Hole #6 Black/Hole #12 Red at The Loop

THE LOOP Reversible Design Offers Unique Golf Experience

Tom Doak's innovative design continues to captivate golfers looking for the ultimate buddy trip

By Brian Weis

Roscommon, MI - Forest Dunes, the award-winning golf destination located in northern Michigan, has evolved into one of the most unique golf experiences in the country. Featuring Tom Doak's reversible design (The LOOP) and one of Tom Weiskopf's best course creations, Forest Dunes is truly one of a kind.

The LOOP opened in 2016 to rave reviews across the industry. Golf Digest named it the Best New Public Course, and GOLF Magazine named it the Best New U.S. Course You Can Play. The two different layouts, Black-clockwise and Red-counter clockwise, alternate directions on a daily basis.

New for 2019; The LOOP will allow golf carts. The course was designed for walking and is especially walker-friendly, and golfers can choose to enhance their experience with the professional caddie fleet offered by CADDIEMASTER, the world's leading caddie company.

Head golf professional Elliott Oscar said adding carts to the mix, however, opens the opportunity to experience the unique design for more golfers.

"The Loop is one of the most unique golf courses in the world and the only true 18-hole reversible design and while we believe walking is how it is meant to be played, and a caddie is the fun and unique way to experience it, we do not want to exclude anyone from this bucket list opportunity due to health, age, or ability," explained Oscar.

Forest Dunes will again offer the popular golf opportunity called THE DUAL, in which golfers play The LOOP in both directions in one day.
With The LOOP'S normal rotation of alternating routings on a daily basis (Red on even dates and Black on odd dates) there are three months (May, July, August) with 31-days where the even/odd schedule does not work, which created this unique opportunity. The DUAL days include a two-person best-ball team event, where golfers play one direction (course) in the morning, then play the other direction (course) in the afternoon for a 36-hole one-day experience. Lunch and dinner are included at a cost of $300.00 - $350.00 per person. Visit https://www.forestdunesgolf.com/golf/book-a-tee-time/golf-events for more information.

The LOOP is the only reversible course of its kind using 18-green complexes, which are the heart and soul of the unique design. Doak showed his genius as this generation's iconic designer creating fun green complexes that had to be approachable and interesting from 360 degrees, while at the same time making it feel like you are never playing the wrong way.

He and his team accomplished it throughout the golf course in both directions. Golfers marvel at No. 6 of the Red Course (counter-clockwise), a very short par-3 with a wide and shallow green, and the seventh, a short par-4 with a long and narrow green that has a dip in the middle of it. Those two holes are also among the best holes playing clockwise coming into the greens from 90-degrees.

Doak also added his version of a Redan hole, which is No. 4 of the Red Course, a par 3, and plays as the Redan green on No. 13 of the Black Course (clock-wise), the longest par 3 on the course.

The LOOP has to be played to be believed and Forest Dunes offers unique stay-and-play packages to make it happen.
Golfers can experience a 54-hole package over two or three days playing The LOOP (red or Black) one day, then the playing other direction the next day, combined with the award-winning Forest Dunes layout. New for 2019 is the exciting HillTop Putting Course, a two-acre 18-hole putting course routed over some fun undulating terrain and pines. Dinner outdoors on the patio under the western cedar pavilion caps off a great day of golf.

To build a unique Forest Dunes package with golf and lodging, simply combine the Lake AuSable Lodge, golf cottages, or the new golf villas with the Forest Dunes and Loop courses. Lodging rates can range depending on the time of the season and room type from $69 to $159 per person. Golf rates, depending on the time of season, range from $85 to $160.

In addition, Forest Dunes is providing a tribute rate during the summer months on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays on both courses for $100 for military, first responders, seniors (55 and over), ladies, and teachers.

For more information and to book a stay and play package, click on https://www.forestdunesgolf.com/golf/book-a-tee-time/rates

Revised: 05/07/2019 - Article Viewed 10,691 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.