#5, "Mason Trail," Par 5, 572 Yards
Arriving at my drive on the 5th hole was the first time I said "wow, this is a cool hole." When you get to the corner of the dogleg left, a beautiful vista toward the green opens up with waste areas along the right side. If you're going to hit a tee ball greater than 250 yards, it better have a draw or be well down the left side as the fairway ends. From that landing area, it's likely a lay-up on the second shot for all but the longest of hitters and the key is to avoid the sand.
#12, "White Tail," Par 4, 371 Yards
While the front nine is full of dogleg holes, the back nine really only has one true dogleg, and it is this hole. Bending to the left, around two bunkers that protect the inner elbow, the choice off the tee is how far to hit it to leave the right yardage into the hole. Driver isn't critical, but the approach carries an inlet of water. A shot played from close to the fairway bunkers will have the best angle into the hole.
#13, "Twins," Par 4, 344 Yards
Keep your drive on the left half of the fairway to avoid being blocked by trees that stand 250 yards from the tee on the right side. I hit the fairway on the right side and was blocked! On your approach, beware the false front and the slope on the back left that will send any ball rolling off the green.
#19, "Bye Hole," Par 3, 117 Yards
Beyond the relatively reasonable greens fees for a course of its reputation, the value of Forest Dunes gets even better when you take into account that they give you 19 holes to play! The idea of the Bye Hole is to settle any bets that weren't decided through 18 holes. However, I think most people take their shot into this green whether there's a bet on the line or not. Heck, why wouldn't you? It's a fun shot to a wacky green with a bunker right in the middle of it. Unlike Riviera, which has a par 3 with a bunker in the middle, this hole is only 117 yards, and also plays a bit downhill so you have a better angle to see the doughnut hole in the middle of the green.
#17, "Wild Dunes," Par 4, 278 Yards
Probably the signature hole at Forest Dunes, the 17th is a driveable par 4 where the direct line from tee to green must carry about 205 yards of sand and scrub to reach the fairway. To get all the way to the green, you'll need to avoid bunkers that tighten at the entry point of the mushroom-shaped green. A really fun hole that I would love to have played a couple more times.
#1, "Eagle's Perch," Par 4, 375 Yards
Teeing off right in front of the Au Sable Lodge where we stayed, the first hole is a fairly easy opening hole. The hole starts in the dunes and finishes in the forest, giving the player a sense of much of what's to come. The safe line is at the tallest trees straight away, though more of the dogleg can be cut off for the bigger hitters. From there, the entry into the large and deep green is open on the left half with a bunker guarding the entry into the right half., allowing for an easy opening par. The green slopes largely back to front.
After finishing our round, we freshened up, before having a delicious dinner in the grill room. Just like the golf, the dinner was fairly reasonably priced. I was expecting to get gouged for entrees and bottles of wine, but they had several good options that didn't break the bank. After dinner, we only had a 50 yard walk to the Au Sable Lodge where we stayed, which would make a great spot for a buddies trip--even more so after the new course(s) open(s). So, the final verdict on Forest Dunes? I thought it was quite good. A mixture of some really good holes and a few duds, but overall a fun round. I don't think I'm ready to say it's among the best 100 courses in America, but certainly deserves its spot in the top 100 public tracks.
The other question that Michiganders, and other golf enthusiasts debate is which is better--Forest Dunes or Arcadia Bluffs. I think I prefer Arcadia, but it's not by a mile.
Being a golf nut who lives in Michigan and has a proclaimed goal of playing the nation's best golf courses, it's kind of crazy that it took me so long to play Forest Dunes. In fact, I had seen 37 of the Golf Magazine Top 100 Courses You Can Play, in 11 different states, before Forest Dunes. Heck, this is a website devoted to a golf bucket list, and Forest Dunes uses the slogan "This is bucket list golf!" So, why did it take me so long? Honestly, I don't really have a great reason. I could say that Forest Dunes is pretty remote, and it is--but that's coming from someone who's played at Bandon Dunes and Sand Hills. So with the rural, somewhat out-of-the-way excuse thrown out the door, what was it? It sure wasn't cost. Forest Dunes is one of the best values of a Top 25 Public Course. In fact, they advertise themselves in the pro shop as the cheapest among the top public courses when ranked by peak season greens fees. My absence wasn't due to a lack of hype either. Forest Dunes earns almost unanimous praise in the golf community as one of the more under-the-radar public courses in America, and one that can't be missed.
So, essentially, there is no excuse that it took me so long to play Forest Dunes. The good thing is that I finally did! In June, 2016, my wife and I made the drive up to Roscommon to check out this bucket list course, and took advantage of a stay-and-play special to get a little more from the experience by eating dinner and staying on site for the evening.
Before reviewing the golf course, here's a bit of background on Forest Dunes. From the August, 2003 issue from Golf Digest:
"Four years ago we heard talk of an intriguing new Tom Weiskopf design in mid-Michigan called Forest Dunes. But when we called, the phone had been disconnected. Turns out the course near Grayling, 2 1/2 hours north of Detroit, had been completed in 1999, but then lenders foreclosed on the original developers before the course even opened. it sat essentially unplayed for two years. In late 2001, the Detroit Carpenters Pension Trust Fund, one of the original lenders, took charge of the project."
"Washed-out bent-grass fairways were repaired. overgrown bunkers were reclaimed. Inch and a half layers of thatch were removed from the bent-grass greens. In July 2002 Forest Dunes finally opened, with 56 members and plenty of tee times for daily-fee golfers."
"It has been worth the wait. Built atop old glacial deposits covered with trees, Forest Dunes is a delightful combination of Augusta National and Pine Valley. Its front nine winds through a dense forest of red pines and oaks, with lots of green grass and gleaming white sand bunkers. The back nine is among exposed dunes, with rugged holes edged by roughs of native sand and scruffy underbrush."
"Weiskopf's design includes some of his trademarks. The sixth is a great drive-and-pitch par 4 with bunkers scattered all about and a carry bunker challenging any tee shot aimed directly at the green. The par-4 10th has two fairways separated by dunes and deep sand pits. The 17th is a drivable par 4 at just 302 yards from the tips, a genuine gamble with knobs of sand and pot bunkers squeezing the squiggly fairways and narrow green. Following the shot par-5 18th, Weiskopf provided a bye hole to finish all bets. it's just 117 yards but tricky, with a bunker in the center of its rolling green. Lose the farm on this hole and you'll wish they'd left that bunker overgrown."
The yardage book offers the following:
"Forest Dunes Golf Club is a course that should be on any serious golfer's bucket list. Nestled on 500 acres of heavily wooded land within the Huron National Forest, Forest Dunes has become one of the country's most peaceful and exciting golf experiences. In this pristine setting, British Open Champion Tom Weiskopf designed a parkland-style classic with modern enhancements. 'Forest Dunes replicates classic style and emulates a risk/reward involvement on most ever hole,' Weiskopf said. 'I consider this golf course to be in the top three that I have ever been involved in the United States.' Forest Dunes features a number of intriguing challenges including wide open meadows, hardwoods, century old red and jack pines, rugged native dunes, scruffy sand areas and water features. The front nine at Forest Dunes highlights parkland-style holes meandering through corridors of red and jack pines, with elaborate bunkering and sandy waste areas on the sidelines. The back nine brings to mind Pine Valley with exposed rugged native sand areas and scruffy underbrush crossing and bordering fairways and greens. The three finishing holes will thrill and leave golfers with vast memories."
So, all hyperbole and marketing/P.R. aside, what do we have here? As suggested above, Forest Dunes is a bit of a mix of typical Northern Michigan golf (tall pines straddling fairly narrow parkland holes) and sandy dunes-style golf. What I appreciate is that Forest Dunes never uses the words links in its descriptions, which is accurate because it isn't one. Lesser golf operators would probably take the combination of sandy soil and dunes-land and claim to be a links-style layout. Forest Dunes is not that. Is it really a blend of Augusta National and Pine Valley? They wish! But, they're catering to upscale public golfers in a vacation area, so that works. Having played a couple Weiskopf courses, and studied a few others, I find that he's fantastic and building short risk/reward par 4's, and Forest Dunes is no exception. The 6th and 17th are both very fun and good holes that I'd be happy to get several cracks at. In my mind, there are a few duds at Forest Dunes, but enough good golf holes to warrant the trip off of I-75. I say that, because the location of the course is such that many players stop by either on the way further North to Traverse City, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, or the Upper Peninsula, or stop by on the way back down. So far, it really has struggled to be a destination, but rather benefits from being a way to break up the drive of vacationers from Detroit, Chicago, or elsewhere. However, the club is trying to change that, with the opening of the much-publicized Loop course in 2016.
The Loop will eventually have its own review I'm sure, but in short, it's 18 holes of golf, designed by Michigander Tom Doak, that can be played frontwards or backwards. That is to say that one day you'll tee off on the first tee and play to the first green, and the other day you'll tee off from a tee box by the 18th green and play back to the 17th green, per se. It will play clockwise one day and counter clockwise the next. They're getting 2 golf courses while only enduring the cost to build one. Moreover, since it will play a different direction each day, a guest who wishes to play both directions will need to stay over at least one night. In so doing, Forest Dunes is trying to become a destination, much like Bandon, or Kohler, rather than a place to stop on the way somewhere else. Eventually, there are plans to build a putting course, an executive/par 3 course, and perhaps another 18 holes as well.
The main course at Forest Dunes (the only course as I type this) has four sets of tees, uniquely titled in Roman numerals, I, II, III, and IV. The I tee, measures 7,116 yards with a par-72 rating and slope of 75.2 and 146. I'd play the II tees today, which extend to a more playable yardage for me, which is 6,550 yards with a rating and slope of 72.4 and 139. As usual, I'll quote those yardages below:
#8, "Forest's Edge," Par 4, 414 Yards
Like nearly every hole on the front nine (except the par 3's and the 6th), the 8th hole is another dogleg. This time, the hole bends to the right, and downhill to a green that is surrounded by water. Once you arrive at the green, as the hole's name suggests," You're out of the forest for the time being, and back in the dunes.
Your view, if blocked!
#10, "Decision," Par 4, 401 Yards
A huge waste area splits two sections of fairway. The pin position should dictate which direction you go. The huge green is in the shape of a boomerang with a bunker in the middle. If the pin is on the left, the best angle to the hole would be from the left fairway and vice versa if the pin is on the right. Be on the wrong side of the green and a two-putt is nearly out of the question.
#15, "Hideaway," Par 5, 531 Yards
The coolest feature on this straight-away par 5 is the mound that blocks the view of the green. The green has a sunken feel, so gauging the correct yardage into the green is tricky, since you can't see your landing area or judge whether the green is at the same level as your feet.
#2, "Aspen," Par 4, 423 yards
After the soft opening, the second hole offers some teeth. The long par four begins with a narrow driving area and bends slightly to the left toward the green. A bunker lays short right of the green and also fronts the green on the left side. Par is a great score to keep possible momentum going from the first hole.
#18, "Eagle Chance," Par 5, 496 Yards
After the risk/reward 17th, with a real chance at eagle or birdie, the 18th offers a second chance at a great score. However, it requires another heroic play on the second shot, assuming your drive is in play. The approach to get on the green in two would need to avoid sand in the front and back, and also stay away from the water that guards the front-left and wraps around the back of the green too. The green is also relatively shallow for Forest Dunes--only 27 yards deep.
#16, "Hell's Acre," Par 3, 198 Yards
Named in honor of the famous Hell's Half-Acre hole at Pine Valley, the tee ball on this long par 3 needs to carry a large and nasty waste area. Make it all the way to the green, and you still have a tricky putting surface that gets in the way of making a par. This is one tough hole.
#11, "Prairie," Par 3, 163 Yards
While it doesn't go in the same direction, so wind can be different, this hole is curiously the same yardage (from the II tees) as the 9th hole, just two holes earlier. You had to carry a pond on #9--on #11 you carry a waste area. A good green awaits a good tee ball. A large slope will feed the ball from left to right if you hit around the middle of the green.
#9, "The Point," Par 3, 163 Yards
This hole returns the player to the clubhouse, but needs to carry a lake to get there. After carrying the water, the green is surrounded by 5 bunkers. The green isn't huge when compared with some other greens at Forest Dunes, but is well sloped and landing in the right section is critical to leaving a putt you can make, or even getting it close to the hole. If you've got good eyes, you can see the real wood fire pit in front of the clubhouse, just to the right of the pin. A really cool place to hang out after the round.
#3, "Table Top," Par 3, 178 Yards
When standing on the second green, we heard a loud celebration coming from the third tee. Come to find out, a guy in the group in front of us aced this first par three on the course. With the pin where it was this day (front-left and tucked right over the bunker), it was a heck of an accomplishment! The green here is large with proximity to the pin key to making a two-putt par. Miss the target, and you're likely to find one of the four greenside bunkers.
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#7, "Goalposts," Par 5, 499 Yards
Another dogleg left par 5, though this one is tighter than the 5th hole. No bunkers are present until you get around the green. Keeping it straight and out of the trees is the key, especially around the approach to the green where being straight is key to being blocked by trees that flank either side.
#4, "Lone Pine," Par 4, 372 Yards
A dogleg right with bunkers on the outside of the dogleg awaits here. Keep the ball in front of you and outside of the bunkers and you'll have a relatively simple approach into another green with an open front on the left half. A bunker lays to the right of the green.
#14, "Meadow," Par 4, 428 Yards
The most difficult hole on the back nine is long par 4 played to a wide landing area, up until about 250 yards from the tee. Hit a longer drive, and the landing area tightens up, and most negotiate a large bunker that encroaches on the right side. The approach to the green must carry a bunker fronts the green, and stay short of two bunkers in the rear, all while avoiding a pond on the left side.
#6, "Gamble," Par 4, 344 Yards
A good short par 4 here. The drive needs to carry the bunkers and avoid the tree to be in the best position into the green. From there, it's a blind shot into a green that is fronted by a large mound. Drives down the right side have a chance to see the green, but the left side will be completely blind.
Forest Dunes Golf Club
Roscommon, Michigan
http://www.forestdunesgolf.com/
Checked Off The Bucket List June 4, 2016
Golf Magazine:
#21, Top 100 Courses You Can Play (2014)
#1, Best Public Golf Courses in Michigan (2014)
Golf Digest:
#23, America's 100 Greatest Public Courses (2015-2016)
#4, Best in the State of Michigan (2015-2016)