BAHLE FARMS | the new owners at Bahle Farms look to the 2022 season to build on their inaugural year at the Suttons Bay, Michigan destination

Bahle Farms’

NEW OWNERS LOOK AHEAD TO 2022

Text: Brenna Buckwald

In June of 2021, the Bahle Farms Golf Course in Suttons Bay, Michigan, transitioned ownership from the Bahle family, who had previously owned the 200-acre golf course and were long-time residents of the area, to 24-year-old Crosley Duckmann and his father, Mark Duckmann. e Duckmann family, while originally from Chicago, Illinois, are also quite familiar with the area having spent years vacationing in northern Michigan and Leelanau County near the Bahle Farms Golf Course.

It was initially the dream of Crosley Duckmann and his girlfriend, Melissa Obis, to own and run a golf course, with Mark Duckmann joining the venture later in the process. Crosley Duckmann indicated that he began discussing the idea of purchasing a golf course with Melissa Obis around September or October of 2020. e two were not greatly serious about the idea until Duckmann’s grandmother, who lives in northern Michigan sent him the sale listing for Bahle Farms Golf Course. Although he had never visited the golf course in person, Duckmann noticed it was only about a 20-minute drive from where his family regularly vacations in Leelanau County, so he was familiar with the area.

“We started with this phone call to the realtor and they sent us documents and all this other [information] about the business. We slowly si ed through that and what we were doing just led to another phone call, to another phone call, to another phone call—it slowly started developing into this foreseeable thing. It was real,” Crosley Duckmann said.

“We nally got to the point where we made the o er and all parties agreed, and we just looked at each other like, ‘we are going to move up to Michigan and run a golf course.’ Right around that time is when I was talking to my dad to get him involved with me. It has been really cool being able to go through this with my father as well,” Duckmann added. ough ownership of Bahle Farms didn’t o cially transition until June 2021, Duckmann noted that the Bahle family were incredibly helpful in teaching him the ropes of running a golf course, allowing him to work alongside Erik Bahle, one of the previous general managers, from April to June 2021.

Now, Duckmann has taken on the general manager role at Bahle Farms full-time, while Melissa Obis is the marketing and events manager at the course. Mark Duckmann, with previous experience running small businesses, will assist behind the scenes.

For Crosley Duckmann, having worked at the golf course this past season has made him feel prepared and excited for the 2022 season. He noted that the golf club recently received their liquor license, so guests will be able to enjoy the addition of a full-service bar, as well as an expanded pro shop, with fresh inventory of shirts, hats, and other merchandise.

“A big takeaway that I had is to not be afraid to jump into something, because you don’t know where it could lead to. is was a big leap of faith; we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and we just put our minds to work and said, ‘this is what we are going to do,’ and here we are, one season down,” Duckmann said.

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