Course Openings, New Tournaments And Events Headline What’s New In Michigan Golf

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan is one of the top golf destinations in the country with more than 650 courses and bountiful stay-and-play package options attracting travelers from across the nation.

For the 2018 golf season, Michigan is building on that reputation with new courses, tournaments and special events.

Two More Golf Courses Open

Michigan has jumped back into new course construction, further solidifying its place as a top golf destination. This year two new courses - The South Course at Arcadia Bluffs and Sage Run at Island Resort & Casino - will open for play.

The South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, designed by Dana Fry, pays homage to the classic architecture of Seth Raynor and C.B. MacDonald. Located a few miles down the road from Arcadia Bluffs, the new South Course is routed over 300 acres of rolling, open land featuring large geometric green complexes, wide fairways lined with fescue grasses and steeped grass-faced bunkers. With a focus on strategy, and a thought provoking use of angles, the goal for the South Course is to capture the simplistic nature of the courses from the early days of golf in America.

Sage Run at Island Resort & Casino, like its sister course, Sweetgrass, pays homage to Potawatomi tribal tradition. Designed by Michigan-based architect Paul Albanese, Sage Run is a fun layout featuring open vistas and hardwoods with holes that run up and around a drumlin, which is a geographical formation shaped like an elongated oval hill. The design conjures some comparison to Royal County Down, the Northern Ireland golf club that is rated among the finest in the world.

Michigan Adds New Professional Tournaments

Six professional tour events will be played across the state of Michigan highlighted by two LPGA visits, a new PGA Tour Champions event and the PGA of America once again attracting the finest senior golfers in the world.

The LPGA visits first with the Volvik Championship in Ann Arbor at Travis Point Country Club from May 21-27, and then returns to Michigan later in the summer with the Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids running June 11-17 at Blythefield Country Club.

The PGA of America and KitchenAid will bring the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor for the fourth time from May 22-27. This PGA senior major championship continues to make significant economic and charitable impact in Southwest Michigan.

Later in the summer, many of the same top senior golfers will make a return visit to Michigan, and to a familiar place. The PGA Tour Champions stops at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc for The Ally Challenge from Sept. 10-16. Former PGA

Tour players like Tom Watson, Fred Couples, John Daly, Steve Stricker, Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara and more are expected to return to the former site of the Buick Open.

One-of-a-Kind Golf Event on The Loop

Golfers can take advantage of a unique opportunity to play The Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in both directions on the same day. The award-winning reversible design of Tom Doak is being showcased on special event days, which are being called The Dual.

The Loop’s normal rotation of alternating routings is Red Course on even dates and Black Course on odd dates in 2018. However, May 31, July 31 and Aug. 31 create an opportunity for Forest Dunes to create a special event on the 31st day of each of those months. The Dual days will feature a two-person, best-ball team event where golfers play one direction (course) in the morning, then play the other direction (course) in the afternoon for a 36-hole oneday experience.

Northern Michigan Resorts recognized by Golf Digest as Best Resorts in the Americas

The Inn at Bay Harbor, the flagship property for Boyne Resorts, and Forest Dunes in Roscommon, home to Tom Doak’s innovative reversible Loop golf course, received Best Golf Resorts in the Americas Editor’s Choice Awards by Golf Digest. The publication’s annual review of “The Best Things in Golf” appears in the May 2018 issue and online at Golfdigest. com. The listing recognizes top resorts throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada.

For more information on Michigan golf visit: michigan.org/golf