Arcadia Bluffs

The verdict

Arcadia Bluffs is the rare modern resort course that earns the comparisons it invites. Rick Smith and Warren Henderson routed the original Bluffs Course in 1999 along the top of a great sand bluff on the Lake Michigan shore, and the result is a links style par 72 of roughly 7,300 yards where deep fescue, sprawling waste bunkers and an enormous horizon do the talking. It is firm, exposed and weather driven in the best sense, golf that feels much closer to the Irish coast than to the American Midwest.

The 2018 arrival of the South Course turned a great day trip into a genuine 36 hole destination. Where the Bluffs is all scale and sky, the South is a clever, geometric template study in the spirit of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, with squared edges and bold greens that reward a thinking golfer. Together they make Arcadia one of the most complete public golf stops in the country, and unlike many of its peers it is open to anyone who books ahead.

The holes worth the trip

The Bluffs Course makes its first statement early and never lets up. The opening stretch climbs to the edge of the property, where the fairways run hard along the rim of the bluff and the lake fills the view to the horizon, the wind off the water turning every club selection into a question. The fescue is penal and the waste areas are vast, so the smart play is to favor the wide side and let the ground feed the ball toward the targets.

It is the closing run that lingers. The downhill par 4s that tumble along the bluff edge, the exposed short holes that demand a flighted shot in the breeze, and a finish that brings the lake back into frame all combine into one of the great photo finishes in American public golf. The greens are large and boldly contoured, so position on the fairway and a cool head with the putter matter more than raw length.

On the South Course, the template holes are the draw. A Redan, a Biarritz and a set of squared, strategic green complexes in the Raynor idiom give the round a completely different rhythm, more about angles and ground game than the Bluffs's drama. Playing both in a day is the way to understand what Arcadia has built: two distinct, serious courses that share nothing but a logo.

Where to stay nearby

The simplest base is Arcadia Bluffs itself, whose on site cottages and lodge rooms put both courses on the doorstep and make a 36 hole day effortless. For a wider trip, the harbor towns of Frankfort and Manistee offer comfortable inns and good dining within a short drive, and Traverse City an hour away adds restaurants, wineries and the wider attractions of northern Michigan.

Arcadia pairs naturally with the other great public golf of the region, so many visitors fold it into a northern Michigan tour. It is an ideal anchor for a long weekend built around big, scenic golf and the quiet pleasures of the Lake Michigan coast.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Arcadia Bluffs.