Eldorado Golf Course had been on my list for a while. I had heard plenty of good things about it, so when we were looking for one last meetup with my son who has the Up Mid cabin, Eldorado became our final round of the 2024 season.
And when I say final round, I mean we pushed the Northern Michigan golf season about as far as we could.
It was November.
It was cold.
But if you’re going to golf in Northern Michigan late in the fall, you know what you’re signing up for. Put on another layer and keep swinging.
Because it was so late in the season, we had a little trouble booking a tee time online. I called the course instead and had no problem getting us on.
When we arrived, the pro shop let us know that the greens had recently been aerated. They use small pencil sized tines, though, and we were told the aeration shouldn’t have much effect on play.
He also mentioned that the grounds crew had been working hard to keep up with the leaves.
Anyone who has played fall golf in Northern Michigan knows what a big deal that is. There is nothing quite like hitting a perfectly good shot and then spending five minutes staring at 3,000 identical leaves trying to figure out where your golf ball went.
Well, the pro shop did NOT lie.
Eldorado was in terrific shape for November. There were hardly any leaves on the course, and the aerated greens played incredibly well. My sons even commented that they had never played recently aerated greens that rolled that nicely.
That says a lot about the work the grounds crew was putting in so late in the season.
After the round, we headed into the Cadillac Grill for dinner, which turned out to be another good decision. The food did not disappoint either.
We left saying we definitely wanted to come back when summer rolled around.
We didn’t quite make it to summer.
We returned in the spring for another round, and once again, it was cold.
Apparently we’re determined to play Eldorado in every season except the warm one.
The spring round was a very different experience, but that’s part of the fun of golfing in Northern Michigan. The same course can feel completely different depending on when you play it.
Now I think we owe Eldorado one more visit.
Preferably one where nobody needs three layers and a winter hat. ⛳
You can read about our late fall round in our April 1st newsletter, and our return trip in the spring in our May 1st newsletter.
Make sure you don’t miss an issue by clicking on Golf Up North Newsletter and subscribing to our monthly newsletter.
Join the discussion on Golf Up North Facebook Group
Let us know your favorite course, tips or anything golf related! We encourage golf courses to share their news and specials with our group.
You can also like and follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram where we share information on golf courses Up North and what we think are funny or interesting tidbits about golf.
If you would like to find your perfect Up North golf course visit Golf Up North and if you are looking for fun things to do after your round visit Up North Entertainment for dining, lodging and things to do Up North.
Disclosure: We never tell a course who we are when we book and play a course. We do not ask nor will we accept free rounds to write about a course. We pay full price for our rounds for everyone in our group.