Black Bear Golf Club

Course is quickly improving. New owners are great. A lot of fun. Great food

The new owners are making it very clear that they are working hard to make this course great again. Obviously the neglect from previous years isn’t going to improve overnight but they are working hard putting in the work, dedication, effort and man hours to change the course for the better. Huge respect to the staff and new owners for attempting to achieve the impossible in such a short time. I guarantee by mid summer the changes will be drastic, and golfers will be impressed by what some TLC can do to a course. Not only is the course looking so much better but the clubhouse has got a facelift and the restaurant has amazing food and drinks. They have specials that are so affordable and it’s a place even non golfers will want to dine at. If you haven’t been there in the last month or so you should consider making a trip to experience a huge world of change, all the staff are amazing and our experience was incredible. The greens are a little slow and the fairways are a little rough but in due time the benefits of the their hard work will be paying off highly. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a golf course that was highly neglected for years. You wouldn’t be able to tell how bad of shape the course actually was in when they purchased it compared to where it is now. My husband and I were blown away by how much work they have put into making the course so nice in such a small amount of time. We are so excited to witness the process of improvement over the next several months. Please consider visiting the property, making a tee time and golfing a round, and help them out by being a customer for the first time or a returning one that’s willing to support a husband and wife that have a beautiful vision and the passion to achieve what seemed like an impossible goal. I’m looking forward to be a part of this process and seeing this course come alive and become a desired destination for all levels of golfers.

Great course layout with several quirky holes. I have always liked blind tee shots and this course has them. The greens are modern and undulating and the holes play over some rolling terrain.

Horrendous layout. Signage is a joke, literally got lost going to the first hole, and the round didn’t get any better. Nearly every hole features a blind tee shot. What’s the point?! There’s no redeeming qualities to this course, I paid $16 for 18 with a cart and wouldn’t come back. They must have changed layouts or something because it’s a jumbled mess. What a joke!

I've been to this course a couple of times in the past years. This year I got delayed in getting there.

Last week, I called several times to get tee times and got the same recorded message, dated Monday Oct. the 9th that the course would be open on Wed and the tentative closing would be after Sunday the 15th. There was some good weather during that time to play; but I was able to get someone to call me back.

I finally got a hold of a man today and he said that the course was closed for the season last Wednesday and it is in the process of being sold.

The really good news for all of the subscribers/members of Group Golfer holding prepaid vouchers: He assured me that the new owners would be honoring the unused vouchers next season.

I love the layout on this course, however, it appears to have suffered from years of neglect. The greens were playable, but the fairways, rough, and tee boxes are barely maintained. There was one kid who was very hard working and friendly running the whole course. No other staff on site. It’s a shame. The other reviews here are accurate, it has so much potential and was probably a great course 20 years ago. Unfortunately, it needs a ton of work and money put into it. If it was properly maintained, I’d come back to play again.

The course is a good layout. Unfortunately they need some money and love to survive. The owner / pro was a very engaging man. Wish him the very best in the future.

Susan and Tommy

The course is a mess— it shouldn’t be open at all. Wcccwilly

This course has NOT been maintained! there are NO fairways, and the tee boxes were long, but the greens were smooth but very slow. You can't enjoy this place. Horrible, the management should be ashamed of the condition of what I believe was a well-designed course but not a cow pasture. Don't waste your money. The best thing I can say about this is they sell beer.

Our tee time was Mon at noon. We were the only ones on the course. The tee boxes and the fairways were very patchy like they haven’t been watered. The greens were mostly ok but some had dry patches, most were slow and needed mowing, one green was reduced in size by half due to poor condition. We made the turn and stopped at the clubhouse to get something to eat but all the doors were locked and the lights were off (at 2:00 PM). We have golfed here numerous times and like the layout but due to poor conditions we probably won’t go back.

One of my favorite layouts in northern MI! Course conditions are not good EXCEPT for the greens. They are ok. I am hoping this is a sign that ownership is going to restore this OUTSTANDING LAYOUT to the beauty it deserves. I played for $35. Would not pay more currently but this is an $80-100 course if it were maintained

Course is in pretty rough shape.but for the price it is above average! The greens are huge and in decent shape. Tee boxes need work. If just out to swing and work on your game it is a fantastic value !

Course could be great. Unfortunately fairways and tee boxes were in terrible condition . Don't think they have been mowed or watered in weeks. Weeds as high as 8 inches in fairway. All tee boxes had either complete dead grass areas with dirt or grass that hasn't been cut so affected tee shots. When you are looking out towards fairway from tee you can't tell where fairway is compared to rest of course. Greens are slowest I played all year but if they made faster woukd make course impossible to play. They staff was very nice but conditions are unacceptable. This course needs to be taken over by someone else and given the maintenance it needs to make it a beautiful course

This course would be a great scene for a post apocalyptic movie. I can tell at one point this course was probably amazing, but it would take a decade or more of absolute neglect for a course to look this bad. Zero mowed fairways, horrendous tee boxes, water all dried up from every water hazard, sand traps were unplayable and filled with weeds and rocks. I have golfed at over 100 golf courses and I have never once seen a course so poorly kept. Our party of 4 was in disbelief the entire time because the course truly could be great. The pace of play was great because nobody was golfing there.

Showed up for our tee time. No one around to help us clubhouse locked up. Golfed 9 holes called it after that due to poor poor conditions of course. Sparse grass in fairways. The greens looked to be the only maintained grass to be found. Hope they can get the course back into the shape of the photo online. Would love to try it again if it gets back to playing shape.

I booked through GolfNow and the course ended up being closed for the season. Not sure why GolfNow was advertising several hot deals for the day I booked to play

I cannot find a way to contact anyone with GolfNow to find out what happened and to try and get a refund.

I know this review is for the course but when I click the link to review the booking it just takes me to the same page that does not allow me to contact anyone.

It says it offers “online chat” help but there is no link to do so?!!?!?!

VERY disappointed with GolfNow!!