Michigan Golf
Why Michigan's glacial landforms make it an underrated golf destination, with Golfweek's top-20 ranking as the evidence.
The surprise is not that Michigan has great golf. The surprise is that it isn't more famous for it.
The state's best golf terrain is overwhelmingly glacial—outwash plains, dune systems, moraines, sandy pine barrens, ancient beach ridges—and it concentrates in the northwest Lower Peninsula, the west Michigan shoreline, parts of the northern Lower, and a few Upper Peninsula pockets. The "up north golf" phenomenon is glacial geomorphology meeting tourism economics: Arcadia Bluffs, Crystal Downs, Kingsley Club, Forest Dunes and its Loop course, Greywalls.
The rankings bear the geology out. Golfweek's top 20 public-access courses in the state—privates like Crystal Downs and Kingsley sit outside the gate—lead with the dunes and moraines: Arcadia's lakeside bluffs, Greywalls' exposed Upper Peninsula rock and sand, Forest Dunes' pine barrens.
- Arcadia Bluffs (Bluffs)
- Marquette GC (Greywalls)
- Forest Dunes (The Loop Red & Black)
- Forest Dunes (Weiskopf)
- Arcadia Bluffs (South)
- Belvedere
- Boyne's Bay Harbor (Links/Quarry)
- Eagle Eye
- Island Resort and Casino (Sweetgrass)
- Gull Lake View Resort (Stoatin Brae)
- Pilgrim's Run
- Sage Run
- Harbor Shores
- American Dunes
- University of Michigan GC
- Boyne Highlands (Arthur Hills)
- Tullymore Golf Resort (Tullymore)
- Hidden River Golf & Casting Club
- Diamond Springs
- Pine Mountain Resort (Timber Stone)
