Mackinac Island — It’s a great debate. Golf isn’t new here. People have been cursing sand traps, hitting double bogeys, slicing into the rough, and drinking too much on the back nine for quite a while. But once you crank the clock back over a century, the details start to get a little fuzzy. The years melt together. The answer gets harder and harder to nail down. 

What metric are we using? The oldest course in existence? Oldest continuously played course? Oldest course open to the public? Oldest private club? The truth is, these four Up North courses are just that. Old. The dates are close. Each has its lore and pride, claims to fame, and legendary histories. 

Wawashkamo Golf Club (Summer 1898)

You aren’t going to have a difficult time finding parking at Wawa (that’s what the locals call it), because there isn’t a parking lot. The closest car is on the mainland, in Saint Ignace, three and a half miles away. Wawashkamo is on Mackinac Island. You grab a horse taxi downtown, and the carriage slowly carries you up the hill toward the middle of the island. You pass the airport, and an old sign from yesteryear greets you. Green and white faded paint. Beautiful tall shrubs. 

The clubhouse is modest and welcoming. The lockers were built in 1903. They are the same today as they were then. You can smell the cedar, strong in the warm August air. The first tee is on a battlefield. The Americans tried to take this hill from the Brits on a summer’s day in 1814. A British cannon fired down on the Americans right here in this place during the Battle of Mackinac Island. 

The club was founded in the summer of 1898. The course was designed that same year by a Scottish golf architect, Alex Smith. In August 1899, the clubhouse opened. It still stands there today. There are wicker chairs on the porch. I look over the 18th green and hear the sounds of horses clopping along the road. Wawa has always been a small club. It had about 40 members long into the 20th century. Today, there are only 150.

There was once a six-hole course before Wawa. It wasn’t far from here, but it’s long gone today. Memberships are modest at Wawashkamo. The course is also open to the public.

Les Cheneaux Golf Club (May 1898)

Les Cheneaux Golf Club is located in a quiet, sleepy corner of the eastern U.P. I turn onto a gravel road, and a few minutes later, I arrive at a little parking lot and an empty dock. The clubhouse reminds me of a camp cabin. I feel at home, yet far away. At Les Cheneaux you tee off with a view of the Snows Channel. A boat slowly drifts by on its way to Lake Huron. The cottages on Marquette Island watch across the water. 

The course was developed by Les Cheneaux Club members over 125 years ago, W.M. Derby and W.H. Crawford. The club, founded 10 years prior, is a tight-knit resort community on Marquette Island. It’s an intimate place. The members have their own designated parking spots. Names painted on little wood plaques that hang from an old wooden fence. The course was developed on land known at the time as Derby farm and was lengthened a few years later in 1900 by Carl Leopold, the father of Aldo Leopold, the famous American ecologist. Les Cheneaux Golf Club holds the official title of the oldest continuously played links course in Michigan. Every year, LCC plays Wawa in a tournament. They take turns hosting. It’s been going on for generations. A rivalry between two old clubs, a highlight of the summer. Plaques documenting the winners hang on walls at both clubhouses. 

Golf at LCC is historical. There’s no highway zipping next to the fairway on 14. It’s not hard to get a tee time. It’s you, the channel, the islands, the woods, the quiet, the history. The course hasn’t been changed or updated. It’s special. You are playing golf how it used to be played. There are members, but it’s also open to the public.

Wequetonsing Golf Club (Summer 1896)

Weque (pronounced wee-kwee) is a paradise. Coming into Harbor Springs on M-119, a small green-and-white sign directs me to the right, toward the clubhouse. I pass under great, old trees. The course is kept immaculate, and the grand clubhouse stands quietly among a sea of rich green. Heaven.

Weque was founded in 1896. Before that, the Ottawas used the land for hunting and farming. There were only five founding members: Miss May Reber, George W. Knight, Dr. Wm H.M. Curtis, Miss Minnie Scott, and W.W. House. It gives you an idea about how tight-knit things were here back in the 19th century. Great things always start small. 

Over the years, the course and club underwent various updates and developments. In 1907, the clubhouse was completed. Looking at the practice green, two workers in the clubhouse tell me that in the early 1920s the course was rearranged and updated. The course had 27 holes. They took away the easier-to-walk flat nine. By 1927, the dust had settled. With the exception of two tee box changes, the course has remained the same since. Weque is private. Members only. 

Harbor Point Golf Club (Spring 1896)

I idle through quiet Harbor Springs. Heading west on M-119, just a few minutes outside of town, Harbor Point Golf Club appears on the right. A classic and restrained light yellow clubhouse. Two small parking lots on either side. The course bumps up against one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the state of Michigan. Keep driving on a fall day, and you approach the divine. The course is surrounded by quiet cottages and shady roads. The breeze from Lake Michigan comes through the trees and onto the green.

Harbor Point Golf Club was founded in the spring of 1896. This 18-hole course was designed by David Foulis. Born in Scotland, Foulis and his brother developed golf equipment. They are credited with inventing the modern 7-iron we all use (and love). They called it the “mashie-niblick.” In 1941 the course was taken over by the Harbor Point Association.

At the clubhouse, I hear that there were actually older courses in the area before Harbor Point. One called Ramona Park was down by the water here in Harbor Springs. It was a nine-hole course, now lost in the sand traps of time. I am told that Harbor Point opened in the spring of 1896 and Weque later that summer. According to lore, it’s said that the Harbor Point helped Weque with some money at the beginning, when they were just getting started. Harbor Point Golf Club is private. Members only.

Has the great debate finally been settled? Do we have an answer? According to all available information and oral lore, Harbor Point Golf Club is the oldest still in operation today. Yet Les Cheneaux Golf Club holds an official title of its own as the oldest continuously played links course in Michigan. It all depends on how you are measuring the matter.

The beautiful thing about these four courses is their history and their lore. These are tight-knit clubs. Their members are grandchildren of members. They’ve been coming here their whole lives. Everyone at every course talked my ear off in the best way imaginable. They shared what they knew. Some history you can read, but some you can only hear. Every course has its own claim to fame. Everyone wants to get an edge. Friendly competition. That’s what keeps local tradition alive.

O.W. Root is a writer based in Northern Michigan, with a focus on nature, food, style, and culture. Follow him on X @NecktieSalvage.