Crystal Dows in Frankfurt, Mich.
Patrick Koenig
As a part of GOLF’s rigorous rankings course of for our newly launched High 100 Programs within the U.S. and High 100 Programs You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus skilled panelists recognized the very best golf programs in each state.
You may try the hyperlinks beneath to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll all the way down to see the very best programs in Michigan. And should you’re seeking to create your personal journey sooner or later, you’d be sensible to let GOLF’s new Course Finder software help you. Right here, you’ll be able to toggle all of our lists — High 100 public, finest munis, finest brief programs, finest par-3s and extra — or filter by value to create the proper itinerary to your subsequent journey.
GOLF’s different course rankings: High 100 Programs within the World | High 100 Programs within the U.S. | High 100 Programs You Can Play | High 100 Worth Programs within the U.S. | America’s Finest Municipal Programs | The 100 Finest Quick Programs within the World
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The most effective golf programs in Michigan (2024/2025)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = High 100 Course within the U.S.
Y = High 100 You Can Play within the U.S.
V = High 100 Worth Course within the U.S.
P = Public/Resort
Ed. word: Some programs had been omitted from our rankings as a result of they didn’t obtain sufficient votes.
1. Oakland Hills – South (Bloomfield Hills) [#]
By way of the years, Oakland Hills — the famed “monster” that Ben Hogan slayed within the 1951 U.S. Open — grew to become lengthy, slender and arduous, which match the descriptive of different American championship programs. That was by no means meant to be the course’s destiny — this was Donald Ross’s parkland thought-provoking magnum opus. Fortunately, all of Ross’s glories, after which some, had been introduced again in 2020 when Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and workforce restored Ross’s width and taking part in angles. The greens had been expanded a whopping 35 %, and the bunkers themselves had been restored to their earlier immense scale. Fescue grasses blow within the wind and the undulating website, now not hidden by bushes, optimizes parkland golf’s regal providing with a few of its greens like the first and 14th able to stealing your breath.
Larry Lambrecht
2. Crystal Downs (Frankfort) [#]
Due to its distant location, Crystal Downs was as soon as ignored however that modified when Tom Doak launched the course to Ben Crenshaw within the Nineteen Eighties. A mixture of sturdy breezes off Lake Michigan, thick fescue roughs, undulating terrain and fiendishly contoured greens make this one of many harder High 100 programs relative to its par of 70. Measuring just below 6,600 yards, monster size shouldn’t be required when you will have greens this good.
3. Kingsley Membership (Kingsley) [#]
Mike DeVries moved solely 30,000 yards of dust to construct this minimalist Michigan masterpiece. From the opening drive on the split-fairway 1st, Kingsley affords golfers an inspiring variety of decisions, forcing them to suppose their manner across the course. With spectacular par-5s, drivable par-4s and a blinding number of greens, Kingsley is a critical participant’s paradise. If all these challenges fry your mind, don’t fear — there’s a bottle of Jameson hidden close to the 18th tee.
4. Forest Dunes-Loop – Purple/Black (Roscommon) [Y, P]
courtesy of Forest Dunes
5. Bloomfield Hills (Bloomfield Hills)
6. Orchard Lake (Orchard Lake)
Orchard Lake is presumably probably the most intact Charles H. Alison within the U.S. because the routing in the present day is nearly similar to its unique design. This 1926 Alison design started its Keith Foster restoration in 2012. Daring bunkering returned to the surprisingly undulating topography, bushes had been faraway from taking part in corridors and greens had been expanded to unique intent. The greens are refined and at instances misleading, and it has particularly sturdy par-3s. Good variation of design and size within the par-4s and par-5s. Holes 15-17 is likely to be the very best stretch within the Detroit space.
7. Franklin Hills (Franklin)
8. Belvedere (Charlevoix) [P, V, Y]
Because of how Golden Age architect William Watson integrated meandering creeks, dramatic valley partitions and lovely Michigan rolling landforms into his routing right here, the golfer needs for nothing. Watson’s greens — each their contours and their placement — are marvels, a lot of which don’t require bunkers for window dressing. As an illustration, the floor on the sixth includes a savage false entrance that consumes practically one-third of the placing floor. Different bunkerless greens embody the sixteenth and seventeenth, each of which Watson benched into hillsides. A faint-hearted method to the 346-yard sixteenth finds the golfer a dozen-plus ft beneath the placing floor; similar goes for a pull on the 179-yard seventeenth. Belvedere has attracted a legion of design followers through the years, and for good purpose.
Brian Walters Pictures
9. Meadowbrook (Northville)
10. Arcadia Bluffs – South (Arcadia) [P, Y]
11. CC of Detroit
12. American Dunes [P, V, Y]
13. Arcadia Bluffs – Bluffs (Arcadia) [P, Y]
14. Greywalls at Marquette [P, Y]
15. Forest Dunes – Weiskopf (Roscommon) [P, Y]
courtesy of Arcadia Bluffs
16. Level O’Woods (Benton Harbor)
17. Indianwood – Previous (Lake Orion)
18. Oakland Hills — North (Bloomfield Hills)
19. Misplaced Dunes (Bridgman)
20. Barton Hills (Ann Arbor)
21. Detroit GC – North (Detroit)
22. Stoatin Brae (Augusta) [P, V, Y]
Heathland is a broad, open expanse of heath. Substitute heath with native grasses and you’ve got Stoatin Brae in south-central Michigan. The uphill drive off the freeway to the clubhouse provides nothing away about what you’re about to expertise. A lot of the entrance 9 traverses a plain, after which, beginning at 10, the land goes loopy — a topsy-turvy six-hole stretch that you simply gained’t quickly overlook. It is without doubt one of the finest stretches on this complete listing, though lots of people don’t learn about it. Different standout holes embody the brief par-4 eighth and the one-shot seventeenth to a knob inexperienced. The inexperienced price of nicely beneath $100 belies what’s a first-rate design and taking part in expertise.
Larry Lambrecht
23. Detroit GC — South (Detroit)
24. Bay Harbor [P]
25. True North
How we rank our programs
For our newly launched High 100 U.S. and High 100 You Can Play lists — a course of that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — every panelist was offered a poll that consisted of 609 programs. Beside the listing of programs had been 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists thought of a course to be among the many high three within the U.S., they ticked that first column. In the event that they believed the course to be amongst Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, adopted by 11-25, 26-50, and so forth out to 250+ and even a column for “take away.” Panelists had been additionally free to put in writing in programs that they felt ought to have been included on the poll.
