A Tribute to The Tribute at Otsego Resort
By Greg Johnson
It just might be the one course of the 16 member courses in the Gaylord Golf Mecca that surprises first-time players the most. It doesn’t have the fanfare or legendary designer label of some of the others, but it has the wow-factor a destination resort course requires. You play it once, and it makes you want to play it again.
It is The Tribute at Otsego Resort, a 7,347-yard tribute to the beauty of northern Michigan, but also to the game of golf that entrances those who make the pilgrimage to Gaylord.
A group of golf media writers and video folks that recently visited the Mecca talked glowingly about The Tribute. They can’t wait to play it again, in fact.
PGA Tour veteran and golf television analyst Gary Koch and designer Rick Robbins teamed up to design the course. They went up and down and all around 1,100 acres of hardwood forest in and around the Sturgeon River Valley basin to create the course. It won awards when it made its debut in 2002, and if it debuted again today it would win even more awards. It’s that good.
Sweeping, dramatic modern golf holes coupled with classic design features, spacious greens, perfectly placed bunkering, multiple tee locations and dramatic elevation changes make it memorable, beautiful and challenging all at the same time.
From the back tees, it is all the challenge anyone might desire. My suggestion: move up to a yardage you can handle. They offer several tee options between 7,300 and 5,000 yards. Then you can more easily enjoy the multiple-mile views from multiple parts of the course, especially the tee at No. 3, or No. 6, or No. 11, 14, 16…well, you get the picture. Fall color golf here is breathtaking. It provides compelling camera shot after camera shot as you play.
It is a carts-only course, but I prefer to think of them as nature tours where the next hole is always worth the ride time.
New this year is a Halfway House for refreshments, which is located just a little past halfway behind the No.12 tee.
For golfers, The Tribute is a great reason to visit the resort, which was founded in 1939 and offers family-friendly ski hills in the winter and two golf courses. The Classic is the other course and was the original course at the resort. It plays to as many as 6,348 yards but is a more traditional parkland design created by William H. Diddle, a noted designer in the 1930s and 1940s. It’s a great track for a whole family round, including novice golfers.
The resort offers multiple lodging options. The lodges, especially The Hilltop Lodge with the large gathering room in the middle, are perfect for golf group trips.
Check out gaylordgolfmecca.com to see the packages Otsego Resort offers involving The Tribute and The Classic, as well as other members of the Mecca. Learn more about the resort and all it offers at otsegoresort.com.
Just make sure to include The Tribute. It’s that good!
