Arcadia Bluffs House

[buu]

In the early stages of planning a trip to Arcadia Bluffs next summer.  Can you advise which airport to fly into and what town/towns are best to rent an AirBnB in for a buddies trip of 8.  We plan on playing each course twice unless you have other recs.  Thanks!

[postfold]

Where are you coming from?  That may factor in.  Airport-wise Manistee is closest but is tiny.  Traverse City isn't too far away and is bigger.  Grand Rapids (GRR) is bigger yet but is 2.5 hours away -- but it does give you the option of playing Pilgrim's Run on the way.

 

Planning on playing anywhere else?  Looking for nightlife or pure golf?

[buu]

Thanks for the response.  We’d be coming from all over, NJ, California, Vegas, Florida and the Carolina’s.  We’re more there for the golf but a bit of night life would be great.  Mainly looking for some good restaurants and a place to grab a few drinks or if there’s a casino to gamble a bit.

[Fellaheen51]

Commercial air service into Manistee Blacker (MBL) is only through O'Hare (ORD).  More flight options into Traverse city (TVC).  Coming from such diverse locales, what are the logistics of the rendezvous with the buds?  Ease of arranging transportation (rental vehicles?) may be a consideration.  

 

Not up on AirBnB's.  Know there are some in Frankfort.  Likely Manistee and certainly Traverse City.  Desirable rentals in the summer get booked well in advance.   

 

TC is 1 hour from Arcadia (~50 miles).  Hands down, offers significantly more food, drink and nightlife options than anywhere else in that area.   But gets touristy (i.e. crowded) in the summer.  The Turtle Creek Casino is ~5 miles from downtown TC.  Manistee and Frankfort have more limited dining options, and zero nightlife.  There's the Little River Casino a few miles out of Manistee, about 20 minutes from AB.  We go there with some frequency and it's quite nice.  To the point of being a lodging option alternative to AirBnB.  But it is a hotel.  Crystal Mountain Resort (Thompsonville) is very nice, have condo rentals, two decent on-site golf courses, and reasonable proximity to AB.  But still a drive for dining beyond what's available at the resort.  Beulah/Frankfort being the closest.

 

4x at AB, 36 per day?  (IMHO and not wanting to deter you.  The south course is only worth playing once.)  Keeping in mind that AB is in BFE.  There's absolutely nothing else there other than the courses and facilities.  Have a beverage on the veranda while listening to the bagpiper at dusk is a must.  Any other golf considerations other than Arcadia?  Nice courses spread throughout the region, although not of AB stature.  Suppose you need to prioritize your non-golf considerations versus how far you're willing to commute daily.  The one hour back and forth from TC to AB might get old.  

 

FWIW.  

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Fellaheen51

[Wbarksda]

We are doing the same for next fall and here is what I have come up with:

 

I am also looking at this trip for Sept 24. I just can't figure out the best route to take coming from Nashville.

We have the option to fly into Traverse City or Manistee County Blocker, both with a stop at ORD. We go every year from Wed-Sun.

My thoughts:

Fly into Manistee or Traverse City on Wednesday, drive to Arcadia and play 36 on Thursday.

Drive to Forest Dunes on Friday morning, play 18 in the afternoon.

Play what ever we didn't play at Forest Dunes on Saturday.

Fly out of Traverse City or Manistee on Sunday

[Chanceman]

When do bookings open for tee times for September 2024?

[buu]

Thanks so much Fella!  We’ll most likely do 2 rental cars and meet at the airport.  Seems like we’ll all be flying into TC.  Well 4 rounds in total.  Definitely two at the bluffs, one at the south course and if we can get on try for Kingsley.  Open to any other recs.  Thanks again!

[1puttTUT]

Champion Hill is a good cheap option if you don't mind significantly slower greens.

 

We've done a multi-family rental for a week in July a few different years in Onekama, which is 15 min away, and played one round on AB and one round on CH, but like others have said rentals fill up fast and most require a full week rental during the summer. 

 

We've also stayed at Arcadia in the condos near holes 2/3 and they're pretty awesome but also book up quickly.

[575M]

20 hours ago, 1puttTUT said:

Champion Hill is a good cheap option if you don't mind significantly slower greens.

 

We've done a multi-family rental for a week in July a few different years in Onekama, which is 15 min away, and played one round on AB and one round on CH, but like others have said rentals fill up fast and most require a full week rental during the summer. 

 

We've also stayed at Arcadia in the condos near holes 2/3 and they're pretty awesome but also book up quickly.

Arcadia Bluffs worth the trip though I've never played the South course.  Champion Hill is definitely cheap but personally I wouldn't call it good.  Only played it once (suggestion on this board) roughly two months ago and would never play again.  Hardly worth playing given your efforts to get into the area.  I enjoy both Crystal Downs and Kingsley.  Downs is member accompanied only.  At Kingsley, we heard unaccompanied was running $500 per player if you can access.  Forrest Dunes is quite good but probably a 2 hour ride each way from Bluffs.  If you stay in TC then maybe 1.5 hours each way?

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.  

[ruascott]

Everything in that area is very spread out,  so expect some significant driving.  But it's easy drives (no traffic). Our trip included two rounds at both the Arcadia courses and then Forest Dunes/ The Loop. FD also had a fun 10 hole par 3 course. 

 

We had a large AirBnb house somewhere in the middle. Pickings for houses large enough for 8 are slim,  but they are out there.

[1puttTUT]

On 9/10/2023 at 2:59 PM, 575M said:

Arcadia Bluffs worth the trip though I've never played the South course.  Champion Hill is definitely cheap but personally I wouldn't call it good.  Only played it once (suggestion on this board) roughly two months ago and would never play again.  Hardly worth playing given your efforts to get into the area.  I enjoy both Crystal Downs and Kingsley.  Downs is member accompanied only.  At Kingsley, we heard unaccompanied was running $500 per player if you can access.  Forrest Dunes is quite good but probably a 2 hour ride each way from Bluffs.  If you stay in TC then maybe 1.5 hours each way?

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.  

 

Well it is tough to compare a $50 course to a $500 course 

[El Gringo]

On 9/11/2023 at 8:31 PM, 1puttTUT said:

 

Well it is tough to compare a $50 course to a $500 course 

There isn't much point in trying to compare. To me, Champion Hill is a good trip filler course for guys looking to keep a reasonable budget or logistics on track. On trips I routinely choose a course or two which are cheap and cheerful. Sometimes they are a star of the show, especially if there are one or two really unusual holes. My favourite course was a trip filler.