INSPIRATION – Gaylord Golf Mecca Continues to Provide
I started working with the Gaylord Golf Mecca marketing group last May. It was not the first time we had met.
As a longtime golf writer at a newspaper, and most recently my media services business, the Mecca has always been known as a formidable part of the golf scene in Michigan as well as the Midwest and beyond.
I came to the first press conference featuring Robert Trent Jones Sr. over 30 years ago and the opening of what is now the Masterpiece course at Treetops Resort.
I’ve been coming ever since from my home in the Grand Rapids area, more than once a summer often to work, or sometimes just play. I even attended a golf school back in the day.
Just recently I attended as a contract employee my first annual meeting of the Mecca. After 37 years writing about golf in Michigan you might imagine I’m not that easy to inspire, and you might be correct. However, I came away inspired anew by the Mecca.
The Gaylord Golf Mecca finished its 30th year in 2017, which is remarkable if only because they have managed to work as competitors and a cooperative at the same time in an ever-changing and from boom time to almost bust time in golf over those three decades.
How did they do it? I have come up with some reasons I think made it work.
They have formed a working bond as a short-season golf destination, and they understand that collectively with 15 golf courses, four flagship resorts and 16 lodging partners, they offer a tremendously diverse array of world-class golf, lodging and other amenities.
They care about the Gaylord area, a lively community that offers so much more than a stop on the way up I-75 to the Upper Peninsula. The community in turn, cares about the Gaylord Golf Mecca and its tremendous economic impact. We are talking millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs over 30 years.
The leadership of Paul Beachnau, the executive director of the Mecca, has been consistent, open and forward-thinking since inception.
Finally, the Mecca offers anything a golfer could want: courses that are great for beginners, seniors, families and such, and courses that can challenge and have challenged the best golfers in the world.
Want name designers like Jones and Tom Fazio? Check out Treetops.
Want holes that isolate you from all other people on the golf course? Check out Black Lake.
Want traditional, timeless golf where you can walk or ride? Check out Indian River.
Want to play some of the best greens in all of Michigan? Check out Gaylord Country Club.
Want a first-class resort with a limo bus to take you wherever you want to go? Check out The Loon Golf Resort.
Want a throwback round with a caddie? Check out the classic Michaywe’ – The Pines.
Want picturesque views of the beautiful land carved by glaciers of long ago? Just look around you as you play The Tribute at Otsego Club and Resort.
Want a cozy campfire at night, as in a true Northern Michigan lifestyle? Check out The Natural at Beaver Creek Resort.
Those are just a smattering of the things they offer, some highlights if you will. The properties of the Mecca have been around for 30 years as a group because they offer even more, and they plan to keep on doing it as well as they can with passion.
Plan your next trip – EXACTLY the way you want it – by visiting gaylordgolfmecca.com, or calling 800-345-8621.
Get inspired.
-Greg Johnson
