Over the past two decades Michigan has become one of America’s premier summer golf destinations. Nowhere else in the country can you find so many world-class resorts combined with top championship courses. Golf Digest ranked the region as the 12th best golf destination in the world and 8th best in the country. Michigan is America's Summer Golf Capital.

Golf Digest named Michigan the 12th best golf destination in the world, which means that in addition to a good game there's a notable life beyond the links. So go it alone or bring the family; there's plenty to see and do in and around Michigan's more than 850 golf courses.

With lush greens, challenging links, and spectacular views, Michigan golf courses have it all. Frequently recognized by America's golf legends, Michigan is an enticing destination for enthusiasts at all levels of play. Create your own Michigan golf package or choose from the hundreds waiting for you this season.

Whether you are looking for private or group lessons from a golf pro, golf camps for adults or juniors, 3-day schools, 1-day golf clinics, or a week-long golf vacation, Michigan has it all. Taught by PGA and LPGA Professionals, Michigan's highly acclaimed golf schools provide instruction for all levels.

The Spruce course at McGuire's is an old resort course, at least by Michigan standards, and was built like most resort courses were at the time. A few trees, wide fairways, a little water, some sand, just not to many problems for the golfer back then. The game of golf has changed over the years and so has this course. Somewhere along the line they started planting spruce trees along those wide open fairways to give them some definition. Over the years those trees have grown to be biggest, prettiest trees you can imagine, and there are hundreds on this course.

Those familiar with the Pinecroft Golf Plantation know what good golfing ground the rolling hills east of Beulah make. These former orchards and tree farms rank with High Pointe, Antrim Dells, and some of the other northwest Michigan courses that derive so much character from the land they're built on. Pinecroft has become known as a nice course with a million dollar view of Crystal Lake. Champion Hill is destined for much higher praise. The links disciples who are relegated to peering through the gate at exclusive Crystal Downs can avoid that frustration by driving 15 miles east, and playing a layout that Alister MacKenzie's ghost might have paced off.

Anyone who has played the 2006 Michigan Golf Course Owners Association Golf Course of the Year can attest that Eagle Eye Golf Club in East Lansing (Bath) is a world-class golf course with exceptional management and facilities. Owner Daryl Kesler and his staff of golf and hospitality professionals earned the highest marks in the criteria of exceptional course quality, quality of ownership and management, outstanding contribution to the community and significant contribution to the game. Kesler called on Chris Lutzke, a long time protégé of Pete Dye, to handle the course design at Eagle Eye. Lutzke had been instrumental seven years earlier supervising the construction of Hawk Hollow, Eagle Eye’s equally dramatic sister course. It was he who wanted to replicate Dye’s famous 17th hole island green at the TPC Tournament Course at Sawgrass. Every hole of Eagle Eye is rich with challenge and beauty, from the subtlety of the opening par 4 through the demanding par five 18th. Water is in play on 12 of the 18 holes. Hawk Hollow Golf Properties (HHGP) — the umbrella company under which Eagle Eye Golf Club operates — consists of the award-winning 18 holes at Eagle Eye; Hawk Hollow Golf Course, a 27-hole complex rated 4 stars by Golf Digest; The Falcon Golf Course, a nine-hole walking course; and Little Hawk, an 18-hole all-natural grass putting course; as well as three multi-tiered driving ranges, four practice putting greens and an exceptional short game practice area.
Annually, three officiated and well-organized junior tournaments are held throughout the summer. High school and college teams are allowed to use the facilities and courses for practice and certain events — usually at no cost to the team or school.HHGP hosts tournaments for the above groups and the Greater Lansing Amateur Golf Association. These include U.S. Open qualifiers, Michigan Open and Michigan Amateur qualifiers, GAM special events and city tournaments. This year and next, HHGP plays host to the Michigan PGA Championship. The Michigan Publinx Senior Amateur was also contested at Hawk Hollow and Eagle Eye in 2006, an event that will return in 2007. The PGA of Michigan’s new headquarters is located immediately off the first tee at Eagle Eye. A major contribution to the good of the game has been “responsible pricing.” Kesler remains committed to providing meaningful “value for dollars spent.”

The golf just keeps getting better at one of the most scenic golf experiences in Southwest Michigan. The Lynx Golf Course has added GPS equipped golf carts to speed play and improve yardage accuracy to pin placement. The architects for the Lynx were the Scott Family (Gull Lake View, Stonehedge). You can see their discriminating approach to quality golf throughout the 18-hole layout. The Lynx is not overly long, measuring 6,471-yards from the back tees. This makes the course refreshingly playable and easy to negotiate. Only 35 bunkers dot the course, most of which guard the greens. Only two sand hazards line the fairways of the four par 5s. Both nines begin and end at the highest point on the course. The clubhouse sits 135 feet above Kalamazoo River valley. The front side sends you east and concludes with a short, uphill left dogleg par 4 measuring 353-yards. The backside features the course’s signature hole, No. 10, a par 4 of 411 yards that shoots straight south, both laterally and vertically. Greens superintendent Tony Sonders and his six-person crew must be commended on how they groom this popular cat. The bentgrass greens are exceptional; they receive the ball very well and roll true. The putting surfaces border on large but are not huge and there’s very little undulation to contend with. Four sets of tees make the Lynx enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels.

Hawk’s Eye earned its placement (12th) among Michigan Golf’s Top 50 Public Golf Courses honestly; it’s a premier golf destination – coupled with sister course The Chief at Sky Lodge (also designed by Canadian architect John Robinson) – that assures the golfer an enjoyable, memorable round. It’s where Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo holds his annual Celebrity Charity Challenge; his “home away from home.” In many ways (some would argue in everyway) Hawk’s Eye is the antithesis of The Chief. Long – 7,000 yards from the tips – vs. 6,600-yards at the Sky Lodge headdress, and 747 runway width fairways. The tight, angular Chief will test your accuracy off the tee and shots into the green. Hawk’s Eye says express yourself; pull out that driver, often, and hit that ball hard and far. Hawk’s Eyes’ par 5s rank among Michigan’s best. You’ll especially like the opening hole: 409 yards from the tips with a slightly elevated tee station that overlooks a lake to the left and a mammoth, slight dogleg fairway that sweeps up to an elevated green.

Michigan’s quintessential golf resort is Treetops in beautiful Gaylord, home of the incomparable Threetops Par 3 course – site of the nationally televised ING Par 3 Shootout. Owner and celebrated instructor Rick Smith has masterfully positioned Treetops as a top international golf destination on the premise that a memorable golf experience is all encompassing:

*World-class golf courses (Robert Trent Jones, Tom Fazio, Smith’s Signature, Tradition and Threetops Courses)
*Luxurious lodging, spa and dining accommodations
*Internationally acclaimed teaching academy
*Heavenly setting

The Treetops Resort experience begins with a go at America’s No. 1 par 3 course, Threetops. Experience the thrill and challenge the likes of two-time Masters Champion Phil Mickelson, Masters Champion Fred Couples, and PGA Legends Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino have felt: exhilaration as they stare down pins on postage stamp greens that sit 90 to 170 feet below the tee, or take aim at pins with wedges and short irons positioned on elevated greens. The challenge of Threetops makes for great fun and entertainment as a spectator, too. Two-day passes are just $50. All of Treetops’ courses are rated among the best Michigan resorts have to offer. The Smith Signature course, along with the Masterpiece and Premier courses, ranked in the Top 25 of Michigan Golf’s Top Public Courses. The RTJ Masterpiece course has aged beautifully since it first opened in 1987. Four sets of tees let you enjoy anywhere from 4,900 to 7,000 yards in length.