Michigan is known for beautiful golf courses such as Arcadia Bluffs and Bay Harbor Golf Club, but you can also find unique courses around the state on a smaller level.
Michigan has many miniature golf courses with cool designs that pay tribute to the state and spectacular views. From meticulous and quirky designs to views of the Straits of Mackinac, these courses are worth a visit.
Here’s a look at seven of the state’s standout miniature golf courses.
River Club Glen Arbor
River Club Glen Arbor in Glen Arbor is in its second season and offers an 18-hole miniature golf course food, beverage and live music.
The venue’s miniature golf course is a Bunkers & Bumps-style custom course designed and built by Adventure Golf & Sports based in Traverse City. The design includes tributes to Michigan.
The course is a fairways-and-greens design using interlocking, patented panels made from recycled materials that are also permeable for instant drainage, so the course won’t harm the natural flora and fauna.
This style of course relies on various topography and rough turf to shape holes that can include faux sand bunkers. Traditional courses usually use brick, walls, obstacles or theme elements for boundaries.
Visitors will notice blue turf that looks like water and tan turf that looks like sand.
The River Club design includes speakers, lights and a drink holder at the beginning and end of every hole.
There are also three different ways to play each hole.
“…It’s not a putt-putt or goofy golf kind of place, but there are some areas where we’ve created some visual interest and a nod to where we are,” said Mike Sheldon, owner of River Club Glen Arbor, in a news release. “We’ve created a bit of an homage to northern Michigan. So one hole is in the shape of Lake Michigan, which you discover once you’re right in front of it. One hole is a tribute to Sleeping Bear Dunes and it looks like the whole thing is a sand trap, but you have to go over the ‘dunes.’ One hole has a simulated Glen Lake with Big Glen (lake) and Little Glen (lake).”
The cost is $20 for adults and $15 for kids ages 17 and under. Players get a wristband and can play as many times as they want during the visit.
Where: 5963 S. Oak St., Glen Arbor
Miners Falls Mini Golf
A rock cave, unique obstructions and plenty of water features can be found at Miners Falls Mini Golf in Munising.
There’s great attention to detail at the 18-hole course. The course has nine water obstacles, rivers, a pond, fountain and waterfall, according to its Facebook page.
The course also has ice cream flights to sweeten your visit.
Miners Falls Mini Golf opened Friday, May 23 and typically closes Sept. 30.
The course will have limited hours until the second week of June. As of June 9, the course will be open 12-9 p.m. every day.
Customers should check Facebook and Google for current hours.
Admission pricing is $9 for players over 10-years-old, $5 for ages 4-10 and kids under 4 are free.
Where: 28 M-28, Munising
Into the Woods Mini Golf and Gardens
TripAdvisor calls Into the Woods Mini Golf and Gardens in Copper Harbor quirky. That’s accurate.
Outhouses and toilets are part of the decor here. There are also miniature buildings, lighthouses and a freighter at the 18-hole course.
You may even be joined for a hole or two by ducks that live on the property.
The course received accolades in 2024 when it was named as the best mini-golf in Michigan by Golf magazine.
You can celebrate the course with adult beverages after 3 p.m. — but you’ll have to bring them yourself, and IDs are checked.
The cost to golf is $5 per person. Kids under 5 are free.
The course is open 12-7 p.m. every day of the season.
Where: 1028 Gratiot, Copper Harbor
The Greens of Mackinac
The Greens of Mackinac on Mackinac Island doesn’t have any of the typical miniature golf course decorations. There are no obstacles to work around except for the slopes of the natural bent grass course.
You don’t need the decorations, however, because you’ll be too distracted by the beautiful view of the Straits of Mackinac.
The 18-hole putting course is located at Mission Point Resort.
After dusk, the course becomes Glow Golf with glow-in-the-dark golf balls, golf flag poles and neon glow sticks.
For Mission Point Resort guests, the cost to play is $15 for adults and $10 for children. For non-guests, it’s $17 for adults and $12 for children. Glow Golf for guests is $17 for adults and $13 for children. Glow Golf for non-guests is $19 for adults and $14 for children.
Golfing is available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May, September and October and 10 a.m. to dusk June, July and August.
Glow Golf is available dusk to midnight Memorial Day through Labor Day. The last tee time in 11:30 p.m.
Children’s rates apply to golfers age 12 and under.
Where: 6633 Main St., Mackinac Island
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Willow Springs
Surrounded by lush greenery, you’ll feel like you’re in the middle of the forest while miniature golfing at Willow Springs in Lake Orion. Golfers can choose between two 18-hole courses — either woods or sport themed. The sports course features a waterfall and the woods course is where you’ll get the forest feel.
The cost per person for 18 holes is $10 for ages 10 and older or $5 for children under 10.
Visitors can also play both courses for an additional $5 per person.
The courses are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Where: 3120 S. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion
Cranbrook on the Green
Cranbrook on the Green opened in 2022 at the Cranbook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills.
It’s a nine-hole miniature golf course with a bonus 10th hole.
All the artist-designed holes are inspired by a different element of Cranbrook’s campus and history.
The course’s 2025 season runs May 3 through Sept. 28.
The hours of operation vary throughout the season:
The cost: $15 for adults, $10 for ArtMembers and Detroit residents, and $8 for children under 12. For 5 p.m. closures, the last tickets are sold at 4:15 p.m. For 8 p.m. closures, the last tickets are sold at 7:15 p.m.
Visitors are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online in advance via the museum’s website. Each ticket also includes free admission to the museum’s galleries. Check-in for the course is located at Knoll Walkway immediately adjacent to Triton Pool. Follow signs to the Art Museum parking lot.
Where: 39221 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills
Little Hawk
The Little Hawk Putting Course at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center in Bath is an 18-hole natural grass course.
It features bentgrass, undulating greens and traditional golf course landscaping. It’s one of the few natural grass putting courses in Michigan.
The course is “always immaculately groomed” and “the variety of hole layouts provides a challenge for the beginner or expert,” according to the Eagle Eye website.
The course is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The price is $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 17 and under.
Where: 15101 Chandler Road, Bath
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mini golf courses in Michigan: 7 unique places to putt-putt
Reporting by Tanya Wildt, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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