Forest Dunes had a rocky start two decades ago, but under owner Lew Thompson has shot to the top of the heap among Michigan's golf resorts. The construction of the Lake AuSable Lodge and The Loop, the ground-breaking reversible course by Tom Doak, has added a stay-and-play component that was never available in the past beyond Tom Weiskopf's…
Ron Otto was the driving force behind the rise of the Garland Lodge & Golf Resort in Lewiston. The former owned built the resort into a golfer's paradise designing all four courses from 1987-1995. Garland, a rare resort where all four courses operate out of one clubhouse, is home to more than 400 beds on property from hotel rooms to three- and…
Pine Cone Vacations is a series of rental homes, condos and chalets spread through the Michaywe community. Guests will have access to the community's outdoor pools and the restaurants Inn The Woods at the golf clubhouse. Michaywe Pines offers a classic layout that's fun to play for all ages and skill levels. It's much flatter than most of…
The Loon Golf Resort has grown to include a second location in Gaylord: The Ridge, formerly the Marsh Ridge Golf Resort. The Loon offers a townhome village with four-bedroom/four-bathroom units with full kitchens just steps from the clubhouse restaurant and the course. The Ridge is more versatile with hotel-style rooms, suites and free-standing…
Hawk's Eye, a very good John Robinson design across the street from Shanty Creek Resorts, was purchased by Shanty Creek in 2021 and brought into the fold, bringing the resort to 90 holes. Its accommodations are a collection of houses and condos surrounding the course and rooms above clubhouse.
The 5,000 acres of Shanty Creek Resorts are spread among three villages - Cedar River, Schuss and Summit, each with at least one golf course, restaurant and accommodations galore. The Summit is arguably home base with the Lakeview Lodge housing the Lakeview Restaurant, the spa and the Legend and Summit golf courses. The resort added the Hawk's Eye…
The Chief is one of three golf resorts within close proximity of one another in Bellaire - Hawk's Eye Golf Resort and Shanty Creek Resorts the others. It offers several accommodation choices. The golf cottages along the fifth fairway are executive quality with upper and lower units. Each one sleeps eight (four double beds total) with a kitchen and…
Is "reversible golf" the new way forward? Bradley S. Klein traces the concept, which is gaining steam among modern resort developers, back to the very beginning.
Senior Writer Mike Bailey finds The Loop at Forest Dunes in Michigan intriguing while old favorites like Bay Harbor, Boyne Highlands and Grand Traverse never disappoint.
Matt Adams experienced Tom Doak's new reversible golf course in Michigan, The Loop at Forest Dunes, and ponders what effect it could have on modern golf design.
Tom Doak, the cerebral savant of sand and dirt, continues to build an eclectic portfolio. His latest effort is a reversible course at Forest Dunes in Michigan slated to open in 2017.
Tom Doak's Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon, Michigan -- a unique 18-hole routing that's played forward one day, and backward the next -- debuts June 27.
Now that the Lake AuSable Lodge has opened on site, you can add northern Michigan's Forest Dunes G.C. to the short, elite list of quintessential "golf destinations." Kiel Christianson has more from Roscommon.
Convenience has always been king at Garland Lodge & Golf Resort in northern Michigan. Everything is centrally located. Golfers simply pull into the parking lot and never have to leave. Still, as good as everything else is, golf is the ultimate draw.
Summer golf is grand in Michigan, but fall might be the best time to tee it up. The courses are more affordable with fall rates kicking in. You can play some top 100-type courses for half the price you'd pay in summer. The courses are less crowded, too.
For sheer convenience and depth of quality courses, no summer vacation destination beats the Gaylord Golf Mecca in northern Michigan, a golf hub unlike any other in the Midwest. Native son Jason Scott Deegan offers his list of the 10 best golf courses in Gaylord. Drum roll, please ...
Other than missing a handful of big-timers, northern Michigan features a list of golf course designers as good as any destination in the country. All the usual suspects who dominate top 100 lists are well represented. But what are the best of the best? Jason Scott Deegan offers up northern Michigan's 10 best "designer" golf courses.
With 17 courses in the Gaylord Golf Mecca, getting a good deal is never a concern. There are price points in all ranges. In fact, a three-day golf trip spending $200 or less on green fees can be done even in high season.
Golf in Michigan is arguably the best in the nation. If you're making your way to the Gaylord Golf Mecca for the first time, here are six (and a half) must-plays to get you acclimated.
The signs of recession still linger in this tiny outpost in northern Michigan. So how does Bellaire state such a strong case as one of the area's best golf destinations? The recipe starts with Shanty Creek Resorts.
Golf in northern Michigan can be incredibly picturesque as well as challenging. You'll find lots of great par 5s at courses such as the top-ranked Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course or Bay Harbor Golf Club, both of which grace the bluffs over Lake Michigan. We've narrowed it down to five par 5s that won't disappoint.
Forest Dunes Golf Club is a relatively new northern Michigan golf course opened in 2002. The course, a Tom Weiskopf design, is the centerpiece of a large new real estate community near Roscommon in north central Michigan about an hour south of Gaylord.
The Black Forest Course at Wilderness Valley in Gaylord is set on 400 acres of native Michigan evergreen and hardwood forests and cuts through the land naturally. The Tom Doak design gets golfers on the greens and in the bunkering (there are more than 100 bunkers here, and no two look alike). The greens have that classic look, like they were crafted by hand. The bunkers, meanwhile, are true hazards, so they are to be avoided at almost any cost.
Cedar River is the newest -- and many would say best -- of the four golf courses at Shanty Creek Resorts in Bellaire, Mich. Opened in 1999, this dreamy Tom Weiskopf design roams through a magical northern Michigan hardwood forest, where deep bunkering, streams, ponds and elevation drops and climbs challenge players of all abilities.
The hillside of flowers spelling out "The Legend" and the gorgeous downhill opening tee shot on a risk-reward par 5 provide a fantastic first impression on The Legend at Shanty Creek Resorts. Once golfers survive the tricky second hole, The Legend unveils golf as good as northern Michigan gets.