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Mackinac Island, Michigan, United States · Unusual rounds

The Jewel

A horse-drawn ride between nines

  • Carriage between nines
  • Car-free island
The Grand Hotel setting on Mackinac Island, home to The Jewel golf course.
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Course, details
& surroundings.

The Grand Hotel setting on Mackinac Island, home to The Jewel golf course.
Photo creditPhoto: Hdeon1 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized; display crop may vary.
Access
Public · no hotel stay required
The round
Two nines + carriage transfer

Why go

At the turn, your ride has four legs.

Finishing the ninth hole usually means a snack. Here, it also means a carriage.

The Jewel is Grand Hotel’s eighteen-hole course on Mackinac Island, arranged as two separate nines. The Grand nine sits near the hotel and the Straits of Mackinac; the Woods nine lies farther into the island’s interior.

Two nines from different eras

The Grand Nine dates to 1901; the Woods Nine opened in 1994. A horse-drawn carriage links their very different island settings.

More of the story

The connection is the lovely part. Golfers and their clubs travel between the nines by horse-drawn carriage. That pause changes the tempo of the day: there is time to look around, compare cards and let the previous nine become a story before beginning the next.

The golf belongs to a wider island experience, with waterfront views giving way to a more wooded setting. Come for eighteen holes, but leave space in your plans for the journey between them. It may be the part everyone mentions first.

Make it happen

How to play The Jewel

  1. Book an 18-hole round to include both the Grand and Woods nines, plus the carriage connection.
  2. The last published 18-hole start is 1:04 p.m. because of transport between nines. Confirm timing before arranging your island arrival.

Before you go

For 2026, the Woods Nine closes after October 11; the Grand Nine stays open through October 24. Late-October golf is not the full two-nine experience.

A playing thought

Let the transfer be part of the day rather than a delay to make up. Check in with enough time to understand the carriage schedule.

Heckler’s take

Planning sources: Grand Hotel: access, booking & 2026 season ↗ · Grand Hotel: the two nines’ history ↗

Find it

Mackinac Island, Michigan, United States

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Approximate course location. Drag to explore; use + and − or pinch to zoom.

Sources & editorial notes

Researched September 12, 2026. This is an independent researched guide, not a report of a personal visit. No course affiliation or booking service. Playing thoughts are editorial suggestions.

Prices retain their local currency and published season. Historical and reported figures are labeled; missing prices are not estimated. Check current access, conditions and your final total before travel.

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