney’s greatest assets in his project were a supportive and resourceful wife and four adventurous and helpful kids (the oldest age six). Yet, one by one, a collection of visitors—neighborhood farmers, village craftsmen, and area businessmen—put their hands in to help Haney realize his dream. Haney also found more in the quiet Michigan countryside than he had bargained for. As he constructed the course, he also began to sense that the old house, barns, and land held secrets only vaguely whispered and mysteries unsolved for generations.
In four years of fighting wicked weather, coping with a growing mountain of debt, and fending off other challenges, Haney learned that his wife, children, and new friends taught him more and brought him more adventure than he could ever have imagined. Fans of creative nonfiction and anyone who has ever felt the call to follow an improbable dream will enjoy Haney’s unique account.
Bill Haney is the author of several books and many articles and short stories. He lives with his patience-of-Job wife Marcy in the country near Ortonville, Michigan, where he is restricted to two pampered golf holes for the pleasure of his six grandchildren. Haney also commutes to New York, where he is an executive for ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding.