Michigan's Upper Peninsula

The Setup

Settled by trappers and loggers, Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a region of vast beauty, a mature wilderness with tall pines and hardwoods, three Great Lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron, 1,700 miles of shoreline, inland lakes, and 12,000 miles rivers.

A world unto itself, UP just 384 miles from east to west; 233 miles north to south, looks like it should belong to Wisconsin: it's only connected to Michigan by a thin thread, the Mackinac Bridge (Rt. 75) to the east.

Popular with those who love to kayak, fish, boat, and , the "UP" makes a perfect canvas for sweeping golf courses framed by tall trees and hills. Good reason why there are more than 50 golf courses in the region, no- slouch, muscular tracks with their own personalities and challenges.

So the next time someone calls you a "Yooper" smile. This makes you an official member of the fortunate folks who call Michigan's Upper Peninsula ("UP") home.

Top Tracks

Sweetgrass Golf Club
An amenity of the Island Resort & Casino, Sweetgrass Golf Club was designed by Paul Albanese. With 40 acres of fairways, you'll find generous landing areas along with well maintained bent grass tees, greens and fairways. There are no houses to jar the sense of being close to nature in this land of water, wetlands and trees and thanks to sensible routing, this is a quite walkable track.

Five historic one lane bridges rescued from the region, transport you over the wetlands and Native American lore is woven into the fabric of the landscape.

For example you get off to an easy start on hole #1 named "Cedar" recalling one of the medications used by Native Americans. "Gold's Kettle," hole #2 is named after the kettle used by the natives when they made maple syrup; and the long tiered green on "Wolf," hole #3, is protected by mounds and bunkers respecting the protective and defensive nature of the wolf.

Hole #6, "Deer," features a long bunker shaped like a deer while the greenside bunker on "Zoie," hole #8 is shaped in the formed of a "Z" honoring the lady who willed a lot of money to the tribe.

Each hole is solid and with five tees, playable for all levels. Getting mixed reviews are holes #9 and #18. Both par 5s, they wrap around a three-tiered pond and share a humungous green. It helps greatly to have played it before to know where to put your second shot to avoid bunkers and water on your next shot to the green. Sweet.

Named #20 on Golfweek's 2009 "Best Courses you can Play," Sweetgrass lives up to its reputation. After playing it once, you will want to play it again.

5 Tees
7,275 - 5,075 yards
75.2/143 - 69.0/123

W399 Hwy.2 & 41, Harris, MI 49845
800-682-6040
www.islandresortandcasino.com

TimberStone at Pine Mountain
Timberstone is aptly named with huge stands of tall pines and a hilly terrain. Opened in 1996 and designed by Jerry Matthews, the course tests your putting skills with many severe greens and rock and roll surfaces like on hole #3.

As you play, you'll be challenged by risk and reward holes. For example #5, a par 5 playing 440 yards, is one of the course's most memorable trick or treats. It takes two long shots to reach the green but even big boomers tend to lay up with their second shot rather than risk carrying the tongue of water that crosses most of the left front of the green while there is a bunker on the right.

According to the director of golf, you have a 10% chance of carrying the water. The good news is once you hit the green the surface funnels to the center so you have a shot at a one-putt. Here it's better to have a conservative game plan with an aggressive swing then to have an aggressive game plan with a conservative swing.

Though the first nine tends to be less hilly, after hole #10 the course starts to get more intricate as you slowly wind your way up the mountain. There's a lot of wildlife up there including deer and an occasional rogue fox along with knockout views.

Catch the blue of Lake Superior from the elevated tee on hole #11 then when you reach the 17th hole, enjoy a spectacular view from this downhill par 3, a 215 yard test with the Menamamee River in the distance. Rizzo advises using two clubs less to allow for the elevation drop.

Refusing to go out on a whimper, hole #18 is a whopper, a par 5 625 yard hole where three big hits are required to reach the green. And yes, you'll hear the sound of wood a lot around these parts and errant shots miss the fairways.

4 Tees
6,937 - 5,060 yards
75.0/148 - 71.9/134 (front two tees rated for women)

906-776-0111
877-553-7463
N3332 Pine Mountain Rd., Iron Mountain, MI 49801
906-776-0111
www.pinemountainresort.com

Greywalls Golf Course
From the time you stand up on the elevated first tee of Greywalls Golf Course at Marquette Golf Club (the other course is Heritage) in Marquette, you get a taste of the rugged, wild ride to come .

For starters you're facing a carry over a snarly ravine to the mounded hilltop. Then if you land on top and don't go too far right where you'll likely find yourself in serious jail, you probably won't enjoy a level lie andywhere on this par 5, 579 yard slug. But then that's just a taste of what's to come.

Greywalls was designed by Mike DeVries who if he had a diabolical bone in his body, had to relish carving a track out of this scary land of ravines, rock faces and steep hillsides. The 6,828 yard course opened to high praise in 2005, at least from those who despise ho hum. Actually, the only wimpy hole on this track is #18, which seems almost silly after all the drama. There are no bunkers, no rocks. Just a large slightly mounded green sitting flat on the land like a giant pancake.

Views of Lake Superior are about the only soothing aspects of this course of tumbling fairways, bold moguls, terrifying elevations and deep bunkers which actually take on an aspect of happy when you consider the alternative of an errant shot. Good course management and smart club selection is definitely a top priority when playing this layout.

Big hitters have got to love holes like #7, a 489 yard par 4 where you are dared to drive over the cliff that juts into the center of the fairway. It's 315 yards to carry from the tips so you just might want to move up a tee.

And hole #15, a long par 3 at 240 yards (129 from front) require a perfect carry across the ravine. Stray right and your ball could hit the rock faces and bound off anywhere. Usually no where good.

On second thought, after all that concentration to stay alive, perhaps ending gently with the straight forward hole #18 is a good idea allowing you to coast in and head to the attractive clubhouse for a brew or two.

5 Tees
6,828 - 4,631 yards
73.0/144 - 67.0/121
1075 Grove St., Marquette, MI 49855
866-678-7171
www.marquettegolfclub.com

Green fees: $75 to $125 Nonmember)
exhilarating ride

Also play Marquette Golf Club's less scary track: Heritage Course, a parkland layout designed by William Langford and David Gill.

Lodging

Owned by the Hannahville Indian Community, The Island Resort and Casino near Escanaba, offers good packages with all three courses. And you can burn the candle at both ends with more than 400,000 square feet in gaming, six restaurants, a bar entertainment, pool and a new 11-story Tower Hotel with 275 rooms. There's even a Bingo Hall with a history dating back to 1981. W399 Hwy. 2 &41, Harris, MI 49845; 800-682-6040; www.islandresortandcasino.com

In Marquette you'll find all the major hotel chains including a Holiday Inn on U.S. 41 close to Marquette Golf Club. Holidayinn.com

The Pine Mountain Resort, opened in 1926 by Fred Pabst of Pabst Blue Ribbon, has 36 lodge rooms and 14 slope-side condo units. Pinemountainresort.com

Some prefer to start or end their golf trip in Marquette where the Landmark Inn offers historic digs in a 62-room restored boutique hotel. Thelandmarkinn.com

Local Flavors

Hearty meat pies, interesting sausages, fresh fish from the Bays de Noc and much regional produce are typically served in this region.

Escanaba
Evoking the Upper Peninsula's European roots, The Swedish Pantry serves authentic Swedish food like Twist Bread and potato sausage in a place where everything - even the bathroom décor - is for sale.

Also try pasties from Dobbers Pasties. Made with beef, potato, onion, rutabaga and carrots wrapped in pastry, it's the original fast food of the miners and lumberjacks. And fresh fish is on the menu everywhere on Friday, especially wall eye, whitefish and perch right from the Bays while chocolates and hand-cranked ice cream are the hot sweet-tooth items from Sayklly's.

At Herford and Hops Brewpub, hand-crafted beers are served in a cool historic building and you can grill your own steak over an inside charcoal grill. Wine lovers can try the Three Fold Winery.

At Island Resort & Casino dine at FireKeepers and Beachcomber Restaurant.

Off-Course

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is one of great natural beauty and rugged terrain splashed with lakes and streams. Hiking and biking are big here and there are many marked trails and paths like the Escanaba Pathway in Delta County. Fishing and hunting are also popular. Deltami.org

Snowmen

Courses are closed in the winter

Getting There

Fly into Detroit or Green Bay then connect to Marquette Sawyer International Airport in the North Central UP or Escanaba in the central region.

Best Time To Go

For best weather: summer; For best values: spring and fall.

Birdies

Super values on top-ranked courses, especially spring and fall.

For More Information

Marquette County

UPTravel.com - Upper Peninsula Travel & Recreation Association;

Exploringthenorth.com