A view looking down on the green at the par-5 fifth hole at Radrick Farms Golf Club. (Photo: Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com)

There are great golf courses in and around Ann Arbor. Radrick Farms, off Geddes Road, is one of the best.

The problem is that only a select minority of local golfers get a chance to play the jewel of a course. Owned and operated by the University of Michigan, unless you are a faculty or staff member (or know one) the best chance you have of getting on the course is to play in a GAM qualifier or another tournament.

If you are lucky enough to get a chance to play Radrick, you won't be disappointed.

Designed by famed architect Pete Dye, Radrick opened in 1965. It was Dye's first course design, or so the story goes, and you might say he came out of the gates swinging (although rumor has it that upon a revisit several years later, he didn't like the course much; he thought the greens were too severe).

One of the coolest things about Radrick Farms: It probably is the most secluded golf course in Washtenaw County, even more so than Barton Hills Country Club.

Sitting well back off Geddes Road, the entrance to Radrick easily could be missed. In fact, the driveway comes up on you so fast there's a good chance you may put your car up on two wheels as you negotiate the sharp turn into the course.

Oh, what a driveway - it’s kind of like a poor man's version of Magnolia Lane. A long, tree-lined drive that takes you well away from Geddes Road; away from civilization - almost to another time. So much so, you half expect Bobby Jones to be waiting for you in the parking lot dressed in knickers, waiting to join you for your round.

Except for the birds, it's a quiet place and there is a "no playing through" rule at Radrick; a bit odd, but it seems to work. Rather than wave faster groups through, slower players are told to pick up their balls and move to the next tee to keep things moving. It seems to keep all the golfers civil.

Starting with the first hole, Dye takes the golfer on a well thought out route through the rolling countryside. Despite being nearly 7,000 yards from the tips, Radrick is feet friendly. Almost all of the tees and greens are close, making for an efficient walking round.

Dye starts with the longest (530-yards) but certainly not the toughest, par-5 on the course. But after getting settled in, Dye throws a nasty one-two combination at the golfer with the second and third holes.

No. 2 is a doozy - a sharp dogleg left that can play really short, if you cut the dogleg, or really long, if you block it right or have a nasty slice. A fairway wood hit straight off the tee may be the smartest play, leaving you little more than a mid-iron into a severely sloping, elevated green.

If you're still standing after No. 2, the third hole will try and finish you off with the 465-yard, dogleg left, par-4 that requires a blast of a tee shot just to have a clean shot into the green. For good measure, there's a Sahara desert-sized bunker guarding the front left of the green.

Radrick lets you breathe for a few holes with the fairly easy par-3, fourth, and the short, risk-reward par-5, fifth. Probably the signature hole on the course, No. 5 requires a straight tee ball to give the better golfer a fairly easy shot into the green to set up a possible eagle. Of course, the problem is hitting that straight tee shot. With a narrow landing area and plenty of trees to gobble up anyone brave enough to cut the corner, the fifth hole is tougher than it looks.

The green itself takes up roughly two zip codes, so you better have a firm grasp on your yardage for your approach shot or you may need your caddy to set off a flare while tending the pin for your cross-country putt.

On the back nine, Dye gives the golfer more of the same, fairly easy holes followed by some fairly tough ones. But isn't that what a good golf course design is supposed to do? With Radrick, Dye has done just that. The course may beat you up a bit, but if you keep it in play, stay patient and keep the ball below the hole, it gives you an opportunity to score.

My favorite hole on the back is No. 15 - a great par-3 measuring somewhere between 171 and 183 yards. From an elevated tee box several feet above the green, it looks as if you could throw the ball on the green, but just to spare your rotator cuff, and play the game by the rules, try picking two less clubs than what you think you should hit and swing away.

The final three holes at Radrick are solid, if not spectacular (maybe that's the reason for all the fountains in the water hazards), but fun to play.

When you finish, you'll find that the 18th hole is in an odd location, as in, not exactly a stone's throw from either the clubhouse or the parking lot. No matter, you'll be scheming some way to get back there again as soon as possible.

Lon Horwedel is a photographer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at lonhorwedel@annarbor.com.