Featured Michigan Golf Course Stories

The 1985 opening of The Bear golf course at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa underscored Northern Michigan's position on America's golf destination map. Grand Traverse continues to be a trend-setter with the recent addition of the Foresight GC2 Smart Camera System and Performance Simulator to its golf instruction and entertainment portfolios.

Scott Hebert, the resort's Head Golf Professional and Director of Instruction, said the addition of the GC2 technology reinforces Grand Traverse's commitment to being not just a place to play, but a full service golf facility that offers year-round instruction, club fitting, equipment and apparel sales, as well as amenities unique to Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. "We're trying to build on our reputation that if you want something in golf, this should be the place you think of first," said Hebert.

The Gaylord Golf Mecca, one of the premier summer golf destinations in the country, is celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2012. Twenty-five years of Gaylord hosting more than 3,600,000 golfers at northern Michigan's collection of outstanding courses, according to the Gaylord Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Golf is the big draw in America's Summer Golf Mecca, which embraces 17 courses with four resorts and 21 hotel properties for Stay and Play packages. It's all anchored by Gaylord, a lumber town from the late 19^th century known as the Alpine Village, a nod to the Otsego Club that started as Hidden Valley with Swiss-style buildings and a restaurant with a spectacular view of the Sturgeon River Valley.

LochenHeath Golf Club was voted a Golf Magazines Top 10 new golf course when it debuted in 2001. After being closed for two seasons the golf course has rebounded strongly in 2011 and has again gained its luster as a top Michigan golf course.

The 7,239-yard track on the outskirts of Traverse City commands spectacular views of East Grand Traverse Bay. The course meanders over 600 acres of a hilly, rolling, tree-lined terrain of a former cherry orchard that provides a perfect setting for rugged golf holes with expansive fairways, spiced by severe elevation changes from tees to greens.

Florida golf architect Steve Smyers infused a Scottish seaside feel to the layout with a routing that brings lake views to 16 of the 18 holes, deep white sand bunkers framed by shaggy grass collars, and ridges covered with tall native grasses.