Lynx GC, Otsego, MI

Bought this as a groupgolfer not realizing Otsego was near Kalamazoo, 2 1/2 hours away! But it was a lucky mistake.  This is an older course that was "remodeled" in 2014.  There's a lot of trees but it seems easy to find your ball. There's a lot of sand bunkers in front of greens but they're easy to avoid. There are six holes along the Kalamazoo river but it's easy to avoid the water. The course is not an easy course but it's very enjoyable, especially from the women's tees. The first hole has a large drop off to the green as does the tenth. The par 3s are challenging as are the par 5s, but par is certainly doable. There are some really nice elevations. The greens and tee boxes were in nice shape but they were in the process of aerating the fairways so that was kind of hard. It was mid October and had rained nonstop the day before but we still enjoyed the course. The clubhouse is located next to the 18th green with a really nice balcony. There was no cart girl or bathrooms (other than port-a-potties). We ate at the clubhouse later and had a great hamburger and a great view.  They have a lot of events at the clubhouse, weddings, class reunions, comedy shows, even fall color tour events every weekend! Everyone at the course, from the guy we made the tee time with to the groundskeepers, was very nice. We will definitely go again!

http://lynxgc.com/#home

Rush Lake Hills Golf Course, Pickney, MI

I had purchased a groupgolfer last winter for Rush Lake Hills and finally got there. The course is owned by Henry Ford Hospital and all profits go to cancer research which I think is pretty cool.  The course is older and the facilities reflect that, but the course itself is kept up very well.  The front nine is kind of wide open and the back nine is more scenic and rolling. Hills is the operative word in the title of this course. There were lots of them even on the greens! It was not a hard course but the greens were not easy by any means.  There were very few sand bunkers and water only came into play on a couple holes. There were some nice par 3s and the par 5s were very manageable. There were only three tee boxes and the women's were quite fair. There was no cart person or ranger and play was really slow. They don't pair you up so that might have been part of the problem (although as a general rule I don't like getting paired up).  We didn't get any food on the turn but it was available. No water available that I could see and the only bathrooms were port-a-potties that were quite clean. The employees were beyond nice and thanked us for coming.  It's an hour drive for us but I would play there again, for the cancer research connection alone!

www.rushlakehills.com