{"id":306681,"date":"2025-10-16T00:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T00:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306681\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T00:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T00:25:09","slug":"crystal-mountain-resort-named-2025-michigan-golf-course-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306681\/","title":{"rendered":"Crystal Mountain resort named 2025 Michigan Golf Course of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Crystal Mountain’s Mountain Ridge golf course is beautiful in the fall<\/p>\n

Bill Campbell of Ann Arbor sinks a birdie putt on the par-5 sixth on the Mountain Ridge course at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville on Sept. 27, 2023.<\/p>\n

The highest honor among Michigan golf courses has been bestowed for 2025, and it’s an Up North resort course getting the praise.<\/p>\n

Crystal Mountain’s<\/a> Mountain Ridge course Wednesday, Oct. 15, was named Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association (MGCA).<\/p>\n

Located in Thompsonville, about 20 minutes by car east of M-22’s Inspiration Point on Lake Michigan, the Mountain Ridge has scenic views and elevation changes, including plenty of steep drops. If you like hitting downhill, you’ll enjoy some dramatic holes, including the beautifully framed par-3 fifth and signature par-3 17th.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Crystal Mountain was ranked among the top 10 golf resorts and destinations for an Up North vacation<\/a> by the Free Press.<\/p>\n

“Mountain Ridge lives up to its name and then some, with incredible heights and vistas sprawled among northern Michigan\u2019s soaring pines,” Free Press sports columnist Carlos Monarrez wrote in 2021. “When you aren\u2019t avoiding altitude sickness, you\u2019re contending with sidehill lies on rolling fairways, large, undulating greens and tough bunkering.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>This is the best public golf course in each metro Detroit county<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Crystal Mountain has two courses. Betsie Valley is the resort\u2019s original course. The signature Mountain Ridge course opened in 1995 and was designed by Northern Michigan-based architect William Newcomb. The course hosted the Michigan PGA Women\u2019s Open for 23 consecutive years.<\/p>\n

The Free Press played the tree-lined Mountain Ridge course at the start of fall in 2023, and it was in solid condition backed by vibrant colors from the changing leaves. There was also ample room to practice on the huge driving range and chipping area.<\/p>\n

Crystal Mountain has dozens of lodging options and is suited for a family vacation, with a one-acre outdoor water playground that features a 4,200-square foot pool. There’s also two 1,600-foot curving tracks on the Crystal Coaster Alpine Slide<\/a> that zip you down the mountain, along with an adventure course, zipline, climbing wall, tubing, tennis and yes, pickleball. The spa also draws rave reviews.<\/p>\n

PRO TIP: <\/strong>I followed Phil Mickelson vs Jon Rahm at LIV Michigan: 4 tips golfers can learn<\/a><\/p>\n

Marlowe Alter<\/a>\u00a0is an Assistant\u00a0Sports Editor at the\u00a0Detroit Free Press<\/a>. Email him at:\u00a0malter@freepress.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want more Michigan golf course coverage?<\/strong>\u00a0Download our free app<\/a>\u00a0for the latest news, alerts, eNewspaper and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crystal Mountain’s Mountain Ridge golf course is beautiful in the fall Bill Campbell of Ann Arbor sinks a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":306682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[129102,647,22075,1430,8972,17054,129104,425,4297,214,86697,155299,50,17354,450,1457,1451,27246,155297,62,22074,22077,1164,14089,14083,646,67,132,2608,155298,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-306681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-accommodations","9":"tag-affiliate","10":"tag-destinations","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-guides","13":"tag-hotels","14":"tag-hotels-u0026-accommodations","15":"tag-local","16":"tag-local-affiliate-travel","17":"tag-michigan","18":"tag-mountain","19":"tag-mountain-u0026-ski-resorts","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-north","22":"tag-overall","23":"tag-overall-positive","24":"tag-positive","25":"tag-resorts","26":"tag-ski","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-tourist","29":"tag-tourist-destinations","30":"tag-travel","31":"tag-travel-guides-u0026-travelogues","32":"tag-travelogues","33":"tag-u0026","34":"tag-united-states","35":"tag-unitedstates","36":"tag-up","37":"tag-up-north","38":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115381006616483002","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}