Stoatin Brae at Gull Lake View Golf Club and Resort

I brought a group of six friends out that hadn’t played the course. After our 4 1/2 hour round we meet in the restaurant (Blue Stem) to swap stories. My friends told me they loved the course and couldn’t wait to play it again next year. The also thought the Bunker (halfway house) was the best thing they had ever seen on a golf course. Overall it was a great day to play with friends and finish out the 2019 season.

Stoatin has some incredible architecture for a pretty good value. It's very walkable and the routing makes a lot of sense as you're playing. The stretch from 10-15 is one of the best collections of holes I've ever played. The land on that portion of the property is outstanding. These holes don't take away from the ones rounted on the flatter section of the property. Visual deception, bunkering, tall heather, and demanding greens make those holes a blast to play. Renaissance did a great job with this course. The reason this is not a 5-star course to me is the conditioning. I believe if Stoatin Brae played firm and fast, it would be, without question, one of the best in Michigan. When I played, it was rather soft and the fairways were pretty grown out. I can tell it was designed for more of a ground game approach, but that just doesn't work as well as you need it to. By all means, get to Stoatin as fast as you can. I just think it can be even better.

Disregard some of the early reviews for Stoatin Brae, this course has grown into itself and will continue to get better with each passing year. Played an early morning round a few weeks ago at Stoatin Brae and could not have been more impressed with the quality of this course. From the friendly, welcoming gentleman in the pro shop, to the impeccable course conditioning, to the challenging but fair and fun layout, and the best views in the area - this course is an absolute must play if you’re in the area. The front opens up and gently eases you into the round, allowing you to get a feel for the course and the conditions. Once you make the turn you’ll feel like you’re in a whole new world of dramatic elevation changes and undulation that makes finding a level lie a challenge. Get out and play this course while it’s still under the radar. I’ve played most of the top public courses in the state, and Stoatin Brae is every bit as good and it would not surprise me at all to start seeing it on some of the “best of” lists soon.

Great course. Greens were not tricked up, but a few of the pin positions were diffulcul

Lovely course in a lovely location. Very tough, but fair. Rough can be punishing, so accuracy over distance is key.

Great track. Forces you to think about your shots. Keep the ball in play and out of the high grass and you can score. Hit them straight out there.

Played this course for the first time last weekend and it was awesome. It did play tight from the blacks and when I play it again I would be prepared for less than driver from most tees. Loved the small, undulating, tortoise shell greens. Very Donald Ross esque. They all putted fast and true. Not a pimple on the greens. The fairways were extremely nice and hard (rare for this region) which really allowed one to use the bounce on the club and avoid digging when trying to generate spin. Only negative is the price. We played at peak time on a weekend do the $94 loop was a bit much. Next time will get up earlier to take advantage of the discounted rates. It’s made my regular course rotation and I highly recommend it to others..

As recent years have taught us, less is more when it comes to golf course design. And Tom Doak's Renaissance Golf Design associates absolutely nailed their design of Stoatin Brae, which uses the natural terrain, rather than extemporaneous shaping, to create compelling golf.Firm turf, generous corridors and sneaky greens all provide a challenge that delights any golfer.

Everything was perfect, but when booking through GN range balls were included in price. But we had to pay for range balls at course.

Challenging! Bring extra balls, grass very thick and can lose a ball a foot off the fairway!. Beautiful setting, greens were awesome and the fairways were tight!

Arrived at the Stoatin Brae golf course early morning on a Monday. Staff were happy to see us and quickly had us loaded up and ready to go. Range facility was decent and offered a great elevated view of the surrounding countryside as you warmed up. The course was in great shape and found to have some diabolical green complexes. Greens ran smooth and were a reasonable speed. Do not believe that they can get the greens much past 11 stimp as they would severely limit usable pin locations.
Layout was exceptional (Renaissance design comp- Tom Doak influence) with very generous landing areas from the tee boxes. I would compare it to Arcadia South (without the immaculate conditioning). Do not hesitate to go play now as I can see rates skyrocketing as soon as it gets polished and popular. You will not be disappointed!

Beautiful course, wide open but looks tighter than it is. Can be tough on a windy day. Not many on the course so pace of play was good. Playing early in the season makes it easier to play (before the grass grows tall).

Greens were very undulating which is probably why they weren’t very quick. Plenty of fairway but they were a little long as well. Bunkers had decent sand. First time here. Maybe expected more for highest dollar green fees in the immediate area.

Great course and great staff. Definitely going to be going back again before the summer is over

This course is really starting to show its true challenge. In five years this course will be the best course and challenge in Southwest Michigan. Easily already a top 10 course in the state as far as public access, for the money this course can’t be touched. They are adding the driving range now which is a must. I will have no problem driving from Chicago to play 36 for have the price of sand valley in Wisconsin. The best part of this course so far is the turf. Closest thing to this grass is The Loop and Whistling Straits when it first opened before they softened it up for PGA and now future Ryder Cup. This is a must play !!

New course about 2 years old. Wide fairways. Course lacked a defining trait. Greens immature and bumpy. Would only play at discounted rate.