The Best Golf Courses in Michigan: A Complete Guide to Playing the Great Lakes State

Most golfers who have never been to Michigan assume it is a one-course state. They have seen photographs of Arcadia Bluffs, they know the Lake Michigan shoreline looks like Ireland on a good day, and they file the rest under "Midwest golf." That is wrong in an interesting way. Michigan is not a state with one great course. It is a state with an absurd density of good golf you can actually get a tee time on, plus a few private clubs that rank with anything in America.

The National Golf Foundation counts roughly 748 daily fee, municipal, and resort courses in Michigan, and about 868 overall entering 2026, putting the state in the small club above 800 alongside Florida, California, New York, and Texas. The telling number is the split: about 86 percent of Michigan's courses are publicly accessible, well above the roughly 72 percent national average. Michigan leads the country in publicly accessible golf. Florida and California have more courses. Michigan has more courses you can play without knowing a member, and the best of them sit in a stretch of northern lower Michigan roughly two hours tall, which makes trip planning unusually easy.

Arcadia Bluffs: Two Courses Built to Argue With Each Other

Arcadia Bluffs sits on the Lake Michigan shoreline in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula. It runs two full 18-hole courses that could not be less alike, which is the point and the reason it deserves two days rather than one.

The Bluffs Course

The Bluffs Course opened in 1999 to a design by Rick Smith and Warren Henderson, and it is the image most people carry of Michigan golf. The property sits on bluffs high above Lake Michigan, and the routing takes full advantage: the lake is visible from nearly every hole, the fescue is windswept and shaggy, and the whole thing was built to evoke Irish links golf rather than American parkland. It ranks 16th on Golf Digest's 2025 to 2026 list of the 100 Greatest Public Courses in America.

What separates it from other photogenic courses is that the wind is not decoration. It is the defining variable. The Bluffs plays like a different golf course in a dead calm than in a 20 mile per hour onshore breeze, and the difference is not a club or two. It reorders which holes are hard, which lines are available, and whether the fescue is a nuisance or a scorecard-ender. Access: public.

The South Course

The South Course opened in 2018, designed by Dana Fry and Jason Straka, and it rejects everything the Bluffs does. It sits inland rather than on the water, and it draws its vocabulary from Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor, the Golden Age architects known for geometric, template-driven holes. Where the Bluffs is soft-edged and naturalistic, the South is squared off and unapologetically man-made: flat-bottomed rectangular bunkers, sharp-edged green pads, deep internal contours.

The interesting exercise is playing both inside 48 hours. The Bluffs asks you to react to wind and topography nobody built. The South asks you to solve a puzzle somebody clearly designed on purpose. Very few American destinations offer that contrast so cleanly, from one operator, ten minutes apart. Access: public.

Forest Dunes and The Loop: The Most Genuinely Unusual Golf in America

Forest Dunes sits in Roscommon, surrounded by the Huron National Forest, about an hour south of Gaylord. It is a golf-only resort: you stay yards from the first tee and there is nothing else to do, which is either the appeal or the drawback.

The Weiskopf Course

The original course, now called the Weiskopf, opened in 2002 and plays 7,116 yards from the back. Its signature is the split personality of the property. Roughly half the holes run through dense pine, tight and shaded. The other half open onto exposed glacial sand, huge waste areas, and scrubby low cover that plays nothing like the forest holes.

The Loop: How a Reversible Golf Course Actually Works

The Loop is a Tom Doak design and the reason architecture-minded golfers drive to Roscommon. It is a reversible course: eighteen greens and eighteen fairways played clockwise on some days and counterclockwise on others, producing two distinct 18-hole courses on one piece of ground. The clockwise routing is the Black. The counterclockwise routing is the Red. Both play to par 70, both have five par threes, and the resort alternates them daily.

Most write-ups treat this as a novelty. It is not, and the constraint Doak accepted is severe. A normal golf hole has directionality baked in at every level. The green tilts toward the approach. Bunkers sit where a shot from one direction would finish. The entrance to the putting surface is open on the side you are coming from and defended on the sides you are not. Reverse the direction and all of it inverts: your approach comes in over the back of a green built to reject shots from behind, and the bunker guarding the right side of the fairway now sits in the left rough doing nothing.

So every green complex here has to be defensible and receptive from two opposing angles, every bunker has to matter in two directions, and every landing area has to sit at a sensible distance from two different tees. Do it poorly and you get eighteen bland, symmetrical holes that offend nobody and interest nobody. That failure mode is why almost nobody has attempted this since the earliest days of the game, when reversible routings existed at places like the Old Course simply because nobody had yet decided golf ran in one direction.

What Doak got instead is two courses that feel like two courses, with different risk and reward math and different holes that stay with you. The part that surprises skeptics is that no hole ever feels like it is being played backward. The contours, bunkering, and green entrances are convincing enough in both directions that you stop thinking about the concept within a few holes and just play golf. Doak's stated goal was two very different courses over the same ground, so people stay an extra night to compare. Forest Dunes also runs occasional events called The Dual, where you play both directions in one day.

The Bootlegger

The third course is The Bootlegger, a 10-hole par three of about 1,135 yards by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, built for the evening round. Access: all three courses are open to resort guests and public play.

Crystal Downs: The Best Course in Michigan, and You Probably Cannot Play It

Crystal Downs Country Club, established in 1927 in Frankfort, occupies a ridge between Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan. Alister MacKenzie, architect of Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Royal Melbourne, designed it. Perry Maxwell, MacKenzie's Midwest associate, lived on site during construction and by most accounts exercised meaningful artistic license on several holes, which is part of why the course has such specific character.

It is by a wide margin the most highly rated course in the state. Golf Digest ranked it 15th in America for 2025 to 2026, it has been named best in Michigan in nearly every ranking cycle since 2005, and Golf.com ranks it No. 31 on its Top 100 Courses in the World. What makes it special is the ground: fairways that zigzag and heave across glacial terrain no modern permitting process would let an architect leave alone, and greens with internal movement severe enough that the putting surface itself doglegs. It has never been substantially altered, so what you see is close to unmediated MacKenzie.

Access: private, and genuinely so. No public play, no resort package, no easy path in.

Oakland Hills South: The Monster, Restored

Michigan's championship history lives downstate in Bloomfield Hills. The South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club opened in 1918 to a Donald Ross design and has hosted six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, and the 2004 Ryder Cup.

Its most famous moment came in 1951, when the USGA had the course toughened specifically for the championship, the first deliberate pre-tournament alteration of its kind and the template for how majors have been set up ever since. Ben Hogan won, then delivered the line the course has carried for seventy-five years: he was glad, he said, to have brought this monster to its knees. Gary Player won the 1972 PGA here, and Padraig Harrington won the 2008 PGA on the same ground.

By the 2010s the South had drifted a long way from Ross. Trees had closed in, fairways and bunkers had crept, Robert Trent Jones Sr. had substantially redesigned it in 1951, and Rees Jones made further changes before 2008. The club closed the course on October 1, 2019, and handed it to Gil Hanse for a restoration that ran roughly $12.1 million and nearly two years. The South reopened in July 2021. The goal was recovery of Ross's intent rather than modernization, and the result is wider, more angular, and more strategically interesting than the narrow championship test the tour had been playing.

A devastating clubhouse fire followed in February 2022, and the clubhouse has since been replaced. The championship pipeline is remarkable: eight USGA championships between 2024 and 2051, including U.S. Opens in 2034 and 2051, U.S. Women's Opens in 2031 and 2042, and the U.S. Girls' Junior in 2038. Access: private.

The Gaylord Golf Corridor

Gaylord calls itself a golf mecca, and unlike most such claims it is defensible on inventory: the Gaylord Golf Mecca association covers 16 courses and 21 lodging partners inside a compact radius. You can play a different quality course every day for a week without driving more than half an hour, and packaged rates are far friendlier than at the flagship destinations.

Treetops Resort is the anchor, with 81 holes across five courses by Robert Trent Jones Sr., Tom Fazio, and Rick Smith.

• The Masterpiece (Robert Trent Jones Sr., par 71, 6,932 yards) was Jones's final Michigan design, and he called it his crowning glory. It uses elevation change unusual for Michigan and is the most demanding course on property.
• The Premier (Tom Fazio, par 72, 6,832 yards) is the more balanced, more playable counterpoint.
• The Signature and The Tradition are the Rick Smith contributions.
• Threetops is a par 27 par three course of 1,420 yards, also Rick Smith, repeatedly named the best par three course in America.

Otsego Resort runs The Classic, a William H. Diddel design, and The Tribute, a Robbins and Koch layout across roughly 1,100 acres with serious elevation change. None of these are destination courses alone. Together they are why Gaylord works as a base. Access: public and resort throughout.

Boyne Golf: Bay Harbor, The Highlands, and Boyne Mountain

Boyne operates the largest single collection in the state, roughly ten championship courses across three northern Michigan resorts, all bookable on one package.

Bay Harbor Golf Club, on Little Traverse Bay near Petoskey, is the headliner. Arthur Hills built 27 holes here on reclaimed industrial land in three nines: Links, Quarry, and Preserve. The Links nine runs exposed along the bay bluff and is the reason people book. The Quarry nine plays through a former limestone quarry and produces a landscape you will not see anywhere else in the Midwest.

The Highlands in Harbor Springs has four 18-hole courses: The Heather, a 1966 Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that was Boyne's first and remains its most respected; The Moor; an Arthur Hills course; and the Donald Ross Memorial, which reproduces 18 Ross holes from around the world and plays better than the concept sounds. Boyne Mountain has the Alpine and the Monument, the latter borrowing ideas from Ross, Jones, Pete Dye, George Fazio, and MacKenzie, starting at the top of the mountain and finishing on an island green. Access: public and resort throughout.

Traverse City and the Leelanau Peninsula

Traverse City is the most livable base for a Michigan golf trip: a real town with real restaurants, a regional airport, wineries on two peninsulas, and options for anyone not playing every day.

Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, 15 minutes from downtown, has The Bear, a Jack Nicklaus design with Thomas Pearson that opened in 1985. Golf Digest once rated it the 18th toughest course in America. It carries a slope near 150 and puts water in play on 10 holes. The resort's Wolverine, by Gary Player, is the forgiving alternative. Manitou Passage Golf Club in Cedar, about 30 minutes northwest near Sleeping Bear Dunes, opened in 1998 as an Arnold Palmer design and was substantially redesigned in 2010, widening landing areas and softening the original severity. It is the best Leelanau Peninsula option.

The Kingsley Club, 16 miles south of town, is Mike DeVries's work and one of the most admired modern courses in the country. Golfweek has rated it among the top 25 American courses built since 1960, and Golf Digest ranks it fourth in Michigan. It is private, though the club has a reputation for being reachable if your home professional makes a call.

Belvedere: 1925 Golf, Still Standing

Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix is the historical conscience of northern Michigan golf. William Watson, a Scot whose résumé includes Interlachen and Olympic Club, designed it in 1925. It has hosted the Michigan Amateur a record 40 times and has been the subject of restoration work aimed at recovering its original character. What you get is a classic, walkable, pre-war parkland course overlooking Lake Charlevoix that has changed remarkably little in a century. It is not long and not dramatic in the Arcadia sense, just a very good old golf course on interesting ground. Access: open to public play, generally mid-April through mid-October, with a daily members-only window around midday.

One more, well off the main route: Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club, another Mike DeVries design, opened in 2005 and plays across granite outcroppings and severe elevation with Lake Superior in view. It has ranked inside Golfweek's top 50 public-access courses in America. The Upper Peninsula is a long way from everything else here, so treat it as its own trip. Access: public.

Public, Private, and In Between

• Fully public or resort: both Arcadia Bluffs courses, all three at Forest Dunes, all Treetops and Boyne courses including Bay Harbor, Grand Traverse Resort, Manitou Passage, Greywalls, Otsego, Michaywe.
• Public with conditions: Belvedere, which holds a daily midday window for members.
• Private: Crystal Downs, Oakland Hills, and LochenHeath (member-only), none with a realistic public path. Kingsley Club is private but has a reputation for accommodating requests routed through a head professional.

When to Go, and Why It Matters More Here

The season is short, and pretending otherwise is how people end up playing in 45 degree rain in a windbreaker. Most Michigan courses open between mid and late April and close around late October, but those are outer bounds that move with the weather. Up north the reliable season is roughly May through September, and the top resorts are shorter still.

• April and early May: a gamble. Soft turf, cold mornings, frequent rain. Rates are low for a reason.
• Late May and June: the underrated window. Conditions have firmed, crowds are lighter than peak, rates have not fully spiked.
• July and August: peak. Best weather, longest daylight, highest rates, hardest tee times. Book flagship courses months ahead, not weeks.
• September and early October: the best value and arguably the best golf. Firm turf, cool mornings, thin crowds, lower rates, and fall color worth the trip on its own. The risk is an early cold front.

Two local factors matter. Lake Michigan moderates temperature near the shoreline, extending the shoulder seasons at Arcadia Bluffs, Bay Harbor, and Belvedere relative to inland courses. That same lake generates the wind that defines those courses, and you cannot book which version you get. On cost, expect a wide spread: municipal and daily-fee golf here is genuinely inexpensive, mid-tier resort golf is moderate, and the flagship rounds sit in premium territory comparable to other national destinations. Rates move by season and time of day, so check directly and ask about twilight pricing.

How to Route a Northern Michigan Golf Trip

Nearly everything worth playing sits inside a rough triangle bounded by Traverse City, Petoskey, and Gaylord. You are rarely driving more than 90 minutes between courses. Traverse City has the most convenient regional airport, and the drive is reasonable from Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Toronto, which is why this works as a long weekend rather than a full week.

The four-day classic

Fly into Traverse City. Day one, the Bluffs Course at Arcadia, about 90 minutes southwest. Day two, the South Course, so you get the contrast back to back while the first round is fresh. Move north. Day three, Bay Harbor at Petoskey, with the Links nine in your 18. Day four, Belvedere in Charlevoix on the way back south.

The architecture trip

Base at Forest Dunes for two nights. Play the Weiskopf on arrival, play The Loop the next morning in whichever direction is running, stay the extra night, and play the opposite routing the following morning. Fill the evenings with The Bootlegger. Then drive an hour north for the Masterpiece at Treetops, or continue to Harbor Springs for the Donald Ross Memorial.

The value trip

Base in Gaylord and buy a package. Treetops, Black Lake, Otsego, and Michaywe give you four or five varied rounds without a long drive. Add one splurge day: Forest Dunes is about an hour south, Bay Harbor about an hour northwest.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the single best golf course in Michigan?

Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort, by consensus. The MacKenzie design has ranked first in Michigan in nearly every cycle since 2005 and sat 15th in America in Golf Digest's 2025 to 2026 list. It is private. Among courses you can actually play, the Bluffs Course at Arcadia Bluffs is the answer, ranked 16th on Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Public Courses.

Is The Loop at Forest Dunes really reversible, or is it a gimmick?

Genuinely reversible. Eighteen greens and eighteen fairways play clockwise as the Black Course and counterclockwise as the Red Course, both par 70 with five par threes each. Every green complex, bunker, and landing zone had to work strategically from two opposing directions, and the result is two courses that produce different decisions. The resort alternates directions daily, so plan two nights if you want both.

Can I play both Arcadia Bluffs courses on the same trip?

Yes, and you should. Both are public and on the same property, and playing them back to back is the most instructive 36 holes in Michigan. The Bluffs from 1999 is a windswept, links-inspired clifftop design by Rick Smith and Warren Henderson. The South from 2018 is an inland, geometric, Macdonald and Raynor-influenced design by Dana Fry and Jason Straka.

How many days do I need for a northern Michigan golf trip?

Four days and three nights is the practical minimum, covering Arcadia Bluffs both ways plus one or two courses to the north. Five or six days lets you add Forest Dunes and The Loop in both directions without rushing.

What is the best month to play golf in Michigan?

September, for most people. Turf is firm, crowds thin, rates drop from peak, and the fall color up north is exceptional. July and August offer the most reliable weather and longest days but bring the highest rates and hardest tee times.

When does the Michigan golf season actually start and end?

Most courses open between mid and late April and close around late October, with dates shifting by weather and microclimate. Up north the dependable season is narrower, roughly May through September, and some courses such as Belvedere run about mid-April to mid-October. Shoreline courses hold a slightly longer season than inland ones.

Can the public play Oakland Hills?

No. Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills is private. Its South Course, a 1918 Donald Ross design restored by Gil Hanse and reopened in July 2021, has hosted six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, and the 2004 Ryder Cup, and is contracted for eight USGA championships between 2024 and 2051.

Is Michigan a top national golf destination or just a regional one?

A legitimate national destination with a specific character. Michigan does not have the most courses in America, but it has the most publicly accessible golf: roughly 748 daily fee, municipal, and resort courses, and about 86 percent of the state's inventory open to the public against a 72 percent national average. If your definition of a great destination includes actually getting a tee time, Michigan is near the top. The short season is the honest limitation.