Michigan is a rather unique land mass which occupies two separate peninsulas on the Great Lakes connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The UP borders Lake Superior on the north and on the south by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron while the Lower Peninsula sits between Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and anchored by Indiana and Ohio. Its genetic, automotive history has created the industrial-based population centers from Detroit to the Tri-Cities to Lansing with Grand Rapids possessing a broad economic base all of which have an enormous bounty of golf courses.

Golf in Michigan is big business with over 650 public golf courses spread through the LP and UP so this guide and map to finding the best public golf courses is even more useful. Every golf course architect worth his salt from Alex Smith in 1898 to Alister MacKenzie and Donald Ross and on to Tom Doak has designed a golf course in the state. Most of the best public golf courses in this guide in Michigan are associated with the various resort areas around the state and include, Forest Dunes. Boyne Golf Resort, Arcadia Bluffs, Greywalls, Tullymore, Bay Harbor, Gull Lakeview Resort, and the Treetops Golf Resort to name a few, but this map and guide to the best public golf courses in Michigan will find them all.