The Fortress Golf Course

Michigan has more public golf courses than any other state in America, and the quality at the top end rivals the best resort golf anywhere in the country. The combination of Great Lakes shoreline, northern hardwood forests, and sand-based soil - a legacy of glacial deposits - gives Michigan course architects raw material that most states simply don’t have. The result is a collection of public courses that regularly place eight or more entries on Golf Digest’s national top 100 public list. The concentrated quality in northern Michigan’s “Golf Coast” - the stretch from Traverse City to Petoskey along the Lake Michigan shore - has made the region a destination that draws golfers from across the Midwest and beyond. Northwest Michigan - The Golf Coast The Lake Michigan shoreline between Traverse City and Petoskey is home to the state’s most celebrated courses. Arcadia Bluffs Bluffs Course sits 150 feet above Lake Michigan in the small town of Arcadia. The 7,298-yard par-72 layout designed by Warren Henderson and Rick Smith runs along coastal bluffs with panoramic lake views from nearly every hole. It is the No. 1 ranked course in Michigan according to multiple publications, including consistent placement in Golf Digest’s...