With the sun shining and warm breezes blowing every Golfaholic’s mind wanders to traveling to new and exciting golf destinations.
July, August and September are the perfect months to visit northern Michigan for one of the best golf trips a golfer could ever imagine.
Most sources list over 1,000 courses in the peninsula state, so the problem becomes, how does one choose where to start?
We recently completed a four-day tour of Michigan golf resorts and here is our report. 
A great place to start any Michigan Golf Adventure would be Arcadia Bluffs Golf Club carved from huge sand dunes, perched above Lake Michigan that provide magnificent views. The Bluffs Course opened for play in 1999 and has become one of the most popular public golf courses in the state.
The course was built to resemble an Irish Links, with numerous deep bunkers and steep sand dunes, covered with tall fescue providing a stern challenge. On a day, when the fog rolls in from the lake, or the breezes blow, while a light rain falls golfers are transported to the land of the Shamrock.
Once a player reaches the green, the large undulating putting surfaces make two-putts a thing to be cherished, three or even four putts are a common occurrence.
New cottages have been built near the entrance, plus a new Inn was built beside the beautiful clubhouse to provide suitable lodging for those golfers wanting stay & play options.
Dana Fry, who was one of the designers at Erin Hills, designed the new South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, that will open for play later this summer. Fry has used geometrical shapes and sharp angles to add a new flavor to the South Course and it will be a valuable addition to the Arcadia Bluffs total package.
Golfers can now enjoy two great courses at Arcadia, plus the restaurant provides a menu filled with delicious fare. Diners are served up the magnificent views of the course and the lake, from the highest point on the property. Adirondack chairs placed above the 18th green provide the perfect place to enjoy your favorite beverage, while taking in a gorgeous Lake Michigan sunset.
For the second leg of our golfing odyssey, we headed to the Treetops Resort at Gaylord, Michigan. The granddaddy of Michigan golf offers four championship courses, plus the “Best Par-3” course in the country, Threetops.
Threetops opened for play in 1992 and hosted ESPN’s Par 3 Shootout for several years. In 2001, Lee Trevino made golfing history here, as he pocketed the first $1 million check for a hole-in-one. A plaque still marks the spot.
Treetops is just one reason to visit the Gaylord Golf Mecca. Seven Golf Resorts in the Gaylord area offer 14 various golfing experiences from par-3’s to championship golf at its finest. In addition to great golf the Gaylord area offers, a myriad of outdoor activities to please the entire family. Hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming, boating and, of course, fishing awaits every visitor to the Gaylord area.
Famous course designers, Robert Trent Jones, Tom Doak, Rick Smith, and others have ventured to northern Michigan to design courses that will please every golfer.
Just south of Gaylord sits Roscommon, Michigan with the Forest Dunes Club. 
Forest Dunes opened their first course, the Tom Weiskopf Dunes Course, in 2005. The Dunes course is one of Weiskopf’s best in the country. If offers a traditional northern Michigan golf experience with the front nine traverses tree-lined fairways, while the back nine is more open, but waster bunkers and traditional sand bunkers catch errant golf shots. There is even a 19th hole to settle wagers, or a final chance to get even.
A new owner, Lew Thompson purchased the property in 2011 and proceeded to add the Lake AuSable Lodge to provide additional accommodations for stay & play options. He wasn’t finished there, however. In 2014 construction began on the most unique golf experience in the nation, Tom Doak’s “Loop.”
Doak had wanted to create a reversible golf course, since he had first seen the routings in Scotland, during his college days. Thompson gave Doak the opportunity to design and build the reversible layout and it is a must-play for any Golfaholic.
With the official opening of the “Loop” additional four-bedroom villas were opened to accommodate golfers wanting to stay to experience all three courses at the resort.
While at Forest Dunes you will love the dining experience at Sagamore’s. You can dine indoors or outdoors under the stars, while a fire in the huge brick fire pit adds to the ambience.
Boyne Resort in Northern Michigan actually encompasses three resorts and has something for everyone in the family. In addition to 10 golf courses the Inn at Bay Harbor offers the absolute best in lodging.
Boyne Highlands has four courses, Robert Trent Jones designed, Heather, The Ross Tribute, The Moor and the Arthur Hills Course. All are a treat to play.
Two courses were built at Boyne Mountain, The Alpine opened for play in 1970 and The Monument was added in 1985. The Monument used more of the mountain and features a ride to the top of the mountain. Golfers then play their way back down the mountain to the comfort of one of the many dining opportunities available at Boyne.
One of the most aggressive projects for the Boyne Corporation was the Inn at Bay Harbor. For years, people had been visiting Little Traverse Bay for the “million-dollar sunsets.” In 1998, the Kirchener family added the crown jewel to their holdings, The Inn at Bay Harbor.
It was designed in homage to the grand hotels of the late 19th century, the Inn now provides uncompromising levels of elegance, detail and service.
The hotel alone is worth the trip and pulls one back to a more gentile era.
The Bay Harbor Golf Club features three nine-hole layouts that can be mixed and matched to create three different golf experiences. The Links Course provides views of Little Traverse Bay and Bay Harbor that will take your breath away.
The newly renovated Crooked Tree Golf Course sits high above Bay Harbor and it too provides views across Lake Michigan that will cause one to lose focus on the golf.
Stay in one location at Boyne and enjoy the benefits of all 10 courses, plus the various dining options and other amenities.
While this is just a sampling of the great golf opportunities in northern Michigan, it is representative of the high-quality golf that awaits any Golfaholic venturing Up North.
You can also view a video of Great Golf in Pure Michigan at: https://vimeo.com/279123198
