Forest Dunes

The verdict

Forest Dunes is a golf pilgrimage hiding in plain sight, three hours north of Detroit and ninety minutes from Traverse City, ringed by hundreds of thousands of acres of protected national forest. Tom Weiskopf's original course, opened in 2002, is the anchor: a par 72 of about 7,116 yards whose front nine threads through tall pines before the back breaks out onto the rolling sand the property is named for. It has sat on national top 100 public lists for two decades, and on the ground it plays bigger and bolder than its quiet setting suggests.

Then there is the trick that made Forest Dunes famous worldwide. The Loop, which Tom Doak opened in 2016, is a fully reversible course: one set of 18 green complexes played clockwise on one day and counterclockwise on the next, so a single piece of land yields two genuinely different routings. Add the 10 hole par 3 Bootlegger and an on site lodge, and Forest Dunes earns its place on any serious American buddies trip. This is destination golf built for golfers who want to stay, play and play again.

The holes worth the trip

The Weiskopf course is a course of two halves. The front nine is the tighter test, cut through the heavy timber of the Huron National Forest where driving lines matter and the eye is funneled toward firm, well guarded greens. The back nine opens up into the dunes, the fairways widening and tumbling, the bunkering sandier and more natural, and the wind a bigger factor than it looks from the car park. It closes with a stretch that has decided many a match, demanding both nerve off the tee and a deft touch on greens that reward the right miss.

The Loop is the headline act and best understood by playing it twice. In one direction a hole is a gentle, swinging par 4; reverse the play and the same fairway and green become a wholly different proposition, the angles, the bunker carries and the ideal lines all flipped. Doak shaped huge, sweeping green complexes that can be approached from either side, and the genius is that neither routing feels like the lesser version. Most visitors book at least two rounds so they can experience both.

Between rounds, the 10 hole Bootlegger short course is a proper diversion rather than a novelty, a par 3 loop with real green contour that suits an evening match or a warm up before the main events. Together the three courses make Forest Dunes a place to settle in for two or three days, not a single tick on a list.

Where to stay nearby

Forest Dunes is built for staying on site. The Lake AuSable Lodge has 14 rooms beside the water, and a spread of cottages and golf villas, several on the lake and several lining the Forest Dunes course, sleep groups from four up to a dozen. For a buddies trip this is the whole point: roll out of bed, play the Weiskopf course in the morning, take the Loop in the afternoon, and settle in for dinner without leaving the property.

Because the resort sits in such a remote corner of the state, the on site lodging is also the practical choice; the nearest towns are small. Golfers building a wider Michigan tour can pair Forest Dunes with the courses around northern Michigan on the way to or from Traverse City, one of the strongest golf regions in the Midwest.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Forest Dunes.