The following excerpts come from selected panelists of GOLF Magazine golf course evaluators, from 2020.
Used with permission of GOLF.com
After Crystal Downs and Oakland Hills, the highest-rated Michigan courses in GOLF Magazine’s rankings, what’s the best course in the state and why?
Ran Morrissett (Architecture Editor): Michigan is stacked with great golf, both from the Golden Age and from the Modern Age. Narrowing it down to one is brutal, but when in doubt, I tend to side with the course that promotes ‘bouncy-bounce’ golf, which would be The Kingsley Club and its fescue playing surfaces. The ball releases more across its fairways and greens than the great parkland courses around Detroit. (Note: two more panelists also listed Kingsley Club for this question.)
What’s the best public course in Michigan and why?
Morrissett: Stoatin Brae is just west of Battle Creek, Mich., but because of its openness, you might think you are playing a heathland course outside of London. The stretch of holes from 10-15 is crazy good, and the course costs well under $100 to play. The quiet, relaxed vibe is a real plus too.
Steve Lapper (Panelist since 2009; has played 84 of the Top 100): I’ll stick my neck out and nominate Arcadia Bluffs. Blessed with an abundance of quality holes and aesthetics, it commands a hefty price, but few would deny its memorability. Public golfers of all skill sets are usually thrilled to experience it and are rarely disappointed.
Thomas Brown (Panelist since 2015; has played 95 of the Top 100): The University of Michigan Golf Course. Have a problem getting on Augusta National? The University of Michigan Golf Course was built the year before Augusta by the same Alister MacKenzie and his Midwest associate, Perry Maxwell. The 1st tee sits across the street from the stadium used for football. It won’t take you long into your round to appreciate the intricacies of what makes MacKenzie/Maxwell greens so renowned. U of M students are lucky.
What’s the course in Michigan you’ve not played that you’re most eager to see and why?
Morrissett: The two-year-old South Course at Arcadia Bluffs is at the top of my list. I love the Macdonald/Raynor school, so to see how Dana Fry interpreted their design elements into the South Course is bound to be fascinating. Without doubt, the course will be hugely strategic, which is my No. 1 must-have criteria.
Lapper: I have three tied at the top of that list: Stoatin Brae, The Reversible Course at Forest Dunes, and Meadowbrook GC (Northville). Stoatin Brae for all the reasons Ran cited, and to see what the talented team at Renaissance Design (Doak, Slawnick, Schenider, Placek and Iverson) produced. Who could possibly be interested in quality design and fun and not want to play a wholly reversible course? Finally, I’ve heard great things about the Andy Staples renovation of a classic Willie Park Jr. design.
Thomas Brown: The Dunes Club. Long before his success in Oregon, golf’s Robert Moses, Mike Keiser, built The Dunes Club in 1995 in the southwest corner of Michigan. The Dunes Club is a private nine-hole golf club designed by golf architect Dick Nugent. The pictures available online are envious. Comparisons are made to No. 1 Pine Valley. Is it really as good as everybody tells me? Hopefully I will be able to find out on my own someday.
