Traverse City, Michigan

From runway to fairway in less than an hour is the theme for 2025 golf in the Traverse City Golf Capital of Northern Michigan and especially the spectacular Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. With non-stop flights on American Airlines from Dallas/Fort Worth and now United Airlines from Houston, the ease of travel and great golf in cool summertime temperatures is easier than ever for Lone Star linksters looking to escape the summer heat. “It has been exciting to see golfers from all over the country come to Traverse City through these non-stop flights. For golfers to be able to land at Cherry Capital Airport, use our complimentary Resort shuttle, and be on a tee box in less than an hour is incredible,” said Caroline Rizzo from the landmark Grand Traverse Resort. “It’s great to give travelers that opportunity to enjoy a seamless journey from their starting destination to Traverse City, over to the Resort and onto one of our three championship courses. We are less than 10 minutes from the airport so we mean it when we say within a half hour of landing you could be from the runway to the fairway.” While the North Texas non-stop flights have been going for a few years, this is the second season for Houston to offer the same plan for Southeast Texas golfers, starting in June and continuing through the prime golf season. “I would say the sweet spot is end of June through mid-October. You get the long days at the beginning of summer and then incredibl fall golf in September and October. Fall in Michigan is beautiful – perfect weather, rich colors, and smaller crowds,” added Grand Traverse’s Steve Timmer. Once you arrive here, you’re in the cool area and even cooler golf with three outstanding golf courses to begin your Northern Michigan journey. “I mean, it starts with The Bear,” said Timmer. “The Bear is kind of our most famous course. It was Jack Nicklaus’ first course in the state of Michigan back in 1985.” “The Bear is tough golf. It’s what most people come to the Resort to play. We also have The Wolverine, a Gary Player design and our most playable course with distinct front and back nines. Spruce Run dates to when we were just getting started. It started as the Acme Public Course and was redesigned by William Newcomb. It is tree-lined and wraps around the Hotel.” All three courses are located on the Resort’s 900-acre property and start and end. This one-stop-shop golf resort allows for convenience and maximum golf during Michigan’s long summer days. “That’s the great thing about where we are geographically, we have long days in the summer with sunlight for nearly 15 hours some days,” says Timmer. “We do a promotion called ‘Golf Your Day lights Out’ which allows golfers to play as much golf as they can fit in a day for one price. It’s a week-long promotion during Summer Solstice and you’ll see golfers out from 5:45 in the morning until almost 10 at night,” said Timmer. Of course, the longer time in the day to play golf is one thing, the temperatures to want to do it is another. “It starts with the weather for sure. You can’t beat summer in northern Michigan. From the golf courses to the inland lakes and bays, plus the wineries and trails. There’s so much to see and explore,” added Timmer. “You have Pure Michigan golf courses everywhere; a plethora of nationally acclaimed golf courses. It just really helps with our golf community and leveraging our beautiful asset that we have in this community,” said Autumn MacClare with the Cherry Capital Traverse City Airport. They have been working hard to bring more golfers to the area and now have almost two dozen non-stop flights from all over the country, and most important, they’re bringing Texas golfers closer and with ease to the destination. “It’s been a phenomenal boost to get those flights here. Good things take time and I know that Texas airports and our airlines were working hard to get those routes, with Dallas and American Airlines first and then the success of Houston with United Airlines. There were only 14 seats that went unsold last season last summer,” said MacClaren. Of course, playing the great courses at Grand Traverse is one thing, but you need to eat, sleep and relax when golf is done. That’s where the 500-room, multi- story Grand Traverse Resort comes in nicely. “We have 500 guest rooms which allows us to welcome multiple golf groups at a time, large conferences that want to include a golf outing for their attendees, and more. Golf groups are extremely popular. They are coming from all over the country and booking years in advance,” said Rizzo. “We are lucky to have three courses on property. That keeps things entertaining and different each day for the dozens of golf groups we host every year.” When you add the dining options, spa, lounges, even a casino right down the road, golf is far from the only attraction which keeps the Grand Traverse

Resort booming all summer long. “Every year has been a new record year for us since 2020 in terms of golf. The cool thing for us is those numbers come from Resort guests, people who live here locally, or those staying in other areas of Traverse City that want to come over and experience our courses,” said Timmer. “We’re getting a lot of outside play like I said really record-setting for the game of golf itself is doing really well in Northern Michigan.” Fairway to Runway has never been easier for a 2025 vacation to remember in Northern Michigan and at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.