The Black Forest at Wilderness Valley Golf Resort
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Rating Snapshot
About
Editor's Note: Course closed for business in 2018.
The Black Forest Course at Wilderness Valley boasts one of the most challenging layouts in northern Michigan. It is one of two championship golf courses at the Wilderness Valley Resort. Black Forest is the more challenging of the two, featuring greens that will test even the most seasoned golfers. The course tumbles across rolling hills that provide a variety of elevation changes ranging from subtle to dramatic. There are also a slew of strategically placed bunkers along the undulating greens. Accuracy on both your tee shots and approaches is essential throughout. Its sister golf course, Wilderness Valley, is a nice complement since it offers the same terrain but with a more playable character. It's an alternative option for high handicappers who aren't ready for the intimidating Black Forest Course.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 73 | 7044 yards | 74.3 | 147 |
| Blue | 73 | 6688 yards | 72.8 | 143 |
| White | 73 | 6097 yards | 70.1 | 127 |
| Forest | 73 | 5298 yards | 66.0 | 111 |
| Red (W) | 73 | 4556 yards | 67.2 | 119 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 74.3/147 | 524 | 443 | 374 | 409 | 238 | 371 | 559 | 166 | 365 | 3449 | 547 | 432 | 197 | 364 | 451 | 159 | 504 | 441 | 500 | 3595 | 7044 |
| Blue M: 72.8/143 | 519 | 440 | 344 | 390 | 230 | 360 | 550 | 145 | 345 | 3323 | 532 | 395 | 189 | 354 | 385 | 139 | 471 | 410 | 490 | 3365 | 6688 |
| White M: 70.1/127 | 472 | 415 | 320 | 368 | 215 | 335 | 471 | 133 | 312 | 3041 | 460 | 384 | 156 | 320 | 340 | 120 | 450 | 371 | 455 | 3056 | 6097 |
| Forest M: 66.0/111 | 432 | 367 | 262 | 329 | 115 | 234 | 409 | 113 | 265 | 2526 | 421 | 333 | 152 | 299 | 340 | 107 | 392 | 328 | 400 | 2772 | 5298 |
| Red W: 67.2/119 | 313 | 184 | 262 | 202 | 115 | 234 | 409 | 97 | 265 | 2081 | 421 | 229 | 148 | 240 | 210 | 107 | 392 | 328 | 400 | 2475 | 4556 |
| Handicap | 5 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 12 | |||
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 37 | 73 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 8 |
Course Details
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RestaurantAvailable Facilities
ClubhouseReviews
Reviewer Photos
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First "Green" Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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nice cart tracks Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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putting thru Anthills Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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right side of 6th green Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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17th a new way to vet a trap Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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get me off of here!! 18th Photo submitted by HOTSPOTTS on 06/12/2018
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No 10 white tee box Photo submitted by cwilson43235 on 08/16/2016
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No 1 green to fairway Photo submitted by cwilson43235 on 08/16/2016
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No 4 par 3 back tee Photo submitted by cwilson43235 on 08/16/2016
Beware of Black Forest
I have played Black Forest a few years ago. It truly was one of my favorite courses in the Gaylord Area. I saw the negative post on Golfnow and Golf Advisor but we purchase a voucher at the beginning of the year so we had to play. I figured waiting to the end of the year and hope for better conditions. This was not the case. The fairways are horrible. The skunks are tearing the fairways up. Live traps in the middle of the fairways. The greens in most cases are un-puttable. If there was a pin location sheet this couldn’t be used as in some cases there was only one location to put the cup. As the rest of the green was a mess. The bunkers were more like a hole in the earth. No sand just rocks. I hope this course gets sold to somebody that can bring it back to the play and conditions of years past. And as for the posts that gave this course 5 stars, this is so far from the truth. (all posted on the same date)
Beautiful Northern Michigan Course
We had a great time golfing at this challenging Tom Doak course. Absolutely beautiful, authentic setting! Great day!
Thank you so much for the great review - the setting is really unparalleled in it's beauty! We sure hope to have you back for a round this coming season!
Bad news
Course is in bad shape We will not be playing it again
We're sorry to hear that. We know conditions are not perfect, but we've worked tirelessly to repair the course this season from damage done in 2015, we've invested heavily in in reparations, and we have seen tremendous improvements. We hope you'll reconsider and give us another round in the future to see these improvements since your trip.
Terrible Condition
This course is in terrible shape. The fairways and greens are almost unplayable. I don't know what course the people that gave 4 and 5 reviews were playing.
We think that a lot of those higher reviews might be from frequent players, locals, or members who have seen the journey we've had in 2016. We spent the season repairing disease and damage from 2015 and have made improvements in leaps and bounds. We hope you'll give us another chance in the future.
Cow pasture
Our group plays twice a week all over northern Michigan and this was always a must play course. However, in a matter of 3 years the owners of this course have taken it from a beautiful, well groomed, tough test of golf to a cow pasture. The greens are full of weeds, fungus and large bare spots. Number 2 green has 2 large ruts that they have not repaired. The fairways look like their mowers are broken. Large bare patches, weeds and unmowed areas. Same for the tee boxes. Bunkers had not been raked in a while and were mostly unplayable because of the stones. What was once a great course is now on its last legs. If you can play it for free it's still a waste of your time.
We're sorry to hear you were so disappointed with the conditions. We've spent our season working to fix damage and disease from last year and continue to make strides in improvements. We hope your group will give us another chance as we KNOW you will see these improvements after your outing. Thank you for the feedback, we can assure you we will continue to put in the work.
Gcw
We played this course because of the golf magazine recommendation. They must have played it years ago, course and greens in terrible condition. Pace of play was great, nobody else was on the course, they had got the memo to avoid! The course appears to be on its last leg. Had we known what we were getting we would have avoided. Golf now should take it off their list.
The course may have been close to its "last leg" at the end of 2015. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to bring conditions back up from damage and disease, and if you could only see how far we've come you'd be amazed. We know that there is still more work to be done and we are committed to doing it. We're sorry to hear you were so disappointed, but we hope that you would give us another chance in the future in order to see the improvements for yourself.
Black Forest
I have played this course multiple times, have a cottage in Gaylord so it's a home course. Absolutely love this course, the staff is amazing and extremely friendly. You really get to know these people who work the course, and they are trying their hardest to bring it back into shape. Having trouble keep up the course but they are doing everything they can! This is an amazing challenging course and would pay anytime to come back. Can't wait to get back there and play again! I would recommend this course to everyone I know, beautiful challenging course for a great round.
We really do think we have a beautiful, challenging, one-of-a-kind track, and we than you for sharing your kind review. Damage from 2015 has really taken the better part of our whole year to repair, but if people only knew HOW MUCH WORK we've put in and HOW FAR WE'VE COME -- it's amazing. We will continue to put in the work and have every intention of improving conditions to their normal, pristine standard. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support, as the work would not be worth the while without loyal friends, members, family & golfers like you. Thank you again.
Great layout for the price.
We have played this course many times as a large group. The staff was very friendly and handled our party without a hickup. The course is a challenging one, with fairway bunkers strategically placed. Just enough water to keep you alert. We saw wild turkey as well as deer during our round. Beautiful scenery and nice elevation changes. Great layout for the price.
Thanks so much for taking the time to review our course. We're so glad to hear you and your group were pleased with your outing and hope to have you all back again soon!
Beautiful course
Black forest is a beautiful and challenging course.
Thank you for the review and player tip! Hope to have you back soon.
Great staff
They seem to be working very hard to improve the course, and get it back to where it was a couple of years ago. It's a beautiful location, and I've enjoyed playing there over the years.
The staff was, and always is, very helpful and friendly.. Particularly David Smith and Lorraine. We had 40 golfers, and despite heavy rain all morning, they had all the carts clean and ready to go.
We so appreciate your kind words here, Lhays. We have been working diligently to get the course back to it's normal conditions an it has been an uphill climb. We have every intention of repairing the damage from the past year and we can't thank you enough for your continued support.
Black Forest
Fun course in the woods. Carts were ready to go in the morning. Friendly staff.
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback, MizunoGolfer! We're working hard and really appreciate your kind words. Hope to have you back soon!
Group Outing
Really friendly staff > very attentive to all golfers. Black Forest is very challenging but fair - know your ability and play the right tee's!
Nice Shot!
I enjoyed the beauty, maintained fair ways/greens and the layout of the entire course, which is out in the middle of the woods. September Golf would be gorgeous! I thought the staff was well organized and offered great service. I will go back again.
Thank you so much for the great review. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the course and staff. Can't wait to have you back, thanks again for your support!
Outing
We had a big group (40 golfers) and we all enjoyed the day. Staff was very accommodating.
Never saw another group due to being cut out of the woods. Bring some balls if you aren't reasonably straight.
Thanks for sharing your experience! We truly appreciate your positive review and are happy we met your expectations in accommodating your group! Hope to have you back on the course again soon.
It has changed since last time I played it.
I played this course about 7 years ago. The layout is great and worth playing just for that purpose alone. The issue I see is that the course needs work to bring it back to the excellence it used to be. The tee boxes and especially the greens need to be mowed. All of the greens were wet (played from 8:30am to about noon and they were still wet) and slow as they needed mowing. The sand traps needed more sand and had some rocks. I really like this course and when I had one opportunity to play this was my 1st choice. I will golf this course again but probably going to be my 2nd or 3rd choice now.
Don't waste your money
Good layout but terrible condition.
Great deal fot the money
Have golfed here a number of times and the staff has always gone out of there way to accommodate us. They appreciate our business.
We certainly do appreciate your business! We've put so much work into getting the course to100%, and cannot thank you enough for playing and for sharing your positive experience. We hold our staff to a very high level of customer service, and are so glad to hear of your satisfaction. Hope to have you back again soon!
Best deal in Gaylord
All you can golf at two courses (Wilderness Valley, and Black Forest) and a steak dinner for $75.00. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. You won't find a more up north course then Black Forest
Thank you so much for sharing, Dan. It's so appreciated! We can't wait to have you back!
Interesting course!
Enjoyed the round. Was different compared to open field golf. Difficult for new golfers or golfers who struggle with narrow chutes.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! We pride ourselves on the challenge of our unique and challenging round at Black Forest. We hope to have you back! Thanks again.
Black Forest (Maybe Bleak Forest)
DO NOT PLAY THIS COURSE ! I REPEAT DO NOT PLAY THIS COURSE. This course was once a Beautiful Course. Now I would not play it if it was FREE. It is so bad you could not pay me to play it. Now I know why my son and I were the only people on the course. The course is so bad I would not know where to begin . So I WONT. All I can say is this course is LIGHT YEARS AWAY from being the course it once was. I repeat save your money and play the many great courses in the area. This just is not one of them.
We're truly disappointed to hear your review. From the sound of it, you've played at Black Forest before. I can tell you that this season has been hard for everyone, but we've put SO much work into getting it back. We really hope that you will give us another shot, as conditions continue to improve (tremendously, as of mid-August) and ours is the most challenging, interesting course you can find around. Thank you for sharing your feedback, we hope you'll give us another chance in the future.
The Loon Golf Resort Stay & Play Package
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SentryWorld Stay & Play Package
We're sorry to hear you were disappointed with your round. We worked so hard this season to get the conditions back, but even with improvements we realize it's not up to every golfer's standards. We will continue to put in work prepping for next Spring and a stronger 2017. We're glad to hear that you have seen these courses thrive in the past -- my Grandfather built the Valley course in the early 70's and this year marked my 37th season as owner. We have had ups and downs but will continue to seek improvement. Thank you for the feedback, we hope you'll give us another shot next season.