Michigan Golf Scene

You’ve been there before. The course had everything you wanted, immaculate grooming, a wonderful routing with no parallel fairways, large greens with soft undulations, plenty of wildlife (from deer and coyotes to sand hill cranes and hawks), just 20 minutes north of Ann Arbor and halfway between Detroit and Lansing off I-96. But it might have been, okay just say it, “too hard?”

Remember the electric shaver salesman who said he “liked the product so much he bought the company.” Larry Bowden feels the same way about Marsh Ridge Golf Course and Resort just outside Gaylord. He’s been in the development business for 30 years and always loved the famed resort, its lodges and opportunities to create a condominium community second to none. He finally bought the lodging portion last summer and is in the process of, in his words “taking it back to its glory days” as one of Northern Michigan’s most desired golf and resort locations.

You probably don’t pick a golf resort by the quality of the linens and pillows in your room, or should you? Sure its not likely at the very top of you’re list when planning a golf getaway, but maybe that attention to detail is exactly why you’ll want to go back again.

The Inn at the St. Ives Resort near Stanwood in central Michigan opened in 2002 and Director of Golf Operations Kevin O’Brien says that along with the accolades the resort has received for its two great golf courses (both rating 4-1/2 stars from Golf Digest’s Places to Play) he also gets many favorable comments on the exceptional quality of the pillows, sheets and towels in the 44-room (17 of them suites) Inn.

A connection between the two? You bet (something you can do at Soaring Eagle Casino, a half-hour free shuttle ride away from St. Ives).The St. Ives Resort is just a short drive west of Mount Pleasant. The St. Ives course, the older of the two was laid out by renowned Michigan architect Jerry Matthews in 1995 and takes advantage of the dramatic elevation changes to create breathtaking views.

It is doubtful area natives would have envisioned golf on the bluff, but it’s certain they’ve stopped to see the sun dancing off the bodies of water in the distance.

Sundance, the golf course, the latest Jerry Matthews design, has been added to the A-Ga-Ming Resort complex. It joins the original layout created in part by Michigan golf legend Chick Harbert.

Golfers are in high spirits as Sanctuary Lake Golf Course tees off its third full season of play on Troy’s Scottish Links-style course that’s proving a terrific use for an old landfill at 1450 E. South Boulevard.

Garland’s natural backdrop of 3,500 acres of unspoiled wilderness provides a perfect setting for Fountains, Swampfire, Monarch and ReflectionsReflections – four of the most beautiful and spectacular championship courses in the nation. Each of the 7-holes offers a unique challenge, courses in the nation.