Betsie Valley at Crystal Mountain Resort

Depending on your perspective – or favorite season – Crystal Mountain is either a ski resort with 59 well-groomed downhill runs or a golf resort with 36 holes of championship golf. Yet, regardless of the season, it’s one of Northern Michigan’s best resorts.

Crystal Mountain has the most unique history of any resort I have ever written about. It began as a school project when a geography teacher at Benzonia High School tasked his students to find the best place in Benzie County, MI to start a ski area. After much research and debate the class determined the Buck Hills Range offered the best combination of terrain and snowfall.

The Buck Hills Ski Area became a reality in 1956 with a rope tow powered by an old pick-up truck engine and a warming hut built with donated lumber. In 1960, Buck Hills became Crystal Mountain Resort when it was purchased by 96 shareholders, many of whom had homes nearby. The new owners made many substantial upgrades including a new lodge with dining and 21 rooms for overnight guests.

By 1966, ownership had dwindled to a small handful of owners who realized that the best way for the resort to be profitable was to make it a year-round destination. Fast forward to 1981 and sole ownership of Crystal Mountain came down to the flip of a coin between George Petritz and Robert Meyer. Crystal Mountain has been owned by the Petritz family ever since.

Golf entered the equation at Crystal Mountain in 1977 with the opening of the Betsie Valley golf course. Mountain Ridge followed in 1995. Both Betsie Valley and Mountain Ridge have received the prestigious 4-star rating from Golf Digest Magazine and are members of America's Summer Golf Capital, a collection of resort properties that feature 26 golf courses across northern Michigan. Both courses play out of the same clubhouse, which features a well-stocked pro shop, The Thistle restaurant and bar, and an outdoor patio complete with a bar, grill, and oftentimes live music.

Before your round, be sure to visit Crystal Mountain’s 10-acre learning center and practice facility. You’ll find a targeted grass range, along with a short game area featuring chipping and putting greens complete with sand bunkers for practicing. Everything you need for a quick tune-up before heading to the first tee! The Learning Center is also home to Crystal Mountain Golf School, which has been recognized as one of the best golf schools by Golf Digest. They feature a variety of single or multi-day lesson options including private, group, women-only, and juniors.

Since opening in 1977, the Betsie Valley course has received many upgrades, most recently from the summer of 2021 to the spring of 2022. Renovations included widening the fairways, building new tee boxes, a forestry management project to clear out brush, redesigned cart paths, and more. Even with all of these changes, the course still retains its original character and is now more playable than ever before.

Betsie Valley is spread across the rolling terrain which is blanketed in mature forests of pine and hardwoods. Water comes into play on several holes, and although there are only a few bunkers on the entire course, the majority of golfers tend to find at least one during their rounds. The tight, tree-lined fairways are often accented with wildflowers and lead to small, severely sloped greens making Betsie Valley is more of a shot-maker’s course. Golfers are welcome to walk or ride the course.

Both nines start with short but challenging par fives. The first hole plays 462 yards with water on either side of the landing area off the tee, so accuracy is required right off the bat. It’s a double dogleg and requires three good shots in a row to get on the green. Most players will opt to layup rather than try to get on in two as the fairway gets very narrow the closer you get to the green. The green is guarded by water on the right and fescue grass to the left.

Remember those “few bunkers” I mentioned? Two of them are located just right of the 7th green, which is bad news for most golfers. It’s a short, 129-yard par 3 with a narrow approach that feeds errant tee shots right of the green and into those bunkers!

You may think that the 10th hole is a short par 5, at only 444 yards, but as you stand on the tee box studying the dramatic uphill nature of the hole, all of a sudden 444 yards isn’t short anymore! In fact, it may play up to 75 yards longer! It’s a dogleg right that just seems to keep on turning, and with trees lining both sides of the fairway, it emphasizes shot control over distance.

When it comes to accommodations, Crystal Mountain has the widest variety of any golf or ski resort—everything from hotel-style rooms that sleep two or four guests to mountainside homes that sleep up to 14. There are bungalows and cottages to choose from; all are equipped with everything you’ll need during your visit and, if you need something, just ask. They have the politest staff I have ever met. Visit the website for a complete rundown of everything they offer, including a long list of houseguest perks.

Crystal Mountain offers several dining alternatives from pizza and subs at Betsie River Pizza to casual fine dining at The Thistle. As its name implies, this Scottish-themed venue has something for everyone. It’s best described as come-as-you-are fine dining. The menu is eclectic with everything from burgers and fries to Cornish hen and rack of lamb. Breakfast is served daily at the Wild Tomato with just about any breakfast food you can think of. They also serve lunch and dinner. During the winter, Wild Tomato adds several “igloos” to their property where you can enjoy a cocktail and shareables outside under the twinkling lights of the Michigan sky.

Most of the front 9 is nothing special other than a hole or 3 that were beautiful. I started to feel as if i wasted my time and $ playing the round. However 10 tee surprised me with its immediate uphill elevation / tee shot. The back 9 is beautiful and true Northern Michigan golf. The back 9 definitely saved the day and makes the course worth what I paid. Glad I played it.

The golf experience on Betsie Valley has always been considered a step down from Mountain Ridge. The gap is closing with a renovation that is altering several holes, opening up corridors and making them more playable. With fewer trees, conditions should improve.
On the day I played, several holes had temporary greens, but you could see the potential. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Staff was great and the course was beautiful. Working on making updates to a few holes and I can't wait to return to see the results!

This is an unattractive course, and in worse overall condition than most municipal tracks I have played. Most of the residential property that surrounds the course is under heavy construction…which I get…it has to be done sometime…but construction aside, this course is still not worth your money.

This is a pretty average resort golf course. The pace of play is usually slow due to the lower cost, meaning the less-skilled players usually choose it over its higher-priced sibling. The greens are nice, but some of the other conditioning is a little lackluster. It's a somewhat challenging track in a few places due to the protected greens, but an average player should be able to score pretty well here. You'll have fun if you play Betsie Valley. It's certainly not a bad course, but it's just dwarfed by how good Mountain Ridge is. It's just a shame it always has to be compared to a much better course.

Crystal Mountain may fly a little under the radar when golfers are looking at northern Michigan's Top 100-rated golf courses. But families in the Midwest know Crystal Mountain very well. This is one of the best outdoor family getaways up here, and the golf product is quite serviceable as well.

The Mountain Ridge course is the newer of the two courses here, designed by Michigan architect William Newcomb, and is a very pleasant and wooded play that can be a great challenge from the back sets of tees. Though considering we played nearby Arcadia Bluffs the day before, we certainly appreciated the more mellow fairways. The course couldn't have been in better condition and endless pines lining each hole, plus some nice elevated tee shots like the par-3 5th, make it a really fun round.

The onsite Kinlochen, a small, Scottish-inspired lodge with multi-room units and a nice bar and patio, is a great touch.

Very challenging and well kept track . The first hole is a double dog leg so definitely bring extra sleeves of balls if you do not hit it straight. Greens are excellent & fairways are well manicured.. Elevation changes are abundant & the views are magnificent of the Northern Michigan landscape! !

The greens were consistent and in beautiful shape. The tee boxes were nicely manicured. It was a very enjoyable course to play.

Very nice course, however a little pricey. Too many nice courses in area to be priced that high.

Booked tee time last minute with my son on Golfnow.com. $18 per player w/cart each at 4 pm! It was a slow Tuesday so we finished undisturbed in 3 hours! Course in great shape, greens were true but quick. Pay attention to the course signs to the next tee, as it winds through forest. A true Up North golf experience.

Mountain Ridge is the fancier of the two Crystal Mountain courses. Guy working the pro shop was not very cordial. Kid working the carts outside was quite friendly and helpful.
Course was extremely well maintained - fairways and greens in excellent shape. Lots of wildlife on the course. Even though the course is called Mountain Ridge, for the most part it is quite a flat layout. From the whites, it is of moderate length and difficulty. Fairway traps are well placed to force you to keep tee shots in the fairways.
This is not a walking course. Many holes have quite a drive to reach the next tee.
It is a nice course, but there are a lot of nice courses in northern Michigan. I feel the normal green fees are excessive for the Mountain Ridge course, which may help explain why the course was pretty deserted on a beautiful Wednesday summer afternoon.

The tee box's are all beat up and they only have ball washers on every other hole and no towels hanging on them! Almost all the tee boxes were beat up!

Everything was perfect.....weather, course, staff, and the cold beer. I was treated as if I was the only customer that the resort had. Lot's of activity this particular day, family reunions, weddings, so needless to say that this place was humming. Still thinking about the experience 2 days later. Will visit this course again soon.

Overall I wasn't that impressed by the Betsie Valley course at Crystal Mountain, but it was a good value for the price of the GolfNow deal. I would never pay the full asking price for an 18 here, that is for sure. It was a Thursday and the course was wide open so that helped make it a very speedy round, but the course offered little as far as any challenges are concerned. It was very open and the greens were mostly straightforward. The course was in great shape, just wish there would have been more to it.

The valley course can be challenging for beginner to moderate level players. The fairways are fine but the rough is kept longer than a lot of public courses and can be difficult to hit a good shot out. We did enjoy playing on a late summer afternoon and evening on a beautiful course.