Manitou Passage Golf Club

Beautiful course. Love the elevation changes scenery. Keeping ball around fairway is a must as it does get hungry and will eat your golf balls.

Course is in great shape

Greens are great

Great value for the money

Staff was fantastic! Very upscale vibe, but not pretentious in any way. Course is tuff Ulis’s you can keep it in the middle. Definitely not a “spray and pray” course, and we all have one of those friends. ;-)

There were a couple of greens that had some repair needing/being done, but other than that the conditions were very good.

We’d play again.

What’s not to like about a beautiful course with amazing elevations and nestled in the heart of Sleeping Bear sand dunes. Challenging yet fair and just a SOLID course design by one of the greatest, Arnold Palmer. Great clubhouse, merch and staff. Thumbs up!

I really wanted this course to be nice. We had 6 buddies on a trip and had played Arcadia Bluffs the day before. We had heard the course was in bad shape, but that it was only relating to the greens. We called to confirm and the pro shop attendant blatantly lied to us. He said there were 2 fairways needing some work, but the course was in good shape overall. We decided to play and it was a huge mistake. The course was awful. Probably 16 fairways were devastated. Multiple greens were showing disease. The speed of the greens were very very inconsistent. The beer in the cart was warm and they had 3 selections. The club house had very limited selection of items. The GPS on the cart didn't work. Its a real shame bc this course could be beautiful. The worst part was they charged $77 for this debacle. Stay away.

First time playing Manitou Passage...probably the last time too.

We're quite fortunate in West Michigan to have so many beautiful and affordable golf courses to choose from which certainly impacts my perception of this course.

GOOD - the staff was incredibly friendly and kind. They did what they could to make the experience better. The course does have a unique layout with some beautiful views. The elevation changes are great. We played on a Sunday morning too (8:30am tee time) and almost had the course to ourselves.

BAD - NO FOOD/BREAKFAST. Nothing in the area is open early so if you have an early tee time, bring your own food. The golf course is not providing anything besides soda, candy bars and granola bars. You'd think with most everywhere else being closed for food options that they'd provide coffee (which they did get us some for free from the staff space...not readily available for purchase though) and some basic food options (bagels, danishes, donuts, etc...). There is NO DRIVING RANGE - only hitting nets. And the nets are too low to take full swings (I'm 6ft tall and would hit the top of the net on my follow-through). Not a great warm-up experience. NO GOLF CART BRAKES - The golf cart brakes don't work hardly at all...when we tried to swap carts we were told all the carts were that way. We had to be careful where we parked on the course to ensure our cart wouldn't roll away or start beeping. BURNED OUT FAIRWAYS / GREENS - the overall layout is nice but the course really seems to be in a downward spiral. Many areas of the course were burned out.

The course is worth playing...just not for $88 for a 18 and a cart. This seemed more like a $40 experience knowing how many other great options are around. I don't anticipate ever playing there again.

To start, I have played here probably 20 times over three years and always a great experience. Of the courses in this part of N Michigan, Manitou was always in the best shape. Such a great layout and fun course to play.

Keeping in mind current conditions with COVID, I was still surprised to see The condition of the course when we played. While it has been dry, I was still surprised to see the number of burned out spots on their fairways and the greens. Even more surprising was to see bunkers that had knee-high weeds grown up and many with high weeds inside of the bunker.

As mentioned, I typically love playing here but expected more from the highest-price course in the area.

Played in June of 2020. Probably 3 1/2 stars, and I’m trying to be sensitive to the COVID-19 situation as well.

First off, the course does have a tremendous layout. It’s a fair course, in that If you put it in play you can score. Getting off the tee is imperative - and going with less than driver on a number of holes is recommended based on my experience. Lots of undulation on the greens, and some great elevation changes from tee to green. Hole 8 is a tremendous hole. Par 3’s were good holes too. So, the layout itself makes it worth playing.

That being said, the conditions left a lot to be desired, especially considering the high expectations I had - based on reviews and word of mouth. I am sure the unusually dry conditions and the economics of COVID were factors. Fairways were firm and fast, I had no issues with them. However, greens were slow and had lots of burnt out spots. There were lots of bare spots around the green, as well. Bunkers were in good shape all things considered. Tee boxes were inconsistent - some in good shape, and others not. I felt, conditions were average at best, and if COVID wasn’t a thing, I’d say they were below that.

Cost was fair. Pace was great. Staff was super friendly and cleaned up your clubs after. Clubhouse and restaurant appeared very nice but only a tiny part was open due to COVID.

I would play it again if I know the current conditions are a product of COVID and not just poor maintenance. That being said, it is a wonderful layout with some pretty awesome views!

Expensive course that lays on the west side of Sugarloaf mountain. Some tremendous views. About half the holes are hilly , but fair. Greens and fairways are always in tremendous shape. Only negative is the cost to play.

Great course with attractive amenities: Electric carts with onboard gps course layout and yardages, small cooler with ice and water, ball cleaner. Not one thing to complain about.

This course is worth the drive. Great value for what you get. It has lots of rolling hills, in fact, in it's' former life part of the course was used for skiing. On one of the holes on the back nine there is even a former chair lift complete with some chairs still hanging on it. The fairways and greens were in great shape. The greens are large so don't get too excited with a GIR as you still may have a long putt.

I will definitely be back.

Always a pleasure to play this course when in the area. Good test of your golf skill but not crazy difficult. Will play again.

Second time playing here. Greens were rolling nicely and even though it was busy pace of play was great. I don’t think we waited on a single shot. Staff was great. Only wish they had a range but the nets were ok.