This review is very personal for me. The tragic events that led me up to this course have absolutely nothing to do with this review, well, maybe a little, but I will do my best to leave that out of the 5 stars that this resort will receive.
The reason this review is personal for me is because my Dad was struck and killed by a vehicle on 10/15/09 about an hour before tee time. He was crossing the street away from the golf course and headed towards a 24-hr Marathon gas station. For what reason, we'll never know, but that's what happened.
A year later, I went up there with virtually the same group that he went up there to play golf with and we had an amazing weekend of awesome golf and even better, if that's possible, fellowship and reconnecting.
Okay, enough of that, on with the review...
Gull Lake View Golf Club & Resort is considered the East and West Courses, while the sister resort, Stonehedge, North and South. The Scott Family got it right!!!
I think I've posted enough pictures to convince you that this course is stunning! Especially right now with the majestic fall colors being displayed! The pictures I've posted were taken from my phone, and before I left, I was really tempted to bring my "good" camera. Either way, though, the pictures won't do justice to the amazing array of colors I witnessed.
On top of the great weather we had, the ammenities to this course were great! Gull Lake View GC opens their lounge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they have a full pro shop with a great selection of items to choose from. In fact, I replaced my spikes because a few were broken and it'd been a while (due to injury) that'd I'd even held a club in my hand. They changed them right then and there for me, so I wouldn't have to try and do it myself! I'll blame the new spikes on my score... :-))
The only flat spots on the course are found on the tee box. Gently sloping fairways and deceptively "flat" greens add a great bit of challenge to your round.
Even though we may possibly be one of the last groups to golf this year, they kept the courses well manicured, and virtually leaf free, which is pretty hard to do this time of year!
If for some reason you find yourself away from the fairway, and off to the right or left, you will still find that you have several options to choose from to get your ball back into play. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience, but even the woods are gorgeous! In fact, on one hole, one of my playing partners found himself in the middle of what seemed like an endless pine forest. The peace and quiet inside the trees before he punched out was amazing! You could hear the pine needles gently falling to the earth, the risidual dew falling as the sun gently warmed the trees. Pretty cool. Plus he was able to punch out (see, I told you there were options) and save par!!!
There are three pin placements, front, middle, and back. You'll know it's a front pin placement because the flag will be orange/white checked, middle is orange/black checked, and back is black/white (calm down race fans!)...
There are three tees to choose from, green, white, orange.
West Course: East Course:
Green - 69.8 126 Green - 68.8 124
White - 68.5 124 White - 66.7 119
Orange - 68.2 111 Orange - 67.3 113
I can go on and on and on about how cool the holes were, or the bog on the East course, or the rainbow trout we fed, but I won't.
What I will tell you is about the associated acoomodations and how we were able to play 36 holes a day, stay overnight, wake up, and play 36 holes again the next day, all for one low price!
For some reason, when I first heard that we were staying overnight, I imagined several guys in one hotel-sized room, packed in like sardines, and trying to share one bathroom. Wait, was I trying to talk about this golf outting or a family vacation from my childhood?
The villas are VERY accomodating for four people! You walk in to a common room with a kitchenette, with table and chairs, a couch, a few comfy chairs, and a nice television with cable. There is a bedroom on either side of the common room, with a bathroom just outside each bedroom, so four people aren't trying to fight over one bathroom. Two to a bathroom makes it a little more manageable. Just like a hotel, the villas come with free coffee for the coffee maker (full-size!), soap and shampoo in the bathroom. If you open up your closet door, you'll find an ironing board, and spare "dirty" towels you can bring with you on the golf course to clean your clubs and such during your round if you've forgotten a towel for your bag. Those you can just leave on your cart. The idea there is you're not "borrowing" the towels that they provide for you in the bathroom.
I'll have to review the villas separately.
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