FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Summer 2017Travel
Home›Issues›Summer 2017›Up North and Unmatched: The Many Charms of Northern Michigan

Up North and Unmatched: The Many Charms of Northern Michigan

By Tod Leonard
July 26, 2017
5113
0
Share:

When Southern Californians use the term “up north,” it’s a generic term about getting in a car or on a plane to travel up the state.

In Michigan, “Up North” deserves capital letters because it’s not just about a destination, but a way of life. For those who grew up anywhere in the Midwest, “Up North” in Michigan has very specific connotations and memories. Families have traditions of traveling to quaint villages during the mild-weathered summers. Americana beach towns like Charlevoix and Petosky and Harbor Springs dot the shores of Lake Michigan.

There is water, water everywhere, which entices all kinds of recreation, while the wine tasting in the region is top notch. You know, too, you’ve found a little piece of heaven when there’s an old-fashioned ice cream or fudge shop on at least one corner of every town you visit.

The Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island

Native Californians seem somewhat oblivious to northern Michigan’s charms. They’ve probably heard of Mackinac Island and the iconic Grand Hotel — made famous in the 1980 movie “Somewhere in Time” — but heading for Michigan on vacation? Not likely.

For many, Michigan is Detroit. Period. And yet, for a summer traveler seeking to escape the heat and enjoy a nature-filled getaway, “Up North” ranks high on the list of vacation experiences.

THE GOLF

Much like California, Northern Michigan boasts a tremendous variety of courses that range from cliffside to undulating inland tracks. What much of California doesn’t have are the beautiful forests that surround many of the courses and resorts.

It doesn’t take long to find a prime golf resort when you’ve gotten off the plane in Traverse City. From Cherry Capital Airport, it’s only a 15-minute drive to the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. Surrounding a high-rise hotel are three courses, the most notable being The Bear, a Jack Nicklaus design from 1985.

The Bear is, well, a bear, built in an era when course difficulty was worn as a badge of honor. That’s not to say it isn’t fun or beautiful as it meandered around creeks and ponds. It just requires some very precise shot-making to the greens. Players looking for less of a test might try The Wolverine or Spruce Run.

The resort in Northern Michigan most players are aware of is Treetops. It’s home to the Rick Smith Golf Academy, and Smith is the former instructor to Phil Mickelson, so the pair did much to put the area on the map. Notable, too, was the ESPN-televised “Par-3 Shootout” on Threetops — the second-best par-3 course in the country behind Augusta National.

7th Hole, Bay Harbor Golf Club The Links

Away from the water, in the middle of Northern Michigan’s mitten-shaped land mass, Treetops is an 81-hole resort that has four championship courses that roll through the hills with a lot of elevation change. Premier is the only course in Michigan designed by Tom Fazio. Locals say it is arguably the most playable layout at Treetops, with plenty of driving space and eye-popping views.

North of Traverse City, on a coastline drive, is the region’s most upscale and Pebble Beach-like resort, the Inn at Bay Harbor. The red-roofed Victorian-style hotel will remind Southern Californians of the Hotel del Coronado, and the suites, with their spacious porches and balconies, are a prime location to see Beaver Island and spectacular sunsets.

There are 27 holes at Bay Harbor GC. The Links/Quarry loop offers a fascinating combination of holes on the water (think Torrey Pines or Monarch Beach views) and a second nine sunken into an old quarry. With its varying scenery and such a wide variety of holes, this is many visitors’ favorite golf experience on the trip.

Arguably the most talked-about public golf in the region is Arcadia Bluffs. Often compared to Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits — though it was built on natural, not man-made dunes — Arcadia was No. 13 on Golf Digest’s 2017-18 America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses ranking.

tly flat forest area, Forest Dunes has long featured a Tom Weiskopf course that has consistently ranked among the top 25 on Golf Digest’s public courses list.

The newcomer at Forest Dunes is an audacious piece of work by architect Tom Doak, who was given the green light to produce The Loop, the first reversible 18-hole course in America. The Loop has created significant buzz and become a bucket-list destination for architecture aficionados.

The first reversible 18-hole course The Loop at Forest Dunes

It’s a concept hard to fathom without seeing it. The Red and Black loops run in a horseshoe pattern, with the greens serving the courses from either direction. Traffic runs in only one direction per day, so the idea is to take on the different loops on consecutive days.

It seems as if the concept’s greatest appeal is also a large weakness. The walking-only layout requires enormous swaths of open fairway, which provides little in the way of interesting definition. The par-3s are the most fun because they’re more clearly constructed in a way to understand how different the approach is from opposite sides.

THE MUST-SEES

From SoCal, it’s a long trip to Northern Michigan, so know there are two attractions that cannot be missed: Mackinac Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Mackinac Island is accessed by ferry and bottled in a time capsule. There are no cars and a stroll down Lakeshore Drive conjures Disneyland’s Main Street. Beyond hotels, the three biggest industries seem to be bicycle rentals, horse-drawn carriages, and renowned fudge. There are no fewer than 17 fudge shops on Lakeshore Drive, making it a true test of willpower to not drop in to inhale chocolate on every block.

Sleeping Bear Dunes in the fall

The grand dame of Mackinac is the Grand Hotel, a massive, white-columned, 19th Century beauty that is renowned to have one of the longest front porches in the world. Five U.S. presidents have settled into the rocking chairs on the porch, and it was here that Thomas Edison first debuted for the public his invention of the phonograph.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, just northwest of Traverse City and near the town of Empire on Lake Michigan, is a more natural wonder. To climb to the top of the dunes is to peer down a 450-foot drop of sand that leads to breathtaking blue-green water that resembles a Caribbean lagoon. The bravest adventurers run, stumble or roll down the dune to the water, only to realize that the climb back up through thick sand is like pumping on a Stairmaster covered in peanut butter.

The young and young at heart enjoy the test, entertained once more by the wonders of being “Up North.”

Previous Article

A Day In The Life: Behind the ...

Next Article

Getting Connected: Suzanne Kelley Gives Back Through ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Tod Leonard

Related articles More from author

  • Spring 2018Travel

    Sandhills: Where Man Meets Land

    April 26, 2018
    By Ted Johnson
  • Summer 2021Travel

    North by Northwest: Destination Golf Returns

    August 4, 2021
    By Joe Passov
  • Spring 2022Travel

    The Pubs of St Andrews

    April 21, 2022
    By Mike James
  • ProfilesSCGA JuniorSummer 2017

    Getting Connected: Suzanne Kelley Gives Back Through SCGA Junior

    July 26, 2017
    By Julia Pine
  • Classic CourseSummer 2017

    Still on a Mission: Mission Hills’ Traditions of Excellence

    July 26, 2017
    By Judd Spicer
  • Fall 2018Travel

    Public Golf At Its Finest: The Gems of Ventura County

    October 17, 2018
    By Garrett Ford Morrison

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • Fall 2022FeaturedTravel

    The Greens of Utah’s Color Country: Great Golf Leads the Charge in Historic, Fast-Growing St. George

  • Fall 2022FeaturedProfiles

    Bradford Wilson Wants to Talk: SoCal Social Media Star Champions Golf and Therapy (and Not in That Order)

  • Fall 2022FeaturedSCGA Junior

    A Mission of Renewal: Supporting a New Generation of Golfers

  • Classic CourseFall 2022Featured

    Pure Golf: La Purisima

  • Fall 2022FeaturedGolf Groups

    Club Spotlight: SCGC Players Club

Fall 2022FeaturedHandicap Hints

Handicap Allowances

There is often anticipation in the air as the date for the next handicap competition at a club approaches. Participants want to know what handicap value will be used in ...
  • The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”

    By John DeGomez
    October 25, 2022
  • Cut! Rulings Hollywood Got Wrong

    By Jeff Ninnemann
    October 25, 2022
  • From Crisis to Confidence: The Southern California Golf & Water Summit

    By Craig Kessler
    October 25, 2022
  • Direct to Golf Consumer: How Social Media is Changing the Way We Buy Equipment

    By Scott Kramer
    October 25, 2022
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise