Forest Dunes Golf Club

Forest Dunes, the original Tom Weiskopf course at the Roscommon, Michigan resort of the same name, opened in 2002 on a 1,200-acre estate and earned the Golf Digest Best New Upscale Golf Course award that year. The routing is often described as 'a tale of two nines': the front winds through mature Michigan forest where accuracy matters, then the back opens into white sand dunes where the wind shows up and the playing fields widen. Architectural comparisons to Pine Valley and Sand Hills are routine in Forest Dunes reviews, it's that kind of sandy, heathland look, transplanted to the Great Lakes. The 9th is the postcard hole, a 203-yard par-3 over water closing the front nine, with a green that falls off sharply on the right. Weiskopf built wide fairways and large greens throughout, which reads friendly until the wind picks up or the pin is tucked behind one of his steep green-side bunkers. The course ranks annually among national top-25 lists from Golf Digest, Golfweek, Golf Magazine, and the Golf Channel; Matt Ginella placed it #10 on his Best Courses You Can Play in the US. With The Loop (Tom Doak's reversible course) and the par-3 Bootlegger on the same property, Forest Dunes is one of the few Michigan destinations that can anchor a 3-4 day group trip by itself.