Renovations keep Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City atop the rest in northern Michigan

It's bold, sleek architecture instantly attracts your attention and curiosity, standing tall, overlooking the West Traverse Bay horizon. For a small, blue-collar summer vacation town, filled with quaint boutiques and bed and breakfasts, you would never expect a world-class, Vegas-style resort to lie right on the town's outskirts.

Garland Resort in Lewiston: The classic northern Michigan golf retreat

Just a few miles down the road from the tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it village of Lewiston, is a resort that's been doing things its own way since it opened more than 50 years ago. The Garland Resort is home to the classic golf retreat, founded in 1951 by the Otto family, which still owns the resort today.

It's time to discover Michigan's secret: Boyne Country resorts

After the nationally ranked resorts, try Northern Michigan's underdog golf courses

Northern Michigan has no shortage of high-profile golf gems, but don't head home until you experience a few of the north's overachieving lesser-known gems. A golf course is around every corner in this neck of the woods. Here are some of the most memorable and unique you may not know about.

Belvedere Golf Club: Tom Watson's teenage playground holds its own in northern Michigan

Luxury golf resorts such as Bay Harbor, Treetops and Grand Traverse have transformed northern Michigan golf in recent years, but 80-year-old Belvedere Golf Club remains a favorite among old Wolverine State golf hands like Tom Watson.

Schuss Mountain golf course at Shanty Creek Resorts - Bellaire, Michigan

Schuss Mountain at Shanty Creek Resorts in Bellaire is a classic, northern Michigan golf course built in the mid-1970s by Michigan architect William Newcomb. While it doesn't feature slopes and elevation changes as severe as many of the modern northern Michigan courses, it does have some roll on many holes as well as a few elevated tee boxes, especially on the back nine - which features more peaks and valleys along with added hole variety.

Reader returns to Hartland's Dunham Hills Golf Club for a round of golf to remember

"I played a twilight round of golf with my wife on Sunday, June 24, at Dunham Hills Golf Club in Hartland, Mich. I had forgotten what a great golf course this was."