Chasing Dreams in the Boondocks: a Golf Course Comes to Life

No one who thought about it twice would move into a century-old house on a failed farm with a mysterious history — just to pursue a quixotic quest to bring a childhood dream to life. No one with any sense would try to build a golf course by hand the old-fashioned way. Not on the slenderest of shoestrings. And certainly not by himself with only a young family to help.

But that’s exactly what Bill Haney did.

Chasing Dreams in the Boondocks is the story of a family transplanted from a comfortable college town to a rundown popcorn farm in rural Michigan, "…all because I had to build a golf course," the author admits.

He had no money beyond a modest income as a writer. No formal training as a golf course architect and little experience with construction equipment. His greatest assets were a supportive and resourceful wife and four adventurous and helpful kids (the eldest aged six). Still he was determined to fashion a championship-length golf course on a failed farm that held secrets that had already destroyed many dreams and lives.

What Haney found in the quiet Michigan countryside was far more than he had bargained for. His goal had been 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." As he went about discovering that, he began to sense that the old house, barns, and land held secrets only vaguely whispered about, mysteries unsolved for generations.

What started as a monumental solo task for one family grew into something greater. One by one, a collection of engaging characters— neighboring farmers, village craftsmen, and area businessmen—put their hands in "to help this fella realize his dream."

In those four years of fighting freakish weather, coping with a growing mountain of debt, and fending off other demons, Haney learned that his wife, children, and new friends taught him more and brought more to the adventure than he could ever have imagined.

Bill Haney lives in the country near Ortonville, Michigan, with his patience-of-Job wife, Marcy, where he is restricted to two pampered golf holes for the pleasure of his six grandkids.

Haney also commutes to New York where he is executive vice president and director of corporate communications for ad agency Foote Cone & Belding. He previously was executive vice president and consultant to the chairman of The MacManus Group. While at MacManus he founded the DMB&B Licensing Group and the DMB&B Public Relations. Haney also worked for the Bendix Corporation and Bendix Aerospace Systems Division in Ann Arbor.

In the world of publishing, Haney was the founder and president of Momentum Books Ltd. in Troy, Michigan, associate director of The University of Michigan Press in Ann Arbor, and director of book publishing at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. For several years he ran his own consulting group focusing on publishers and communication clients.

In addition Haney has written, co-authored, or ghost written many books, as well as numerous articles, short stories, and film scripts. His works have been published in magazines in the United States and Canada and have been translated and reprinted in Europe and Japan.

Haney has strong ties to the world of golf, beginning with his days as a caddie, and continuing through his days as greenskeeper, caddie master, assistant pro, instructor, and recipient of a scholarship for outstanding caddie athletes and scholars.