Arcadia
Bluffs

Designed by Dana Fry and Jason Straka and opened in 2005, the South Course took a flat piece of farmland and channeled the golden-age geometry of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor — sod-faced bunkers, massive greens, intersecting angles. Where the Bluffs Course is a feast for the eye, the South Course is a treat for the intellect. It just cracked Golf Digest's Top 100 Public Courses at #53. Not a bad warmup.

Dana Fry's 1999 original put Arcadia on the national golf map. Carved from 240 acres of former apple and cherry orchards along the Lake Michigan bluffs, every hole delivers unobstructed views of the water. Wind-swept native grasses, sod-walled bunkers, wide fairways — it plays like a true links brought to the shores of the Great Lakes. Golf Digest currently ranks it #16 among America's Top 100 Public Courses. This is the round you'll talk about for years.

Designed by the Scottish-born architect William Watson and opened in 1927, Belvedere is one of Michigan's most cherished traditional courses. Watson gave Belvedere its timeless tree-lined fairways, subtle contours, and old-school strategic bones that modern resort courses can only imitate. Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson is a member and calls the par-4 16th one of the great holes in America. Nearly a century old and every bit still worth the walk.