Crystal Mountain Resort – A Northern Michigan Beauty – 2024 MGL TV

Crystal Mountain Resort – A Northern Michigan Beauty – 2024 MGL TV

Hello friends I know right away you’re asking yourself what is the golf guy doing up there well we’re getting ready to explore the ultimate destination for your family or your Golf Group to come and hang around we’ve got Championship golf a whole lot of fun for the entire family at a very special place in northern Michigan stick around as today we explore the remarkable Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville well welcome to Michigan golf live television shining the spotlight on the best places to play Stay and celebrate the greatest game on earth stay connected to Michigan golf live 24/7 on Facebook X Instagram and our YouTube channel And subscribe for free to our weekly for golfers network podcast on Apple podcast Spotify and everywhere podcasts are found Hello friends and welcome into a very very special edition of our program I’m Bill Hobson and it is great to have you with us as we showcase one of the great family and golf destinations not just in Michigan not just in the midwest but anywhere in America it’s Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville the home of two championship courses called Betsy valley and mountain ridge more lodging options than you’ll ever be able to explore and the kind of family fun that has families coming back here generation after generation we have a lot of ground to cover in the moments ahead so we’re going to get right to it as we begin to explore the golf aspects of Crystal Mountain on Bessie Valley can you give us a feel for the overall golf Vibe here I mean the overall golf Vibe here at Crystal Mountain is one of family friends and fun because we get we have it all here we have it we have the family atmosphere we have the Buddies trips we get the girls trips it’s just it’s just an allaround great atmosphere here at Crystal Mountain with two amazing golf courses that suit any golfers game it’s just a it’s just a great place to come and meet and hang out with friends and family and enjoy our beautiful Resort and one of the things I most enjoy about the golf side of things is the differences between the two courses batsy and Mountain are are very different experiences they’re both really good but you won’t be bored if you’re just making the loop around 30 six you’ll have quite a variety the variety is definitely there because the vet the Betsy Valley while it’s shorter than the mountain ridge in my opinion it plays harder because the greens and the fairways are much tighter and if you hit one offline on the Betsy Valley in a lot of areas it’s not going to come back where the Mountain Ridge you can you can spray the ball a little bit more but at the same time you’ve got to be a little bit longer off the tea and otherwise you’re going to be hitting some long irons or even Fairway Woods into some of those greens which they’re the greens are the tricky part on both courses where you just got to watch out because there are some subtle braks here and there generally breaking towards the water or away from the mountain so you’re going to serve as our tour guide on some key holes on both courses let’s start on Betsy Valley Jump Ahead to number three I love that hole number three is a tricky little hole you can hit anything off the teeth from a driver down to a seven iron if you really want to because it’s barely 300 yards there is a bunker right in the middle of the Fairway though that does come into play depending on what club you choose and then the green itself is probably its greatest defense because it is a two-tiered green with small green too it’s a very small green with a pond guarding it on the left but otherwise it’s another one of those holes where you can make birdie or you can make double real quick on it going to slide on forward to the beautiful sixth hole how do you guide us through that one so number six in my opinion and most other of the better golfers here on property we all think number six is the toughest hole on the property just because the t-shot is everything on that hole you have to aim at the bunker even though you don’t want to because the water on the left side comes into play so quickly and it’s a long way depending on the set of te’s you’re playing from to try to clear that water on the left hand side and then the approach shot is no Cakewalk either because you’ve got a huge Pond that runs basically from 220 yards all the way up and around the backside of the green on the left side unconfirmed reports indicate that the host of this show may not have cleared the water on the left side of six that and and a lot of us have not because it is quite a poke to get over that left-and corner so my logoed ball is not the first one in there it’s definitely not the first one in there go ahead to number seven if you would number seven’s a good tricky little par three it’s short but people underestimate it because the green is its biggest defense it’s got a lot of little edges that you got to watch out for some little Ledges towards the back of the green where if the pin is if it’s a blue pin be careful because you don’t want to go long but at the same time you don’t want to be too short because a three p is in your future if you do number Eight’s got some challenge to it number eight is one of my favorite holes on the property since they renovated number eight back in 2020 they’ve opened up the Fairway made it a much larger area up there but the rough up by The Bu in the middle of the Fairway gets very thick and then up by the green we have a huge cherry tree that kind of guards the whole right side so it getting home in two is not it’s not an easy task and not many guys can get there love the back nine especially that stretch around 12 and 13 it’s beautiful not easy but it’s beautiful can you kind of walk us through those two holes 12 is another one that we did the renovation to back in 2020 cleared out the whole leftand side added waste area out there the pond comes into play depending on what club you choose off the te so if you if you hit it up the right hand side you’ve got a good chance of going in that pond but you can’t go too far left either otherwise you’re in the waste area green has sloped pretty severely from front to back but if you get it on that green which is another one of those smaller greens you’ve got you’ve got a short birdie putt so and how about 13 13 straightaway hole not a lot of tricks in that one but you got to hit it straight aot of bounds is on the right because it kind of borders our Learning Center practice facility and it’s thick Woods on the left and a few apple trees that kind of guard that left hand side as well with another marsh land Pond up by the green probably one of the tougher holes on the back nine you’ve really got to keep your ball in play and put it in the right spots including on number 14 14’s a it it’s probably one of the more fun holes on either course just because it’s kind of a punch bowl green you just have to if you land it left or right or even a little long you’re probably not going to have you’re going to have a pretty good pot at it because it’s going to funnel it towards the hole depending on where it is now if it’s a red pin and that pin’s up in front you got to be real careful because you just got you just got to get it on the green and hope because if you land it short it’s coming back down that Hill about 20 yards and then you’ve really got a tough chip coming up at it and if you want a stout challenge to finish your round the Crescent shaped par 4 18th has some challenge for you it’s a great finishing hole I’ve seen many double or triple on that hole just because it’s a tough t- shot you’ve got a bunker up the right hand side nobody realizes just how much room there is out to the left that you can just hit it a mile up the left hand side and have a great shot in from there and everything funnels hard right so depending on where the pin’s at if the pin’s on the right hand side and you hit it on the green you’re probably going to have a good look at birdie but if it’s on the left be careful I know you love this game which is why you serve as the president of the Michigan Section what do you love about this game at Crystal Mountain wow uh it’s a getaway it’s it’s really a retreat and especially during the Michigan Women’s Open bring my family uh we just enjoy the whole time we’re here it’s an UPN true upnorth Golf Course here in Michigan and it uh is every hole is is very memorable I know there’s some courses that you play where seems like certain holes mesh into each other but out here I just feel every hole’s got its distinct characteristics and it helps you the Mountain Ridge is what I’ve played the most and uh that’s what I love about it an essential part of any really good vacation getaway is the chance just to sit down and eat a really good pizza especially after we’ve just played 18 holes on Betsy Valley we sto by the Betsy River Pizza and Subs look at this Hawaiian special let’s check out the cheese pull and you know the best way to tell if pizza’s really good is with the first five bites no way you can do it in just one five bites everybody knows the rules I don’t even need five bites for that this is incredible so I’m going to dust this off when we come back on the other side we’ll showcase more of what makes Crystal Mountain a perfect vacation destination [Music] welcome back into the show and our special visit to Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville and there’s really no way to tell the story of this special place without including the concept of relaxation and Rejuvenation which is exactly what they do in the award-winning Crystal Spa for me it’s not easy to describe the magic of a spa of this caliber what special about Crystal Spa oh everything is special about Crystal Spa our our staff are absolutely the heart of the spa they um very special individuals some of them have been here for 14 years doing Services um our amazing staff that greets them and knows your name uh the facility is absolutely gorgeous too so it’s very very well designed very well laid out and it’s Unique because many um many Spas have their fitness center locker room shared with the spa locker room and ours a separate it so when you’re coming into the spa and experiencing those amenities in the locker space before and after your service you’re not sharing it with a lot of other people that aren’t there enjoying the spa experience um we are the easiest thing you can do at Crystal Mountain it takes zero skill except a credit card uh to be able to enjoy this space so we see people kind of coming down the journey down the down the hallway to the spa and you can see them just lightening their load as they come in and relax and be able to take that time to themselves it’s so important and I think after the pandemic people really started to realize more and more how important and how valuable that was to them so we’re we’re seeing a greater understanding of that as a necessity not just a luxury there’s really only one downside I can think of of being immersed in this deep of a state of relaxation in the Crystal Spa that is eventually I have to leave the Crystal Spa we are a golf show after all so let’s go back to the World of Golf and get a little bit better at the game before we head over to our final featured course the Eternal Quest for improvement in this game it’s something every golfer experiences and here at Crystal Mountain they can help you in that Quest my friend Greg binck has been teaching this game for 40 some years okay so what’s instruction like and what are the opportunities like here at Crystal well the instruction are varied we have two day schools 3-day schools individual private lessons uh you can take a series of lessons of our schools are quite full um you do have to sign up a bit ahead of time but our general schools go the 3-day school is like a 9 to 2:30 one day 99 to 2:30 the next day and then 900 to noon the next day and each day they get to go out and play golf either with us partly with us and and then on their own there’s unlimited golf while they’re here technology has come such a long way in being part of The Learning Experience how do you employ Tech in your instruction well we have a track man that we use on occasion to measure all sorts of data we like to say it brings the invisible visible CU a lot of those data points you can’t see with the naked eye while they’re swinging at 70 80 90 100 m hour we have been endeavoring to inject a bit more culture into this show that’s normally all about Golf and there’s no better way to do that at Crystal Mountain than by visiting the Michigan Legacy Art Park Angie Quinn what is the Michigan Legacy Art Park so the Michigan Legacy Art Park is a 30 1 acre uh forested Sculpture Park um here on the same Hills as those challenging Crystal Mountain Golf um courses themselves so we’re just a few yards away from the number 18 on the Mountain Ridge course and yet winding through nature is some really remarkable artwork yeah we have um we have been um sharing this land uh with Crystal Mountain um they invited us to come out way back in 1995 and uh we have built a collection of over 50 contemporary sculptures um in this forest and we have 31 Acres alt together there are 2 miles of hiking trails um and then of course we also uh celebrate other kinds of Arts as well uh we have drop in art activities for children and um all sorts of um programs and events to both for visitors and uh people from the region you’ve seen a little bit of the beauty at Crystal Mountain but putting together the perfect vacation experience can be a little bit of a challenge so Britney what is the perfect vacation experience here anything you’d like it to be uh whether you’re traveling up here Solo or with your family or golf buddies or your friends you come for the golf and you stay for the activities or you stay for the lodging and the dining you tried the zipline done the climbing wall there’s the Crystal Spa and outdoor archery tag laser tag pickle ball tennis you name it we have it and again we’re that perfect Base Cam so you can do all those activities on site but there’s also plenty to explore nearby as well it seems like there might be as many options for where you stay at Crystal as there are things to do so for somebody who’s not been here how do you figure out where you want to stay it depends on what you’re looking for and who you’re coming with because if you’re coming solo you could stay in one of our Standard Hotel Suites or if you’re bringing a big group you could stay at one of our Mountaintop Resort homes or if you want to be just steps away from the Pro Shop stay in one of our two-bedroom condos at the the top of kin locken everything is within steps the activities the lodging the dining and in the winter of course it’s slop side so when it comes time to put together your trip to Crystal Mountain there really are like a million different options for where you will stay maybe you’ve got a group that would perfectly fit into one of those twostory three-bedroom Cottages in the park at Water’s Edge or maybe it’s just two or three of you and you’d like to have your own homey feel here in the is at the mountain check this place out your own beautiful living room got a fireplace a full kitchen in case you want to do your own food preparation and a really cool feature for small families you’ve got a tucked away cubby hole loft bed for the kiddos there a little TV in here and everything where they can just kind of disappear into their own world I’m telling you friends as many things as there are to do at Crystal Mountain there are that many lodging options and it’s all really perfectly suited for your family now when we come back on the program we’ve got one more Golf Course to show you and it’s one with championship credentials you don’t want to miss so stick around as we continue our tour of Crystal Mountain Straight [Music] Ahead welcome back into the show as we continue climbing our way through a trip around Crystal Mountain Resort we’ve we got one more Great Golf Course to show you in the moments ahead but first let’s take a couple of minutes to further explore what makes this such a great destination for your buddy’s trip or your entire family one piece is the setting and the playground there’s so much stuff to do so many ways to experience Northern Michigan whether you’re in the water park whether you have some me time in the spa whether you’re on 36 holes of golf um and it goes on whether you’re on our biking trails our hiking trails taking a taking a you know a wonderful hike in Michigan Legacy Art Park attending a concert different events these are the magical moments and that’s what we capture whether you know it’s families who’ve been here for Generations or families that are here for the first time it’s not every day you get a chance to talk with a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame about a great destination so Stacy Crystal Mountain what does it mean to you you and what’s a day like this like for you well Crystal Mountain happens to be one of our most favorite places in the world actually when I was pregnant with my only child was the first year that Crystal Mountain decided to host the Michigan open so Brad Dean the pro at the time called and said you know we need some Fillin Pros can you play and I said I’m not really sure I’m the most desirable Fillin Pro right now but I still came up and did that I planned on playing in the tournament and so my daughter Olivia has been here every year of her life since then and of course Crystal Mountain just as I run my team as the Spartan golf family to me Crystal Mountain is also family and certainly Crystal Mountain is not only welcoming but an awesome Golf Course to host the Michigan Women’s Open earlier in the program we took you on a tour of the Betsy Valley course here at Crystal Mountain Resort now it’s time for I think what we can safely refer to as the championship course the site of the Michigan Women’s Open for a lot of years Mountain Ridge Jamie Davidson is the director ctor of golf here so the Mountain Ridge challenge is what I mean the back nine is probably one of the best back nines that I’ve played in in Michigan itself and especially the last five holes so if you can navigate those last five holes coming in you you’re either going to have a great round or a very average round at best the this is the home to the Michigan Women’s Open and has been this will be the 22nd year now so it is our championship course well let’s hit some highlight holes on Mountain Ridge and have you serve as tour guide again like you did on the other course let’s start right on number one number one’s a great hole you’ll be seeing a big tree up on the left hand side Everybody Plays it right at that tree but you want to be just a hair right of it and then you’re going to have a perfect shot into a a guarded green with a pond on the left and bunkers on the right but the same time if you land on that green you’re going to have a pretty good shot at a birdie there because everything kind of funnels towards the hole on number one green it seems like to me anyway we uh we continue our flow on that front nine let’s Jump Ahead to number five number five was one of those holes that they renovated back in 2020 with the Betsy Valley and they did a great job by just pushing the tree line back and opening it up adding a waste area making the green complex so much more aesthetically pleasing I guess even though there’s about five bunkers that surround it and it’s a 200 yard t- shot from the back te’s so beautiful but it’s a it it’s a gorgeous hole it’s probably one of the most picturesque holes on the course and if you haven’t played here in a few years you might find it to be a a new experience in some ways yeah absolutely those holes out there just the the renovations that they did and the forest management that they did on those it just cleaned it up made it look so much better what’s number seven like number seven’s a good hole it’s a it’s actually a tough hole because it’s a pretty sharp dog leg left you t-shot is Paramount but then at the same time I say that the t- shot’s Paramount but when you get up to that green there’s twists and turns everywhere and I always joke with my superintendent that there’s maybe two places on that green that you can actually put a flat pin spot otherwise it’s breaking left right up down you name it it’s going so you got to hit one close if you want to score on that hole so the fact that I haven’t made a lot of putts on camera is understandable I have an excuse built in on number seven absolutely what’s the eighth hole like eighth hole is a great hole they they did a great job when they added some bunkering in the middle of the Fairway kind of added some open areas around the green we’ve got a nice grass bunker on the leftand side halfway down the Fairway so which catches some balls but it also keeps some balls from going into the woods as well so now we make the turn in a really beautiful setting beautiful part of Mountain Ridge take us on to 10 number 10 depending on the te’s you’re playing from the back te’s it’s a driver or a three-wood because you don’t want to flirt with the bunker up on the right hand side but at the same time you can’t go too far left either or you’ll be in some fairly thick Woods there then the green is guarded by a couple of Mounds what one larger Mound on the left hand side that kind of protects that I’m going to let you lead us down the home stretch of 15 through 18 is the guy who knows this course really really well par is a good score on 15 it’s a long par 4 waste area down the whole leftand side trees down the whole right hand side side but with a good t- shot you do have a good approach shot in where you can get one in in tight and score on that hole 16 I look at it as kind of a double dog leg almost where it kind of go kind of kind of goes left then goes right and then up the hill so lot of bunkering up around that green but you’ve got to you’ve got to place your t-shot on 16 correctly a pretty healthy par three on 17 and 17 is just it’s a tough hole especially if you’re standing on the back t- box that green look looks like a postage stamp sitting looking at you down there it plays about 208 downhill so you’re probably playing not 190 or so yards and with a like I said a postage stamp green and I in all honesty I think 18 is a birdie hole for the majority of the better players out here and even an average player has a good shot at making Birdie on the 18th hole you’ve got a good shot at either maybe even getting close to the green and two or on in two and you’ve got a short wedge shot into pretty receptive and fairly large green that you can you can make a birdie on as we come close to winding down our visit to Crystal Mountain I wanted to take a moment and showcase for you one very special dining option it’s called the thistle it’s located inside the kin lock and lodge and it’s really the perfect combination of casual and fine dining it’s really whatever you want the menu widely varied everything from the thistle Burger to the other end the more special ized Entre that feature locally grown produce and some really good entree choices I mean take an up close look at this incredible ribeye or move over here to the seafood risoto if you’re in the mood for just a good oldfashioned fillet there’s a good oldfashioned fillet and then my personal favorite the Scottish salmon surrounded by a wall of scallops oh folks it doesn’t get any better than this ins inside the thistle at Crystal Mountain when you come in bring your appetite oh that’s absolutely perfect as our visit to Crystal Mountain draws to a close sun has set the B fire is lit there’s live music up at level four and the most popular place on the entire property of Crystal Mountain Crystal Scoops is serving up the perfect ending to a perfect day at a perfect place so now the invitation is to you to come on up bring the clubs bring the family and get ready to make a lifetime of memories at one of Northern Michigan’s most spectacular destinations we’ll see you down the road here at Crystal Mountain [Music] back [Music]

Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, MI is a remarkable golf and family getaway as well as the longtime host of the Michigan Women’s Open.

Join host Bill Hobson for a tour of both championship courses – Mountain Ridge and Betsie Valley – as well as the fun, food, and beauty of this fantastic Pure Michigan destination.

More info: https://www.crystalmountain.com/

0:00 – Intro
1:40 – Betsie Valley Course
9:30 – Crystal Spa
11:31 – Crystal Academy
12:50 – Michigan Legacy Art Park
14:01 – Off the course fun
17:27 – Mountain Ridge Course
23:00 – The Thistle Restaurant
24:08 – Closing thoughts
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