TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Golf course openings are rare in these tough economic times. Three decades ago that wasn’t the case, but none back then were as celebrated as Jack Nicklaus’ The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort.

Grand Traverse, then just five years old, took an extraordinary step when The Bear was ready for play. Virtually very member of the media covering the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills was invited to play the layout the day after Andy North won his second Open title, and most of them showed up.
That type of sendoff for a new golf course was unheard of, and media members from throughout the country found the layout appropriately named. It was indeed a bear.

Over the years the course has been changed a bit, and Grand Traverse has undergone ownership changes. It remains, though, the heart of golf in the Traverse City area – and I consider that region the golf capitol of Michigan. Apparently I’m not alone. Golf Digest lists Traverse City as one of its Top 10 Best Buddies-Trip Golf Destinations this year.

Traverse City has grown considerably since The Bear opened. Now the area has 17 championship courses. The Bear is just one of three at Grand Traverse. Spruce Run, which pre-dates the resort, opened in 1979 as a Bill Newcombe design. Gary Player’s first Michigan course, The Wolverine, opened in 1999.

Now owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse has a 17-story hotel that features most interesting upscale dining (The Aerie Restaurant and Lounge) on the 16th floor and two casinos are nearby. Also new this year is an expansion of the golf teaching staff. Director of instruction Scott Hebert, lead instructor Terry Crick and assistant Charlie Hathaway have been joined by two new lead instructors – Randy Ernst and Adam Roades.

The Bear, still the toughest course in the area, was strangely bypassed as a site for pro tour events. A Senior PGA Tour event, the now defunct Ameritech Senior Open, was played there in 1990 before moving to Chicago for a 12-year run. The Michigan Open was played on The Bear for 28 years, and Hebert won it six times.

That tourney may have left in 2008, but The Bear has maintained its high profile without hosting an annual big event. In 2012 the Michigan Golf Course Owners Assn. named The Bear and Grand Traverse its Course-of-the-Year. That’s one lofty honor, given that Michigan has more public courses (768) than any other state. And, only two other states have more total golf courses. Golf is indeed big business in Michigan.

Traverse City golf, though, isn’t limited to The Bear and Grand Traverse. Shanty Creek, another long-time favorite in Bellaire, has four courses including two that have been widely recognized – Arnold Palmer’s The Legend (its popular par-3 fourth hole is shown above) and Tom Weiskopf’s Cedar River. The Bear and The Legend together started making Traverse City a significant golf destination. Now both United and American have direct flights from O’Hare to Cherry Capital Airport in part at least to accommodate golfers.

Shanty is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and Cedar River has long been one of my all-time Michigan choices. Interesting things are going on at another Shanty layout, though. Eight-inch cups have been added on all 18 greens of the Summit course, a move to make the game easier and encourage more people to give this challenging sport a try. A new set of forward tees, set at between 95 and 125 yards, have also been added to the layout, designed as a par-71 by architect William Diddel that plays 6,260 yards from its tips. This innovative moves are – at the very least – a good try to freshen things up a bit.

One of Traverse City’s other resorts, A-Ga-Ming, is also a multi-course facility. Located in Kewadin, it has three 18-holers.

Best of Traverse City’s other seven courses may be LockenHeath (a Steve Smyers design in Williamsburg that is the longest of the region facilities at 7,239 yards) or Manitou Passage, in Cedar, which offers great views overlooking Lake Michigan. The views are so good, in fact, that ABC’s Good Morning America named its Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as “America’s Most Beautiful Place.’’ It was selected after judging 10 contenders that included spots in California, Hawaii and North Carolina.

ROSCOMMON, Mich. – There never was a doubt about the quality of the 18 holes at Forest Dunes. The course has consistently been ranked as the No. 2 public layout in golf-rich Michigan, behind Arcadia Bluffs.

A Tom Weiskopf design that opened in 1999, Forest Dunes is –in the words of general manager Todd Campbell — “in the middle of nowhere.’’ Still, the national course raters have found it. Golf Digest had it No. 20 among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses for 2011-12 and No.99 among America’s Greatest 100 for the same period. GolfWeek ranked Forest Dunes No. 87 on its Best Modern Courses list. And, in August of 2013, Golf Magazine added Forest Dunes to its Top 100 Courses in the U.S. Forest Dunes made that prestigious poll at No. 72.

Despite consistent recognition from raters, Forest Dunes has spent most of its existence in limbo – until now. The new Lake AuSable Lodge (pictured above) opened in April and every room was sold out the first two nights. The opening of the $1.5 million facility, built in just seven months, is the most significant new addition to the Michigan golf scene in 2013.

Forest Dunes has been largely lacking in lodging options despite its out-of-the-way location (Grayling, 20 miles away, is biggest nearby town). Now, however, Forest Dunes is prepared to welcome overnight guests. The Lodge has 14 luxury rooms and suites. Its 28 beds can accommodate 32 people, plus it’s located 35 yards from the No. 1 tee.

Six cottages, built 10 years ago by Forest Dunes’ original owners, can accommodate another 30 comfortably.

“But we never marketed them,’’ said Campbell. Now the effort to do that is on.

Though snow had to be shoveled off some spots on the course a week before its 2013 opening Forest Dunes reported 188 rounds on some weekend days in early May, which exhausted the supply of golf carts available. Various promotional efforts, particularly on social media, obviously got the word out about the rebirth of the place.

Forest Dunes’ clubhouse includes the upscale Sangamore Restaurant, appropriate for weddings and proms in addition to business gatherings, and the Kendall/Seltzer Golf Getaway School flourishes with a 10-acre practice facility. Dave Kendall is a two-time Michigan PGA Teacher-of-the-Year and Jack Seltzer a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.

“People have been intrigued by what we have going on here,’’ said Campbell, hired in January of 2011 after spending 17 years at Garland Resort – a 72-hole Michigan favorite. “Before our doors were opened we had two-thirds of our budget booked. We created a frenzy.’’

In truth, Forest Dunes has had an interesting history. A group of investors from Arizona got the project started. They envisioned a very exclusive private facility and hired Weiskopf, whose Michigan design work includes the well-regarded Cedar River layout at Shanty Creek, in Bellaire.

“They wanted to build a phenomenal golf course in an unbelievable setting in Central Michigan,’’ said Campbell. That wasn’t an easy thing to do at the time.

Weiskopf was still moving dirt when financing was shifted to the Carpenters Union Pension Fund. The course was well-received upon its opening and a clubhouse was built in 2004, but the Pension Fund tried four different management companies and couldn’t decide what direction to take. Should it be exclusively private? Should it be a high-end public layout? Should it be something in between?

In 2011 the course was put up for sale, and that’s when Lew Thompson entered the picture. A recreational player, he has only dabbled in golf. From Huntsville, Ark., he made his fortune in the trucking industry but his arrival was just what Forest Dunes needed long-term.

“His is an absolutely American story,’’ said Campbell. “He looks like Abe Lincoln without the beard – a 6-6 gangly guy who lived in a home with a dirt floor as a teenager and sold his car to marry his high school sweetheart. As a young man he wanted to be a truck driver, so he bought a truck.’’

He used that truck to haul poultry from nearby Arkansas farms, and his business grew from there. Now Lew Thompson & Son Trucking delivers nation-wide.

Thompson’s introduction into golf came when he bought a Jack Nicklaus-designed layout, The Bridges, in Montrose, Colo. He immediately fired Troon Golf, its managing company, and the general manager. That GM moved to Forest Dunes, which was then under Troon management, and advised Thompson to consider buying that course.

He eventually did, then hired Campbell in January, 2012. Thompson’s been largely a hands-off owner, as Campbell combined duties selling real estate with managing the course. He had no interest in making Forest Dunes a private facility, but it still has members from the previous ownership.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, but we’re near two main arteries (I-75 and US-27),’’ he said. “We’re not going to discount. We needed 15,000 players to pay $100 to $150 to play Forest Dunes, and we got them. We took a business that was losing close to $2 million and nearly brought it into the black last season.’’

His goal now is to put Forest Dunes on par with Arcadia Bluffs and its beautiful lakeshore setting. The next step in that process came in June, 2013, when Campbell announced the hiring of Chad Maveus as the club’s head professional. A Northern Michigan University graduate, Maveus had been an assistant for nine years at California’s Pebble Beach Golf Links.

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Squeezing in a fast nine holes is a good way to break up a long driving trip. It doesn’t cut severely into the mileage covered and certainly is refreshing.

On our last winter trip we indulged in that practice twice – and with goals in mind. We’d never played golf in Tennessee or Kentucky. Now we have. In both cases we checked out courses in the southern-most part of those states.

Hillcrest Country Club is a private nine-holer in Pulaski, Tenn., just over the Alabama border but about 15 miles off Interstate 65. While it’s a private facility, with a nice dining room and tennis courts, its members told me that golfers from out of the area are welcome. That’s apparently how we got on the course on a nice Sunday afternoon in February with temperatures in the high-50s – and for fees of $15 and with a cart, no less.

Winter tees were in use and much of the grass was dormant. Still, it was golf and Hillcrest’s members were proud of what they have. They enjoyed not only the course but the big driving range as well. While Hillcrest was a long way from the courses we enjoy in season in Illinois or in the winter in Florida, it was still fun, challenging and well worth the stop.

Even more so – on all counts – was Kenny Perry’s Country Creek, the site for our Kentucky golf debut. It’s a few miles over the Tennessee line and about 35 miles from Nashville, Tenn.

Perry, a solid PGA Tour player now competing mainly on the Champions Tour, grew up in Franklin, went to college at Western Kentucky in nearby Bowling Green and feels so strongly about his home state that he took extraordinary steps to qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2008, when the matches against the Europeans were played at Valhalla in Louisville.

That year Perry caught flak for skipping the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open because he thought he could pile up more Ryder Cup points playing a different schedule. As it turned out, he was right. He earned a spot on the U.S. team and helped the Americans win for the first time since 1999.

It was long before that, though, when Perry decided to create an 18-hole course for his fellow residents of Franklin. The course, which can been seen off Interstate 65, opened in 1995. Its mailing address is 1075 Kenny Perry Drive and the compact pro shop/ clubhouse is filled with his memorabilia.

Perry’s daughter Lesslye came up with the Country Creek name, and Perry has called the course “a dream come true.’’ The layout includes some barns (shown below) left from the days before the land was a golf course.

Though Perry isn’t one of the many tour players who have dabbled regularly in course architecture, he did design Country Creek. I became interested in visiting the place after being one of Perry’s partners in the first pro-am of the 2007 BMW Championship, the FedEx Cup playoff event then played at Cog Hill.

That was one of my most memorable days covering golf. It started with a one-on-one interview with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem in the morning, then the afternoon round with Perry that included me sinking a 50-foot birdie putt. The pro-am round was rained out after 10 holes but Perry, pleasant on the course, was even nicer during the rain delay – a true class act.

Anyway, I had covered Perry’s bid for the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla, when he lost the title to Mark Brooks in a playoff and, of course, followed his unusual game plan to play in the Ryder Cup. Part of it included winning John Deere Classic, another event that I covered up close and personal.

Business obligations took me to Nashville several times a year for awhile, and I stopped by Country Creek for a few minutes on one occasion just to see what Country Creek looked like. It was too cold for anybody to play that day, but not on this most recent trip. Players were lined up to tee off on this chilly but sunny Monday in February, and the $13 greens fee (for seniors with cart for nine holes) might have been part of the enticement.

Maybe Perry should take another stab at course design. His first venture in his hometown has been well received, especially by the locals. They find it especially beautiful in the spring when the flowering is in bloom, but even in the winter the greens were in good shape.

Country Creek, which measures 6,633 yards from the tips, is on the short side for championship play but each hole was a fun challenge – especially the par-3 eighth over water. A steep hill fronts the green, and you’d better hit it all the way to the putting surface (a carry of 119, 137 or 199 yards, depending on the tee you choose) or your ball will roll back down the hill and into the drink. Mine came close to doing that.

Closing in on its second decade, Country Creek is a worthy contribution by Perry to his home town, and its worth a look by occasional visitors as well.

GREENVILLE, Ala. – Some things are just meant to be. That seemed to be the case when a chance to play on Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail finally materialized at the end of a 10-week road trip.

This travel-writing journey was to finish up with rounds at Sandestin, on the Florida Panhandle, and Preserve, a Jerry Pate creation in Biloxi, Miss. Alabama had been on the route back to Chicago two previous times on similar trips, but not on this one.

Then Mother Nature intervened. Two days of rain in Destin, FL., and similar conditions — with more severe weather in the forecast at both Destin and Biloxi required a change in travel plans. Rather than go home via Mississippi we journeyed through Alabama. No more golf was planned — at least not initially.

A casual lunch conversation with a local at a Cracker Barrel in this small town revealed a Robert Trent Jones Trail course just a few miles away. The rain had stopped, so we thought a visit was in order. The course was relatively empty, and the price was right. So, why not play?

This was the 21st and last 18-hole round of the trip. It came on, by far, the best course we played on our journey and it also had the lowest greens fee. Go figure. There has to be a message there some place.

The Jones Trail has been in existence for 20 years (the first course opened in 1992). It’s created a boon to Alabama’s economy with its 26 course spread over 11 sites. In fact, The Trail Guide points out, golf is a $1.5 billion industry in Alabama. That’s more than Auburn and Alabama football and basketball revenues combined, and most of it’s due to the Jones Trail. On Oct. 23, 2013, the Trail welcomed its 10 millionth visitor.

All 11 sites are universally regarded as good, but we apparently lucked out in showing up at Cambrian Ridge – a 27-hole facility with an additional nine-hole short course about 40 miles south from the state capitol of Montgomery. It was filled with great, expansive views, one of which is shown here.

According to The Trail Guide Cambrian’s Sherling nine “may be the best on the entire Trail.’’ The Canyon, carved out of former hunting grounds, was the other nine we played. It was our first nine and we weren’t ready for its first hole – a long par-4 that drops 200 feet from the tee to the fairway.

The Wow! Factor was similarly prevalent throughout round but never more than at the finishing holes for both nines. No. 9 on the Sherling and No. 9 on the Canyon share the same wide three-level green. The tee shots of both are impacted by a huge, deep ravine between the fairways (see photo, below). The challenge is especially pronounced on the Sherling. Try to bite off too much yardage and you either lose a ball or take a precarious downhill walk in an effort to find it.

Unfortunately this one spur-of-the-moment round represents my only first-hand knowledge of the Jones Trail courses – at least for now. Believe me, hitting a few of the others on subsequent trips is a must. Golf Magazine has called the Jones Trail the best buy in golf, and I’m not in a position to dispute that.

The pictures shown here are from a February round, when the weather is obviously not ideal. Still, the beauty of shots over water (show here) is evident.

The Jones Trail was conceived by David G. Bronner, chief executive office of Retirement Systems of Alabama. The first Trail course designed by Jones and his design associate, Roger Rulewich, was Oxmoor Valley near Birmingham. The plan was to build eight courses at the roughly the same time. It seemed a dubious possibility then, but obviously the plan worked and the Trail outgrew its original plan.

A few other states have attempted to build trails around the works of famous course architects, the most recent being Indiana with its Pete Dye Golf Trail. None have taken off yet like Alabama’s Jones Trail.

Alabama has 252 courses, but the Jones layouts are special. The Trail consists of 468 holes. Every one of the 27-, 36- or 54-hole facilities have back-to-nature settings and are challenging. Though we’ve steered away from mentioning greens fees in these reports because they’re constantly changing, The Trail Guide declared that “most tee times (are) priced between $46 and $81 year-around.’’

Ross Bridge, in Hoover, is the newest course on the Trail and – according to Tour veterans – the best of the offerings. It hosts the Regions Charity Classic on the Champions Tour.

Magnolia Grove, the southern-most facility on the Trail in Mobile, has 54 holes with two of the 18-holers renovated extensively in the past three years. The northern-most facility on the Trail, Hampton Grove in Huntsville, has 54 holes. So does Brand National, near the Auburn campus; Capitol Hill, in Prattville and Oxmoor Valley.

The Shoals, in Florence, opened in 2004 as the first Trail course to measure more the 8,000 yards. (It’s 8,092 from the black tees).

Silver Lakes, in Anniston, was devastated by a tornado in April 2011. It re-opened five months later with a new look. It has spectacular views of the Appalachian Foothills and its ultra dwarf putting surfaces are – again according to The Trail Guide — “arguably the best on the Trail.’’ No. 7, 8 and 9 on its Heartbreaker nine also may be the Trail’s best finishing stretch.

Anyway, each facility – many of them tied into Marriott or Renaissance resorts – has been positively recognized by various industry publications at one time or another and has its own story to tell. All, I’m sure, are worth telling.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. – It can be confusing.

The PGA of America has its headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, FL., where PGA National and its five courses are located. The PGA doesn’t own that complex, but it does own PGA Village, an hour or so north of PGA National.

PGA Village is much different than National, which underwent a massive renovation of its courses and property in recent years.

At PGA Village there are three public courses – the Wanamaker, Dye and Ryder – plus PGA Country Club, about two miles from the main complex. The Fazio family, so prominent in golf architecture for three generations, has designs at both the National – a swank five-course facility that hosts the PGA Tour’s annual Honda Classic — and the Village.

The Village has at least one thing the National doesn’t – a golf museum – and its Center for Golf Learning and Performance (pictured above) sets it apart from any golf destination in the country, if not the world. This is a 35-acre complex with 100 hitting stations and state-of-the-art training accessories.

Most interesting was the bunker practice area, where players can test themselves in a wide variety of sand compositions (see photo below).

Nothing against PGA National or any of the other upscale destinations we’ve visited, but PGA Village has a comfortable feel to it. It’s for the pure golf diehard, of whatever age group or gender. Its Ryder course, which opened in 1996 and was renovated in 2006, was twice voted among the nation’s top 50 courses for women by Golf For Women magazine.

The Wanamaker layout, which also opened in 1996 and was renovated in 2006, was GolfWeek’s choice as America’s Best Residential Course in 2004. The Fazio name is on both. While the Wanamaker is generally considered the best of the three PGA Village layouts, we preferred the Ryder.

During our stay the Dye layout, a Pete Dye design that opened in 2000 and was renovated in 2007, had encountered some issues with the greens and PGA of America staffers were on hand to correct the problem. Still, that layout’s elaborate bunkering was eye-catching and the course was clearly playable.

Though the Village has been around for roughly two decades (PGA Country Club dates to 1988 – 10 years before the other layouts), it seems a well-kept secret. Even staffers there offered that appraisal. This is a great golf value, even in the heart of Florida’s tourist season.

The clubhouse, not large but warm and friendly, is undergoing an expansion. The pictures on its walls include some classics and – from a Chicago perspective – it was nice to see Illinois Golf Hall of Famers Bill Erfurth and Steve Benson cited prominently on the restaurant walls for their playing accomplishments. Another Chicago club pro legend, the late Bill Ogden, will be inducted into the PGA Golf Hall of Fame at the learning center in March. (This isn’t to be confused with the World Golf Hall of Fame, near Jacksonville. It honors largely touring professionals).

The golf is fun at PGA Village, and the learning facility, museum and six-hole short course set it apart from other golf destinations. Lodging is available on the property, but quality chain hotels are also nearby and one – the Hilton Garden Inn (check) – includes Sam Snead’s Oak Grill & Tavern (below). In addition to good food it has plenty of Snead memorabilia on display.

Also within a couple miles is the Vine & Barley, a unique wine and beer-tasting place that is well worth a visit when golf for the day is done.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL. – The Fazio is the newest course at PGA National Resort & Spa. Playing it was to be the highlight of a four-day stay there, and it was, but for more personal reasons.

This site is designed primarily to be informative about the golf destinations we visit, and this report on PGA National will be, as well – eventually. This time I come first.

In one round on that layout I hit my best iron shot in years and years, holing out a 6-iron from 140 yards on the third hole (Witness celebration photo below). It didn’t spur me on to a good round, though. In fact, the end result was my worst score of the nearly 20 rounds played on this trip, which is now into its eighth week.

And no, for those ready to ask, did the hole out produce an eagle. (My drive, though hit solidly, wound up behind a tree and required a chip-out before the magic arrived – if for just that one big swing).

Not only that, but all I could do was shake my head when the round was over after being outdriven by 30-50 yards on every hole by Gene, my most affable 81-year old playing partner from Connecticut who is 12 years my senior. The golf gods were working overtime on this strange day.

What wasn’t at all strange was The Fazio, a layout designed by the well-respected Tom Fazio II. It opened on Nov. 1, 2012, so not that many golfers have played it yet. Technically, the course isn’t all that new, though.

Originally it was called The Haig, a tribute to the legendary Walter Hagen. The Haig was opened in 1980 as the first course at PGA National, which now has five 18-holers. The Haig was designed by George and Tom Fazio. They are uncles to Tom Fazio II. He modernized the course with new grass, greens and tee boxes, and his finished product marks the first time those three Fazios have worked on the same layout. That makes it something special.

Within Chicago’s golf world George and Tom were the architects for Butler National, the all-male Oak Brook club that hosted the Western Open from 1974-90, and Tom II for Conway Farms, site of September’s BMW Championship.

George and Tom had long been busy at PGA National. They were also the original designers of The Champion Course, which was the site of the 1983 Ryder Cup and the 1987 PGA Championship, won by Larry Nelson. My only previous visit to the resort was to report on that ’87 PGA, one which I remember most for the sultry August heat that somewhat overshadowed the golf played that week. This time the golf was more peaceful, with even some curious cranes (below) roaming the fairways with the golfers.

PGA National underwent some major changes prior to my return, most in the form of a $100 million renovation that included the creation of The Fazio.

The Champion Course underwent a $4 million redesign by Jack Nicklaus’ his design team in 1990 followed by a renovation in 2002. That’s when the Bear Trap – billed as one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf – was born.

I didn’t get to play The Champion Course, as it was being readied for the return of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic. Nor did I play The Estates Course, a Karl Litten design and the only one of the PGA National layouts located off the main resort. It’s about five miles away.

My other golf was played at The Palmer Course, which also has some interesting history. It was an Arnold Palmer signature course when it opened in 1984 as The General. Palmer supervised a total renovation in 2006, which led to the renaming of the layout. It produced the most enjoyable of my three rounds during the stay. The other round was on the Squire, a 1981 Tom Fazio creation that honored Gene Sarazen – the first golfer to win the professional Grand Slam. You have to cope with some blind shots to fully appreciate this course.

The big-money renovation has significantly changed PGA National, for those who might remember it just from its earlier years. For golfers, it now includes Dave Pelz and David Ledbetter teaching academies. All 379 guest rooms received total makeovers in the renovation as did the popular breakfast buffet, then named Citrus Tree Café and now called Palm Terrace.

We stayed on the resort throughout our stay, played fun social golf were three very nice couples (among them Ed and Linda Alberts of Williamsport, Pa., above) and visited most of the dining spots, including the high-end Ironwood Steak & Seafood. Easily our favorite was the iBAR, which put on one of the best Happy Hours we’ve ever experienced.
The resort also has a expansive pool area (right), croquet, tennis and a variety of other attractions. But, appropriately, the best is the golf.