Dunes Golf Course

Empire sits at the northwestern edge of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore dominates the landscape with towering sand bluffs, cold Lake Michigan shoreline, and forests of birch and pine. It's one of the most dramatic natural settings in the Midwest, and golf in this corner of Leelanau County carries that same unhurried, scenic quality that draws visitors to the region every summer.

Dunes GC takes its name from the geography that defines everything around it — the massive glacial dunes that rise along the lakeshore just minutes away. Without more specific records on the course's architecture or history, what's clear is that a layout in this location belongs to a tradition of northern Michigan golf: seasonal play, fresh air off the lake, and terrain shaped by ancient glacial activity that gives the land its natural movement and character.

Empire itself is a small, quiet town with the feel of a genuine Up North escape rather than a resort hub. Playing golf here is less about a destination course experience and more about being present in a genuinely beautiful part of Michigan that most golfers pass through without stopping.