The Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park's 24-room rustic wood and stone lodge sits on a high cliff overlooking Pennyrile Lake. There are also 13 cottages and camping sites (some made for horses). Visitors can enjoy the great outdoors by birding, boating (rental pedal boats, row boats, canoes, kayaks and trolling motors are available), fishing,…
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…
The Forest Hills Resort offers 280 RV and mobile home sites and hopes to expand to eventually offer more than 550. It is not open for public camping, only to members of organizations such as Coast to Coast, RPI or AOR. Guests rent the RV spaces seasonally (May to October) or buy a park model that looks like a small home. The resort is home to the…
Forest Point Resort and Golf Course is a resort for all seasons on beautiful Lower Eau Claire Lake in the Barnes/Gordon area. It offers six cabins, five of which are modern log cabins that are well furnished with kitchens, bathrooms and carpeting (bringing your own towels is required). Mid-June through August rentals are by the week only, Saturday…
The Barker Lake Lodge is a historic mob outpost in Winter near Hayward – known as “Wisconsin’s Golf Capital” bordering the Chequamegon National Forest. Built in 1929 by Beer Baron “Gentleman” Joe Saltis, the Barker Lake Lodge is a two-story cedar log lodge with six cabins and a nine-hole golf course nearby. The lodge features 10 bedrooms, five…
The Wilderness Club unfurls across 550 acres near the Kootenai National Forest. The resort community is stocked with a Nick Faldo-designed golf course, a 21-acre lake for fishing and recreation, a spa, Horse Park, Water Park and Sports Park. The luxury accommodations of cabins, cottages and suites provide comfortable outdoor/indoor living. The…
The Terrace Lakes Resort in Garden Valley, Idaho, located in the mountains of the Boise National Forest, offers budget-friendly accommodations with a motel, one-room cabins and two-bedroom condos. Amenities range from a restaurant, sports bar, wine room, geothermal pool and golf course. There are no bunkers on the 5,930-yard course. The back nine…
Lakewoods Resort on Lake Namakagon in Cable, Wisconsin, is surrounded by 85,000 acres of Chequamegon National Forest, creating an outdoor paradise for guests who love to golf, fish and escape. The resort has been hosting vacations for more than century. A full-service marina for renting pontoons, kayaks and canoes; the Lakeside Restaurant & Bucks…
The Lakeview Golf Resort can be something for everyone: a golf resort, a wedding venue, a vacation destination or more. As part of the Trademark Collection by Wyndham, the resort offers two courses with views of Cheat Lake and the Allegheny Mountains, a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools and dining. Accommodations range from rooms to suites.…
The Inn at Bay Harbor made a splashy debut in 1998, instantly becoming one of Michigan's grandest resorts. The 116-inn, which includes one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, as well as 35 cottages, became a part of Marriott's Autograph Collection Hotels in 2016. Guests get pampered with a full-service spa and salon, two restaurants and a cafe, a…
North of Houston, The Woodlands Resort features 402 guest rooms and access to two private, ClubCorp-operated golf courses at The Woodlands Country Club. Amenities at this four-star property include a spa and fitness center and large outdoor aquatic complex that includes a 1,005-foot lazy river, plus two additional pools and three whirlpools. This…
Callaway Resort & Gardens is a 2,500-acre retreat in Pine Mountain, Georgia, about an hour's drive from Atlanta. The property was founded in 1952 and today features 36 holes of golf and many more natural and outdoor activities on the grounds to explore. The resort is home to the Lake View and Mountain View 18-hole golf courses, both wind and…
El Santuario Resort lives up to its name by making peace and relaxation the heart of everything it offers. This resort is designed as a destination for harmony, healing and tranquility. Guests can choose from more than 134 rooms, including 64 with lake views and private pools, plus 12 separate family suites for those traveling with loved ones. The…
Located on the southwestern coast of Oregon, Bandon Dunes Resort is one of the country's largest and most popular golf resorts. It is home to pure links golf on bluffs along the Pacific Ocean. The first course opened in 1999, Bandon Dunes, and was soon joined by Pacific Dunes, a Tom Doak design, which vaulted to as high as the best public course…
Less than 25 miles from the Hot Air Balloon International Festival, León’s Cathedral, and downtown León, Hotel Vergel de la Sierra offers a peaceful escape with rustic architecture and cozy accommodations overlooking serene lakes, rolling hills and a 500-year-old forest. This mountain retreat features a spa, tennis courts, hiking trails, horseback…
The Mohonk Mountain House, a National Historic Landmark in New York's Hudson Valley, has been operated by the Smiley family since 1869. The Victorian castle resort sits within 40,000 acres of pristine forest for endless leisure pursuits: rock climbing, 85 miles of trails for seasonalhiking and mountain biking in summer and snowshoeing and…
The newest university course to open, the latest on two new projects in California, the status of golf in Cabo and a new member-for-a-day auction offering private clubs access.
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.
The Golf Courses of Lawsonia features two 18-hole tracks -- and they couldn't be much different. The Woodlands Course is cut through dense forest, while the Links Course is virtually treeless.
Northern Michigan includes as many notable golf plays as any destination in the world. And many of golf's biggest names have unveiled designs here. The region provides a setting ideal for beautiful, dramatic golf designs, thanks to lots of cheap land, rolling terrain, dense forests and sometimes even hilly courses built adjacent to ski slopes. Brandon Tucker offers your blueprint to Northern Michigan courses designed by the biggest names in the business.
Muskoka Lakes has more top 100 public-access courses than any other golf destination in Canada. Picking the top five places to play here isn't easy, but Jason Scott Deegan has done it.
Black Lake Golf Club is one of the more remote must-play courses in northern Michigan. Tucked in tiny Onaway -- within 30 minutes of the tip of the Lower Peninsula -- Rees Jones made the journey well worth it.
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.
The Show Me State features plenty of great golf, from Branson and the Ozarks to metro St. Louis and Kansas City. View the top-rated courses in Missouri for 2016.
As golf courses across Canada officially begin opening for the 2015 golf season, we're announcing the top courses in Ontario as rated by golfers on Golf Advisor.
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.
Summertime in the Finger Lakes area of New York is usually gloriously warm and sunny, perfect for golf. Here are some of our favorite courses offering great values, with some off-course suggestions.
Black Lake Golf Club in Onaway, the first course designed by Rees Jones in northern Michigan, is set amid 1,000 heavily forested acres next to Black Lake, one of the state's largest inland lakes. The course spans 7,030 yards and is undoubtedly one of Jones' best original designs. With plenty of wetlands, a variety of bunkers, large greens and doglegs through the forest, the course is interesting and challenging.
Blue Heron Pines Golf Club has been recognized as one of the best 18-hole courses on the Jersey Shore. Since opening in 1993, this Stephen Kay design has become known for both its scenery and challenging design. The course wanders through ancient pine forests accented with sparkling blue lakes.
Set on the slopes beside the north shore of Lake Tahoe is Incline Village, home to 36 holes of golf. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the resort's Championship Course is is set on sloping, forested mountains and offers views of the lake from its high points. Several holes on the golf course are full of water hazards and large bunkers, though fairways are generally wide.
Ranked among the best casino courses -- and arguably among the best three public courses in Washington -- Salish Cliffs is a Gene Bates design carved out of a Pacific Northwest forest with stunning views of the Kamilche Valley.
With apologies to Colorado, Lake Tahoe stakes a strong claim as America's best mountain golf destination in summer. Here's a photo gallery of some of the best 18-hole golf courses around Lake Tahoe.
The Quarry Course at Giants Ridge in Minnesota pays homage to its industrious past with a spectacular 18 holes carved out of dense forest and former mine fields. This Jeff Brauer design can play more than 7,200 yards from the championship tees, making it one of the state's best public tests of golf.
From the $7 million clubhouse to the Jim Engh design outside, Tullymore Golf Club delivers a "top 100" experience for golfers just west of Mount Pleasant in the state's midsection. Critics have heaped lofty praise on the course because of Engh's unique style and strong routing through the marshy lowlands and forest of the Canadian Lakes.
Barefoot Resort & Golf's Fazio Course sits at the heart of the resort, between the Dye and Love Courses. Like many European courses, the Fazio Course doesn't return to the clubhouse after nine holes, however it is no British linksland layout. This course is thoroughly Carolina Lowcountry, with lush native grasses and forests of live oaks and pines.
Wisconsin's own Andy North and Roger Packard designed Trappers Turn to be a natural escape from the waterparks of the Wisconsin Dells. It's a scenic and strategic 27-hole course winding through the forest.
The Craddock and Hankins courses at The Retreat & Links at Silvies Valley Ranch in eastern Oregon join The Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in Michigan as golf's modern reversible golf courses.
Whitehawk Ranch Golf Club in Plumas County, Calif. is a remote course about an hour's drive from Reno and Lake Tahoe, set on nearly 1,000 acres that once served as a cattle ranch. Designer Dick Bailey delivered a very player-friendly course that's loads of fun to play and even prettier to look at.
The Woodlands course sits in the shadow of its sister course, Lawsonia Links, a nationally ranked classic course. However, it delivers a few surprises along the way.
Golf in Mississippi doesn't get much better than Old Waverly in West Point, which features a scenic Jerry Pate/Bob Cupp design accessible to anyone who books a stay.
Maderas Golf Club is not only one of the top public courses in San Diego, it is considered one of the best in California. Spread across the inland hills of north San Diego, its location off the beaten path in Poway hasn't prevented it from being a local favorite since opening in 2000.
The Craddock and Hankins courses at The Retreat & Links at Silvies Valley Ranch in eastern Oregon join The Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in Michigan as golf's modern reversible golf courses.
Set in the swampland just northwest of Myrtle Beach, The Witch is a challenging Dan Maples design that meanders through wetlands without disturbing the habitat. With a 133 slope rating, it can be a scary test.
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.
A five-minute boat ride across the Lake of Bays gets the blood flowing for what lies ahead at Bigwin Island Golf Club on the isolated 700-acre island in Muskoka cottage country two hours north of Toronto. Course designer Doug Carrick transformed an abandoned Stanley Thompson course in 2001 into a stunningly scenic private playground that is only open to the public in spring and fall.
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