A river runs through it: Cedar River golf course at Shanty Creek Resorts in northern Michigan

BELLAIRE, Mich. -- Cedar River is the newest -- and many would say best -- of the four golf courses at Shanty Creek Resorts.

Opened in 1999, this dreamy Tom Weiskopf design roams through a magical northern Michigan hardwood forest, where deep bunkering, streams, ponds and elevation drops and climbs challenge players of all abilities.

Its five par 5s exhibit Weiskopf's creativity. He gives players a chance on reachable par 5s at the downhill ninth hole and the shorter 10th hole (just 510 yards from the blues). He responds by taking back strokes with formidable holes like the finishing, a doozy of a par 5 stocked with several ravines and a pond right of the green.

Another water hazard creates a boomerang-shaped Cape hole at no. 7, a medium-length par 4 where hitting a narrow fairway remains critical for a decent approach.

Environmentalists kept Weiskopf from building better holes along the Cedar River, although the short 297-yard 13th hole and 163-yard 14th hole play interestingly enough. Most golfers don't dare try to drive the green, which is blocked by a tree and bunkers in the middle of the fairway.

Impeccable conditioning, a convenient halfway house in the woods and a fine restaurant, the River Bistro inside the Cedar River Lodge, all deliver a first-class day.

"Cedar River is one of my very favorite tracks in Northern MI," wrote HOTSPOTSS in a review at GolfAdvisor.com. "... I'd play this course at least once a week if I lived near it.