Ohio Golf Journal September 2020

Thunder Bay Golf and Elk Tour A golf weekend experience like no other By Tom Lang I have had the humble pleasure of enjoyingmany different types of golf trips over the years – from Hawaii to historic Williamsburg, to California and South Carolina and many locations in between. One of the nicest took place just a few weeks ago at Thunder Bay Resort, located in Hillman, due west of Alpena on Michigan’s ‘sunrise side.’ It was a fun and unique enough experience that my spouse said, ‘let’s go back in the winter.’ Huh, to golf you ask? Well, no, not to play golf when the snow flies – rather to participate again in the resort’s award- winning Elk viewing carriage ride, complete with gourmet dinner and wine tasting inside an updated but rustic-looking cabin in the woods. In the winter, the Belgian horse-drawn carriage is changed over from rubber tires to be fitted with sleigh runners and people bundle up under their own blanket for the tour through the 160- acre Elk nature preserve on the way to dinner. ‘Over the River and through the Woods’ is not just a music lyric in this case. It’s what you literally experience as the Thunder Bay Resort Elk tour meanders through the only wild Elk preserve within range of dozens of states. In non-Covid years, thousands of travelers come in from other regions across the U.S. to participate. “Some people think the Elk are tame, and we can get quite close to totally wild Elk as well, but most of these animals have never been touched by a human being – we keep them as close to totally wild as we can,” said the owner, Jack Mathias, age 79, who first developed the front 9 of the now 18-hole course in 1971 – meaning next year is the property’s 50th anniversary. The ride is an excellent look at, and history lesson for, the Elk habitat in Michigan. On the Ohio Golf Journal