Popular Michigan resort climbs into the trees with planned new course

Forest Dunes has shown a flair for creativity. From its original and eponymous first course designed by Tom Weiskopf to its ingenious 18-hole reversible The Loop layout by Tom Doak, from its par-3 Bootlegger course to its focus on delivering an indelible post-round vibe, the folks behind Forest Dunes have attacked staid expectations in search of constant improvement over the past decade.

Up next for the Michigan resort: SkyFall.

If that name sounds a little James Bondsy, know that in this case it refers to Michigan’s luminescent night sky. And with it come sky-high expectations, as it will be the name of the resort’s third full-size course to be designed by the celebrated team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Construction on the project near the town of Roscommon is expected to begin in late 2025 or early 2026. A completion date has not been announced.

Driving many of the expectations are the high rankings of the already existing courses. The Loop is ranked by Golfweek's Best as the No. 3 public-access course in Michigan, and the namesake Forest Dunes Course is No. 4 on that list in the very golf-gifted state. Both courses also rank among the top 100 resort courses in the U.S.

Casual golf fans should be forgiven if they hear the names Hanse and Wagner, then think first of the duo’s restoration work of many of the greatest classic courses in the U.S. that have been or will be major championship sites. Los Angeles Country Club, Oakland Hills, The Country Club, Winged Foot, Southern Hills, Merion, Oakmont, on and on – Hanse and Wagner have restored many of the Golden Age stalwarts.

But their original designs scratch a different itch. Hanse and Wagner focus their restorations of existing courses on recreating the intent of the original architects instead of inserting their own creativity. New course designs such as SkyFall allow them to focus on their own ideas.

“From a creativity standpoint, new construction is so much more liberating because of the way we've chosen to do restoration, being beholden to the original architects,” Hanse said during a preview showing of plans for SkyFall. “So there's not a lot of creativity and not a lot of original ideas. It's more restoration research and then trying to create in the same style and what we see there. Whereas with the new stuff, we can do kind of whatever we want.”

What they want has proved extremely popular. Several of the design team’s original layouts rank among the top 200 modern courses in the United States. Hanse and Wagner’s Ohoopee Match Club in Georgia and CapRock Ranch in Nebraska are within the top 20 courses built since 1960, both situated on amazing sites that feature plenty of sandy soil and rolling terrain.

SkyFall has similar characteristics. While Forest Dunes’ first two courses lie across relatively flat ground, SkyFall will be situated in a much hillier setting, starting and ending just north of the resort’s Bootlegger par-3 course. It’s a long, skinny parcel in the woods that Hanse said features some 90 feet of elevation change.

“It really is perfectly situated for golf,” Hanse said. “It's all sand – sand and gravel.”

Such a site is akin to golf architects striking gold, as the sand provides the possibility of fast and firm golf ground with inherently better drainage. It’s yet to be decided if SkyFall will be grassed with fescue as at the Loop, bent as at the original Forest Dunes Course or a combination of the two. Unlike some modern courses that feature treeless or well-cleared sites, SkyFall will embrace a naturally woodsy scene, playing through corridors that remind players they are in rural Michigan.

SkyFall is planned to begin with a front nine looping first to the west of the linear site. It will traverse a feature that Hanse described as a knuckle before returning to the course’s center point with a dramatic uphill par-4 ninth playing over cross bunkers – an homage, Hanse said, to the second hole at famed Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey. The back nine will then start its loop to the east before returning with several twists and turns to the center point. At a planned maximum yardage of 7,495 and a par of 72, SkyFall potentially could host top-tier competitions, but Hanse said he is focused on matching the course to the terrain for an unforgettable experience.

“This design is focused on the key landforms on the property,” Hanse said. “When you look at some of the great old courses by (A.W.) Tillinghast or (Donald) Ross, there tends to be a landform they go away from and return to. That’s also the case at SkyFall, and it is those features that are the key to creating a truly compelling design.”

SkyFall also will be a reunion of sorts, with Hanse and Wagner rejoining forces with Forest Dunes owners and operators Rich Mack and Tom Sunnarborg. Hanse and Wagner laid out the Black course that opened in 2017 at the highly ranked Streamsong Resort in Florida, which was then owned by Mosaic Company. Mack was chief financial officer of Mosaic and the driving force behind the creation of what has grown to be a golf destination with three full-size courses and another on the way – an unexpected project for the giant potash and phosphate mining company. Sunnarborg was Mosaic’s vice president of land development and management, and also Mack’s righthand man in the introduction of Streamsong.

Mack and Sunnarborg were bitten hard by the golf bug, and after leaving employment at Mosaic they purchased Forest Dunes in 2021 following a nationwide search of potential golf acquisitions. They have updated Forest Dunes in many ways, everything from accommodations to residential offerings, dining to laundry facilities.

“We’re getting the band back together,” Mack said of partnering again with Hanse and Wagner. “... The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting.”

SkyFall will be an experiment of sorts as a modern take on an American semi-private club. Mack described it as a private club that allows some resort play, similar to the Lido at Sand Valley in Wisconsin, Pasatiempo Golf Club in California and many great courses around the rest of the world that welcome limited guest play. Mack said they are still deciding how many resort guests gain access to SkyFall most days, but expect it to be in the low dozens. Initial members of SkyFall will receive an annual distribution of the proceeds from resort-generated green fees, helping to offset annual dues. Mack intends this model to protect the feel of a private club, complete with private facilities and clubhouse, while allowing resort guests to get a peek.

“Our goals are very high,” Mack said. “We want this course to be exceptional in all respects. ... The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting.”

Sunnarborg echoed that sentiment.

“Gil and Jim are two of the most influential golf course architects of our era, and are entrusted to advance projects of golf significance across the globe,” said Sunnarborg, who is president and chief operating officer at Destination Forest Dunes. “We know they will find the best of the land to work with and turn it into something unforgettable that members and guests are going to thoroughly enjoy, hopefully many times.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Forest Dunes to add SkyFall course by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner