Golf Writing example

A Short Route to Heaven

By Mike Dauplaise

For many Wisconsin residents, traveling to the golf-rich northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula is a trip that always seems to be on the back burner. It sounds like a great place to visit, but there’s no easy way to get there.

Whether you choose the southern route through the Chicago area, the northern route through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, or the more direct route aboard the S.S. Badger car ferry between Manitowoc, Wis., and Ludington, Mich., visiting this corner of the Wolverine State is worth the effort.

While golf certainly is a prime attraction in the region, beautiful beaches, scenic drives, great restaurants and tourist-friendly cities make your time off the course as enjoyable as the time spent trying to conquer challenges created by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arthur Hills and others.

The 410-foot S.S. Badger, built in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., in 1953 as the largest car ferry ever built, provides a welcome respite from the relatively long drive that is your other non-air option. Starting from Green Bay, our four-hour voyage on a calm day was just the adventure to jump-start the trip. Even though it’s an extra charge, booking a stateroom is a good idea, as it offers a spot of privacy and a place to catch a nap if you desire. The ship also features a cafeteria, movie theater and game room.

Make sure you arrive early if you have your heart set on securing a deck chair, because they’re taken quickly on nice days. And even if it’s a warm day, bring along a sweatshirt to ward off the chilling breezes that 60 miles of Lake Michigan can produce.

For most landlubbers, even a smooth voyage can produce some motion sickness. The ginger tablets that my brother, the professional sailor, prescribed as a preventive measure worked like a charm. Don’t know why ginger works, it just does.

The North Pier Breakwater Light welcomes the Badger to Ludington, with the spectacular Harbor Front Plaza and Harbor View Marina situated just inside the protection of the breakwater. After the short wait for our car to come off the ship, it was time to catch Highway 31 for the two-hour drive north to the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, located just past Traverse City. The resort offers three 18-hole courses, along with enough shopping and spa opportunities to keep the non-golfers in your group entertained.

The star of the golf offerings is The Bear, an appropriately named 7,065-yard Jack Nicklaus design that meanders through woods, open links-style areas with terraced fairways, and a generous helping of hazards. With a course rating of 76.8 and a Slope rating of 146, The Bear packs a wallop.

The signature hole officially is listed as the 167-yard, par-3 13^th, but in reality, any number of holes rank high on the memorability meter. As with most Nicklaus designs, do your scoring early, because the final three holes can be round-breakers.

The 451-yard, par-4 16^th plays uphill to a green guarded by a long, deep bunker on the left. The 220-yard, par-3 17^th plays slightly downhill, and from one of the higher points on the course the wind can be an issue. The 18^th, at 467 yards, is just plain an incredible par-4.

After a drive to a wide fairway divided by a large tree in the right-center, the player has the option of carrying water all the way to the green for a hero’s finish in front of the clubhouse and the diners on the patio, or playing safe around the left side of the lake for a humbling – albeit smarter in many cases – less spectacular finale.

The newer Wolverine Course, designed by Gary Player, is no less rugged from the back tees at 7,038 yards, with ratings of 73.9 and 144, but is far more playable from the more forward tees. Minus the terraced fairways that penalize errant shots at The Bear, The Wolverine allows players to recover more often while still providing an enjoyable challenge for any ability level.

Spruce Run is the resort’s original course, designed by former University of Michigan golf coach William Newcomb. While shorter and less penal than its two property-mates, Spruce Run offers an enjoyable trek through the woods at 6,304 yards, 70.8 and 130. Water comes into play on 13 holes, providing numerous opportunities to catch glimpses of wildlife, along with sweeping views of Grand Traverse Bay.

After your round, make an appointment to spend some time with the staff at the Jim McLean Golf School at the far end of the driving range. Using state-of-the-art video and computer equipment, the staff has the tools to get your swing back on the straight and narrow.

A variety of local restaurants are within a short drive of the resort. If you’d rather stay on-site, the Trillium Restaurant, located at the top of the resort’s tower, offers fine dining accented with unmatched views of Grand Traverse Bay below.

There are about 15 golf courses within a short drive of Traverse City, enough to keep golf fans coming back for more. When not on the course, one of the more pleasant drives is up the narrow Old Mission Peninsula that juts north from Traverse City into Grand Traverse Bay.

Award-winning wineries dot the length of the peninsula, as vineyards roll down the scenic hillsides. Wisconsin’s Door County is well known for its orchards on the west side of Lake Michigan, especially its cherries, but the multitude of orchards in the Traverse City vicinity make this region the cherry capital of the country.

In between wine tasting stops, make your way up to Haserot Beach on the northeast end of the peninsula, and stop at the Old Mission General Store for an ice cream cone or a pickle-on-a-stick. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

Another hour’s drive northeast from Traverse City are the resort cities of Charlevoix and Petoskey, and the resorts of the Boyne USA empire. With golf courses that include masterpieces by Robert Trent Jones (The Heather at Boyne Highlands), the Donald Ross Memorial Course, and a Pete Dye design scheduled to open in 2005 at Boyne Mountain, the area offers more of what makes the region a prime recreation destination when the ski hills are closed.

We found our way to the resort community of Bay Harbor, located a few miles shy of Petoskey. With its private yacht club, multi-million dollar homes overlooking the lake, lakeside cottages, and the spectacular Inn at Bay Harbor, this is the playground of the rich from Detroit and Chicago.

After enjoying dinner at the inn’s Sagamore Restaurant, sunset over the lake from our suite was a perfect way to end the day. My wife was none too happy to leave behind what she considered to be the most comfortable bed she’d ever slept in early the next morning, but discovered golfing bliss doesn’t wait.

The Arthur Hills-designed courses at Bay Harbor Golf Club were our destination, and they made answering the early alarm worth the trouble. We experienced the Preserve and Links nines, which combined call on all your skills to successfully navigate the 6,810 yards, with course ratings of 72.7 and 142.

The Preserve Course is considered the least remarkable of the three nines at Bay Harbor, led by The Links and The Quarry nines. But least remarkable still means it’s remarkable. After about a half-mile cart ride to the first tee – past homes that make you wonder just who lives there – The Preserve leads the player through thick woods in which you’re alone with your game and nature.

The 186-yard ninth overlooks Lake Michigan to the left, and provides a glimpse of what lies ahead. The Links Course rides the bluffs overlooking the lake, with some holes reminiscent of Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

The 178-yard fourth uses the distant yacht club as its backdrop, while the 500-yard, par-5 seventh plays uphill to a green that looks like a table perched against the sky. The downhill, 225-yard, par-3 eighth is a great long short hole, while the 518-yard ninth offers a no guts, no glory chance at a closing birdie while skirting a wetlands area.

Following the round, and after stops in the quaint city of Charlevoix and the shop-filled downtown district of Petoskey, it was north to cross into the U.P. at the towering Mackinaw Bridge. A beautiful late summer’s drive west along the north shore of Lake Michigan, then south along the bay back to Green Bay completed a most enjoyable long weekend.

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