2000 Maxon Road, Onaway, Michigan 49765, US
(989) 733-8521
Location Map

About Black Lake Conference Center

Not everybody realizes that the Black Lake Conference Center - also known as the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center owned by the United Auto Workers - is open to the general public. It was built in the 1970s on roughly 1,000 acres of remote, idyllic property in northern Michigan. Accommodations range from 228 rooms in the Lodge to a selection of condos, apartments and camp sites. With a massive auditorium, Black Lake is perfect for conferences, retreats, weddings, family vacations and reunions. Rees Jones added the award-winning Black Lake Golf Club in 2000. Other recreation includes exploring the surrounding forests hiking and biking or fishing in Burt Lake, Mullett Lake or its namesake Black Lake, teeming with walleye, bass and perch.

Facts

Price Range$$
Property Class★★★
Acres1000
Year Opened1970
Number of Units100-300

Amenities & Services

RestaurantsCasual
Room TypesRoom
PoolIndoor
Fitness CenterYes
Practice FacilityYes
Beach AccessYes
Banquet SpaceYes

Rules

Is the resort pet friendly?Yes
Is resort stay required for a tee time?No

Golf courses at Black Lake Conference Center

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
252 Reviews (252)
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 7
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Staff a bit abrasive

Very nice course. Showed up with plenty of time before tee time. 8:45 for 9:00 tee. Was rushed to the tee just to wait 15 minutes. Was told by every employee how busy they were like it was new to them. Just not a very friendly greeting.

Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 2.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 3.0
T O P 500
Reviews 89
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Perfect up north golf

I have a cottage in northern Michigan and have played almost every course in the area. Today was my first time at Black Lake and I have a new favorite! Everything was perfect, the conditions were awesome, the layout was extraordinary, the staff was great. Wow. I loved it all. Absolutely one of the best courses in northern Michigan.

Top 500 Contributor
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 20
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Very beautiful and tough course

Very nice up north course. Requires more accuracy than most and greens are fast & multi tiered. Not to keen on rangers constantly driving around logging times on a clip board, if pace of play was slow could maybe understand, but I come to the up north courses to get away, relax, & have fun- not to have rangers riding up on me logging playing time.

First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Review 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 11
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

A Must play

a little cold when we played but one of the best courses we have played during our 30 years of playing in Michigan. Course was in great shape. We will be back

First Time Playing
Cold weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 3.0
Difficulty 4.0
Reviews 2
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Worth the drive.

A fantastic, pristine course. Not overly challenging for a 12 handicapper but you better hit your landing area. Worth every nickel.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
T O P 500
Reviews 86
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Beautiful course with some repeat holes

Great conditions and piece of land - back to nature. A all holes are isolated one from another, but many look the same - I. e. wood lined holes from tee to green.

Ckubhouse is very nice.

Top 500 Contributor
First Time Playing
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 3.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Review 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Love this course!

Probably the best maintained course I have ever played. It would be a shame to miss playing here just because there are so many great courses on the west side of the state. Make the effort to play here.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 4.0
Review 1
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Ranger Beware!

A few friends and I were attending a wedding at Black Lake later that afternoon, and decided we wanted to get in a morning round to enjoy the nice early fall weather. We had a group of 4, three of whom were playing (one beginner), and a fourth who was just along for the ride and the scenery. The pace of play was average (we were waiting on most shots) but overall still finished the round in exactly 4.5 hours. The first time we came into contact with the ranger (hole 2 or 3), he accused of not all paying for our round. One of our guys had misplaced his receipt, but we had already worked that out with the starter, who at the time called up to the pro shop to confirm we were all paid. The ranger came back 2 holes later to tell us we needed to pick up the pace of play (we were just finishing a par 3 after of course waiting 10 minutes before we could tee off). The ranger proceeded to tell us that someone from GolfDigest was there "rating the course" and that we needed to be aware of that. He found us again after 17 and made some other snide remark about how nice he was for not having bothered us for the last 11 holes (thanks a lot). We finished and walked off in exactly 4.5 hours. Just because we had a beginner golfer with us doesn't mean you have to be completely rude to us. Overall, the course condition was excellent. Great place to play, but the one lingering feeling after leaving was that they didn't want us there . If it weren't for that, this would be a 5 star rating.

First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 2.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Reviews 9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

A must course..of many great ones around the area!

This course is busy. Never seen it not busy. But they put in pretty good effort to keep the pace of play. A great course...and I've seen more than 20 up there and this is proably 1-3 that I must play when I visit. O-H. Great staff too.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 51
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

black lake

everything about black lake was very nice,other than the fact they had an extremely slow outing finishing up before us that pushed our tee time back 40 minutes.the couse was well maintained,a very nice and challenging rhees jones design that tore me up a bit still left us with an enjoyable round.highly recommended

First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart
4.0
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 3.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 5.0
Reviews 37
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Great course and must play

This is the second time I have played Black Lake and do love the course. My only comment is we received warning being off pace. We were off pace but I would mention there were 5 holes with pin positions that made it quite difficult and requiring many in our group to three putt. I don't mind tough pin positions but when you roll a ball almost up to the hole and rolls back to your feet that would suggest pin positions are in bad spot to keep up pace of play.

Michigan Advisor
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 5.0
Difficulty 5.0
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Default User Avatar
Anonymous
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played

Pure Michigan Golf

Greens, fairways....perfect. Views are outstanding. Difficult but doable golf for all abilities. We always have fun.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Review 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Played

Horrible pace of play

Made tee times through course's website. No mention of outing when making tee time nor when we checked in at pro shop. It took 4 hours and 20 minutes to play 14 holes. We had players (assume from outing) driving up and down cart paths while we were playing. The pro shop was closed when we finished after 14 holes. Telephoned the pro shop and was told that they erred in not informing us of the outing. Little consolation. We've played this course numerous times, but not sure if we'll play it again.

Previously Played
1.0
1.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 1.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 2.0
Pace 1.0
Amenities 5.0
Default User Avatar
Anonymous
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 4.0
Layout 4.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 2.0
Review 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Great course

Staff is always friendly and the golf is top notch. A must play if you are in the area

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 5.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 5.0
Pace 5.0
Amenities 5.0
Reviews 3
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
Recommended
Played

Up North Nirvana

I believe this is the best course in Northern Michigan. Black Lake is playable for anyone of any skill level. For the money, even at full price, it can't be beat. I play here every chance I get.

Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
5.0
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conditions 4.0
Value 5.0
Layout 5.0
Friendliness 4.0
Pace 4.0
Amenities 3.0
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