Shanty Creek

Played this one last in our rotation of the 4 Shanty courses. I thought this was the best one in terms of total experience - strategy/creativity, greens, and conditions. Pace of Play was slow, but that did not ruin the day for me. The course is SUPER spread out, and I can't imagine playing 9 is an option as the 10h hole is out in the middle of nowhere, but they did have a beverage cart and a snack shack at 10.

The layout is absolutely fantastic. It requires good driving off the tee, and if you put it in play, there a plenty of holes to score on. Hole 2 has a big cliff drop off on the right that you can't see from the tee or scorecard. You can hit driver if it's up the left, but laying up isn't a bad option. Being able to shape your ball both ways off the tee is a huge advantage as most of the holes dogleg one way or the other. Some of them, the easy play is just hitting a iron or hybrid, and playing from 150, but you can get creative and shape it around the bend (most of which are protected by trees). Driving it poorly here will almost certainly lead to frustration, lost balls, and a bad score.

4 was a great par 3, especially with the pin tucked back right over top of the bunker. 7 is a great par 5. If you hit a good drive, you can take it on in two over the creek. Otherwise, a bad drive brings the lake into play on the tee ball, and would require a layup short of the creek. 11 and 12 is a fun back to back stretch, with water and bunkers in play on both. 5 is the hole that perhaps creates the most options off the tee. The easy play would be to play a mid iron to the 150 post and play from there. However, if you can shape it right to left, or hit it high over the trees, you can try and take out parts of the dogleg and have nothing more than 75 yards in. The hole really is a 90 degree dogleg left. 18 is a narrow par 5, with a chair lift and ski slope (old?) right next to the tee box. It is reachable in 2 but requires two good shots.

The creativity is what made the course so enjoyable to me. It's an Arnold Palmer design and you can see why. The greens were the quickest we played of the 4 courses at Shanty, and basically every putt had some movement, and they moved true to their line. Great views, great price, great course. MUST PLAY!

Played this second in our rotation of the 4 Shanty Courses. I would say it is in the best shape of the 4, with the second best setup. For $50ish it's certainly a good price to play. We had 4 straight tee times starting at 4:30pm. No one was behind us yet the starter was hounding us on pace of play (even though we finished in about 4:30-4:40, which is a little slow but nothing crazy). Then, at the clubhouse, the pro shop lady was telling us we played too slow, and that we'd need to "play faster" the next day. I think she just wanted to go home. Other than the staff issues, the course itself was awesome. Would've been 5 star had not been for the staff. Like all the courses on the resort, they had COVID cups, so you couldn't take the pin out - but that should't be a huge deal for most players.

The course itself has some big greens, and I've heard they run really fast usually, but unfortunately the rain slowed them down some. Lots of undulation in the greens, and lots of elevation changes throughout the course. 13 and 14 are two awesome holes. 13 is a risk reward par 4 (can drive the green if you hit it well, otherwise it's a layup), and 14 you hit from an elevated tee to a small, undulated green. Some other good holes are 5, 7, and 15. For the most part you need to drive it well, but there are some holes that you can miss it off the tee and still score.

Most in our group said this was their favorite of the 4 Shanty Courses. I liked the Legend a little better, because it required lots of creativity, but Cedar is in the best shape, and while it requires good course management, is a course you can score on. Definitely recommend playing this one at the resort.

Played this third in our rotation of the 4 Shanty Courses. I'd rank this one as third best of the 4, but that's more because Cedar and the Legend are fantastic. Course setup here requires some creativity, as there's lots of doglegs, but not a ton of water, and open enough that you won't be searching for balls all day in the woods. All the courses on the resort have good amenities, but they are EXPENSIVE. I'd recommend not eating at the courses.

Front 9 is pretty straight forward, with some doglegs - mostly left. Back 9 is much more picturesque and features some really cool holes with undulation changes. 18, is a good risk-reward par 4, but the right play is to NOT hit driver. Most of the par 4's aren't super long, and other than hole 5 - the par 5's are reachable in two with two good shots.

Greens were a bit faster than the Summit, but still not super fast. We played on a perfect day, with sun and a little wind.

We had some issues with hospitality over the course of the trip. At the Summit there were no issues, but here, there was no attendant for the range - so one of our groups took range balls with the intention of paying later. Shortly after, a person chased them down and scolded them. I thought it was unnecessary considering there was no attendant, and we fully intended to pay for them.

Other than that instance, I felt this was an enjoyable round.

We played all four courses at Shanty Creek. This is the one to play first, because it is a fairly easy setup, and relatively short. Most of the par 4's will leave wedges in your hands, and the Par 5's are reachable in two other than 15 if it's into the wind.

The course gets most of its protection from elevation changes - lots of uphill shots into greens, and a few downhill as well. Greens were very slow, and a little shaggy. It did rain the morning we played so that may have had a factor. 16 and 17 were my two favorite holes. Other than holes 1 and 10, there aren't a ton of doglegs, it's a pretty straightforward course.

I recommend you play this course first, to break into the resort courses. If you play this after some of the others you'll probably be disappointed. It was my least favorite course of the 4 on the resort.

This is a beautiful golf course but somewhat challenging. The rough is VERY rough. It's easy to lose your ball. The fairways are well-groomed. The greens are mostly undulating, and putting isn't easy. The weather was somewhat rainy, and the fairways were slushy in places. The carts had no cover in the back. I was glad to have finished playing the 18 just before the thunderstorms hit.

first time playing this course. the fairways were in very good condition. the layout was good although almost everything over a par three were dog legs... would definitely play this course again.

I’ve waited a long time to play this course and it was totally worth the wait! Love this course, challenging but fun! And on top of that beautiful scenery. Can’t wait to come back!

Beautiful course that is in excellent condition. Staff was nice and round comes with range balls. The club house is stunning and is on a bluff looking over 18th. Only complaint is pace of play but course was busy so it is expected.

I’ve played this course over the last few decades many times. It is a great layout and a challenging course. I like all of that the staff are friendly willing to help and the pace of play is reasonable.

One area that needs work as tree trimming. The views have been reduced due to growing trees and many trees overhanging in areas that reduce good shot making ability. This is not uncommon in mature courses however significant trimming needs to occur to make this a world class type of place to play golf.

My son came in from Texas for a few days and brought the hot weather with him. The hot, humid weather made it hard to enjoy our round, we only played 9 holes (though paying for 18). The course layout is very nice with lots of elevation changes, water hazards and ample fairways. On a cooler day we would have had a better time. Our round was marred by a couple of customer service glitches. There were no range balls at the driving range and when we went back to the clubhouse there were no balls available there either. Our cart was not fully charged and struggled to get us up inclines. When we went to the clubhouse to get a cold beverage with ice after making the turn, we found the restaurant closed. It was 4 pm. Since we couldn't rest up and refresh ourselves at that point, we decided to throw in t he towel.

Course was in excellent condition. Layout was decent and easy. Great course for a leisurely family focused round of golf. Greens were slow...would use a different COVID-19 cup to allow for pin to be removed if desired.

Beautiful course, in great condition. Lots of natural beauty. Keep it in play and you can score well here. Staff was very friendly and accommodating; sometimes a golf destination will give you the impression that you should feel honored to play there; not here. Lots of doglegs. Silver tees seem longer than most other senior tees. Could use more yardage markers on sprinklers. Unlike some other over price courses, this one is what northern Michigan vacation golf is all about.

Love this course. One of my Up North favorites. Fun layout. Lots of variety with the holes. Mostly generous fairways and large greens. I try to play it a handful of times very summer.

Love the layout, will play again and know what to do. You don’t need driver that often, but can hit it if you like. Several blind tee shots so take time to look at the hole in front of you. Greens very slow but true. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the views.

Absolutely beautiful and fair. Worth driving from Traverse City to play.

A great course for the money but the holes prepped for Covid 19 did not meet good exceptions. For the money the ball was not allowed to drop at all in the hole. Made for tough putting.

good course, challenging but fair. Well maintained with friendly staff.