ROSCOMMON, MI – In the midst of its most successful season ever, the Forest Dunes Golf Club received a huge pat-on-the back from Golf magazine.
In its latest ranking of the Top 100 public courses in the United States, the magazine’s raters jumped Forest Dunes 12 spots upward, from 45th to 33rd on its prestigious list of the best courses to play.
“To move up 12 spots is really impressive. No one else has made that kind of jump and that’s something we are really proud of,” said Todd Campbell, the club’s general manager. “We are really excited about the rating. It shows the hard work the staff has put in, and it also reflects the hard work and dedication of our superintendent, Jim Bluck and his staff.”
The move up to 33rd on the magazine’s listing is even more impressive considering Forest Dunes debuted in the magazine at 45th a year ago.
Campbell said the high ranking for Forest Dunes is also an affirmation of the commitment of the new ownership has made in keeping up or surpassing the high standards of conditioning on which Forest Dunes made its reputation as one of the state’s most decorated award winning designs.
“It is not easy to make a course look that naturally perfect day after day for a whole season,” he said in a compliment to Bluck and his crew.
The 7,141-yard course opened in 2002 and was designed by former British Open winner Tom Weiskopf who has said that Forest Dunes is in the top three of US designs of his impressive body of world-class designs.
With five sets of tees the fairways are cut through and around acres of gleaming natural sand that adds a unique look to an inland course in a densely forested area.
The club features a large practice facility, and a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse reminiscent of a great Adirondack lodge.
Last year the club was purchased by an investment group led by Lew Thompson, a trucking company magnate from Huntsville, Ark. Thompson is also the managing member of a partnership that owns and operates The Bridges Golf & Country Club with a Jack Nicklaus course in Montrose, on Colorado’s Western Slope, halfway between Grand Junction and Telluride.
Construction on a lodge for stay-and-play guests is expected to begin soon.
Among Forest Dunes’ numerous previous awards, readers of Golf World magazine selected it as the top public course in the country. It is also ranked No. 20 on Golf Digest magazine’s list of the 100 greatest public courses in America. It is a perennial choice on Golf Week’s list of their top 100 modern courses in the country.
For more information, visit www.forestdunesgolf.com.