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First weekend golfing trip in the books!!!
Early on a Sunday afternoon we decided to book a Stay and Play weekend on the Sunrise side of the state. I used Golf Up North’s Stay and Play search option and found several we wanted to try.
The resort/course websites were not always a useful source of information. Some of them showed all the details of their packages including the price, availability with the option to book online. A few I had to dig and do math to get an idea of cost. A few had outdated package information on their site.
Narrowed it down to two
We were most interested in Black Lake Golf Club in Onaway and Lakewood Shores Resort in Oscoda. Both resorts required a phone call to get rate information and to book.
With Black Lake, I could book a room; I could book a tee time, but I could NOT book a Stay and Play package. Why? Because I would have to call the next day when the person who managed stay and play packages worked.
I then called Lakewood Shores Resort and they could not quote me a package price either but would get a rate for me and call me back. Not sure, why they had to “get” me a rate.
I was ready to book Black Lake, but they pushed me off and told me to call back the next day. Lakewood Shores did call me back in about 15-20 minutes with a rate, so we booked it. Sharing rates and packages with the folks answering the phones would make a lot of sense. Do not give someone time to go elsewhere. Booking a weekend trip should have been much easier to do then it was.
We wanted to golf all day Saturday, so we booked a 10am tee time on Serradella and a 3:30pm tee time on Blackshire.
Lakewood Shores Resort
Lakewood Shores was developed in the 60’s as a private golf course with homesites and many amenities. In 1986, Stan Aldridge, owner of Indianwood Country Club, located in Lake Orion, purchased the course and all adjoining land.
In 1990, the resort opened its first on-site lodging with the one course Serradella. Stan decided to add a second course, his son, Kevin designed The Gailes course in 1993. This was followed by more lodging and The Wee Links, an 18-hole pitch and putt course. The third and final course, The Blackshire opened in 2001, also designed by Kevin Aldridge.
I would like to have spent a few nights here in the early 2000’s. I am guessing this was a premium resort at that time. If anyone golfed here doing it’s prime, would love to hear about it, if you have pictures even better. Email me at marisa@golfupnorth.com and I will share with our readers and send you some schwag as a thank you!
Is there Wi-Fi? Is there Cable?
After I booked a nonrefundable package (they require 30 days’ notice, which seems strict), I was asked questions I did not know the answers to. My husband wanting to watch the US Open or at least keep up with standings. He called and found out there was cable, there was not Wi-Fi in rooms, only the lodge. He had cable and we could hotspot my phone if needed.
Did you check the reviews?
Then I was asked if I checked the reviews before deciding where I wanted to go. Honestly, it did not occur to me, I just wanted to golf. He checked and the reviews were mixed, but most of the course’s reviews were positive. I was expecting dated rooms, I was there to golf. Was not expecting a pay phone on the lobby, but still kind of cool.
Taking a drive to the sunrise side
We decided to head out around 1pm on Friday for the 2 ½ hour drive taking our time and enjoying the scenery. Our ride took us through the black bear capital of the state (did not see a one), the wild turkey capital of the state (did not see a one) and a lot of farm country.
When we rolled into Oscoda around 4:30ish and went into town and see if there was a place to eat before checking in.
We found the AuSable Inn and Finish Line Bar, great atmosphere, great service and the food was good too! The décor was what you would expect, canoes, the race memorabilia and right next to the river. Was really glad we decided to check out the town before checking in.
Check In
Seeing the main entrance in the center and what we assumed was lodging off on each side we were thinking we would be parking the car for the weekend. (We were wrong). Check in was easy and we asked if we could change the Blackshire tee time to the Gailes. We were in luck a 3:30 tee time for The Gailes was available.
When we got our key, we found out that the lodging was off site. Fortunately, it was only about a block away, but still would have been nice park for the weekend.
Our Room
The rooms were in a 2-story building, 10 rooms on each floor with direct access from outside for each room. We were on the first floor, so it was easy to unload.
Our room as expected was dated. A musty odor we assumed was from the rooms being shut down all winter was fairly strong. We left our door open and opened the slider to air it out. We only needed a place to lay our heads, we were there to golf.
Our deck looked out over The Wee Links and part of the Serradella course, a nice and relaxing view.
The Wee Links Course
We grabbed our wedges and putters and walked outside our door to hole 8. This is a cute little par 3 course that has tee boxes to chip from and greens with flags. I chuckled when I saw some of the tee box placements, I should have brought my driver. 😊 It was a fun course, too bad sunset cut it short. Click here for more pictures of The Wee Links.
Serradella Golf Course
My perfect chip
I was excited to try Serradella because it was referred to as a resort course with wide fairways and large greens and minimal hazards. Perfect for me. It is the first course for the resort and was designed by Bruce Matthews. The course offers 4 tee positions – blue, white, gold and red.
The holes were not numbered and a couple of times we were not sure we were on the correct hole. The flags on the greens were numbered, but we could not read the numbers on most of the holes until we were committed to play that hole.
The holes were not numbered and a couple of times we were not sure we were on the correct hole. The flags on the greens were numbered, but we could not read the numbers on most of the holes until we were committed to play that hole.
The whole course was a joy for us to play. There was an issue with slow play, a foursome in front of us all sharing 1 bag of clubs. At the 9th hole they finally offered to let us play through, we were stopping for a drink, they were going to get back in front of us. We ended up behind them through 18, they never offered to let us to play through again.
See all the pictures we took that day of the course by visiting Serradella Golf Course Picture Page.
On to the Gailes (or so we thought)
We went to check in at the pro shop for The Gailes and found that they had scheduled us a tee time for the following Saturday. Fortunately, our tee time at the Blackshire was still on the books, we were good to go.
Luckily, I had only had the one drink at the turn so I could drive. The course is about a mile away, not far, but still not something I would not have done if I had drank more.
The Blackshire Golf Course
We had passed the Blackshire on our way in and it did not look like a course for me, that is one of the reasons we requested the change. The course is described as having the look and feel of the Pine Valley CC, a rugged feel with hardwoods, large sand waste areas and undulating greens. This course has 5 tee positions, black, gold, blue, white, and red in that order.
I did not know what sand waste areas were, I assumed large bunkers, I was wrong. A sand waste area is a large flat sand area that replaces a fairway. There were rocks and the scorecard said you could move a rock without penalty. Well, I would hope so, not looking to destroy a club.
The Blackshire Course provides a unique round that is better suited for a more experienced golfer. I only made it through 3 holes, my husband played 9. I think if not for the black flies, my husband would have played all 18.
Didn’t take a lot of pictures because of the shortened round. See the pictures we did get by visiting The Blackshire Golf Course Picture Page
Dining at the Resort
The breakfast hours are 6-10am. The buffet was pretty standard fare, scrambled eggs, mini omelets, meat, potatoes, French toast/pancakes, sausage gravy/biscuits, assorted pastries/muffins, bread, and bagels. At less then $15 each we thought it was a deal.
Dinner is served from 6 to 8, if you have a later tee time, you may not get back in time for dinner. We chose to eat in the bar to watch the US Open. We had Poutine-Lakewood and fried mushrooms as appetizers. Poutine is fries, melted cheese and beef gravy, very good. The appetizers filled me up. My chicken tenders were put in a to go container (ended up as husbands’ dinner on Sunday). My husband ordered the Lakewood Burger (pictured) and said it was good. Overall, a nice meal under $80 with drinks and tip.
Home after a Successful Weekend
We took a different route home on Sunday and stopped at an overlook for the AuSable River in Mio. Glad we did; the deck was a short walk from the parking lot and the view of the river was awesome!
We had a wonderful time. Everybody we encountered at the resort was great. What may have been lacking in updates was more than made up for in service.
Manage your expectations and you will have a wonderful time. Our weekend for room and golf was $596 and change, less than $300 per person for 2 nights stay and 2 rounds of golf each. We felt we received a good deal.
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We hope you enjoyed our latest issue of The Golf Up North Newsletter.
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.
