Wyldewood43

We have gone to Shanty Creek for the past 4 years...tee it up at Cedar River or the legend! You wont be disappointed. This year we are stopping at Forest Dunes on the way up from Toronto. 3 weeks to go...counting down the days.

Good advice from Straycat...negotiate! We have gotten breakfasts, resort credits, clothing, no resort fees... etc. We have let a resort know what another offers and give them a chance to do better...most want to get you there and will do something for your business!

We stay @ Shanty Creek a nd play the following; Day 1:Legend and Cedar River (arrival) Day 2:Schuss and Legend Day 3; Cedar River and Legend (depart) We get a package with 2 X 2 bedroom condos with 4 beds, 2 baths and a kitchen in each condo. Nothing overly fancy...just the basics! The reservations office does an awesome job working out pricing for various days and number of rounds. Arriving around early-mid September (11th I think this year) and the weather is usually great and the courses are in even better shape! Package pricing is unbelievable and you could always drop the the Day 1 rounds and arrange on your own to hit Arcadia on the way up. We have been to Turning Stone,NY, Myrtle Beach, Florida, Muskoka, Ontario and Treetops. We have also played a few others in Michigan as well. We have gotten quotes from a number of places each and every year but resorts seem the way to go. The experience at Shanty Creek (courses, lodging,friendly staff and free shuttle bus to Bellaire) has us returning for a third visit again this year...worth the 5 and 1/2 hour drive from Toronto, Ontario! Another valuable tip is to check out the "two guys who golf" website as well. Good luck!!

Seems a little cold that time of year. If you are heading north try Shanty Creek. We have made two trips there and plan on returning for our third annual this year. The Legend and Cedar River courses are great and you can play Schuss as well. Stay in the main village and shuttle in to Bellaire for dinner and drinks!

Played Threetops as well...pretty hard to pick a favorite out of those 9. It was a unique experience and a great way to end four great days of golf in Northern Michigan!

#6 on Jones Masterpiece @ Treetops Resor t in Gaylord MI. Even better in the fall when the leaves are changing!

Are there any good resorts in Ohio (54 or more holes) with on-site lodging that anyone can recommend?

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...will check it out!!!

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.

Have been to both Shanty Creek and Treetops...now looking at another destination for early September 2013. Want to play great courses with little or no driving required once the group checks in. Will look into all suggestions!

Treetops Masterpiece is my favourite RTJ but I am more of a Fazio fan!

Sorry should have said New Course above...was reading the Old part in the post above it and it stuck in my head!

Played all three at Ginn Reunion and also played the Old Course twice last summer as well. Was alot easier the second time around when we had an idea of where the fairways were...I would recommend the Old Course anyday.