A-Ga-Ming — Torch

The Torch course at A-Ga-Ming sits on a hillside above the eastern shore of Torch Lake, one of the clearest inland lakes in the United States, and the water stays in view from most of the routing. Chick Harbert built the original layout in 1974, and Jerry Matthews rerouted it in 2005 to take better advantage of the slope. You're in Kewadin, twenty-five minutes northeast of Traverse City, which makes this the most convenient round in the regional rotation.

You're playing 6,693 yards, par 72, slope 133. The numbers are honest. From the middle tees the course is approachable for any handicap; from the back it gives lower-handicap players enough to think about. The difficulty isn't in heroic carries. It's in sloped lies and green complexes built into the hillside, where short approach shots can release in unhelpful directions.

The routing rotates the par 3s through different compass points, so the wind exposure changes hole to hole. Greens are large, well maintained, and putt true without the kind of severe internal contour that frustrates recreational golfers. Tee shots that find the fairway leave manageable approaches.