Garland Lodge & Golf Resort - Fountains Course

Day 2 of a trip to Garland. Day 1 on Monarch was a disaster. Horrible bunkers and very poor pace of play.
Fountains worth the premium. Fewer players and a reasonable pace. Great greens with multiple pin locations. Bunkers OK but not great; maintenance below average. Enjoyed the views from many elevated tees.

Fountains is such a nice course! The course tends to stay a little wetter than the others, but it is also the newest course. So perhaps it just needs a bit more time to settle in. But, the conditions are great other than that. More elevation change than Monarch or Swampfire. I have trouble deciding between Fountains and Monarch as my favorite at Garland.

Took nearly 5 hours to get our round in - groups were stacked up like cord wood in the morning. Waiting to play every shot become burdensome and easier to get out of rhythm. Contrasted to our afternoon round on Reflections which took the same 3 of us 3 hours and 23 minutes to play.

Our first course to play for our weekend (Friday afternoon); traps were being updated so we were urged to play pick up, rake and place balls back in the bunker - no issues. Condition of fairways and greens: outstanding.

The course was great except for the bunkers which had grass growing in them which means they don't ever get groomed by the grounds keepers. They also had lots of pebbles and stones in them. These bunkers are an embarrassment to an otherwise nice facility and course.
We will not be back...too many nice courses in Michigan who actually maintain the bunkers!!!!!

It was the 3rd course we played in our mini excursion and my least favorite in terms of the general condition of the course.The tee boxes and fairways more chewed up than the other 2 we played, which were pristine.

Every year for the past 5 years myself and 11 friends get together for an annual golf trip. This year we decided to go to Garland Golf Resort! We got a sweet stay and play package which included 4 rounds of golf, 2 breakfast buffet vouchers, free range balls and 2 night stay in their cabins. Kelly Corbin helped us with our package and she did a great job!

Pros:
- All 4 courses are from 1 pro shop. This allows you to stay at your cabin and walk over to the tee box. No driving!
- Great breakfast buffet!
- Very nice cabins, lots of fun if you have a group of friends in neighboring cabins.
- Great practice facility
- Complete resort with lots of ammenities

Cons:
- We did have an issue with slow play on our Saturday round where it was running past 5 1/2 hours through 15 holes. I can't complain too much on this issue because as soon as we brought our issue up to management they were on it and fixed it. We even had a chance to speak to the President of Garland and he was absolutely wonderful in addressing our issues. We realized that they do care about golfers/customers and if we have any problems that they are going to do what they can to make it better and make us want to come back.
- During evening dinner, they looked to be a bit understaffed so service was a bit slow.
- Not all cabins had microwaves
- NO GOLF CHANNEL ON THE TV!

Overall, we had an excellent time. Courses were in great shape, greens rolled excellent. Lot's of blind shots, short par 4s/5s that force you to have to make a strategy shot. Can't just smoke a drive and think that you are going to be siting pretty. Everything we excepted with playing up north courses. If you book with Garland, ask for Kelly Corbin she provided us with excellent service and follow up.

Great course at Garland. Very playable, challenging at times on a few holes. Greens were a bit inconsistent but very playable.

Lots of mosquitoes bring some bug spray. Bunkers need a bit of work.

Great experience! All four courses there are awesome. All unique in their own way. We stayed at one of the cottages and it was very clean and nice. We will be back for sure.

Nothing to complain about. Great place and value.
4 courses on property, all very good.
wonderful. going back

I played this course at the end of August. It was an overcast day, but an otherwise perfect day for golf.

We had a late tee time to catch the "bargain" twilight rate of $60, but not so late that we were surprised to find that there was almost nobody else on the course. So pace was perfect, nobody behind us so we were able to play a mulligan or two (or seven) when needed. Nobody in front of us either, so we didn't have to wait at the tee box at all.

The disappointment really stems from two things: the lack of professionalism in the staff and the course maintenance. We were greeted by a less-than-zealous teenage girl who couldn't muster a smile when we checked in, followed by several 'cart boys' or whatever that didn't seem to notice us waiting for a cart for what seemed like forever. Finally spoke up and they barely spoke a word as they reluctantly got a cart ready for us.

Once we were on the course, the greens, teeboxes, and fairways were not kept like one would expect for an $85/round course. It was serviceable for the cheap public courses I normally play in Metro-Detroit, but not what I'd expect for a course held in such high regard. Sure, the scenery was nice, but that was just matter of circumstance due to the course's location.

All-in-all, a beautiful location with subpar maintenance made this a disappointing trip.

As always, Garland takes great care of their courses. There was virtually no one on the course and got a GolfNow rate of $25 per person. It was a steal! The bad news is that apparently the well went bad at the lodge, so everyone had to leave. No restaurant, bar, etc. Hearing rumors in the area of another bankruptcy looming that would almost certainly doom this beautiful facility. Highly recommend any of these courses.

Garland is nice and always has been. However, the new people have driven the prices out of site and I don't know why. The ONLY sensible way to play here is through this website. Even if you have money and can afford to play anywhere, you would be foolish to play Garland for full price. It's sad because we have played here for 30 years and we love it. Our only option is to wait for deals on golfnow. I hope the snobs are enjoying the quiet....

Garland is a great facility for large group outings. We have a cottage in the area and I finally found an upscale course worth playing in the area. We played fast and didn't have to wait for other groups. Great day of golf!

Course was in excellent condition, but... no ball washers anywhere, very limited water on course, new carts