Drummond Island: The Rock
If you’re a golfer who likes peace and quiet – and more quiet – then give The Rock at Drummond Island a try.
Drummond Island is located at the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula, which aides in keeping the 133 square mile area feeling remote, despite being only an hour from The Bridge. By comparison, Mackinaw Island is much smaller and much, much busier than Drummond Island. Once you drive your car onto the year-round ferry that takes about 10 minutes from DeTour to Drummond, you can sense you’re in for a unique adventure. 
The Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center’s centerpiece is The Rock golf course. The new management team honestly admits that the previous owner let the property decline, but during my visit in mid-July the place looked great. Yes, some tweaks and updates are coming, but the golf course was looking good.
The Rock has all the earmarks of an up north golf course with tree-lined fairways, a nice handful of rock out cropping’s for layering of fairway levels and aesthetics around par 3s – with water features and a mix of hardwoods and pines that are home for an abundance of wildlife. The few elevation changes in the terrain are used well in the design, especially the approach to the elevated green at the end of a hard dogleg right on No. 5.
The greens are in terrific condition, rolling well and remaining very green despite some brown patches around the layout. Greens average on the smaller side, so a golfer’s approach game will be tested the most of any shots in the bag. The overall design falls between wide open and spacious fairways, to target golf. The course overall is not really all of either style but falls somewhere in between.
No. 2 and No. 15 are as pleasing of short par 3s as you’ll find anywhere – in both challenge and attractiveness.
Accommodations at the resort are modern, comfortable and clean – and yet provide aesthetics that are reminiscent of an outdoors lifestyle likened to a summer retreat or fall hunting. The remodeled Pins Bar & Grill has a good food selection and lots of TVs and game entertainment.
Off Course:
As a whole, Drummond Island is meant to be a true getaway, to experience the quiet and the abundance of natural resources. Visits to the sand and rocky beach areas provide a choice of endless-horizon Lake Huron views to the south or dozens of island and bay views to the north.
Drummond is famous for bird watching, with tons of walking and snow shoe trails, plus 70 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. But the trails that attract the most visitors in organized events are remote, off-road vehicle (ORV) and Jeep trails stretching 100 miles on state-owned land on the island.
A trip to Drummond will feel different than many Up North resorts – and that’s the point. More info at: www.drummondisland.com
Interlochen Golf Course
Brad Dean – a former three-time Michigan PGA Teacher of the Year – made the career-defining jump from working for others to owning his own place a little less than two years ago. And it’s clear that the quaint, northern Michigan, Interlochen Golf Course is all the better for it.
Interlochen has been reborn.
The course opened in 1965 and was once a stomping ground of Hall-of-Famer Walter Hagen in his later years of life as a resident on nearby South Long Lake.
Over time and through the latest recession the Interlochen Golf Course wasn’t maintained as it should be – but Dean has revived it with the guidance of superintendent Chris Danbrook. The total gutting and remodel of the clubhouse makes it one of the finer places to eat along US-31 west of Traverse City. It is aptly named Bradley’s Pub and Grille. 
Dean honed his list of experience as a golf instructor, golf academy founder, pro shop merchandiser, golf operations manager, snow removal, and a little bit of food and beverage management – for 23 years at Crystal Mountain Resort in nearby Thompsonville. He even competed in the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills 10 years ago, but now-a-days only plays competitively in Interlochen’s Wednesday night league; ironically the place he first envisioned becoming an owner.
Dean said he wasn’t looking to change anything in his life but while playing in 2016 with some locals and the owner, who according to Dean said: “I can’t do this anymore. I’ve run it for 36 years and do you know anyone that might be interested? I don’t want to just turn it over to anyone who will come in and turn it into a subdivision.”
Dean said later said he “crunched the numbers, looked at the fact I would soon be 50 years old and if I’m ever going to do this, now is my chance.”
Last winter was the first time the property was ever open during the snow months. Bradley’s stayed open seven days a week, serving lunch and dinner. Dean added a fire pit and welcomed in snow-shoers, cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.
Northern Michigan resorts pull in travelers by the thousands, but Dean’s golfer market is the local summer lake home/cabin owners and those who work in the area. 
“It’s an older, traditional style course with push-up greens, the way they built them in the 1960s,” Dean said. “This is what we have, and it’s beautiful. It’s picturesque, you’ve got large trees, it’s really nice. And it’s in great condition. It’s as good as it gets up here.”
That sounds like a tall order, but the course was in superb condition in late June. A local who I played with said the comparison to just one season prior was night and day. He couldn’t stop praising the work Dean and Danbrook have done to make the course popular once again.
My favorite stretch of holes were Nos. 7-9.
No. 7 is a drivable par 4 downhill – but clearing the creek in front and avoiding going long into more water behind the green makes layup a very attractive decision.
No. 8 has the forward tee box on an island (used to be island green for 7) heading to a gently-right turning par 4, which ends with a below-the-fairway two-tiered green. Hole 9 has a very tight fairway off the tee that opens up for the second shot, which requires clearing a stout slope that makes balls run away from and off the green if hit too short on the left side.
All-in-all a wonderful, 18-hole, very walkable layout that everyone can afford. Try it soon. www.interlochengolf.com.
Belvedere Golf Club
When golf lovers want to take a step back in time – to an era where courses that follow the natural contours of the land were played by legends like Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and the other who’s-who brigade of golf history displayed on the walls inside the 1920’s golf shop – the famed Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix often comes to mind.
The history is just as rich at Belvedere as some of the most famed courses in the country. Its resume includes hosting 40 Michigan Amateur Championships over the decades, and the course is a staple for players who like to use hickory clubs. Many Michiganders also know that World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson spent most summers as a youth in northern Michigan and considers Belvedere his beloved club.
By fluke, the original hand-drawn architectural plans by William Watson (an apprentice of Old Tom Morris) were uncovered in 2016 in Charlevoix. While Belvedere Golf Club remained one of the best designs in Michigan, and minimal evolution of the grounds took place since its opening in 1925, the unearthing of the original drawings caused a desire from members to approve a two-year restoration plan returning the golf course greens, fairways and many of its tees to the hand-drawn design. The changes were completed with architect Bruce Hepner’s help.
Most changes consisted of enlarging the putting surfaces on greens, which in many cases now causes a drop off on the edges. A bunker was added on the right side of the fairway on No. 7 as a key strategy choice off the tee. The greens have delicate undulations that are manageable depending on speed, but also at times maddening if you don’t pay attention.
Whenever I write about a golf course I tend to pick a favorite stretch of three holes to highlight. At Belvedere, that is a tall order to fill as each hole is wonderful in its own right. Yet If forced to choose, unsuspicious Holes 12-14 could very well be it (or equally 7-9), while tagging 15 and 16 on for sure. Hole 12 is a par four with a blind tee shot to a peak in the fairway that needs to be cleared to unblock the view of the challenging green down below.
Then 13 has a slight right-to-left draw to a green approach shot beautifully framed by a stand of trees on the left and side hill off No. 12 on the right. It’s not a difficult hole but is simply elegant to view. The 14th is a wonderful par 3 to an elevated green also framed by woods. 
The next two holes however really stand out as unique to the course layout and are defining of the natural severe contours. Hole 15 is a par 5 hard dogleg right. The tee shot needs to stay on the upper tier before the second shot turns hard right and down to a lower plateau. No. 16 is a shorter par four in distance but with a second shot into the green that will make the best player’s knees shake. The green is so highly-elevated as the routing goes back uphill that any shot to the right side of the green will slip off the green complex that’s about 3 stories tall on that side.
Upcoming events that add to Belvedere’s lore will be the 2019 U.S. Hickory Open, the nation’s major for hickory players – and the Michigan Amateur scheduled for 2025 during the club’s centennial.
“Belvedere is a classic, classic course,” said Rick Meyer, the club’s president. “It is old-school in small town America. When dry and firm, it plays fast and requires a hickory style ground game. Our club and the Charlevoix community are committed to and will host a great (national) championship.”
The U.S. Hickory Open annually attracts an international field of golfers who play with authentic pre-1935 hickory shafted golf clubs or can also play replica hickory clubs. Competitors also dress in period appropriate apparel, including knickers, ties and jackets.
Without or without the hickory sticks, if you haven’t played Belvedere, make sure to take advantage of the limited public play options when traveling to northern Michigan.
For more information about Belvedere visit: https://belvederegolfclub.com/
