Forest Dunes Trip Report - June 9th

[BG5]

My buddy and I pulled a day trip to Forest Dunes and had a blast. It rained the night before and was raining prior to our round but we teed off at 9:30 and the rain stopped so we had a great day.

 

The course was in amazing shape as it always is. We paid $115 for the early season rate and it was worth every penny. The fairways were perfect and firm so it felt like you were hitting off a mat. The course was very green and there were no places on the course that looked bad. Trees are full of leaves and the place was outstanding. Greens were quick once they dried from the rain but I noticed any uphill put was pretty slow compared to the past. Downhill putts were crazy fast so take time reading putts. I’ve playef Forest Dunes the last two Years in August so I was expecting faster greens but it rained and it’s also June 10 so that was to be expected. By no means were they slow. The greens were by far the best I’ve played all year and they easily beat Bay Harbor, Little Traverse Bay and Boyne.

 

All in all prob the best track in Michigan. I know I’m such a homer and last week I was telling Bay Harbor was the best but you cannot go wrong with a round at Forest Dunes.

 

Pace of play was ok. We finished in 4 hours 15 mins but waited a lot on back 9. Not complaining and rangers were out and about apologizing so I have no problems. The staff is outstanding. Saw a crew of 8 guys going hole to hole raking bunkers, rolling greens and making that place looking great. Prob had 5 servers on staff and we saw the beer cart girl often. Pro was cruising around course so the entire staff gets an A+. The know how to make you feel welcome. Everyone was smiling and you could tell they were well trained.

 

As OW mentioned the course is not flat. It’s not huge but this was the first time I payed attention to elevation so keep that in mind. Def not a flat course.

 

Give this course another week or two and it will prob be perfect. Tried to get my buddy to play 36 but he was tapped and did not want to walk the Loop. From the road the Loop looked like it had grown in well in spring.

 

My only complaint was the Nate that hovered around my head. My buddy brought off and that worked fine but bring bug spray. I wore shorts and Golf shirt and had no bites anywhere. Nate stayed away from arms and legs but loved the head area unless you used spray. Not a huge issue because we had spray but plan accordingly. Black flies where not out and it might be better to wear pants in summer months.

 

Sooooo.... since my buddy would not play Loop I’m playing it in morning as long as I can get my butt out of bed. The Loops seemed pretty dead. Looks like a great course but the walking is something most guys don’t want to do. I think the Loop costs far less to maintain so I’m sure they will do fine. The Forest Dunes course was packed and it appears all the condos and lodging was full.

 

Great Job Forest Dunes - A+ experience and I’ll be back because you provide a great product with great service!

 

I’ll post tomorrow about the Loop as long as I play.

[kgeisler13]

I am possibly playing Arcadia Bluffs, Forest Dunes, and the Loop in a couple weeks. Thanks for the heads up on the bugs. I'll definitely remember to bring bug spray.