Osprey Golf- Michigan's Magnificent Road Trip

Classic Golf

You may not know of Osprey Golf by that name, but you know the names that make up Osprey Golf. Besides Black Forest and Wilderness Valley, and the addition of the Otsego Club courses, Osprey owns and operates two of the state’s most underrated courses at Manistee National near Lake Michigan south of Traverse City- Canthooke Valley and Cutter’s Ridge. Also under the Osprey umbrella are the Medalist in Marshall near Battle Creek (host to U.S. Open Qualifiers) and the player-friendly Ridgeview Golf Course in Kalamazoo. Any number of those layouts are on most golf critics’ must-play lists.

Unparalleled Value

Now that the eight courses are together, management hopes you’ll take advantage of them with a new promotion, the Osprey Road Trip, that offers six rounds of golf at Osprey courses and three nights’ lodging in their hotels. This gives you the flexibility to pick your courses and plan a golf getaway to fit your style of play, with one Web site to book it all, www.golfosprey.com. And with lodging now available at the Otsego Club for those in Gaylord playing Black Forest and Wilderness Valley, the stay-and-play values have just exploded.

Osprey Style

Osprey’s courses don’t hit you over the head with “we’re different”, but it shows. And it has become very obvious with the courses they’ve taken over within the last three years. First is the quality of the courses themselves. Like Tom Doak’s treacherous Black Forest, a wonderful contrast to its challenging-yet-fun neighbor, Al Watrous’ Wilderness Valley. Gary Koch and Rick Robbins’ designed the Tribute course and William Diddel the Classic at the Otsego Club. Michigan legend Jerry Matthews’ target-style layout at Cutter’s Ridge really compliments Gary Pulsipher’s more traditional Canthooke Valley design at Manistee National.

Then there’s the way the courses, and their players, are treated. Larger maintenance budgets leading to better-conditioned courses, newer carts and more well-stocked golf shops are just a few of the things you’ll notice. But it’s more than just money and newer equipment and fresh paint. It’s an attitude that Osprey’s experienced professionals come to work with every day, an infectious joy in sharing their passion for golf with their guests.

So while you may not know the name Osprey quite yet, you know the courses, and now know of their desire to build a reputation as “the” places to play in Michigan. Now it’s your turn to try them out. Visit www.golfospreyweb.com. to plan your next Osprey Road Trip with one Web visit.