Grand Rapids, Mich.
This is Mike DeVries country. Here you’ll find three of his little-known, but hugely enjoyable, courses—The Mines about 10 minutes from downtown; Pilgrim’s Run half an hour north; and Diamond Springs a similar distance southwest of the city. Each demonstrates DeVries’s ability to create intriguing golf without moving a great deal of dirt and to which you want to return often. Other options outside the “Furniture City” are Ray Hearn’s impressive Quail Ridge, Mike Hurdzan’s tremendous Meadows course at Grand Valley State University, and, half an hour to the west near the Lake Michigan town of Grand Haven, Jack Nicklaus’s American Dunes which opened in May 2021 and is owned and operated by the Folds of Honor Foundation.