A mosaic of beech, oak and maple provides the backdrop, with a cedar swamp behind the green for contrast. Winds can be tricky, as is the tough, slanted green. No view of the bay, but the elevated tee off Hog's Back overlooks a panorama of free-falling countryside speckled with pines and hardwoods. In the fairway before you, it's 360 yards from the blues, and you must carry 220 yards over a gulch of ferns and tangles. The green looks like an upside-down saucer.
Brunches there are top notch, as well.
A 411-yard par 4 on a crest 1,000 feet above sea level. Visibility is said to stretch 35 miles out to Little Traverse Bay, and the drop-off adds a good bit of distance to your drive, which ought to land smack in the middle of an enormous fairway. On the entire course, hilly terrain is the rule. Views of inland lakes also abound.