Betsie Valley at Crystal Mountain Resort

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.