5 Reasons to Play Black Lake Golf Club By Brian Weis

5 Reasons to Play Black Lake Golf Club

By Brian Weis

Black Lake Golf Club is a 5-star, top-of-the-charts golf course. We'd like to share 5 of the many reasons to make Black Lake and the Gaylord Golf Mecca the top destinations in your golf trip plans this year.

#1
Award-winning architect Rees Jones designed the course for the UAW Black Lake Conference Center in Onaway. Tucked into the heavily forested landscape, it's a wonderful get-away-from-it-all spot just an hour from Gaylord and the Mackinac Bridge in beautiful Northern Michigan.

#2
The classic layout carved from isolated nature has made multiple appearances on best-of lists across the board. It was designed to provide a challenge for golfers of all skill levels. Five sets of tee markers are part of most holes. The course plays from 5,058 to 7,030 yards. "The holes were here, we just had to find them," Jones said just after the course opened in 2000. "We strive for holes blending with the natural terrain."

#3
The Golf Advisor's most recent course rankings based on 315,000 submitted reviews placed Black Lake at No. 26 among the top 50 most popular courses nationally for 2022. Yes, in the nation. It's a national and Michigan must-play according to those who play the game and then talk about it.

#4
Complementing the main course are multiple things: The Little Course, a nine-hole par 3 meant to introduce young people to golf as well as sharpen short games of veteran players; a practice area with a huge double sided bentgrass tee range, four practice bunkers and four chipping and putting greens; a modern, stunning clubhouse that looks like Frank Lloyd Wright designed it with dining room and lounge, and men's and women's locker rooms. By the way, the food is as good as the golf.

#5
The Tour Package, one of the most popular package options in Northern Michigan golf, involves Black Lake, Gaylord Golf Club and The Pines at Michaywe,' 63 holes of classic golf, two nights of lodging and great dining options. It's priced right, too.

Check it out at blacklakegolf.com or visit the entire Gaylord Golf Mecca at gaylordgolfmecca.com.

Revised: 06/01/2023 - Article Viewed 2,494 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.