How to Play the Best Golf in Michigan
Michigan is one of the great public golf states in America, and the good news for the travelling golfer is that almost all of its best courses are bookable. Arcadia Bluffs sits on the Lake Michigan shore as a pure daily fee club, Forest Dunes hides a reversible Tom Doak masterpiece, and only a famous few stay behind the gates. Here is how to get on the courses that matter, what they cost in 2026, and where to base a trip.
Photograph: Arcadia Bluffs Golf Club, Michigan, via Google
The short answer
The single most useful thing to understand about Michigan golf is that it is overwhelmingly public, so the courses you most want to play are the ones you can simply book. Arcadia Bluffs, the windswept links style club on the bluffs above Lake Michigan, takes daily fee play seven days a week. Forest Dunes near Roscommon pairs a Tom Weiskopf original with The Loop, the reversible Tom Doak course that changes direction with the date. American Dunes on the southwest shore is a Jack Nicklaus design that anyone can book, and the Boyne and Gaylord resorts run deep benches of golf on stay and play packages. This is a state built for the travelling golfer.
The season is the real constraint, not access. Most northern courses open in roughly mid April and close in mid November, and the prime window runs June through September, with early autumn a quiet favorite for the color and the cool air. The one true gate is a short list of elite private clubs, led by Crystal Downs near Frankfort, the Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell classic that admits members and guests only. Build the trip around what you can book and Michigan gives you a fortnight of golf without a single closed door that matters.
Michigan's best courses: how to get on, 2026
| Course | How to play | Indicative 2026 fee |
|---|---|---|
| Arcadia Bluffs, Bluffs Course | Public daily fee on the Lake Michigan shore; book a tee time, cart and range included | Up to around 250 dollars peak |
| Arcadia Bluffs, South Course | Public; the inland Donald Ross homage by Fry and Straka, often a value pairing with the Bluffs | From around 70 to 175 dollars |
| Forest Dunes and The Loop | Public resort near Roscommon; the Weiskopf course plus the reversible Doak Loop on stay and play | Resort and daily fee, varies by package |
| American Dunes | Public daily fee in Grand Haven; the Nicklaus redesign that supports the Folds of Honor | Premium daily fee, confirm current rate |
| Boyne resorts, Bay Harbor and The Heather | Resort golf around Petoskey and Harbor Springs; stay and play across many courses | Resort packages by season |
| Treetops Resort, Gaylord | Resort daily fee in the Gaylord golf mecca; multiple Fazio, Jones and Smith designs | Resort and daily fee by season |
| Crystal Downs Country Club | Private, members and personal guests only; no public access | Not publicly bookable |
Designers, access and indicative fees verified June 2026 from course and operator listings; they vary by season, day and how you book and change without notice, so always confirm current rates and rules directly before booking. Check Michigan tee time availability.
How access works, region by region
The heart of Michigan golf is the northwest Lower Peninsula, the long Lake Michigan shore from the Arcadia and Manistee dunes up through Traverse City to Petoskey and Harbor Springs. Arcadia Bluffs anchors the south of that stretch as a daily fee club, its Bluffs course a fescue framed, pot bunkered links homage with Great Lakes views from nearly every hole, and its quieter South course a Donald Ross style companion you can often pair on the same day. Up the coast, the Boyne resorts at Bay Harbor and Boyne Highlands run a deep bench of courses on stay and play packages, and the whole region is at its prettiest in the early autumn turn.
Inland and to the east, the golf is just as open. Forest Dunes near Roscommon is the cult destination, where Tom Weiskopf's 2002 original sits beside The Loop, the Tom Doak course that plays as the Black on odd dated days and the Red on even ones, a true reversible routing and one of the most original public rounds in the country. The Gaylord area is a long established golf mecca, with Treetops and its spread of Fazio, Jones and Smith designs leading a cluster of resort courses. American Dunes in Grand Haven, the Nicklaus redesign that channels its proceeds to the Folds of Honor, is bookable too. The only closed door is the small set of elite private clubs, Crystal Downs foremost among them, so admire those from the rankings and spend your trip on the great courses you can actually book.
Where to focus a Michigan trip
Most travelling golfers build around one of two anchors. The northwest shore is the classic, basing in or near Traverse City to reach Arcadia Bluffs to the south and the Boyne resorts to the north, all framed by orchards, dunes and Lake Michigan. The Roscommon and Gaylord corridor is the other, a tighter cluster of resort and destination golf led by Forest Dunes and Treetops. A first trip that pairs two Arcadia Bluffs rounds with a day at Forest Dunes and the Loop is hard to beat, and a concierge route smooths the long drives, the resort packages and the tight season so the golf is all you think about.
Plan your Michigan golf trip
We route the long Lake Michigan shore and the inland resorts into one clean week, hold the Arcadia Bluffs and Forest Dunes tee times, and time the trip to the short northern season. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling, and one concierge costs it to the head, with no obligation.
Michigan golf access questions
Can you play Arcadia Bluffs?
Yes. Arcadia Bluffs is a public daily fee club on the Lake Michigan shore, open seven days a week from roughly mid April to mid November, weather permitting. You simply book a tee time, with a GPS cart and the practice range typically included. Across its Bluffs and South courses indicative 2026 green fees run from around 70 dollars up to about 250 dollars in peak season, with the cliffside Bluffs course the headline round. June through September brings the best weather and conditions. Always confirm current rates and tee times directly before booking.
Is The Loop at Forest Dunes worth playing?
The Loop is one of the most original public courses in America, a Tom Doak design at Forest Dunes that opened in 2016 and is the world's first fully reversible course, playing in one direction on odd dated days as the Black and the opposite direction on even days as the Red. Pair it with the original Tom Weiskopf course from 2002 on a stay and play package and you have two of the most talked about rounds in the Midwest in one place. It is public resort golf, so book ahead. Always confirm current rates directly before booking.
Can you play Crystal Downs?
No, not as a visitor. Crystal Downs Country Club near Frankfort, the celebrated Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell design from the late 1920s and one of the highest ranked courses in the state, is a private club open only to members and their guests, with no public tee time. For the great Lake Michigan golf you can actually book, build the trip around Arcadia Bluffs, American Dunes and the Boyne and Forest Dunes resorts.
When is the best time to play golf in Michigan?
The Michigan golf season runs from roughly mid April to mid November, and the sweet spot is June through September, when the weather is warmest and the courses are in peak condition. Early autumn is glorious in the northern Lower Peninsula, when the first turn of color frames the fairways and the air cools to ideal playing temperatures. Spring and late autumn are cooler and cheaper. Always confirm current conditions and rates before booking.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Access rules and indicative fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.