The Classic

Gaylord has quietly become one of the most golf-saturated destinations in the American Midwest, and for good reason. Situated in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the area sits amid rolling glacial terrain, pine forests, and a landscape shaped by the same ice-age geology that makes the region's courses genuinely interesting to walk. The town draws serious golfers from across Michigan, Ohio, and beyond, anchoring what locals call the "Gaylord Golf Mecca" — a concentration of courses that rivals destinations with far more national name recognition.

The Classic fits into that tradition as a full 18-hole, par-72 layout, the format that defines destination golf in this part of the state. Northern Michigan courses of this type tend to reward course management over raw power, with tree-lined corridors, elevation shifts, and greens that firm up considerably in the dry stretches of summer.

The region's playing season runs roughly May through October, with fall offering some of the most scenic rounds anywhere in the Midwest as the birch and maple canopy turns. If you're making the drive north, Gaylord earns the trip.