It's an activity that some people say isn't a sport and a sport many have a difficult time championing. There's just too many moving parts to the body: head, neck, arms, elbows, hips, back, knees, ankles...too close to the ball, too far back, etc. Don't get me started on equipment - believe me, it makes a world of difference. Did anyone mention how many different kinds of golf balls there are?

Most of us probably think of ourselves as hackers, but if there's one way to test your skills, it's on a quality course. Upper-state mainland Michigan near Traverse City (at Traverse Bay) and Petosky (at Little Traverse Bay), just south of Mackinac, is an outstanding area to test those skills. For me to shoot a par is special and the one birdie I got on a short par 3 hole (my drive was two feet from the cup and my partners granted me a "gimmee," which I accepted but elected to putt since I'm a proud man and missed it) made me feel like "King of the World." That won't happen again.

But listen up here - this area, which I had the opportunity to write about in 2004, is teeming with great golf courses and if I wasn't relegated to writing about golf, I'd be telling you about all the other outstanding recreational amenities offered throughout this region. OK, I will, but it will only touch the tip of the iceberg.

The trip from the Near-Northwest suburbs of Chicago to the primary area where I golfed, the Traverse City-Petosky area of North-Central Michigan, takes from six to seven hours, but factor in an hour lost due to time zone change (Eastern Standard Time). This area of Michigan is dotted with golf and ski resorts. All of the courses I played at are "ranked" in the top 50, three in the top 25, in the state as determined by Michigan Golf magazine. There are 700-plus public golf courses in the state.

There are all sorts of ways to rank golf courses. Golf Digest uses a myriad of different factors and boils it down to "Rating" and "Slope," The higher the points, the better the course, which is another way of determining its degree of difficulty. Michigan Golf uses five areas of criteria to do their ranking: Playability, Condition, Service, Aesthetics and Value. If there's one thing that is consistent about these finely nurtured courses it's that they have been designed with meticulous care and sculpted to give the golfer, pro or duffer, the maximum amount of challenge and pleasure.

Another commonality with these courses is that they all feature a serene setting, a real breakaway for us city slickers. Aesthetics is subjective - beauty in the eye of the beholder. But I find beauty in the way a course has been laid out, utilizing the natural terrain with valleys, waterways and lakes, elevations and wooded areas. I think we can all appreciate the way in which fairways are tree-lined, then followed by a vertical, undulating fairway overlooking a valley below. In the Chicago area, we don't have that kind of topographical relief though we have among the best courses in the country.

The one course I golfed on that looms to the top of most lists is Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon, near Grayling due east of Traverse City. It is situated on 1,200 acres in the middle of the Huron National Forest, a setting unlike the other courses at Boyne Highlands and Treetops. The course, which opened in 2002, is laid out within vast rolling dunes of glacial sand deposits framed by majestic corridors of pine trees and wild flower-laden plains. Forest Dunes is a par 72, 7,104-yard course designed by Tom Weiskopf (his fourth) that has drawn comparisons to two of America's top courses - Pine Valley and Augusta National. Michigan Golf ranks this course No. 2 in its top 50. What was particularly impressive about Forest Dunes was the varying kinds of fairways and pristine greens, cut so short and tight it was like walking on vintage carpeting. Our group was told when we checked in that the greens were ranked by Michigan Golf as No. 1 in the state to complement its No. 2 overall ranking...and indeed the greens were of such high quality, to walk on them and leave a shoe imprint seemed criminal let alone leave a pock mark made by the golf ball.

Driving your ball straight and out of harms way down some of the narrow fairways is one thing, but avoiding the seemingless endless sea of elaborately linked sand dunes and tall grass tufts scattered about is another. Pin-point accuracy is the name of the game here if you have any notion of making par. Also, you better get a good whack on your tee-offs as several holes feature knee-high grass mixed within sand for the first 100 or so yards. One saving grace is that there are only six water holes, which doesn't offer much consolation from the other formidable obstacles. Dog-legs to the left and right, up-and-down rolling fairways with trees, dunes and pockets of tall grass made this the ultimate course of the trip.

I would be remiss without mentioning the spectacular Club House, a 15,000 sq. ft. high-bay structure inspired by 19th century Adirondack lodge architectural style. The Club House features a private members lounge, a formal dining room, a private dining room, a golf shop, spacious meeting areas, locker rooms, an adjoining spa and a flag-stone patio deck with outdoor seating overlooking the golf course. It's quite a sight and can been seen from various vantage points around the course.

The green fees without a cart range from $60 to $110, depending on what time of the year and what day of the week, weekends always being the highest. It is recommended, though, that you get a cart, which with green fees tops out at $125 (June-September, Thursday to Sunday). Forest Dunes Golf Club is at 6376 Forest Dunes Drive, Roscommon, MI, 48653; Phone 866-386-3764 or go on-line at www.forestdunesgolf.com.

Treetops Resort located in Treetops Village is a full-service, year-round resort featuring golfing in the Spring, Summer and Fall and skiing in the Winter. There are Inns, Lodges, Chalets, a Club House, a convention center, spa and associated dining peppered throughout the resort complex. This highly-regarded resort by Golf Digest magazine is ranked No. 19 by Michigan Golf and has gained a reputation as being one of the most distinguished resorts in the country. Golfweek Magazine has ranked two of its five courses in the top 100 of the country; the Rick Smith Signature at No. 37 and the Tom Fazio Premier at No. 59.

Rankings are for the professionals to determine and having golfed the Fazio Premier with its undulating slopes and dramatic elevation changes, I dare I could tell the difference between it and the other three courses I golfed at or the other four courses that makeup the Treetops complex. Treetops features 81 holes on five courses, the first of which opened in 1987, that being the Masterpiece. With a wide variety of challenging holes including vast topographic diversity, contoured into the rolling terrain, and featuring breathtaking views reaching up to 30 miles, the Treetops Resort is regarded as the pinnacle of golfing in the Midwest.

The Slope Ratings on the Treetops courses vary depending on what color tee's you play from, and which course, too. A Slope Rating of 144 and a Course Rating of 75.5 from the 7,060-yard black tees at the Fazio Premier is regarded as one of the toughest courses in the state. This course is known for its narrow tree-lined fairways and strategically placed bunkers featuring "PGA" sand, many unseen behind berms. The one notable absence of water holes does little to compensate for making mistakes. The curved, washboard topography down the fairway lined by thick grassy roughs on either side demands your utmost attention. Golf balls seem to get swallowed up in these grassy areas when you could swear you had a beat on it. Think again, drop a ball.

Along with all the other amenities offered at the Treetops Resort, golfing is certainly at the top of the list. The green fees at the four 18-hole courses range from $90 to $120 at peak season, weekends, up to Sept. 24. Thereafter, the rates drop by $22 to $30 and even less for Twilight rates. For more information, write to Treetops Resort, 3962 Wilkinson Road, Treetops Village, MI, 49735; Phone 888-TREETOP or 989-732-6711; or on-line at www.treetops.com.

The Boyne Highlands Resort is perhaps the most visited resort in this area of Michigan spanning a huge area that includes numerous ski slopes, chalets, lodges, villas and condominium developments, plenty of shopping, a spa, and an indoor waterpark - and, of course, plenty of golfing. So, it's more than just a quick getaway to golf and/or ski, but a place to stay for awhile and partake in any number of recreational activities. Located on the north side of Little Traverse Bay across from Petosky, the Boyne Highlands Resort is close to any number of water activities as well, adding more options to your vacation itinerary.

But back to golf. The Boyne complex offers 10 golf courses: Alpine, Monument, Links, Quarry, Preserve, Crooked Tree, Hills, Ross, Moor and Heather. They all feature unique designs and offer spectacular views, some nestled into woodland settings and others along waters-edge. The nearby Bay Harbor Golf Club is located along sweeping shoreline bluffs, dunes, rugged rock formations and thick woodlands, which converge from the landside. When this 9-hole course opened, Golf Magazine ranked it No. 8 (for 9-hole courses) and Michigan Golf currently lists it at No. 9.

The two courses I played were Heather and Hills. The Heather was designed by Robert Trent Jones, a renowned golf course architect, featuring wide tree-lined fairways, sculpted bunkers and daunting water hazards. This course has been consistently named one of the 50 best courses for women according to Golf for Women magazine. There are five tee-off's to choose from, which vary in length from 4,848 yards to 7,093 yards. That last one, the "brown" tee's, has a Slope Rating of 141, which is on the high-end of difficulty.

The featured hole at the Heather is the 18th, which includes a large pond strategically placed about 230 yards out at its closest point setting up a second shot that needs to carry over onto the green. There is, of course, the chicken way to go, which is to go around the pond. It depends on how many golf balls you care to lose. The daily green fees for the Heather Course peak at $134 (with cart) unless you are a guest at the resort, then the fee drops to $104.

The Hills Course offers expansive bunkers, challenging water holes, ample fairways and large greens and as Heather, offers five locations to tee-off from. The architect is the legendary Arthur Hill. The distances depend on which tee you hit from, varying similarly like the Heather, from 4,811 yards to a whopping 7,302 yards, the longest of all the Boyne Highlands courses. The Slope Rating of 144 is second only to the Quarry Course, which is a 9-hole course. So, the Hills is a very demanding course and one in which I struggled to keep from losing too many golf balls.

The featured hole is the par 5, No. 13, a behemoth 570-yard hole, which offers breathtaking views in all directions. Interestingly, there are two other holes at the Hills that are even longer, so make sure you bring your "Big Dog" with you. The tee-off is elevated and from a distance you can see a washboard effect to the terrain, making it virtually impossible to land your ball on level ground. The small green is surrounded by four formidable sand traps. The daily green fees for the Hills Course are the same as the Heather Course.

In addition to the great golfing, as noted earlier, are the Spa and Avalanche Bay indoor waterpark. These two added features provide other amenities to the surroundings at Boyne Highlands that many other resorts can't match. The Spa offers massage therapy to help benefit long-term health conditions by relieving stress and tension. There are four kinds of massages offered, all performed by skilled therapists: Swedish Massage (25 min.@$60; 50 min.@$85; 80 min.@$120); Sports Massage (50 min.@$95; 80 min.@$130); Pregnancy Massage (50 min.@$95; 80 min.@$130); and Deep Tissue Massage (50 min.@$110; 80 min.@$145).

Avalanche Bay Indoor Waterpark, located separate from Harbor Springs to the south at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls, is Michigan's largest indoor waterpark. As part of the many services and recreational activities offered, this is one that is perfect for the entire family. The temperature is always kept at 84-degrees, year-round, so during the skiing season, it offers a perfect weatherproof from the icy weather outside. Avalanche Bay is 88,000 sq. ft. and includes five waterslides, a shallow children's pool, wet climbing wall, activity pools, a lazy river, hot tubs, a huge arcade and Michigan's first surf simulator.

Connected to Avalanche Bay and their own spa is Mountain Grand Lodge and nearby are Mountain Villa Condominiums, Deer Lake Villas, Mountain Log Cabins and the Main Lodge. "Stay and Splash" packages start from $69 per person. Waterpark, Ski, Spa and Golf packages are available at Boyne Mountain, Boyne Highlands and the Inn at Bay Harbor. For more information, call 800-GO-BOYNE or 800-462-6963 or e-mail at: info@boyne.com.

For more information about the golf courses associated with Boyne Highlands including room and spa packages, accommodations, write:

Boyne Highlands, 600 Highland Drive, Harbor Springs, MI, 49740; or call at 800-GO-BOYNE or 800-462-6963; or check their website at: www.boyne.com.