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I have a love hate relationship with this course. It’s in immaculate condition even though it gets lots of okay, the setting is fantastic and many holes have fatatic views of Lake Michigan.
As far as the course, I absoloutely love the front 9. Not as many majestic views as the back 9 but the holes are much more interesting. Some difficult some a little easier but all are solveable if you hit the right shots. I really like the big down hill par 5s (3 and 5). They both have lots of trouble but if you put your ball in right spot you’ll have a good chance at a birdie. I also love #8 a steep uphill dog leg right Par 4 with a caverness bunker protecting the green.

The back 9 is the real money maker as far as spectacular vistas and views of the lake. But I hated many of the holes. Starting off on #10, a long par 4 with a blind tee shot that leaves a long iron approach from a generally down hill lie to an elevated narrow redan style green that slopes away. I just couldn’t figure out a way to solve it except to maybe drive it 50 yards farther in order to get a short iron in my hand. #12 is a spectacular hole that runs along the lake. It now has 2 greens but I’ve only ever played to the left green. Unfortunately that green is unholdable with a tail wind (which it has been all 4 times I played) and it drops off steeply off the back side. The last time I played it I was alone an hit about a dozen different shots to try and get a ball to stay on the green. Couldn’t do it, even when landing the ball well short of the green. If you have enough momentum to make it to the green then the steep front to back slope on the right side of the green just carry’s it thru.
#13 is a short downhill par 3 surround by dungeon. Again, straight downwind every time I’ve played and every ball that hits the green rolls straight to the back. #16 is like #10 but on steroids. Plays about 450 steeply down hill and the green slopes steeply away. Again I felt like I was faced with an unsolvable riddle. #17 is a diabolical par 3. 175+ into a headwind every time I played to an incredibly narrow green with no place to escape. A couple times I had to hit 3 wood. Too me it’s just a little bit to penal. I think it would be better suited as a shorter par 3. I don’t mind hard holes but I feel like every hole should have a solution that doesn’t require absolute perfection plus a good dose of luck to solve.

To sum it up, love the front 9, back 9 is spectacular but many of the holes have serious issues for me. I’d still recommend the course as it’s a spectacular setting and experience.

Played in early Nov during a warm spell. Course was nearly empty but they were still working hard to keep it in good shape and keep the leaves out of play. Lots of water and plenty of trees but I never felt hemmed in or like my drives had to be perfect. Greens were in fantastic condition. I expect they are really fast in the summer but they were still a little fast in Nov and ran true. Loved the mix of shorter par 3s. About the only hole I didn’t like was 18, a very long par 4 with water all down the left side and a forced carry almost right up to the green. I’m a low single digit handicap but only drive the ball about 230 or so. On this day it was dead into the wind so standing on the tee I just made the call to treat it like a par 5.

I stopped in for a quick round on my way north to play Arcadia Bluffs. Course was in fantastic condition for early November and the mx staff does a great job of keeping the leaves out of play. The greens had recently been aerated and the sand mixed with the early morning dew made it difficult to really roll the putts very well but the greens looked very well maintained and I imagine roll very good. The course is on a pretty tight piece of property but I thought it was an excellent routing and really didn’t think there were any bad holes. My advice for first time players is to pay attention the hole lay out on the cart GPS screens. 3 times during the round I found myself in a small pond that I didn’t realize was there. They are often not visible until you get right up on them. Strictly my fault for not paying attention.
I will definitely be back again as it’s right off the hwy up to northern Michigan.

I’ve driven past it a couple times and listened to a couple of podcasts about it so I was excited to finally get the chance to play this golden age replica course. However, once I got to play it I would say it just wasn’t for me. The course was in fantastic shape for early November. The conditions were ideal with what I would call light winds for this course (probably 15-20 mph).
What I liked:
Greens ran very smooth and true
Nice wide fairways
Expansive views.
Generally pretty mild slopes on the greens
What I didn’t like:
The combination of elevated , extremely firm greens that ran off an pretty much every side, many with blind approaches. On the down wind holes or holes requiring a long iron or wood on the approach it was almost impossible to hold the greens. You could try and play the ground game but the elevated greens don’t allow a true bump and run and the always windy conditions make it very difficult to judge how far your ball is going to roll. I Had multiple shots run off one of the edges of the green. Then you are left with a chip shot that you have to elevate to get above the green edge that would be next to impossible to stop close to the hole.
Given the opportunity to place this every day and pick up the nuances of playing the ground game to these very tough greens I might learn to love it. But as a play once or twice resort course I just didn’t really enjoy it.

7 handicap and shot an 87. Course was in great condition. The greens were fast and true. I’ll be the first to admit I played the wrong tees. Should have played the whites because the course just destroyed me from the blue tees. Very long approach shots into very well protected greens made for a frustrating day. The over seeded areas were in nice shape but everything else is rock hard so anything that strays just a little is a goner. The par 3s were just stupid long. I hit 3 hybrids an 2 of them, a 3 wood and then a driver. A long par 3 or two is ok. All 4? Lacks imagination and just isn’t a lot of fun. I probably wont play again since there are so many other options in the area for pretty comparable prices.

What a spectacular piece of land with great views of Lake Michigan. A surprising amount of vertical changes throughout the course.
Overall it’s a pretty easy driving course with generous landing areas and some pretty good speed slots if you hit it in the right spots. Your score is made, and lost, on the approach shots though.
I enjoyed the layout of the front 9 much better than the back. You could position yourself off the tee to give yourself some decent approach shots into the greens. Most greens you could see, and if they had multiple tiers you had back stops or funnels you could play to in order to help out.
The back nine, while much more visually spectacular, was a much less enjoyable golf experience. The greens were much less accessible with a lot of uphill shots to mostly blind greens, tiny landing areas, lots of false fronts and many that just wouldn’t hold an approach shot from the distances you were coming in from. With no wind it might be a little fairer but with a stiff breeze, which I assume is the norm, several of the holes were almost unsolvable. And to top it off, when you did miss you were often severely penalized on your next shot. I was hitting the ball really good but on almost every hole on the back 9 I found myself either off the putting surface or 100 ft away. On 18, a blind uphill shot i over clubbed slightly to a back left pin and found myself on the back fringe. Playing back down the hill on a severe slope my chip slowly rolled 90 yards (yes yards) off the front and down the slope. I was so frustrated by that point I just picked up and called it a day.
Staff was great, condition was very good as well for this late in The season. Their November rates have to be the best thing going in Michigan if the weather is decent.
Overall I would say it is a must do for the spectacular scenery but I probably wouldnt go back.and do it again.