Treetops Resort

For my money, there are two other qualities necessary for a golf resort to earn consideration (besides exciting golf): good dining and comfortable accommodations. On either point, Treetops does not disappoint. Treetops offers three restaurants on the main property that are all located within steps of each other: Legends on the Hill, Hunter's Grille, and the Sports Bar. The food is outstanding and, in many respects, unique. Hunter’s Grille offers an ever-evolving menu of eclectic cuisine and spectacular views from the top of the ski hills. Legends on the Hill has a pasta dish that features a giant elk meatball and handmade herb pappardelle pasta covered in a rich tomato sauce and served with shaved Parmesan, and garlic toast. There’s also fresh Michigan rainbow trout and a Sous Vide Pork Chop that is incredibly delicious.

At the Sports Bar, you can indulge in your favorite made-to-order pizza or enjoy a hot and spicy Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. The Southfork Ranch Steak Sandwich is delicious too; 8oz of prime rib, sauteed onions, fresh spinach, and garlic aioli, served on fresh rosemary Herb Bread.

The Jones Tavern at Treetops North is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. It’s primarily a grab-and-go menu with items like a Signature Burrito, Smith Breakfast Sandwich, the Fazio Grilled Ham and Cheese, and the Traditions Southwest Wrap.

Bar 81 is located on the main floor of the lodge just past the reception area. There are several TVs, making it a perfect spot to relax with your friends, recap the day, and watch your favorite sports teams. They even offer a light menu, something to snack on between sips of your favorite adult beverage.

As far as the rooms in the lodge go, the rooms are some of the largest I’ve stayed in. Each room is equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker as well as a large flat-screen TV, and bathrooms with huge walk-in showers. In the lodge, you’ll find an indoor pool, hot tubs, and a fitness center as well as the Treetops Spa.

The newest addition to the Treetops lodging collection is the Jones Cottages, located on the 4th hole of the Masterpiece. Each cottage sleeps eight people comfortably, making them perfect for small groups and outings. All are outfitted with modern amenities and the two-floor layout provides added space and unbeatable views.

Threetops is the most challenging par 3 course in North America. AARP named Threetops the #1 Par 3 Course in North America. It was also the site of the former ESPN Par 3 Shootout which challenged the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Lee Trevino, and Raymond Floyd. The 7th hole is where, in 2001, Lee Trevino hit his tee shot over the green but managed to spin it back into the hole. The ace earned him $10,000 for the closest to the pin, $80,000 for the skin, and $1,000,000 for the hole-in-one.

From the back tees, yardages range between 140 and 219 yards. The longer holes may look intimidating on the scorecard, but they usually play significantly downhill. Each hole is unique, and the course conditions are the same as any of the championship 18-hole courses. The greens are the most challenging aspect of the course; some have severe slopes with a lot of undulation and break that you may not see at first glance and “straight-in” putts are rare. Threetops is a must-play if you’re on a golf trip to Gaylord; you can get around the course in about 90 minutes.

Treetops Resort is located about 5 miles east of Gaylord and only 10 minutes from I-75. With great golf, fantastic dining, and spacious, comfortable rooms, you won’t go wrong in choosing Treetops as your next golf getaway destination.

Fall golf in Michigan at its best. Second year at Treetops for a buddies golf weekend and this course did not disappoint. Course was in fantastic condition and the staff is top notch!

Many brown out dead areas on the tees and fairways. Also the bunkers were full of rocks that made them unplayable. The greens however were in really good shape. Course was packed si it took over 4:15 to play with 2 groups in front of us dropping out midway through the round. Halfway house was closed and you didn’t know that until you were on the way to the course.

This is a must play with your friends. Most of the holes are downhill and some of them are wildly downhill you wont believe it. Typically Par 3 courses don't have good conditions, this is not the case here. The conditions match any of the other courses on property. Get some bets going with your friends and this will for sure be the talk of the trip.

Im shocked to see the amount of 4 stars this course has. It was in perfect condition when I played it. It is a pretty difficult course, probably the hardest at Treetops, but I still had a great time. When the course is in such good shape its hard to not appreciate that. If you get a chance to play here, do it. I rated the pace of play 4 stars because the expected play time is 4:45, so just be ready for a longer round. They do tell you that on the carts so just know that it is normal to have a longer round.

This course is my favorite at Treetops. The views were awesome and the course conditions were perfect. The course is very fair if you choose to play the right tees for your skill level. I had a blast playing this course because of the slopes throughout the course. I played with my buddies that are high handicappers and they felt the same way.

The course was in awesome shape. Greens were rolling quick and smooth. I was very impressed with the layout and the amount of fun that I had playing this course.

As part of a stay and play package at Treetops Resort, our group got to play the Jones Masterpiece course a couple of times. What a treat! The course was in great condition and was very challenging, but fair. The only complaint we had was the lack of water or beverage carts due to a combination of Covid and lack of players, so if you play in the summer or 2021, bring your own fluids.

Back to the course though, there are plenty of imaginative holes and greens that will test your skill. The pro shop staff was very friendly and we found a couple of apparel deals during our visit.

We're looking to return in the future.

We're looking forward to a return visit

Dead or blighted grass nearly everywhere. Really bad condition this June 2021. Other courses at Treetops were in much better shape. Hopefully this is a short-lived problem.

The good:

Awesome course, cool layout and not overly challenging. Fall colors were fantastic. Greens were 5/5, very few blemishes and rolled great.

The fair:

Bunkers. No sand in them.

The bad:

Pace of play. Granted it was a Sunday round on a beautiful fall day, but 5hr 20mins is too long.

Played here while vacationing in the Gaylord area. I just can't say enough about this course. It kicked our butts for sure, but the layout is absolutely stunning.

The staff is absolutely topnotch. Our tee-time was delayed due to rain, but everyone was very friendly.

Will certainly come back to play this course again.

Masterpiece has been the center of a lot of negative attention lately due to it's conditioning. I saw pictures from a few weeks ago and was considering changing our tee time to one of the other courses, but we decided to stick with it and hope the conditions improved by the time we played. The conditions were definitely better than the pictures I saw, but still not as good as they should be or as good as the other courses.

So, two years in a row they have had major issues with the greens at the Masterpiece, but not at any of the other courses. This year, they aerated (on the 4th of July) and then the extreme heat killed large parts of them. By the time we played, the greens rolled ok, but didn't look good at all. You could still see evidence of the aeration and some deep lines from a verticut gone wrong. Overall, it's disappointing for what should be such a great course to have greens that aren't great.

Aside from the greens, there were some brown spots in the fairways, but they weren't an issue. Some of the back tee boxes were also brown, but you have a tee anyway.

The views on the Masterpiece are truly impressive and the layout is truly challenging. It is the toughest of the Treetops courses by far and there are some holes that will likely tick you off the first time you play because it's unclear where to hit the ball.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Premier and Signature (even with the $20 upcharge) over Masterpiece due to the conditioning issues this year.

So, I know paying $45-$50 for 9 holes sounds bad, but you have to play Threetops at least once. The course is a ton of fun and it's easy to squeeze in before or after a round at one of their other courses.

The first hole isn't much, but after that it's pretty awesome; especially from the back tees. The views on some of the holes (3 and 7 in particular) are completely incredible. Hole 4 gives you a great view of 15 on Signature (a very unique hole) as well.

Overall, I've always walked off the 9th green happy that I spent the money. It makes what is typically already a great day at Treetops even better.

I had the chance to play all five Treetops courses in the past week on two Group Golfer Vouchers. After playing them all, Signature is my second favorite behind Premier.

Aside from some rocks in the bunkers and tree damage from a huge storm that rolled through two days before, the course was in very good shape. The course had already started cleaning up the tree damage when we were there and it only really affected play on one hole the entire day. The greens were slower than usual, but rolled nicely. There were a few brown spots on the edges of greens, but now that the weather has cooled down, those are probably gone.

The course is really well designed.There a lot of very unique holes that are visually appealing and a good test of golf as well. There are scenic views, major elevation changes, and difficult greens throughout the course. It is one of the tougher par 70s you will find.

Overall, Treetops is a great resort and Signature is an example of that.

1st time reviewing anything. I have only ever read reviews directed towards the busy little ma and pa public course I manage, but I felt compelled to take time out of a short weekend getaway to comment on the appalling course conditions at this “Top Golf Destination” and Masterpiece of golf design. Weather conditions over the last couple months in Michigan as always have stressed our golf courses and course superintendents to new highs and lows but as someone who works on a maintenance budget 5 times less than the Masterpiece and charges 3 times more money for a round of golf; I just have to simply say that was the worst I’ve ever seen or played. The views and golf course design are priceless at this venue but Id rather play on our local no name track any day. Also, 75% of the practice range balls we were given to hit were spilt in half from mowers chopping them up or otherwise ones you’d find at the bottom of a swamp. Do better, TreeTops Masterpiece Golf course. Do better.

The typical knock on the Tradition is that it is not as nice as the other Treetops courses. While that is true, it's still a great golf course and if it were located elsewhere, people would focus on how great it is rather than comparing it to other courses. It is also the easiest of the Treetops courses, so that is something to keep in mind.

With the sustained heat and lack of rain in Gaylord, the course is having some conditioning issues. Almost every fairway has some large brown spots that make the course not look as visually appealing. Aside from those brown spots, the fairways are green and thick. Around the edges of a few greens there were some large brown/dead spots as well. Overall, though, the greens were in good shape and were rolling true. Their bunkers have a lot of rocks working their way to the surface, so that was an issue too.

The layout is very nice and pretty open. It doesn't have the huge elevation changes or views that the other courses have, but as far as the actual golf course goes, it has varied hole design and no bad holes. Even if it isn't as great as the other courses, it's still definitely worth playing!

I usually get out to Treetops once per year and I always try to play Premier. I have seen people bashing Treetops recently due to conditioning issues, so I wanted to provide some info.

It has been 90+ in Gaylord with close to no rain for about two weeks and you can see some of those effects on the Premier, but it's still in very good shape. The greens are still perfect (although a little slower than usual) and the fairways are also in very good shape. There were a few dry and brown spots in the fairways, but nothing that affected play. The black tee boxes were in rough shape as many were totally brown and dead. You're teeing it up anyway, so while it didn't look good, it also didn't really affect anything. The bunkers seem like they need some new sand because a lot of rocks have worked their way to the surface.

Overall, you can see some effects of the heat and lack of rain, but it is still an awesome golf course. It has all the great Treetops features like huge elevation changes, scenic views, interesting green complexes, and unique hole design. It is also not as difficult as Signature or Masterpiece.

The course this year is already in great shape. The greens were true, the grass is healthy. And the view around the course is off the charts. The 5th hole par 5 may be the hardest hole in Michigan. Highly recommend to anyone.