Golfers’ Choice Awards from GolfPass Reviews

Shanty Creek

Everyday golfers provide over 320,000 reviews of public golf

Edited by Tom Lang

   The 2022 annual Golfers’ Choice Awards, determined by GolfPass’ (NBC Sports Next) reviews from everyday golfers, recently released its list of the top 50 golf courses in the country. 

   Michigan has two courses on the overall list: 

   Tullymore at No. 33, and Eagle Eye at position 46.

   What is different about these rankings is they are created by adding up all types of online ratings from 1-5 stars by everyday recreational golfers who don’t necessarily have access to the top golf course locations in the country. 

   They rate different categories as well, so these two Michigan courses are favored in good standing in a wide variety of categories such as cost value, condition, pace of play, friendliness of staff, as well as overall layout. In all, 10 categories are considered.

   Additional Michigan golf courses got ranked very high nationally for Best Pace of Play: 

• No. 4 is Old Channel Trail in Montague

• No. 8 is Farm Golf Club in Bellaire.

For the category of Best Condition is:

• No. 5 is St. Ives in Stanwood

• No. 6 is Charlevoix Country Club – Heatherwoods Golf Course

• No. 12 is Tullymore again

• No. 25 is Shanty Creek, Cedar River

TOP 10 overall in just the state of Michigan:

• Tullymore

• Eagle Eye

• Greywalls

• Gladestone 

• The Ravines

• Forest Dunes

• Heather at Boyne Highlands

• Spruce Run at Grand Traverse

• Alpine at Boyne Mt.

• The Fortress

Tullymore

   Here are a selection of the reviewers’ comments about the various Michigan courses that were recognized in the national rankings:

   Old Channel Trail: “Best round of the year… final round of the season and the course was in immaculate condition. Greens were much, much more up to speed than most in the area. Beautiful course for playing fall golf.”

   St. Ives: “St. Ives is legit… Customer service was awesome, the conditions were great, the topography / routing / design were on point and it was an overall great golf experience…It’s an interesting design In a good way) with a fair number of evelation changes and a mix of hole lengths. There is a fair amount of room off the tee but positioning is important in order to score well.”

   Shanty Creek, Cedar River Course: “The area had 1.25” of rain the night before and all the holes were playable by 9:00 a.m. No standing water was on any fairway or green and carts were still allowed. They strive to keep the course free of leaves. I like to start my season up at Shanty Creek playing Cedar River when it opens, and play it as my last round of the year. Like an old friend, CR continues to play true and enjoyable. Thanks for taking such good care or it.”

Eagle Eye