Northern Michigan Golf Trail

The Tour of Michigan is built around three courses that belong on any serious golfer's life list. Forest Dunes in Roscommon, The Loop in both its Black and Red routings, and Arcadia Bluffs on the Lake Michigan bluffs are the anchors. Everything else on this route is genuinely excellent golf that you layer in based on your group's appetite and schedule. There is more good golf packed into northern Michigan than almost anywhere in the country. The trick is not finding it, it is deciding how much of it to play. The trip begins in Grand Rapids, the natural fly-in point for a circuit of the Lower Peninsula, then moves north to Tullymore and Pilgrim's Run before arriving in Roscommon for the Forest Dunes complex. From there the route continues north through Gaylord (a drive-through with Treetops on offer), into the Bay Harbor and Petoskey resort corridor, across to Grand Traverse Resort, and finishes on the Lake Michigan coast at Arcadia Bluffs before flying home from Traverse City. Roscommon is the heart of the trip. Forest Dunes (Tom Weiskopf, 2002) earned Golf Digest Best New Course the year it opened and has remained one of Michigan's finest tracks, set on 1,300 acres within the Huron National Forest on land with a sand base that drains beautifully and plays firm and fast in dry conditions. Tom Doak's Loop, which opened in 2016, gives you two completely different rounds on the same piece of land: the Black routing and the Red routing alternate by calendar day, which means two nights at Forest Dunes is the natural play. Both routings rank in Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Public Courses. Bootlegger, a 10-hole short course by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns (2021), is named for the property's history during Prohibition and rounds out one of the most complete golf properties in the Midwest. Plan to spend two nights here and give Forest Dunes the time it deserves. Arcadia Bluffs is the closer and the view that stays with you. The Bluffs Course (Warren Henderson, 1999) sits on 240 acres of former apple and cherry orchards 100 feet above Lake Michigan. On a clear summer day it is one of the most visually dramatic settings in American golf. The South Course (Dana Fry and Jason Straka, 2019) takes the opposite approach: inland, geometric, and modeled on the C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor template-hole tradition. Two completely different philosophies, both excellent. Stay on property in the Lodge or Cottages and let the bluffs do the rest. Between those anchors you have an embarrassment of options. Tullymore (Jim Engh) and Pilgrim's Run (Mike DeVries) anchor a strong first overnight in Stanwood. Bay Harbor (Arthur Hills, Links and Quarry routing through bluffs and an old slate quarry) and Belvedere in Charlevoix (Willie Watson, 1927, one of the most historically rich courses in the Midwest) are two compelling rounds without touching the Boyne resorts at all. Add Boyne Highlands and Boyne Mountain if the group wants seven more courses spread across two massive properties. Grand Traverse Resort (Jack Nicklaus's Bear, Gary Player's Wolverine) adds two more before Arcadia. Pick your pace. The must-plays are Forest Dunes, The Loop on both days, and Arcadia Bluffs. Build everything else around those.