Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
The Loop: Black Course at Forest Dunes
Roscommon, MI•Public
Awards
Panelists Score
The Loop: Black Course at Forest Dunes
6376 Forest Dunes Dr
Roscommon, MI 48653-9073
United States
Telephone
Overview
The idea of a reversible golf course is as old as the Old Course at St. Andrews, and golf architect Joel Goldstrand built a series of nine-hole reversible courses for small clubs in Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota back in the 1980s. But give Tom Doak credit for convincing a client to take a chance on an 18-hole reversible layout. “The goal is to have two very different courses over the same piece of ground, so people will want to stay over to play it both ways and compare and contrast the two,” says Doak. For our 2016 Best New competition, Doak wanted the entire 36 holes considered as one entry. We allowed that, and it won. For subsequent rankings, we’ve separated the two into conventional 18-hole candidates. The Black Course is the clockwise routing, slightly shorter and ranked slightly higher than its reverse image Red Course.
About
Golf Digest Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 Greatest / Best In State Scores
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Enjoyable golf course with a lot of areas to approach the greens."
Read More2025
Review
“Very Unique and well done. You don't feel like you are playing any of the holes "backwards". Doak's greens are severe but that is one of the reasons it is so much fun. This is what firm and fast should look like !"
Read More2025
Review
“An ingenious design by Tom Doak has provided a reversable golf course at the Forest Dunes Resort, with The Loop's Black Course being the clockwise routing. Incredibly firm and fast turf conditions make you think you are playing an inland links. Feels like a stronger and more natural routing than the Red but there is still an awkward spot between the 14th green and 15th tee - I believe this was originally supposed to be a par four but was turned into a par three, meaning a bit of a weird walk between the holes. Regardless, a wonderful and incredibly unique addition to a fantastic property."
Read More2025
Review
“A masterpiece in engineering. The Black Course (the clockwise loop) and its almost mirror-image twin the Red Course are unlike typical Midwestern golf course. Very Bandon-like, with firm and fast conditions on both the fairways and greens, and many opportunities to play the ground game (low running shots into greens). Some of the greens can be a little over top, depending on the angle you are approaching them. Generally wide corridors, quite a bit of wavy movement, and more than a few shots with enough distraction to be deceptive on the distance for the shot. In all, a fun and quite challenging course. The 469 yard starting par four will grab your attention right away."
Read More2025
Review
“The Loop at Forest Dunes is an amazing and unique layout born out of an incredible idea to have a reversible golf course with two routings in one. The turf is firm here and the run-offs are severe, which makes shotmaking and near-misses very difficult for those unable to make very crisp contact. The greensites are wonderfully dynamic, and worth special study. To me the Black course is slightly inferior to its counterpart, but these are next-level golf courses that everyone should see."
Read More2023
Review
“Unique reversible layout but not as well done as Silvies Ranch. With only 18 green there are several in each direction where shots come into severely slooping greens from front to back. Really hard to keep balls on the green. Lots of chipping from behind the greens on both loops. Nice idea and tough to pull off but fun to play once or twice. Expect the second time may be easier. The uniqueness attracts lots of guests! I liked to Black routing a little better than the Red."
Read More2023
Review
“A design concept that must be seen to believed: a reversible 18 hole routing (just like the Old Course used to be). You play it one day clockwise, and the next day counterclockwise, to the same greens (which you might not recognize). Absolutely a must-play in Michigan. Come for the uniqueness, enjoy if for its firm and fast condition and solid architectural concepts. It is highly playable as well, because it allows (in fact, encourages, extensive use of the ground game)."
Read More2022
Review
“The Loop is an architectural marvel with the ability to reverse the course from one day to the next—and to have it mostly be unrecognizable from the opposite direction. The course plays FAST as the greens and fairways are very dry and it's often hard to hold the greens with even a wedge in hand. That said, the flipside is long drives and easy to roll up to some greens. Lower handicaps could get frustrated with their good shots landing on, and then rolling off countless greens."
Read More2022
Review
“One of the most fascinating courses I've ever played. The design is incredible from both directions is amazing, the variety of holes, and how the greens work from each direction is just incredible. I found the holes to be full of strategy, but also quite subtle. The strength of the course is the lack of weakness. My only difficulty/downfall is that I found it slightly difficult to separate the two courses rather than one individual course with 36 holes. I did find the Black slightly more enjoyable than the Red, but that could have been because of the flow of the course."
Read More2021
Review
“The reversible track by Tom Doak is a better layout with more options and better holes than the Red layout. The green complexes were the same with some great undulation and some extreme and borderline unplayable depending upon where the pin position is. The holes had more character with this layout and it was slightly more challenging."
Read More2021
