Wow totally different course,from 6 years ago! New - young owners seem motivated to fully turn this place completely around. Enjoyed a fun afternoon,with good friends. Very challenging course. All employees were extremely helpful! read more

Played golf here several years ago and had given up on the course . but we were amazed at the turnaround and how beautiful this new course under new management is. Greens as well as fairways are in excellent condition. Hardly recognized it, Definitely are coming back, reminds us of what it was like in the early day. Congratulations to the new owners for all the hard work done. read more

Course was in great shape. The greens were wonderful , fast and true but almost every green was huge with a lot of slope and undulation. This was half the challenge of the course but the layout was also varied and interesting. I played twice, both times on my own and pace of play was excellent, being a Tuesday. Highly recommended. read more

Great come back course in northern Michigan .The fairways will get your attention somewhat wait till you get to the greens . While you approach your put make really sure you are reading your shot properly . Oops 3 putted that hole study them well . The staff is very congenial willing to serve your needs . Oh yes the restaurant is a pure delight good selection on food plus you will enjoy your meal . Well for me I am looking forward to another visit . Mr & Mrs PR,ranger read more

My fiancée, daughter, son-in-law, and I played on Saturday (August 3,2024) and absolutely loved it. The course was beautiful and challenging, the staff was super friendly and amazing, and the prices were phenomenal. Thank you for a wonderful experience. read more

Black Bear Golf Club - Beautiful view from the Tee Box - Golf Near Me - Vanderbilt, Michigan

What a turn-around. Never thought I'd come back but heard some good things. They were true. Course went from D- to B+. Clubhouse menu expanded, new decking, building simulator addition. Great job. read more

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Under new ownership and the course is beautiful a true destination spot nice enough to attract tourists and affordable enough for locals

Very disappointed, went to a 2nd bourbon steak night. We brought friends because our first time at this dinner was so amazing. Owners of black bear were there at our first experience, not this time. This time was very bad. Tables were not set up at all in the bourbon bar area and was told we could eat in regular restaurant, tastings were poured and staged second thought like drinking in a regular old bar, and my wife got a glass of old bad wine and had to send it back and they did open a fresh bottle. Dinner salad had bottled dressing and Steak was cooked wrong and had no flavor, potato's were awful, no flavor, no butter. I feel confused... we went from first amazing experience to a second terrible one. Cook and waitress staff were different too. Very poor experience. So sad too as we thought we had found our new favorite place to go to. Not sure we will go back. Feel like we got the bait and switch.... read more

We had a group of 16. Course was in great shape. The greens were challenging but in great shape. The staff was fantastic inside and out. They hosted a putting and long drive contest without entry fee and had prizes. We felt welcomed and had a great time. Best value in Northern Michigan! If you have not played in 2024 do yourself a favor and play a round or two. read more

Course was hard and was not that much money. Would definitely play again and it is recovering still after being in bad condition after the past owners. read more

Course was in great shape greens and fairways both felt good, and overall a lot of fun to play! The new owners were very nice.

Great changes have occurred in the past two years. Greens are in excellent shape and the fairways are well watered and maintained. Not perfect but a big improvement from the previous owners. We will be back!! read more

My wife and I were heading up north, have driven by this course many times over the past 30 years. Decided to book a tee time, arrived two hours early and grabbed lunch. Delicious half pound burgers for both of us. Gluten free buns as well. The fries were amazing also. Heard there are new owners, which was obvious when we arrived and were seated on the patio. The course is beautiful with several improvements already in progress. Can't wait to come back and enjoy another day in the course and lunch or dinner. read more

course is enjoyable again with the fairways and rough being cut the greens being green and sometimes even tricky making it a challenge. One of the most beautiful courses ive ever played with the view being amazing along the entire thing new owners doing unbelievable actions with the course definitely one of my favorites read more

the food here is great. With new owners the course has come along way the greens are green and the fairways are not dead and yellow I would definitely recommend trying this course again. read more

My husband and father in-law played this course yesterday (September 30th 2023)it was awful. The greens are janky, the terrain is so rough, the only nice thing is their carts are in good condition. Other than that, I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone, even if there was no cost! Go a little further south to Gaylord or a little more north to Indian river. Both places are great read more

Unfortunately this course is at the end of its life. Save your money and play somewhere else. You can tell it was once great, but is no borderline unplayable. read more

It makes me laugh reading some of the reviews that are so negative about this course. Do the course conditions and clubhouse need some love? Yes (that's why I deleted a star), but I'm sure everyone knew that going in to their round. The course layout is so interesting and fun, my group of 8 had a blast playing 40+ holes before we headed to Garland for MCTANG. All of the greens were playable, and while you did encounter some unique/challenging lies through the green, that only added to the fun. We had the Group Golfer deal (which comes up 2-3 times per year) for unlimited golf, lunch and a poker chip for $39, and we all agreed that this was a tremendous value. If you don't want the brat for lunch you can upgrade for a nominal charge to tuna wrap, burger and others-all were good. Becky is a rockstar! She was running the pro shop, grill and bar and did an awesome job. She makes an awesome Bloody Mary with a recipe she has been perfecting for nearly 20 years-if you like a Bloody Mary, you should definitely try one. Playing Black Bear the week after the British Open was awesome, as the ground game comes into play consistently. If you are a course snob who can't stand anything but a great conditioned golf course, then you should skip it. If you are a golfer who is looking for a fun, challenging place to enjoy a day with friends, then I suggest you set you expectations accordingly, and be ready to have a ton of fun on a course that certainly has a ton of potential. A year prior to this we played Black Lake in Onaway, which is a very well conditioned course owned by the UAW. When asked which course they'd rather play again, every single person said BLACK BEAR-it's just so darn fun. My group will definitely be back, and we will spread the word to like minded golfers. read more

I got the chance to play here while visiting some friends in Boyne. I really enjoyed the course and thought it was a great deal deal for the price. Staff was really nice and helpful from the second you park in the lot. You almost get a country club feel due to the great service. Are there some run down sand traps? Yes but I the course layout was fun and you get a warmup hole (par 3) which I've never seen before. There are some really fun holes on this course, especially on the back 9. At the end of the round the staff cleaned my clubs which was unexpected but nice. I would definitely golf here again. Only reason it is not a 5 Star is they could make the greens faster....it's like putting on shag carpet. read more

Nice staff, very limited food offerings and a golf course that has seen better days. Signage and cart paths are in poor condition. Since the area has several courses maybe try something different. Greens were ok, fairways poor and tee boxes not so great either. Maybe worth $30/round at this point, but they are not getting the play which is an indication that there are issues. read more

Played on 7/30 with a morning tee time. The first tee was already back up, so they sent us to hole 10. Caught up with a foursome at 11, played through. There were several holes that still had the sprinklers going (went by again at 1130am and the same sprinklers we're still going!!). There is no course marshal, so a foursome behind jumped through and backed up us and two other twosomes. The course lay out is terrible, it feels very back and forth and does not flow well, it's very convoluted. At the turn, went into clubhouse for a sandwich (there is no beer cart person or an "order on the turn" menu for you to cell phone in an order) so I had to order at counter and wait. More wasted time. I think there are only two people working and the guy organizing the tee times seem scattered and unsure of who was where. I think he may be overworked. The course is in bad shape. Tee boxes are brown and bunkers are way over grown with weeds and some don't even have rakes. The score card yardages and hole sign yardages do not match, one of the two needs to be corrected to align together. The course has great potential for Northern Michigan, but is in serious need of some workers and better grass management. For my suggestions to fix it, I started with the following: 1) get a course marshal daily along with a first hole marshal 2) stop wasting water. Water and fertilize at night in 15-20 min increments, when there are no golfers playing 3) have couple desk workers, a couple restaurant workers - the two people there now are overworked and scattered 4) fix the bunkers, clean them up and make them look presentable and provide rakes 5) align score card distances with signs. read more

Black Bear Golf Club - Hole 6 brown with the sprinkler on 5 (at noon!) - Golf Near Me - Vanderbilt, Michigan

Do not play this course. Tee boxes aren't cut. The fairways are in awful shape. The sand traps have weeds in them. Worst course ever. I was expecting a lot better from Michigan. read more

The course was in terrible shape. Clearly nothing has been done to the course this year and honestly it shouldn't be open with these conditions. Not sure I would ever go back even if they do some basic maintenance. Don't waste your money. read more

This is by far the worse course I've played in my 30 plus years of golf. Tee boxes, fairways are brown. Weeds rule the course. Layout at one time was good. Fungus rules most greens. Please skip this course no matter how good the deal seems. read more

Friendly and helpful staff. Tough course, although in a few places conditions could be improved. Great food and bar. One nice feature: you start on an extra hole for warm-up. Nice. Not a fancy resort course, but that also meant the golfers were more serious about the game, meaning that the golf etiquette on the course was much better than some of the nearby resorts. A couple of places could use improvements (some tees and a couple of traps). But overall, definitely worthwhile playing if you are in the area. read more

One of my favorite courses in Michigan, we play it every year. Every hole is beautifully designed, each making good use of all three dimensions. The up and down is quite fun, but also very challenging. The greens are very challenging, some of them are so crazy that one might think they are playing put put golf. During the summer they have a special rate if you get out before 8am. read more

Great course for all types of players. Rick at the course and his staff were extremely accommodating. Great experience all around!

The course was in terrible condition,the fairways were rough and the rough was impossible,many of the greens were missing grass and many of the sand traps were filled with weeds.If you are traveling a great distance,this course is not worth your money or time. read more

Best course in the state. Kind of pricey but I got a deal from GroupGolfer so I got to play it.

Course was in decent shape. Made the turn and the clubhouse allowed a twosome off in front of us. They played slowed, so after 2 holes of them taking forever, we called the clubhouse to send someone out to get them moving.(mind you we had a foursome). The clubhouse seemed annoyed, and said they would send someone out, which they never did. It took over 2 1/2 hours to play the back nine, and had to wait on every shot. read more

We played this course with a group of 12 the first weekend in June. Our first clue that we shouldn't have come should have been when they told us "we don't have any range balls" , it was downhill from there. It doesn't look like they fertilize or sprinkle this course. There were two foot weeds in most of the bunkers, and if there was a rake, they were missing most of their teeth. The only good thing about it is the whole group laughed about how awful it was for the rest of our trip to the great courses around Gaylord. read more