This document summarizes 15 things learned about Michigan golf. It discusses the economic impact of golf in Michigan, some of the oldest and most renowned golf courses in the state, including Wawashkamo Golf Club (1898), Les Cheneaux Golf Club (1898), Belvedere Golf Club (1925), Crystal Downs Country Club (1929), Arcadia Bluffs (2000), and Oakhurst Golf & Country Club. It also mentions some top ranked courses like Forest Dunes Golf Club, and tournaments like the Senior PGA Championship and Michigan PGA Women's Open. Finally, it discusses foot golf and Ferris State University's PGA Golf Management program.

1. 15 things I
LEARNED
this week about
MICHIGAN
GOLF
Dianna Stampfler

2. PromoteMichigan.com
June is Michigan Golf Month!
With over 865 courses and 86 resorts,
Michigan’s golf economy is valued at more
than$4.2 billion, creating about 57,000 jobs
with $1.4 billion of wage income. The industry
also has a $118 million charitable impact
on the state.* Not bad for a state without a
12-month golf season!
SOURCE: Michigan Golf Course Owners Association
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Mackinac Island is home to the state’s first golf course
The 9-hole links-style Wawashkamo Golf Club on
Mackinac Island was laid in 1898 on a farmer’s field that
had been the site of the 1814 Battle of Mackinac Island.
It is the oldest, continuously played golf course in
Michigan and was honored as one of "America's Historic
Golf Landmarks" by Golf Digest in 1996. The course is
contained within Mackinac Island State Park. The name of
the club and course comes from the Anishinaabe word for
the act of 'walking a crooked trail'
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Les Cheneaux is the oldest, continuously played links course
The public Les Cheneaux Golf Club began operation in May
1898 and is the oldest, continuously-played links
course in Michigan. Early members of the Les Cheneaux Club
(established 1888) developed and chartered the course.
The course is a par 35, with 18 tees and is the style of the
traditional Scottish links—using the natural lay of the
land. It is accessible by water from a public dock off the
Snows Channel.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Charlevoix’s Belvedere Club dates back to 1925
The Belvedere Golf Club is one of the most historic and
celebrated golf clubs in Northern Michigan. Located just
south of Charlevoix, Belvedere is a classic parkland golf
club that is challenging enough to test today's best golfers
yet playable enough for the novice weekend player.
Belvedere’s history begins back in 1925, when members
of the Charlevoix Summer Resort Association decided
their existing social club needed a golf course.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Crystal Downs has a long-standing history of private play
Crystal Downs Country Club is a private country club and
lakefront community in Benzie County, near Frankfort.
Designed in 1929 by golf course architects Alister
MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell, the par-70, 6,518-yard
course offers views of Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake.
The country club and surrounding housing comprise the
"Crystal Downs Country Club“. Crystal Downs is currently
ranked the #19 course in the world by Golf.com.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Michigan’s top rated golf course overlooks Lake Michigan
Arcadia Bluffs in Manistee County opened in 2000,
on 245 acres overlooking Lake Michigan. Its 3,100
feet of Great Lakes shoreline puts it over the top.
The golf course was designed to resemble seaside
Irish links, with rolling terrain and windswept
natural fescues throughout. Golf Digest named
Arcadia Bluffs one of the 100 Greatest Golf
Courses in the U.S., ranking #10 as America's 100
Greatest Public Courses list.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

8. PromoteMichigan.com
A top 10 private course is found just outside Detroit
The private Arthur Hills-designed Oakhurst
Golf & Country Club in Clarkston (Oakland County)
was thoughtful designed to fit gently into the
Michigan countryside, weaving its way through the
woods of oak, pine, maple and protected wetlands.
Golf Digest has ranked this championship course
among the Top 10 Private Courses in the state of
Michigan. Oakhurst was also home of the 99th
Michigan Amateur, in 2010.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Senior PGA Championship to return to Harbor Shores
The 18-hole, Jack Nicklaus Signature Course
– Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor – opened in
2010. Harbor Shores will play host to the Senior
PGA Championship in 2016 and 2018 (after
hosting in 2012 and 2014). The course runs over
diverse terraine, with three holes offering
dramatic views of Lake Michigan and 11 holes
bordering the Paw Paw River, Ox Creek and its
wetlands.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Chef Mario Batali loves golfing in Michigan
The Arnold Palmer “Signature Course” –
Manitou Passage – is one of Chef Mario Batali’s
favorite places to swing the clubs in Michigan
(he has a vacation home in the area).
Situated in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National
Lakeshore, on the Leelanau Peninsula, this course
was named one of the “Best New Courses” in 2010
by Golfweek Magazine. It is owned and operated
by the award-winning Homestead Resort.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

11. Repurposing leads to most scenic bayside course
The famed 27-hold Bay Harbor Golf Club (along Little
Traverse Bay, between Charlevoix and Petoskey) is
perhaps the greatest work of famed designer Arthur Hills,
and is regularly ranked among the nation’s best. The site
was a former cement factory site with 60-acres
contaminated by kiln dust, and 50 that were a defunct
quarry. The site was transformed into a gorgeous course,
complete with gorges 40-feet deep flanked by stone cliff
walls.
15 things I LEARNED this week…
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Forest Dunes is among Michigan’s bucket list courses
Forest Dunes Golf Club is Roscommon is the
11th Ranked Public Golf Course in the U.S.
Designed by 1973 British Open Champion Tom
Weiskopf, Forest Dunes is recognized as one of
the best golf courses in America. It has been
Touted as “Pine Valley meets Augusta.” It has
also been called one of Michigan’s “bucket list”
courses to play.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Crystal Mountain hosts Michigan PGA Women’s Open
Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville is proud to be
celebrating 13 years as host of the Michigan PGA
Women’s Open, June 29-July 1. This premier event is
considered among the finest Women’s Open
Championships in the nation. Hosted on the signature
Mountain Ridge course, the three-round championship
has been decided on the final hole of regulation or a
playoff in six of the previous nine years.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Michigan is home to well-known Par 3 golf courses
Little Myth Par 3 Golf course located near
Rochester and Lake Orion is popular for
senior golfer, junior golfers and lady golfers.
Myth golf course is owned and operated by
Vargo Golf Company, which also hosts other
Junior Golf leagues and junior golf
tournaments in other areas of Oakland County
and Macomb County.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Foot Golf is taking Michigan by storm
Combine the best of soccer and golf with Foot
Golf at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Shanty Creek Resort in
Bellaire, Elmbrook Golf Course in Traverse City,
Riverwood Resort in Mount Pleasant, Brookside
Golf Course in Gowen and The Polo Fields Golf &
Country Club in Ann Arbor, among others
sanctioned by the Amercan FootGolf League.
15 things I LEARNED this week…

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Dollar Island features one of Michigan’s most unique homes
The PGA Golf Management Program at Ferris State
University was established in 1975 and was the first
program of its kind. The program is best described
as a joint venture with the Professional Golfers
Association of America (PGA) and designed for the
student interested in a career in the golf industry as
a PGA member. Students gain both a B.S. degree in
Business Administration from FSU and fulfilled
requirements for membership in the PGA.
15 things I LEARNED this week…