Forest Dunes

This is a beautiful and beautifully maintained course, with interesting holes throughout. I will definitely try to return, maybe with a group!

Beautifully designed and maintained. Each set of tees are well set for all skill levels. I played the 2/3 split tees, and had a wonderful time! Great yardages to hit from that offered a challenge, yet lots of fun!

The greens weren't too fast, and the rough was very very forgiving to keep up pace of play and make the course more fun. I loved it. Hats off to the director of golf and the superintendent!

Been dreaming of playing this course for several years. However, it is about a 6hr drive away. Finally said heck with it. I booked a $78 hot deal time for me & my son as a final summer golf trip. We have played several top 100 courses but forest dunes would be the highest rated we have played. Was so looking forward to it even with the LONG drive. Being from central Ohio we have played over half of the top rated courses in Ohio alone. As well as many other very fine courses that do not show up on top lists... Anyway, after leaving the house at 8am and arriving at forest dunes just before 2pm we were both beyond excited. After arriving we quickly loaded up and checked in. Hit a few balls on the range to get warmed up and on to the 1st tee. We were in golf heaven. Or so we thought. After finishing on the 1st green we knew the bug spray (RARELY use) which i carry in my bag must be applied. We proceeded to apply bug spray at least every other hole to no avail. For the next 4hrs we were caught in a SWARM of gnats! Felt as if i swallowed, inhaled and was ear penetrated by 100's of gnats during our round. We sincerely tried to ignore the problem and enjoy the beautiful course and facilities. I honestly could not take even a moment to look around and enjoy the highly rated course we drove so far and spent so much to play. All i can say is whomever has rated this course must have been furnished much superior bug spray than i have. A dream golf trip shattered. $156 for a forest dunes twosome hot deal + $80 in gas for a 12hr round trip drive + besieged by a million gnats = a unexpected horrible golfing experience.

Great course. Impressive layout in the middle of a woods.

I have played tons of golf all over the country and Forest dunes is the best conditioned course I have played. The greens are fast and true, the fairways are like carpet and the traps are powder. The cart paths are eight foot wide and stamped concrete. Impressive. Only complaint was it took 5 hours to play the round. Probably a situational occurrence with a large group in front of us. Will definitely give 8t another try.

Beautiful course. Well maintained, almost looks fake in places. Challenging, yet manageable for average/intermediate golfers.

First of all (as stated by everyone else), Bring bug spray.

I think the most important thing that this course lacked was any kind of preview of what the hole looks like. This was missed in quite a few ways: Not having a GPS system on the carts like Arcadia, Harbor Shores, Thousand Oaks, and all great courses have. Not having a course layout on the scorecard to give some sort of idea of what's coming ahead. Not having a hole layout on some kind of tee marker. Or they could have just as easily have made elevated teeboxes so you can see the beauty of the course. I guess I'm saying, BUY A YARDAGE BOOK. Ya know... Because you haven't already spent enough at this course.

My honest opinion is that this course is highly overrated. There were no holes that "wowed" me. Just a nicely maintained course. Meh.

Without a doubt the nicest public course in Michigan. Maybe the best period! I've played Arcadia Bluffs, The Bear....Garland...you name it. This will become a regular trip for me!
The greens roll lightning fast and true. But also hold from as far out as 225 yards with a long iron. If you can catch it for less than $90 like we did...play it!

Course has top notch playing conditions , but was not a bucket list item like playing Pebble Beach (which I did in 1994 when I was 47) or visting the gravesite of Al Czervik (which I did when I toured the memorable attractions of L.A. last March). The terrain is fairly flat and there are no dramatic holes like 7,8,and 9 at Pebble or the third hole at Threetops in Gaylord, Michigan. Our foursome agreed that it was an OK course in great shape, but overhyped by Golf Digest and other evaluators of golf destinations. We were all disappointed with The Dunes. However, we did have a memorable tasty dining experience while enjoying a beautiful sunset on the deck of LimberJack's located on the tranquil shores of Houghton Lake. We capped our Northern Michigan golf excursion with some good natured golf banter and listening yo the social commentary of comedian Louis C.K. on our ride home. Lots of laughs after a ho-hum round of gawf. Save your $$ and use them on climbing Mt.Everest, skydiving , riding a professional rodeo bull, or playing Pebble Beach before you kick your bucketfull of shag balls.

I found this course to be very playable! For playing it the first time. Most of the time everything is right in front of you. Very well taken care of . Wide fairways and nice greens. They rolled very well. Liked the speed of the greens as well . Beautiful lay out. I will be back to play this course . I heard great things about this course from a friend that played it a few years ago and I was not disappointed at all. The staff was great and I had the rainbow trout which was excellent !

This course is beautiful. Awesome clubhouse. Very friendly staff. Worth the 2.5 hr drive it took to get here. Will be back.

This is one of those Michigan "bucket list" courses to play and was not disappointed with the experience. Although greens had recently been aerated, condition of course was exceptional. Because of some weather concerns, staff made accommodations to get our round in earlier than original tee time. If you like links style design, you must make time to play this track.

They advertise this as Bucket List a Golf, but it comes up short in many ways. The course itself is a nice layout, in great shape, and greens are as fast as most any you'll play. However, the course lacks the elevation changes that one anticipates in N MI golf courses. It is very flat and lacks character that you experience on courses within an hour of this track. It has lots of sand and a well manicured course, but not worthy of all the acclaim. In addition, the staff is unfriendly, food is average, and they stuck us behind an outing that took almost 6 hours. Tried to ask for a rain check prior to teeing off behind the scramble, but they were not accommodating. Nice course & facilities in the middle of nowhere, but short on making guests feel welcomed and certainly not worthy of bucket list status. There are a lot of fun courses to play that are easier to get to, and more enjoyable. Oh, and if you do go, bring your bug spray!

With the help of GolfNow, this marvelous course was affordable. The only negative was the lack of a course marshal to aid with playing through slower groups.

Excellent course, perfect conditions, pace of play was great until Saturday morning got a little slow . Starters ( bills) were very friendly. Only suggestion would be maybe a few other items for non golfers who come with (pool) etc. excellent place with future plans to be even better!

IMO, this course lives up to the hype. I have not played Arcadia Bluffs, I have played most of the other top courses in lower peninsula, and this was the best of them. I was most impressed with the staff though. We were the last tee time of the day. Massive storm blew through in the afternoon, pulling everyone off the course and shutting down computer systems. We teed off about 45 minutes late and thought there was no way we were going to get the round done. We even played the 19th hole (in the dark but still). You could hardly tell that the course had been rained on, let alone the massive downpour. The staff was very good about keeping people on pace and getting groups through the round. We'll be back, but with an earlier tee time.

From how prestine the course is to a great layout, our whole day consisted of nothing but good things. The greens roll very true and even the fairways allow the ball to run. I definitley look forward to playing it again. However, I could go without the nats... They could be overwhelming at times.

I'm already looking forward to going back having just played it for the first time. It is truly a gem!!!

Impeccable conditions on a fabulous track of land in the middle of nowhere. What more could you ask for. The staff are there only to make sure you have a great round.

You cannot say anything bad about this track. Awesome condition, challenging, amazing views, fast greens, outstanding staff.

My one critique was pace of play and our 5+ hour round. This was alleviated by the staff giving us vouchers to return for a round on them. Amazing customer service!

Strong recommendation to play here if you love golf and great service!