The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort is a Jack Nicklaus signature design featuring Scottish terraced fairways, tiered greens, deep grassy roughs, moguls and mounds, and deep pot bunkers. With rolling land, trees, lakes, streams, fruit orchards, and a variety of wildlife, The Bear features a mixture of different elements golfers rarely see on one course. This is northern Michigan golf at its finest. The Bear routinely shows up on rankings of the hardest courses in America. I can see where the rankings are coming from as the course is treacherous target golf, but I also think it is a fair course when you get down to it.

Next on the docket at Grand Traverse is Gary Player’s first signature course in the state of Michigan called The Wolverine. The Wolverine Course was designed to take full advantage of the Resort’s richly diverse environment. The front nine is constructed on lowland terrain with water and wetlands, and existing wetlands were enhanced to interweave with several holes on the front. The back nine is constructed on highland terrain with hardwoods, rolling hills, and views of East Grand Traverse Bay.

More forgiving than The Bear, Spruce Run is the third course on property and is a more forgiving layout. The course winds among rolling hills that surround the Hotel and overlook Grand Traverse Bay.