Crystal Mountain

Getting To Know: Crystal Mountain

An Insightful Interview With Greg Babinec, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Greg Babinec who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Crystal Mountain's Mountain Ridge golf course offers panoramic vistas of our northern Michigan vacationland. Its fairways wind through stately forests and ascend to high elevations, providing a true northern Michigan golf experience. Crystal Mountain's Betsie Valley golf course, which recently underwent a $1 million renovation, will challenge the ability of any golfer with its protected greens, tree lined fairways and challenging bunkers.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
The course conditions are excellent and the Greens putt great!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
It helps to know where the top of the mountain is for putting.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We were selected as one of the Top 25 Golf Schools in America by GOLF Magazine. We've also been the host of the Michigan PGA Women's Open for 12 years.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Mountain Ridge # 5 has it all. It's a par 3 with great bunkering, towering pines and just enough elevation change to offer a great vista.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Mountain Ridge # 7 - A demanding driving hole where accuracy is a premium and will set up an approach to a very demanding and undulating green.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
An ice cold Rainmaker from Stormcloud Brewing Company or Crystal's Twisted Thistle created by North Peak.

Back Tee Stats
Course Slope:
Mountain Ridge: 135
Betsie Valley: 132

Course Rating:
Mountain Ridge: 73.5
Betsie Valley: 72.0

Par:
Mountain Ridge: 72
Betsie Valley: 72

Yardage:
Mountain Ridge: 7007
Betsie Valley: 6578

More Information
Crystal Mountain
12500 Crystal Mountain Dr.
Thompsonville, MI, 49683
(855) 995-5146
http://www.crystalmountain.com

More Information »

Revised: 02/12/2018 - Article Viewed 12,531 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.