LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Traverse City, MICHIGAN | Surprising as it may be to many, Northern Michigan has a very rich golf legacy.
The great Walter Hagen lived in Traverse City from 1958 to 1969, and architect Tom Doak long has operated his Renaissance Golf Design firm from that same city. Gene Sarazen and Tom Watson frequented the area at different times of their lives. And nearly a century ago, Alister Mackenzie and Perry Maxwell created the course at Crystal Downs Country Club on a strip of land between Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake just west of Traverse City, in the town of Frankfort. It was considered one of the finest courses in the country when the full routing was completed in 1933, and all these years later is regularly ranked among the very best courses in the world.
Another Golden Age gem is Belvedere Golf Club, which is located northeast of Traverse City, in the hamlet of Charlevoix. Designed in 1923 by Willie Watson, whose credits include Interlachen near Minneapolis and the Lake and Ocean Courses at Olympic in San Francisco, the recently restored parkland course was a favorite of Sarazen’s, who considered the 16th hole one of the best short par-4s in the country. Hagen often teed it up at Belvedere, and Tom Watson (no relation) grew up playing the course as a young boy in the summers. A longtime member of Belvedere, he, too, raves about the fabled 16th.
Unfortunately, getting on Crystal Downs for most people requires considerable finesse, as it is a private, members-only club. Belvedere, however, is open to the public. www.belvederegolf.com
As for the Kingsley Club, it also is private. But golf professionals from other clubs may make reservations for their members, who are then asked to pay unaccompanied guest rates. www.kingsleyclub.com
Though Northern Michigan may seem rather remote on a map, the area actually is quite accessible. Major airlines (Delta, United and American Eagle) service the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City (which is the fourth-busiest in the state) with nonstop flights from Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis year-round – and offer direct flights to and from New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver and other major hubs on a seasonal basis.
For lodging and dining options at the Boyne Golf properties and Forest Dunes as well as for other information on those resorts, go to their websites: www.boynegolf.com and www.forestdunesgolf.com.
John Steinbreder