Jul 5, 2010 Mike Terrell, Regional Editor Comments (0)
Forest Dunes is one of the top golf resorts in the nation.
Northern Lower Michigan has long been known for its outstanding golf courses, many designed by some of the top golf course architects in the nation. But none, in my opinion, have captured the essence of northern Michigan golf like Tom Weiskopf’s Forest Dunes Golf Course. It took the Great Lakes to provide the terrain and Weiskopf to mold it into one of the nation’s top courses. Sand dunes, pine forests, birch groves and grasslands authenticate the name Forest Dunes.
Since it opened, just eight years ago, it has garnered several national honors including recently being named by readers of Golf World magazine as the top golf course in America that they’ve played. Other honors include: Golfweek’s Best Residential Course in America, No. 24, and, Golf Digest’s Top 100 Greatest Courses in America, No. 20.
Ron Whitten, Golf Digest’s architectural editor, said, “Half the holes at Forest Dunes are Augusta National-style, rolling down majestic corridors of red and jack pines, with elaborate bunkering of gleaming white sand. The remaining holes bring to mind Pine Valley, with dark, exposed native sand littered with scruffy underbrush. The mix is artfully blended on both nines.” Pretty heady comparisons for a course less than a decade old.
“When you finish playing here, you will have used every club in your bag,” says GM Mark Gurnow. “No two holes are the same, and the environment is as pristine as you can get.” That’s no exaggeration either. As an Audubon International Certified Gold Signature Sanctuary, it is one of only 16 such designated courses in the world.
The course measures over 7,000 yards from the tips, but five sets of tees offer lots of yardage choices and playability for just about all golfers.
Completing the picture, the resort is located next to one of the Midwest’s top blue-ribbon trout streams, the South Branch of the AuSable River, and the famed Mason Branch Tract, a several-thousand acre natural area. Combine your golf outing with a guided fly-fishing excursion on the AuSable, or rent a canoe or kayak from an outfitter in nearby Roscommon and do an 11-mile scenic float through the sanctuary. Wildlife, waterfowl and eagles – on and off the course – are abundant. It’s about as “pure Michigan” as you can get.
There’s a massive 22,000-square-foot Adirondack-style clubhouse lodge with locker rooms and fine dining, a spa and fitness center, beach club, an expansive practice facility, a two-and-a-half acre putting green, and, something you don’t often see, a short 19th par-three hole to settle ties.
Forest Dunes has cottages and homes scattered around the course, and through a management agreement with home owners offers stay and play packages. Through August 21 an overnight, Wednesday through Sunday nights, golf package is $259 per person, which includes a night’s stay, dinner, and a round of golf. Add $50 per person, per night for an unlimited golf package at the Troon managed club.
