Best courses in Gaylord MI and Treetop Resort?

Hello Everyone,

I am planning a trip to Gaylord MI.  I have a group of 12 golfers that have never be to the area before.  Could anyone advise which courses are the best in Gaylord and also which courses are the best at the treetop resort.

Made the trip to Treetops back in September 2011 and you won`t be disappointed!!  We stayed in condos on the North part of the resort and the only drawback was the drive to the main property and into Gaylord to eat!

My group felt that the Fazio course was easily the best followed by the Jones Masterpiece.  We were not big fans of the two Smith courses, especially the Tradition...I would have played the Fazio again instead!

Threetops was fun, mostly due to it`s uniqueness and extreme elevation changes.  Make sure to get it included in your package or else it is way too overpriced! Nine holes on a par three go pretty quick so plan your days accordingly.

We lucked out and Treetops honored their promise to us that we would receive any better pricing at time of check-in. We  saved close to $130.00 per golfer off the quoted package price that we made our deposits on!!  That`s a lot of extra beer money that we put to good use.

We did not play any off-resort courses but I have heard lots of good things about Gaylord Golf.

We are actually staying in a rented home called the eagles nest from Pine-cone Accommodations.  We have planned to play the following courses.

Day 1 - Tribute

Day 2 -  Treetop Resort (Course Not decided)

Day 3 -   Black Lake (2)

Day 4 -  The Natural

I have heard nothing but good things about the par 3 course.  However $50 for nine holes seems a bit pricey.  Is it really worth that much money.

Wood43 do know if they offer a replay rate at treetop?

I have heard great things about Black Lake too.

We stayed at Treetops and played the following:

DAY 1 -very early drive to Sarnia G&CC; (Ontario) and then travel up to Gaylord

DAY 2-Fazio and Smith Signature

DAY 3-Jones Masterpiece and Smith Tradition (our whole group really wished we had played Fazio again instead)

DAY4-Threetops and departure.

As far as Treetops goes if you want to play the course that the resort was named after and their signature hole, you would have to play the Masterpiece.

5+ hour ride back to Burlington, Ontario for us so we stayed on site to avoid extra driving each day!  Pine cone gave us some great pricing too but we opted for one resort only.

At  $50.00+ for 9 Par 3's  I would look at something other than Threetops. Its more about the novelty and experience...kind of like playing Bigwin Island.  If you plan on driving all that way I would look into something on the way to Gaylord or going out of your way to play Arcadia Bluffs ($$$$$ but worth every penny!)

I have no idea about replay rates. We booked as a package with breakfast, rooms, golf, carts, taxes  and resort fees included. We played in early September (Thurs-Sun) and the courses (except for Smith tradition) were packed all weekend.

Thanks for the help.  I hope the other courses are good as well.

Threetops is worth the money. It's a very cool course. Of the 4 18 hole Treetops courses I would rate the Fazio and Smith Signature equally with the Jones Masterpiece next and the Smith Tradition last. All are fine courses. I've played The Natural although it's been a very long time. I would absolutely recommend taking the time to drive to Roscommon to play Forest Dunes. it's by far the bet course in the area. Also, just south of Gaylord is Tom Doak's Black Forest course which is great but can be quite difficult if you play the wrong set of tees. Wild greens and bunkers.