SATURDAY
You could build a self-contained golf trip just from the menu of choices at the three Boyne resorts, but the 27-hole Bay Harbor complex near Petoskey (a twisty, 90-minute, don't-do-it-at-night drive from Traverse City) is the jewel, and not just for the golf. The wide-open Links and industrial age Quarry are the must-play nines, but the rooms and food at the imposing lakeside Inn almost make it OK to get rained out.
From Bay Harbor, it's a 40-minute jaunt to I-75, the state's north-south Interstate spine, and the route back to Detroit. We didn't have time for a full 18 at one of Treetops Resort's four championship layouts, but the bite-size Threetops is a perfect 1,400-yard appetizer. Fred Couples won $200,000 in the 2006 Par-3 Shootout by making birdie from four feet on No. 9. I missed the green, made bogey and lost $10.
SUNDAY
It's a good thing the Detroit Carpenter's Union rescued Forest Dunes from bankruptcy in 2003. Not only is the wild Tom Weiskopf design Michigan's version of Pine Valley, but in the clubhouse you can see what checking every box on the finish carpentry order form gets you. Even the crown moldings have crown moldings.
Waste bunkers and water frame the 18th at Forest Dunes.
Photo By Stephen Szurlej
Forest Dunes' fescue-strafed finishing holes make for the perfect weekend bet-settler. I lost our junior-varsity version of the Ryder Cup again by three-putting both 17 (after driving the green from 302 yards) and 18 (after my buddy saved par from the water hazard shown in the photo above).
Luckily, we weren't playing for pink slips. The Ford people probably wouldn't have been so cheerful had I brought back my friend's Pontiac G6 instead.
TEE TIMES
1. Tullymore G.C. (**** 1/2)
Stanwood, stivesgolf.com, 800-972-4837, $100-$125.
2. Arcadia Bluffs G.C. (*****)
Arcadia, arcadiabluffs.com, 800-494-8666, $180.
3. Bay Harbor G.C. (**** 1/2)
Bay Harbor, bayharborgolf.com, 800-462-6963, $129-$199.
4. Threetops (not rated)
Gaylord, treetops.com, 888-873-3867, $55.
5. Forest Dunes G.C. (not yet rated)
Roscommon, forestdunesgolf.com, 866-386-3764, $125-$150.
SHELBY GT500
MSRP $41,930 (base), $47,955 (as tested).
SEATS Four (sort of).
TRUNK SPACE Room for two golf bags.
ENGINE 500-horsepower, 5.4-liter supercharged V8.
OPTIONS Sirius satellite radio ($195), navigation system ($1,995), high-intensity headlights ($525).
THE GOOD Most power for the price. Faster than you?ll ever need to go. Giant brakes can stop time.
THE BAD Same interior as the $30K Mustang GT. Cranky in stop-and-go traffic. Low chin spoiler makes parking an adventure.
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