Black Bear Golf Club

Challenging greens with multi levels lots of swoopy curves. Great north michigan layout, lots of hills. Ciurse well cared for.

Since the new owners have taken over it has been a complete turn around from what it used to be. Great fairways and beautiful greens. They are continually improving things. The Proshop and the restaurant are beautiful and some great food and drinks. Right now they are expanding the clubhouse and putting golf simulators in for winter leagues. A great course, staff and atmosphere for the price.

I had stopped taking my golf buddies to this course several yea ago due to the lack of maintenance. I must say, the course is on its way back.

Course was in great shape. The only thing that was a negative was that the sand traps needed to be manicured.

A couple of years ago, I thought I had played my last round here. I recently read the reviews that new owners had made improvements. I decided to try it again - glad I did. Greens are great and everything was green. I have always loved the layout of this course. Kudos to ownership.

The course and staff are great. The pace of play is bad. A ranger is absolutely needed. We were a two-some and it took us 5 hours to play 18 Holes. We never experienced zero wait on any of the 18 hole tees. We saw a group of five playing in front of us, which is a no during busy play. We saw golfers driving all over the long grasses and way too many golfers hitting multiple balls. Never did we see any groups playing ready golf. Everything could have easily been eliminated by a Ranger. I hate to say but, it totally destroyed our golf game at a very nice course.

The course is beautiful and as I said, staff was great. The only thing missing was a Ranger.

The greens are excellent. The price fro golf now makesit a good deal.

The course is better than before in many places. Very playable now.

My older brother was a member here up until five years ago, and I had played back Black Bear many times over the years.And I loved the challenges. However, four years ago, we stopped playing it completely because it had gotten into such disrepair, you had to look for Grass on the fairways and many spots on the greens the grass had died.

New ownership took over in January 2024 and my what a pleasant and joyful surprise. All the greens were in great shape and the fairways grass was growing back. Be aware that the grass on the fairways is being left longer than you find most fairways so it can grow back. However, there is a difference in grass height between the fairways and the rough to I assume give grass a chance to fill in.

I talked to one of the grounds crewmembers and he said he’d already replaced 400 sprinkler heads.! Get out to Black Bear and see for yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with it’s recovery. I can’t wait to Ter it up again at the Black Bear.

We enjoyed our round and look forward to playing again.

Things we enjoyed:

- New Owners - caring staff

- A practice hole!!!! There is a solid par 3 hole as a practice.

- Good food and bev at reasonable prices

- greens were fabulous!

The course is still a little rough but it’s clear good things are happening.

We will be back!

It is 10 times better than it was in the previous years

The new owners are doing a terrific job on getting it back into shape

Up here for the summer and came across this place. Amazing value for the cost of a round. The layout of the course was great and it was in very good shape. Tee boxes and some of the fairways need some love but overall I was pleased and had a good time. I heard from a member in the clubhouse that there is new ownership and they are making a lot of improvements to the course and clubhouse. It shows. I’ll definitely be back a few more times this summer. If you want a fun course with some elevation at a fraction of the price of the Gaylord and Petoskey courses, give Black Bear a try.

We been playing this course for years. After last year we said, we are never coming back. But I seen they have new owners and thought why not give them a chance. Soon as you pulled in to the parking lot, you could tell good things going on here. Full of life, they have employees getting your bags for you. Walk in clubhouse and get a whole new felling for the place. Nice and clean and remodeling going on. Owner Olivia very nice and greets you. When you get to the course it is unbelievable what they done already. Great shape for sure. Also after golf the food is outstanding too. Us 4 had a great day there. Thanks

Course conditions still need improvement. Top of the list needs to be fertilizing and filling out grass and eliminating weeds and clover. The bunkers need to be screened to remove the millions of rocks. The greens are in decent shape with a few exceptions that look like maintaining proper irrigation has been a major problem. The layout is challenging and fun. The potential upside at this course remains high, but conditions need to continue to improve. I would gladly play again and appreciate the great value.