Sr. Masterpiece Course at Treetops Resort

Northern Michigan Destination Guide

During the summer months, there are few places as beautiful and perfect for golf as Northern Michigan. With more than 800 public courses, Michigan, especially its northern region, is one of the most popular golf destinations in the country. The state perennially opens the most public courses in the country. Along the coastline of its bordering Great Lakes, Michigan�s biggest names can be found.

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Still at the tender age of 4, the Bay Harbor Golf Club has been ranked among Golf Magazine�s Top 20 Places You Can Play for three years. Known as the "Pebble Beach of the Midwest," Bay Harbor offers the best mix of challenging and picture-worthy holes in the state. Made up of three nine-hole courses, each has its own identity. The two best nines are the Quarry, cut through an old rock mine, and the Links, which features a par-5 along Lake Michigan that does its best to rival the beautiful 18th at Pebble Beach. This is the tract that made Arthur Hills a hot architect. However, like the course it is often compared to, Bay Harbor never will be affordable for the masses with its $200-plus price tag.

Sr. Masterpiece Course at Treetops Resort Arcadia Bluffs may be Bay Harbor's closest Lake Michigan rival as Michigan's most dynamic golfing experience. Many people say as the course matures, it's just a matter of time before the Bluffs overtakes Bay Harbor for the state�s top spot. About 80 miles south of Bay Harbor, Arcadia Bluffs features similar, breath-taking views of Lake Michigan's vast ocean of water. The 7,404-yard design, laid out on 245 acres, plays like a true Scottish seaside links course, overlooking 3,100 feet of shoreline. In true links style, 50 sod-walled bunkers, wide fairways, native grasses and large greens averaging 8,000 square feet highlight the experience. Arcadia's price tag is a little less than Bay Harbor's, but still no bargain at $160.

Treetops Resort is another of Michigan�s crown jewels. One of the most visited resorts in the country, Treetops is a ski resort by winter and a golf resort during the summer thaw. Known for its 81 holes of championship golf, Treetops has courses designed by Rick Smith and Tom Fazio. But its most famous course is the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed Masterpiece course. Opened in 1987, its rolling terrain cuts its way through the Pigeon River Valley with a natural mix of trees that are synonymous with northern Michigan -- a majestic combination of oaks, maples, beeches, pines, white spruces and hemlocks. Jones Sr. incorporated water hazards into the design of five holes, four on the front nine, and splattered 63 bunkers around the course, most of them near the large, undulating greens. Treetops is also home to one of the best par-3 courses in the country, named Threetops.