Courses

The Bear's name is a tribute to its designer, Jack Nicklaus, whose trademark blonde hair earned him the nickname “the Golden Bear.” Born in 1940, Jack Nicklaus is a legend both as a player and a course designer. His competitive career spanned five decades, including 18 professional major championship titles. He is the only player in history to have won each of the game's majors at least three times, and is the only player to have completed the career “Grand Slam” on both the regular and senior tours.

Nicklaus' signature design features 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.

Tom Doak has created a reincarnated and reimagined edition of his first solo design. A place where he shaped all eighteen greens himself and has said of his work, "It's Pacific Dunes without the Ocean." 

Golf Club Atlas' Ran Morrissett has said of the original holes 10-15, “to this day, perhaps one of the best 6-hole stretches of golf Tom has ever built." And the 13th green has been called, “The single best green built in America in the past sixty years.” These acclaimed holes have all been restored.

The new land, in shape and composition, is contiguous to and much like the superb original backside. Nestled against state forestland on two sides, the sandy soil and the gentle tumble of the land are perfect for great golf. 

Built on 240 acres that was a mix of apple and cherry orchards and densely wooded sections, construction of Arcadia Bluffs began in 1997 and was completed in 1999.  The clubhouse opened on July 4th and the golf course to limited play on Labor Day. Although the land was spectacular by itself, many of the mounds and native areas were sculpted and shaped into their present form as the holes were routed by architect Warren Henderson. As the course began to emerge it was clear that this was going to be a special place. 

Throughout the years many of the green complexes have been modified offering a more enjoyable and playable course with an improved pace of play. Many of the original sod-walled bunkers have been converted into native bunkers and those that remain are rebuilt every 3-5 years.