Arcadia Bluffs: Three Golf Courses, One Bucket List Destination on Lake Michigan

Some places earn their reputation slowly. Arcadia Bluffs earned its the hard way, by being so good that golfers started making the four-hour drive from Detroit and the six-hour haul from Chicago just to play eighteen holes on a windswept bluff. Then they came back and did it again. Then ownership built a second course. Then a third. And the place that used to be a one-and-done pilgrimage is now a legitimate three-course resort that belongs on every serious golf trip list.

If you have not been, you are behind. Here is what you need to know.

The Bluffs Course: The One That Started It

The original course opened in 1999, designed by Warren Henderson and Rick Smith on 245 acres above Lake Michigan. The Bluffs sits 180 feet above the water with 3,100 feet of lake frontage, and from sixteen of the eighteen holes you can see the lake. That is not a typo. Sixteen. Most coastal courses give you a glimpse of water on a few holes and call it a day. The Bluffs makes the lake your constant companion, which means it also makes the wind your constant problem.

This is the course that landed Arcadia Bluffs on every "must play in America" list. Golfweek has it ranked the number one public course in Michigan, ahead of Greywalls and the Forest Dunes properties. Golf Digest has put it inside the top 20 of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses. It finished second to Pacific Dunes in the 2001 Best New Upscale Public race, which is a hell of a calling card.

The course is an ode to Scottish and Irish links, and unlike Whistling Straits across the lake in Wisconsin, the dunes here are real. They were already there. Henderson and Smith just had the good sense not to ruin them. You will hit shots that remind you of Lahinch and Ballybunion, and on a three-club wind day, you will mutter the same swear words you muttered in County Clare.

A few holes to circle on the card. The par-5 11th plays 633 yards downhill toward the lake, and the view from the tee is the kind of thing you want as a screensaver. The par-4 12th runs along the cliff top and you can feel the drop on every shot. The par-3 13th is the postcard hole. The par-3 17th sits up on a shelf green into the prevailing wind with almost no margin for error, and if you walk off with a par you have earned the right to talk about it at the bar for the rest of the night.

The South Course: The One With the Identity Crisis

This is where I have a quibble with the marketing department. The South Course is called the South Course because it is roughly a mile south of the main property. Fine. Geographically accurate. But this course has nothing to do with the original Bluffs other than the parking lot they share in spirit. It is a completely different animal, and they could have called it the Arcadia Links and nobody would have blinked.

Here is the story. Owner Rich Postma loves Chicago Golf Club. Chicago Golf is a private C.B. Macdonald design from 1893, revised by Seth Raynor in the 1920s, and it is one of the most exclusive layouts in America. Postma wanted to build something inspired by it, brought in Dana Fry and Jason Straka, and they delivered a 311-acre tribute to Golden Age architecture that opened in 2018.

Walking onto the first tee feels like walking back in time. Square tee boxes. Square greens, sometimes with right-angle corners that no greenskeeper would dare cut a hole near, which is exactly why Fry built them. Flat-bottomed ribbon bunkers with high sod faces that cut across fairways and force you to think. Wide landing areas, 50 to 70 yards across in spots, that look forgiving until you realize the greens average 9,400 square feet and play like jigsaw puzzles with three or four distinct sections you have to land on or pay for.

There are no template holes per se. Fry studied Chicago Golf and decided he did not want to copy. But the influence is everywhere. The par-3 12th is essentially a Lion's Mouth green, a horseshoe wrapping around a single front bunker. The par-4 13th has a green that combines a Punchbowl and Biarritz that you will not see anywhere else in Michigan. The uphill par-3 5th is a 200-yard demon with a false front that rejects timid shots and a fall-off left that rejects bold ones. Pick your poison.

Golfweek ranks the South Course number five among public courses in Michigan, which puts the resort in the rare position of owning the number one and number five public tracks in the state. Not bad for a single zip code.

The Dozen: The Newest Addition

In July 2025, Arcadia Bluffs opened The Dozen, a 12-hole course on a 160-acre parcel about a mile and a half from the main property. Twelve holes, two six-hole loops called the North and the South, three par 3s and three par 4s per loop, 3,063 yards from the tips, par 42.

If twelve holes sounds gimmicky, get over it. The Dozen is built to be a real golf experience in a compressed format. Walker-friendly routing. Generous fairways. Large greens with subtle contours. Smart bunker placement. It is the kind of course where you can knock out a quick six holes before dinner, play all twelve as your second round of the day, or use it as a warmup for the big swings at the Bluffs.

The clubhouse is called The Porch, which doubles as a casual dining spot with panoramic views over the entire property. The food is built for golfers, which means burgers and sandwiches that taste better after eighteen holes than they would anywhere else.

Where to Stay

You have four real options on property. The Lodge sits on the second floor of the main Nantucket-style clubhouse and has 15 king rooms plus a suite, with most rooms facing west over Lake Michigan. The Bluffs Lodge is steps away with 21 rooms featuring two queens each and a fitness center, which makes it the right call for buddy trips when you need more bed space.

The Cottages at the Bluffs are along the second hole. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, 1,900 square feet, gated, with a great room, gas fireplace, wet bar, and a covered patio with Adirondacks overlooking the lake. Sleeps eight. This is the move for a foursome that wants room to spread out and a porch worth sitting on.

The Cottages at the Dozen opened in 2025 and offer the same setup, just situated along the North Loop's 12th hole. A complimentary shuttle runs between all three properties, so you do not need to drive once you arrive.

The Verdict

Arcadia Bluffs has quietly built itself into one of the most complete golf destinations in the Midwest. The Bluffs Course alone is worth the drive. Adding the South Course made it a 36-hole stay-and-play. Adding the Dozen made it a place where you can play 42 holes in a day without leaving the property and still have time for a bourbon on the patio while the sun drops into Lake Michigan.

Bring the buddies. Take a caddie at least once. And book early. Word is out.