Gaylord Golf Mecca Resorts Earn National Recognition
GAYLORD, Mich. (April 3, 2002) — The Gaylord Golf Mecca has recently gained more momentum as the Midwest’s top summer golf destination due to Treetops Resort and the new Tribute course at Otsego Club earning national recognition from two major publications.
Golf Digest Magazine selected Treetops Resort among “The Top 75 Resorts in America” in the recent March 2002 issue, while Sports Illustrated Magazine recently selected The Tribute course among the “Top 10 New Courses”.
Golf Digest’s panel of 700 raters where asked to rank over 225 of the leading golf resorts in the country for the first time ever in the publication’s history. Raters assigned scores of 1 (“very bad”) to 10 (“absolutely perfect”) in determining the top 75. A resort had to be named on at least 35 ballots to be included in the top 75.
Treetops Resort was ranked 32nd on the list, which included heavy weights like Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, and Black Wolf Run. Treetop’s brace of four championship courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., Tom Fazio, and the resort’s own star, Rick Smith, the acclaimed teaching guru, make for some of the best golf on one property anywhere with panoramic views that stretch over deep-forested valleys.
Treetops plays host to the popular ESPN par 3 shoot out on its popular Threetops course. The event features members of the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour in a million-dollar shoot-out.
Sports Illustrated selected the Tribute course at Otsego Club as part of its “Van’s Top 10 New Courses”. Courses where selected by the Sports Illustrated staff from all parts of the country as well as overseas. The Tribute was designed by former PGA TOUR player and NBC golf commentator, Gary Koch, and now gives the Otsego Club 72 championship holes.
The Tribute course features rolling elevation changes through forested valleys with spectacular views that stretch for over 30 miles. Its secluded, tree-lined holes ramble over 1,100 acres, and the course has almost seven miles of cart paths. On the 3rd hole, the tee overlooks the Sturgeon River Valley and the fairway dives 140 feet through hardwood forest into wetlands below.
The Otsego Club is the senior member of the Gaylord Golf Mecca. This affordable retreat offers three additional courses, The Loon, The Lake, and the Classic. With five resort destinations, and 24 hotel properties within a 45-minute drive, the Gaylord Golf Mecca offers up something for everyone from high-quality public courses, to superb resort or hotel lodging, to fine dining in sophisticated yet casual restaurants and Inns.
