Best golf courses in Michigan for 2024-25

As part of GOLF’s rigorous ratings process for our newly released Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and Top 100 Courses You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in every state.

You can check out the links below to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in Michigan. And if you’re looking to create your own trip in the future, you’d be wise to let GOLF’s new Course Finder tool assist you. Here, you can toggle all of our lists — Top 100 public, best munis, best short courses, best par-3s and more — or filter by price to create the perfect itinerary for your next trip.

GOLF’s other course rankings: Top 100 Courses in the World | Top 100 Courses in the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses in the World

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The best golf courses in Michigan (2024/2025)

SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 Course in the U.S.
Y = Top 100 You Can Play in the U.S.
V = Top 100 Value Course in the U.S.
P = Public/Resort

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.

1. Oakland Hills – South (Bloomfield Hills) [#]

Through the years, Oakland Hills — the famed “monster” that Ben Hogan slayed in the 1951 U.S. Open — became long, narrow and hard, which fit the descriptive of other American championship courses. That was never meant to be the course’s fate — this was Donald Ross’s parkland thought-provoking magnum opus. Happily, all of Ross’s glories, and then some, were brought back in 2020 when Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and team restored Ross’s width and playing angles. The greens were expanded a whopping 35 percent, and the bunkers themselves were restored to their previous immense scale. Fescue grasses blow in the wind and the undulating site, no longer hidden by trees, optimizes parkland golf’s regal offering with some of its greens like the 1st and 14th capable of stealing your breath.

2. Crystal Downs (Frankfort) [#]

Because of its remote location, Crystal Downs was once overlooked but that changed when Tom Doak introduced the course to Ben Crenshaw in the 1980s. A combination of strong breezes off Lake Michigan, thick fescue roughs, undulating terrain and fiendishly contoured greens make this one of the more difficult Top 100 courses relative to its par of 70. Measuring just under 6,600 yards, monster length is not required when you have greens this good.

3. Kingsley Club (Kingsley) [#]

Mike DeVries moved only 30,000 yards of dirt to build this minimalist Michigan masterpiece. From the opening drive at the split-fairway 1st, Kingsley offers golfers an inspiring number of choices, forcing them to think their way around the course. With spectacular par-5s, drivable par-4s and a dazzling variety of greens, Kingsley is a serious player’s paradise. If all those challenges fry your brain, don’t worry — there’s a bottle of Jameson hidden near the 18th tee.

4. Forest Dunes-Loop – Red/Black (Roscommon) [Y, P]

5. Bloomfield Hills (Bloomfield Hills)

6. Orchard Lake (Orchard Lake)

Orchard Lake is possibly the most intact Charles H. Alison in the U.S. as the routing today is almost identical to its original design. This 1926 Alison design began its Keith Foster restoration in 2012. Bold bunkering returned to the surprisingly undulating topography, trees were removed from playing corridors and greens were expanded to original intent. The greens are subtle and at times deceptive, and it has especially strong par-3s. Good variation of design and length in the par-4s and par-5s. Holes 15-17 might be the best stretch in the Detroit area. 

7. Franklin Hills (Franklin)

8. Belvedere (Charlevoix) [P, V, Y]

Thanks to how Golden Age architect William Watson incorporated meandering creeks, dramatic valley walls and gorgeous Michigan rolling landforms into his routing here, the golfer wants for nothing. Watson’s greens — both their contours and their placement — are marvels, many of which don’t require bunkers for window dressing. For instance, the surface at the 6th features a savage false front that consumes nearly one-third of the putting surface. Other bunkerless greens include the 16th and 17th, both of which Watson benched into hillsides. A faint-hearted approach to the 346-yard 16th finds the golfer a dozen-plus feet below the putting surface; same goes for a pull at the 179-yard 17th. Belvedere has attracted a legion of design fans over the years, and for good reason.

9. Meadowbrook (Northville)

10. Arcadia Bluffs – South (Arcadia) [P, Y]

11. CC of Detroit

12. American Dunes [P, V, Y]

13. Arcadia Bluffs – Bluffs (Arcadia) [P, Y]

14. Greywalls at Marquette [P, Y]

15. Forest Dunes – Weiskopf (Roscommon) [P, Y]

16. Point O’Woods (Benton Harbor)

17. Indianwood – Old (Lake Orion)

18. Oakland Hills — North (Bloomfield Hills)

19. Lost Dunes (Bridgman)

20. Barton Hills (Ann Arbor)

21. Detroit GC – North (Detroit)

22. Stoatin Brae (Augusta) [P, V, Y]

Heathland is a broad, open expanse of heath. Replace heath with native grasses and you have Stoatin Brae in south-central Michigan. The uphill drive off the highway to the clubhouse gives nothing away about what you’re about to experience. Much of the front nine traverses a plain, and then, starting at 10, the land goes crazy — a topsy-turvy six-hole stretch that you won’t soon forget. It is one of the best stretches on this entire list, even though a lot of people don’t know about it. Other standout holes include the short par-4 8th and the one-shot 17th to a knob green. The green fee of well under $100 belies what is a first-rate design and playing experience.

23. Detroit GC — South (Detroit)

24. Bay Harbor [P]

25. True North

How we rank our courses

For our newly released Top 100 U.S. and Top 100 You Can Play lists — a process that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — each panelist was provided a ballot that consisted of 609 courses. Beside the list of courses were 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists considered a course to be among the top three in the U.S., they ticked that first column. If they believed the course to be among Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50, and so on out to 250+ and even a column for “remove.” Panelists were also free to write in courses that they felt should have been included on the ballot.

Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its aggregate score by the number of votes. From those point tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly. It is an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it historically has produced results that are widely lauded. Like the game itself, there’s no need to unnecessarily complicate things or try to fix something that already works so well.

The key to the process is the experience and expertise of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all the worldwide golf meccas, each of our 127 handpicked panelists has a keen eye for architecture, both regionally and globally. Many of our panelists have played more than 1,000 courses in 20-plus countries, some over 2,000. Their handicaps range from +5 to 15.

Because the nature of course rating is so intensely subjective, no one opinion carries the day. The only way, then, to build meaningful consensus is to incorporate this diversity of panelists and experiences into one ranking.

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