Grand Traverse Resort & Spa - The Bear Course

Normally I like the Resort courses but once in awhile the slow play gets bad, real bad but some rangers help move folks along but not this weekend. It took over 3 hours to play nine holes and no help from the ranger! Not sure if they are over booking or what but because of that ridiculous slow play I had to leave after nine holes because I would have never finished in the 5+ hours a allowed, which by the way has never, ever taken that long! A group or two guys that were behind us also left after nine and there was more behind us. I paid too much money to only be able to play nine holes!

The staff there was fantastic. Especially Lenny! Friendly and very helpful! The course played well even though they had quite a bit of rain. Only suggestion is they need some closer women’s tees. A little long for my wife.

The golf course lived up to the hype of being very difficult, especially in the green complexes. If you don’t hit it to the right section of the green or, worse, if you miss the green in one of the cavernous bunkers, you will pay a price.

I played as a single behind another single. We played in about 4.5 hours, but there was no attempt on the part of the course rangers to ask the two foursomes in front of us to let us through, because they were “on time.” I get that, but I could have played in 3-3.5 hours otherwise. It wasn’t bad, but it could and should have been better.

Jack and his team did a nice job with the layout and overall course design. Several holes played either uphill or downhill, but never too severe. The small undulating greens are fairly typical for a Nicklas tract, which adds to the overall challenge.
The staff at the check-in counter could use some coaching pertaining to customer service, but other then that, I highly recommend this course as a must play when in the Traverse City area.

Course was in great condition but do not recommend for average golfers due to layout and difficulty.

The greens were lighting fast!

Tough but fair. Put the ball in play and you can have a reasonable score, make a mistake and you’ll pay. The course and surrounding areas are beautiful and interesting. Play here iif you’re visiting Traverse City.

Not very well marked for a public course. I hit the best drive of the day only to have it run out into the hazard since there was no indication as to how far it was to the hazard.

My wife played with me and this cousre is very unfair to women. Many of the forced carries are to long for the average female golfer.

This cousre has four men's tees and no real women's tees.

My wife bailed after 9, a single joined me ND he filed on hole 12. On 13 I had two other groups still waiting to hit. I called the pro shop, the ranger said it was all booked. There exists no excuse for expecting someone to have round that exceeds 5 hours. The course layout and condition were not able to offset my EXTREME DISSAPPOINTMENT.

Easy to hit fairways but hard to hit greens. Played on a wet windy day and had to hit 2-3 clubs up on certain holes. Challenging bunkers around the greens. Lots of mounds around the greens and on the sides of fairways. Course was in excellent condition. Round went fast. Lots of carry over water to small greens. Lots of levels to the greens. Super smooth cart paths, but shocking that there was no GPS in the carts at $120/round. Water refill stations were empty - but the drink cart would sell you water bottles. Played comparable courses for half price outside of resorts. Range balls before the round were not included.

Course was in great condition never seen it better looking than this summer. I had a bonus. The greens were fast typically they are slow for my liking, but this year they were lightning.

The course was in very good condition especially since the season just started here. It is a very difficult course and pretty long. It was cold and very windy which makes the course even harder!