The Loon Golf Course Review

The Loon
Grade: B-
Teacher’s Comments: Pleasant, potentially challenging from the back tees, but not particularly memorable.

The Loon is the eponymous course in the Loon Resort’s collection of three golf courses (Loon, Lakes and Ridge).

A park-and-woodlands course, The Loon was built in 1994 from a design by renowned instructor Butch Harmon. The Loon is designated as a “Butch Harmon Signature Course,” but as far as my research goes, I can find only one other course Harmon has designed – a nine hole par three in Florida. Perhaps my Google-Fu has failed me in this instance.

You can see the Loon’s second from northbound 75

The Loon is located on the east side of I-75 North just south of Gaylord; the second hole can be seen from the highway. The eighth can be seen from the MDOT rest area across Loon Lake.

Both sides of the course are relatively flat, with the front nine appearing more park-like and the back nine more wooded. The wooded parts of the back nine have quite a few houses off to the side, but they shouldn’t come into play.

Individual holes at The Loon are enjoyable, but aside from the par three second, none are particularly memorable. There also aren’t any bad holes. Workmanlike is probably the best description.

Workmanlike is a good thing, actually. Harmon didn’t try to force anything. There are no tricked-up stretches and it doesn’t seem as though he moved a lot of unnecessary dirt.

Indeed, from a certain point of view, workmanlike is exactly what one wants from a resort course. An exaggerated or difficult course design might be good for one round, but to keep people coming back to the resort year after year, players need to walk off saying “I had fun.”

Workmanlike also is not to say that it lacks interest. Six doglegs of varying degrees add variety. Water lurks on eleven of the holes, although it really only comes into play on the par three second, the third and the finishing hole. There also are some fairway bunkers in surprising places.

My favorite hole was the par 5 fifth.

Starting on a slight rise, the hole wraps around a marsh /pond on the right side. The safe play here is to the left side of the fairway, but that necessarily makes the hole longer.

The fairway dips a bit from the tee, then rises to a high point at the apex of the curve.

A view from the fairway on The Loon’s fifth

From the apex, The Loon’s fifth flows downward slightly, then sharply downward at about a hundred yards in. Finally, rises again to the green, which is perched on slight hill.

Two things I liked about hole: One is the decision off the tee. I always enjoy holes that make me think about how much of a hazard I can challenge.

The other is the decision about how far to hit the second shot. Finding a flat spot will mean leaving a longer shot into the green. Flying it further could result in an awkward downslope lie.

Seventeen at The Loon is 241 yard par 4.

Another notable hole was the (very) short par 4 seventeenth. At 241 yards from the tips, it’s drivable by a lot of players. However, it also is very tight, with branches waiting to clip a ball (don’t ask how I know). A shot that’s long also is bad, as the back of the green rolls down and into woods and a cartpath.

A view from the fairway on The Loon’s eighteenth

Finally, I also enjoyed the “signature hole,” a 398 yard par four. It’s a hole where a player can either go for the heroic second over the water, or play it safe right to the fairway that wraps around the pond.

A view from behind the green on The Loon’s first

From the back tees, the Loon stretches to 6, 677 yards and plays at a 72.0/140.

Tee	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Black	6, 677	72.0	140
Blue	6, 387	70.5	134
Silver	5, 580	68.9	130
Red	4, 890	70.3	120

Conditions on the day I played were mixed. Some of the holes were in really good shape from tee to green. Other had sparse fairways and greens with meaningful damage. Averaging it out, I’d say it was just okay.

I played the course using the Northern Michigan First Tee players’ card, and paid just $39 for the round with cart. It’s a very walkable course, but for some reason they don’t want anyone to walk.

I had an interesting exchange with the guy behind the counter about carts and walking.

Me: Can I walk?
Guy: The cart is included in the price
Me: That’s fine. I’ll pay the fee and skip the cart
Guy: But it’s part of the package
Me: I get that. But I’m more than happy to skip the cart.
Guy: The package says it includes a cart.
Me: A hotel package includes a pool, but I don’t have to swim.
Guy: You don’t pay extra for the cart.
Me: Ok. I give up.

I took the cart, but the course would have been much more enjoyable on foot.

The Loon golf course review was first published March 4, 2025 from notes and photos taken on a round played during the 2024 season. For a list of all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan golf course reviews, follow the link.

A course tour of The Loon follows: