Grand Traverse Resort & Spa - The Bear Course

Great golf course...the Bear. Beautiful and challenging..
Though the pace of play was very slow, we enjoyed the beauty of the course and took lots of pictures in between shots waitin.

They put tee times 10 minutes apart so ny the time I reached the 5th hole there were 3 groups waiting. I quit after 9 holes. Would have been a 5 hour round.

We booked a hot deal. The course was overbooked and we were only able to get 12 holes in before the sun set. Overall really nice course and cool layout. Very nice staff and pro shop. A little hard for our skill level.

Great place to play a round the bear lives up to its name the staff goes above and beyond to make you feel like a home course

The Bear never lets up.
I have played 3-4 rounds here, and every time, my game does not hold up to the constant pressure supplied by tough carries over water and bunkers and greens that aren't easy to read or putt. It's a championship test with just enough wiggle room for resort players to get by. I wouldn't mind seeing the rough a little shorter. With so many penal aspects to the course design, players deserve some sort of concession. It might be the key to getting more players to embrace its challenges, instead of shying away from trying again.

I played the Bear twice this past week. The first round was in the afternoon with winds gusting at around 40 MPH if I had to guess. It was absolutely as tough as advertised. Greens were nearly impossible to hold. The greens were incredibly slick and the wind would even move the ball. The second time was also in the afternoon on a day that we assumed would be a wash out. We decided to “bear” the rain, and attempted it again. On a wet day, the bear is a million times easier. You can shoot for flags. You can hit more club into the layup holes. It makes it a longer course, but the shots into greens are so much easier. Overall, it was an incredible experience!

Great course. Pace of play was a real let down 5 and 1/2 hours. Multiple times we had two to three groups on a tee box and the course Marshall came by multiple times with no sense of how to improve the pace of play. Too bad because this is a great property’. I will not be back unless they can get times under 4 1/2

Course in good shape and staff were excellent. Although a good course, nothing special except for the name.

Greens where fast and true pins where tucked in behind slopes true test of skills

Treat of a course to play. Challenging, but not un-fun. Wide open fairways with difficult, technical approaches. Though missing the fairway will put you in a mogul filled rough (almost certainly a challenging lie). Hazards come into play on most holes — water or some serious thick s&!t. My favorite stretch was #8-9. Hole #8 was a fun approach with water all over the right side, followed by #9, a par 3 with a peninsula green.

I wish that the course had proper red(lady) tees that didn’t require so much power. The carry required on a number of holes was plain in-accessible to novices. My girlfriend (a novice) had no chance at getting a ball in play off the tee on many of the holes. Still, she had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Overpriced compared to others in northern Michigan. Played it because I was told it was tough, Jack just likes small greens. Nothing special here in terms of layout or condition.

The Bear course at Grand Traverse is one of the finest golf courses in the country. I have played many great courses around the United States.,I would rank the Bear as one of the best. Challenging, great shape with a beautiful layout. A must-play course in northern Michigan.

The good: check-in guys friendly; layout is challenging but fun if you play the right tees; course well maintained, fairways and greens excellent; lunch at the clubhouse grill was excellent
The bad: breakfast sandwiches at the snack shack warmed in a microwave are soggy w cold centers; afternoon bag drop crew of young guys who need training, some had resort shirts, some did not, none seemed interested in earning any tips; range and practice area are a little small for a resort of this size, don’t care for paying for warm up balls before $150 round.

Overall great course and facilities, would play again.