Tarantula finds a cozy home on Arizona golf course
A tarantula found a home in a golf hole cup in Sedona. It was later safely removed from the Seven Canyons Golf Course.
Michigan golf came out looking great once again this week.
Golfweek ranked the best states for golf by elite public and private courses, and the Mitten State ranked among the top 10 in each category and was even higher when combining the two.
That’s no surprise to us — we’ve been chronicling Michigan’s best courses for years, both in metro Detroit and across the state into the Upper Peninsula — but it’s nice to see the numbers backing that up.
For context, Golfweek uses hundreds of course raters to analyze 10 different criteria on a scale of 1-10 to produce an average course rating. Those categories include routing, conditioning, greens, and memorability and variety of golf holes. Raters also submit an overall rating score for each course, which are averaged to produce all of Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
Here’s how it breaks down from a state vs. state perspective:
Where Michigan ranks in elite public golf courses
Michigan finished tied for ninth (with Nebraska) in public golf courses by Golfweek, compiled by averaging the ratings, on a scale of 1-10, of the top five public-access layouts in each state.
Michigan’s top five courses for 2025 as ranked by Golfweek’s raters: Arcadia Bluffs (No. 32 in U.S.), Greywalls at Marquette Golf Club (No. 46), The Loop at Forest Dunes (No. 50), Forest Dunes (No. 78) and Arcadia Bluffs South Course (No. 84).
1. Oregon: 8.072. Wisconsin: 7.663. California: 7.624. Florida: 7.375. North Carolina: 7.296. Hawaii: 7.127. South Carolina: 7.048. Washington: 6.87T9. Michigan: 6.86T9. Nebraska: 6.86
Golfweek in June revealed its annual ranking for Michigan’s top 20 public-access golf courses, spotlighting the state’s diverse wealth of tracks: There are more than 650 public-access courses in Michigan.
Where Michigan ranks in elite private golf courses
Michigan was ninth in elite private golf, just behind rival Ohio but ahead of golf-rich Florida, using Golfweek’s average course ratings of the top five private layouts in each state (1-10).
The top five private courses in Michigan are: Crystal Downs Country Club, Oakland Hills Country Club (South), Kingsley Club, Dunes Club and Franklin Hills Country Club.
1. New York: 8.872. California: 8.573. New Jersey: 8.224. Pennsylvania: 8.135. Georgia: 8.116. Illinois: 8.027. Ohio: 7.838. Massachusetts: 7.829. Michigan: 7.7810. Florida: 7.74Michigan among best states for elite golf
When combining the top five public and private course rankings, Michigan came out tied for sixth, behind only, in order: California, New York, Florida, North Carolina and Oregon. Michigan is just a few tenths of a point behind Nos. 3-5.
1. California: 8.12. New York: 7.83. Florida: 7.64. North Carolina: 7.55. Oregon: 7.4T6. South Carolina: 7.3T6. Georgia: 7.3T6. Michigan: 7.3T6. Nebraska: 7.3T6. Wisconsin: 7.3
Read Golfweek’s article on each state’s ranking for the full story.
Marlowe Alter is an assistant sports editor at the Detroit Free Press and a spraying golf aficionado. Reach him by email: malter@freepress.com.
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