Looking to do a little golf trip with some friends in late-June in Michigan and I was hoping some people might have recommendations of courses to play?

At the moment, our itinerary is:

Grande Golf Club - Jackson, MI
Eagle Crest GC - Ypsilanti, MI
Boulder Pointe GC - Oxford, MI
Shepherd's Hollow GC - Clarkson, MI
Hawk Hollow GC - Bath Township, MI
Eagle Eye GC - Bath Township, MI

The only one on that list that we seem absolutely committed to is Shepherd's Hollow.

If anyone had any input on some other courses we should look into (within a reasonable drive), it'd be a great help.

Our group's handicap ranges from +3 - 3 so we're looking for challenging tracks!

Thanks!

Last time I was up there golfing was a very long time ago. I was probably like 14 or 15 maybe, dont remember. I played St. Ives and Tullymore and they were awesome. I know both of these courses also appeared on the Golf Channel when they were talking about Mi golf courses one day.

Eagle Crest is fantastic. Played in a charity event with the EMU golf team. Only other suggestion I can give is Leslie Park in Ann Arbor. I've played that a couple time and have enjoyed it.

It's kind of a shame that you're not getting to the north part of the state, which has some truly spectacular tracks like Arcadia Bluffs.

For challenge, there are a few Jack Nicklaus courses that definitely provide a stiff challenge, most notably his newest Michigan course, Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, which isn't too far away from the Lansing area.

Thanks guys. I'll definitely check these out.

I'd love to hit up the north side of the state some time. I'm meeting them from Chicago and they're coming up from Ohio so it's a reasonable middle ground.

this! +1 to Arcadia Bluffs ftw. and stuff north (Traverse City area) just great MI golf. Eagle Eye on your list is confirmed solidd track too, curious what you like the best on your trip, enjoy the mitten

You've got a pretty good list. Here are some more great courses in the southernish part of the state to consider:

Island Hills Golf Club
Pilgrims Run
Tullymore golf resort
The Meadows

I'm going to be in central Michigan later this summer only an hour from Tullymore and Pilgrims run. Will definitely check those out.

Appreciate this list. Gonna check them out and see how they might fit location-wise.

Just played here today. Whew kick my butt. It also got me thinking about this thead. It's easy to get to off I 69 for your Ohio group and Coldwater is only about 10 mins north of the Angola exit off Turnpike for you Chicago folks.

Also in Angola is home to Trine a D3 school. This is nice.

Then just down on US 6 (about 10 mins south and 10 mins west) is Kendelville. They have a links course.

I see that this might have gone off, but if you're looking for some other options, I thought I'd put this out there.

As a side note, there are a bunch of lakes around this area, and the "scenery" in the summer is pretty nice, if ya follow the way I'm drifting

Going to write up a TR on the courses we played. I wish I took some more pictures but oh well.

Hope to have it up later this week.

Did you play Tullymore or Pilgrim's Run, and if so would recommend them?

I know this is late, but if you all ever have the chance check out Forest Dunes in the north part of the state. They have a great, away-from-it-all location in northern Michigan and some great chalets for play-and-stay type weekends. It's a Tom Weiskopf track built into the middle of a huge national forest, and was the most beautiful round of golf I've ever played.

forestdunesgolf.com

Didn't play either of them.

Courses we ended up playing were:

Eagle Crest
Stonebridge
Shepherd's Hollow
Forest Akers West
Hawk Hollow
Eagle Eye

Grande Golf Club was on the agenda but got washed out our final day.

Hope to knock out the TR later today!

Both courses are definitely recommended. I personally think Tullymore is a bit overhyped, but it is a very good track.

I promised a little trip report from my trip last week to Michigan. I'll try to keep it brief and shy away from the boring stuff, but I always like hearing course reviews from "golfers" and hope this could be helpful to anyone who may be planning some Michigan golf in the future.

Day 1, Course 1: Eagle Crest Golf Club, Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Par 72, 6,735 yds, Rating 72.9 / Slope 140

This course was a real treat and excellent way to start off the trip. The greens were pretty fast and the course was in good condition. Home to Eastern Michigan University, we played the course in dry conditions with about a 10 MPH breeze.

Shot-quality wise, this course was pretty average. I felt like you could get away with it both off the tee and on approach shots without much stress. The challenge in the course was the green complexes which ranged from quite undulated to downright impossible. On one of the Par 4s, my friend hit the green back left to a front-right pin. He ended up having to aim away from the hole and start his put over a different tier and play roughly 35 feet of break only to leave himself a 15 footer (an excellent effort!). Pictures below are of the Par 3 14th (210 yards) and the green at the Par 5 5th (555 yards).



Green Fees: $52

Overall Rating: 8/10

Score: 78

Day 1, Course 2: Stonebridge Golf Club, Ann Arbor, MI
Par 72, 6,972 yards, Rating 74.0 / Slope 133

A short drive away was Stonebridge. This was a late-addition to our itinerary and probably the worst course we played. The course was rather under-whelming and reminded me of a run-of-the-mill golf course built during the golf boom; a course lined with houses and otherwise fairly open.

The greens were exceptionally slow which made it frustrating after having just played great greens at Eagle Crest. Luckily, we got the Twilight rate and played the round for a good price and with little interference from other groups.

Green Fees: $23

Overall Rating: 6/10

Score: 79

Day 2, Course 1: Shepherd's Hollow Golf Club, Clarkston, MI
Par 72, 7,169 yards, Rating 75.3 / Slope 143

The WOW factor was big on this one. Tucked away in the woods was this magnificent course which looked like it belonged in Georgia. Tall trees with rolling hills, a far cry from my usual courses in Ohio.

We played the 19-27th and then 1-9. Tough starting holes on both sides as our first hole was a 493 Par 4 and our 10th hole was a 482 Par 4.

Lots of elevation changes -- especially on the Par 3s, and a tremendous number of picturesque holes and approach shots.

The most disappointing aspect of this course was the greens which, again, were on the slower side. Bunkers were also in pretty bad condition with a lot of rocks and little sand in some of the greenside bunkers.

Very intimidating shots from all angles and some narrow shots that really force you to commit to your target. If greens were a little faster, it would have created some pretty awesome short game shots with all of the undulations in their design.

Picture is of the Par 5 #18, which we weren't lucky enough to play, but it gives you an idea of what the course is like.



Green Fees: $49

Overall Rating: 8/10

Score: 78

Day 2, Course 2: Forest Akers West, Lansing, MI
Par 72, 7,003 yards, Rating 74.0 / Slope 136

Next up was the home course for Michigan State. I've played several other D1 courses and always enjoy seeing how they stack up. I've played the courses of U South Carolina, Ohio State, and Purdue among others, and wanted to see what a fellow Big 10 course would be like.

After a quick lunch and seeing the end of Argentina vs Algeria, we were off. The course was pretty solid with greens still trending on the slow side (is this a Michigan thing?!).

The course was pretty easy and I imagine that the D1 golfers eat it up with mid-60s scores. There wasn't too much trouble and the par 5s are all reachable for the modern-day player. The course reminded me of what I envision an upscale muni to be like. It definitely paled in comparison to Scarlet or Kampen Course at Purdue.

One minor annoyance, as we made the turn, the staff notified us that a league had teed off ahead of us. We went ahead and jumped to hole 15 with the intentions of playing around 9-14 and calling it a night. Eventually, we got back to 10 tee and decided to mix it up with some fun team games. We played three holes worst scramble, three holes alt shot, and three holes of worst shamble (both hit tee balls, go to worst tee ball and play in two balls from there).

18th Approach Shot:



Green Fees: $49

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Day 3, Course 1: Hawk Hollow Golf Club, Bath, MI
Par 72, 6,974 yards, Rating 73.9 / Slope 140

We ended up booking our next two nights in a hotel + rounds at Hawk Hollow / Eagle Eye for a package price of only $180.

Hawk Hollow was a great course. Greens were a little faster (still not at Eagle Crest level) but much better.

There was a nice mix of scoring holes and challenging ones that really forced you to play for par. The pictured hole is the 17th which was playing into a gusting wind (roughly 20-25 mph all day).



Highlight of the round was at the end. The restaurant looks out over the 18th hole (pictured below). My friend and I began betting on groups coming in. I laid him 5/1 odds on a guy getting up and down after he had dumped one into the pond. In return, I took his playing partner to get up and in after doing the same.

His guy leaves it about 40 ft short on the fringe and my guy knocks it right beside him. His guy hammers his putt but it rings around the cup and falls in. Lucky for me, my guy CANS it right on top of him and I go crazy. He enjoys my happiness on his behalf and I offer to buy him a beer but he declines.


View from balcony where we bet on people coming down the hole.



Score: 78

Day 3, Course 2: Eagle Eye Golf Club, Bath, MI
Par 72, 7,323 yards, Rating 75.9 / Slope 145

Down the street was Eagle Eye, a course I was very excited to play. Unfortunately, this links style course was playing in the aforementioned 25 MPH winds which made it pretty damn difficult!

Par 3 5th (210 yards of pure carry)



I must say that this is one of the best value courses I've ever played. It's collection of Par 3s rival any course I've ever played and the track was immensely challenging. The whole round felt like you were just getting beat up and it culminated with their replica 17th hole at Sawgrass which played at 144 yards into a right to left wind. I hit 9-iron into the pot bunker up front and managed to hit it to 4 feet and salvage a par.



Best part was when my playing partner walks up to the tee and just throws a ball into the water as a donation to the Golf Gods.

Score: 83

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Last thing left to do on the trip was to go play Hawk Hollow's putt putt course!

This is a 18-hole natural grass putt putt course complete with bunkers, serious undulations, and the ideal game for betting!

We mixed it up with alt shot and worst scramble. Holes ranged from 30 feet to 190 ft. Pretty amazing little facility.



So overall the trip was awesome. Considering the amount of money we spent, I don't think I would have changed anything other than maybe playing somewhere like Moose Ridge instead of Stonebridge.

Hope it wasn't too boring for everyone to read through!

Great trip report! I would also recommend The Treetops resort and golf club If you make another trip for some Michigan golf.

lol I'm going there in two weeks

Yeah your description of stonebridge is about right. My biggest pet peeve on that course is the 2nd par 3 on the front (#6?) with OB and someone's backyard about 5 ft off the right side of the green. Moose Ridge would have been 100x better for you, it's a beautiful piece of land.

Yeah that hole was kind of BS.

I hit a 4iron just right and ended up completely f*cked by the trees. I don't think a single member of my group managed to find that green.

#15 is also one of the dumbest holes ever. We stood on the tee box unsure of where a good target was. My friend hit 3w on, what we presumed, to be a perfect line and ended up wet. Around the green, it must have been 15* hotter too -- no air movement whatsoever.

I had to look and see how much time Arcadia would add to your drive, looks like 90 minutes.

If you stick to the US 131 to I 75 routing, Pilgrims Run and Tullymore are both north of Grand Rapids (and well south of Cadillac). Tullymore is highly rated, I'd rather play Pilgrims Run.

Further north, Forest Dunes is #1 on my courses I haven't played yet list, Michigan public.

St Ives, which I believe is the sister course to Tullymore, is really nice.

These two courses are just East of Houghton Lake in West Branch Mi. http://www.dreamnightmaregolf.com/

Treetops in Gaylord is top top