Black Forest, The Natural: two non-resort style courses in Gaylord, Mich.

Gaylord, Michigan is filled with resort-style golf: elevated tees, bowled fairways, driver on every hole, big landing zones, etc. Unlike your muni or CC back home, the biggest trait of “resort golf” is 18 holes that don’t have any tricks. What you see is what you get, and you won’t waste shots because you didn’t know distances to the hazard or the dogleg.

These courses exist of course, because they do well. Most golfers suck, and when they pay big money for their big summer golf trip, they want to come home with at least a handful of shots they can brag to their spouse about.

Here’s a couple Michigan courses that aren’t out to make you feel good your entire round.

Black Forest: Conditions are awesome, and unlike Fazio and Rick Smith, Tom Doak hasn’t been a total designer sell-out up here. Black Forest is probably the area’s most difficult. It’s intimidating from the tees. Each hole is tree-lined and you owe it to yourself not to hit driver on every hole if you want to finish with balls in your bag.

But the greens will leave you vexxed. They’re for the most part small, and generally roll where you didn’t think they would. It took me a good nine holes to get a putt close .

The Natural: This course has a few holes that difficult to first-time players, and one that’s downright cruel: the 445-yard 8th. You can only hit your drive about 220 yards out, before it 90-degree doglegs to the left and then there’s about a 100-yard carry over water right up to the green. From your probable landing position, you’re looking at about 200 to carry the water. YOU WILL DOUBLE BOGEY THIS HOLE AT LEAST YOUR FIRST TIME OUT.

The Natural sees more rounds on it per summer than anywhere else in Gaylord, probably due to local play.

Aside from these, the Swampfire Course at Garland features a lot of tricky water hazards. The first time you play it, you might not know how far water comes out into play on certain points, the course resembles more of a Myrtle Beach or Florida course than a northern Michigan course.

Resort courses, you ask? All the Treetops ones, of course, Black Bear, Tribute at Otsego, Forest Dunes, to name a few.

More on Gaylord coming soon …