GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Mines Golf Club owner Chris Sobieck is pursuing an estimated $1 million upgrade to his facility, which would include a new winter driving range building and expanded paved parking.
The course, which Sobieck has owned since 2021, is located partially in the city of Walker and partially in Grand Rapids, sitting on a roughly 60-acre property. It is situated slightly north of O’Brien St. and just west of Covell Ave. SW.
Mines Golf Club now includes an 18-hole course, clubhouse, maintenance building and driving range, the latter of which now uses approximately a quarter of the property area.
After a significant expansion in 2023, which included the addition of a restaurant and event center, Sobieck is again hoping to upgrade the course’s facilities.
Sobieck received initial approvals during a Sept. 17 meeting of the Walker Planning Commission after presenting his plans to the city.
“I want it to look like Disneyland when we come down Covell to hit O’Brien,” he said. “I mean, we really want this to be a beautiful location.”
The 18-hole course has been open since 2005, and gets its name from sitting 150 feet above gypsum mines in operation as early as the 1860s, according to the club’s website. It features 110 feet of elevation change from the highest to lowest point, with unique natural features and an “up north feel” in an urban setting.
The course was named one of the Top 100 “Best Public Access Courses under $100” in the U.S. by Golf Magazine in 2024.
After the addition of the Gypsum Grill and Event Center, a 200-seat restaurant and 250-seat event space, Sobieck said the driving range building is “the next phase of our development.”
“We are trying to be very good community partners,” he said.
Sobieck said the course and driving range both get heavy use, and “we need to do something to create more hitting area for our customers.”
He said he’s hoping the new building, which would be located at 2301 O’Brien St. SW and be operational during the winter months, would fill a hole caused by a lack of winter golf spaces in the Grand Rapids area.
The building is expected to be 6,022 square feet, with 11 bays – all equipped with garage doors that can be opened for customers to use the driving range. Seven of those are private bays, and four are located in a community room.
A rendering shows designs for a new indoor driving range building at the Mines Golf Club, 2301 O’Brien St. SW. Photo courtesy of Chris Sobieck.Chris Sobieck
“We’ll continue to use the range as we always have in the summertime,” Sobieck said.
But when it’s too cold to hit outside, he said the garage doors can be closed and patrons can use simulators also installed in the bays.
“Most people want to get the ball out and see it, but if you can’t do that, they still want to hit,” he said, “and we don’t want to turn them away.”
The four community room bays can also double as a practice space for high school and college golf teams.
Sobieck is the men’s golf coach at Grand Rapids Community College, leading the Raider’s Golf Team since June 2025. He was previously the assistant golf coach at Davenport University for five years.
“We struggled with what to do in the winter,” he said. “This will help GRCC … and we’ll give access to other schools that want to do that, so then it helps us be more competitive, too.”
Sobieck said the community area can also double as an event space.
The site plan includes a “bar and kitchen area” in the new building, which planning commission documents described as offering “concession stand” type food, with burgers, chicken wings, fries and similar items. The bar will serve beer, liquor and soft drinks, covered under the course’s existing liquor license.
The building would also provide permanent restrooms instead of a porta-john, something he pointed to as another bonus for visitors.
The plan required no landscaping for approval, but Sobieck said he plans to landscape the new building similar to other facilities on site, with grass and flowers.
He said the plans also don’t include placing a sign on the road or building.
“We want to keep this lowkey.”
Greg Postema, a neighbor who spoke during the public hearing, said he would prefer a sign.
“Me and my neighbor, our driveways are the turnarounds for all the people that don’t know where they’re going,” he said.
In addition to the driving range building, the project includes a paving and expansion of the course’s parking lot, from around 30 to a little over 60 spots, with around half of them being paved.
“We prefer not to pave it,” Sobieck said, “but if we’re going to use it in the winter, we feel like we need to pave the parking lot so we can maintain it properly.”
Walker Planning Director Paula Priebe said the project proposal included two different lighting plans, either wall-mounted light packs attached to the building, shining out and down, or light poles spreading light across the entire parking lot.
Sobieck said he preferred the first option to limit light pollution for the community. The Commission suggested shorter light poles. Sobieck said the plan is to install those with a motion censor, so they can be shut off when not in use.
“We do not want them to be on at night if no one is there,” he said.
Michael Kohl, another Walker neighbor to the west of the driving range, said he grew up in his house and bought it from his parents when they decided to downsize, and “I didn’t move next to Disneyland. I didn’t grow up next to Disneyland.”
“I don’t want to be next to Disneyland,” he said. “We like our wildlife. We like the fact that we can go out there at night and see the stars.”
Cole said he has some concerns about the course, and commissioners discussed a possible buffer with more trees or mesh netting between the Mines and his house.
But Cole also said he is in favor of a new building for “sanitary and view reasons.” He said the occasional player uses the edge of the course’s property as an unofficial restroom.
The planning commission approved the site plan, with conditions on creating an appropriate lighting plan, getting wastewater permitting from the county and installing a “minimal sign,” among others.
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