Spruce Run Golf Course Review

Spruce Run Golf Course
Acme, Mich
Grade: B+
Teacher’s comments: A nice variety of holes in a pleasant park-like setting.

Spruce Run is one of three courses at the Grand Traverse Resort near Traverse City (the others are The Bear and The Wolverine). It is also the resort’s first nine-hole public course. In 1979 it was expanded to a par 72 of 6,741 yards, renamed “The Resort Course”. That design was done by William Newcomb, the former University of Michigan golf coach who designed many courses in the state, including Alpine and Monument at Boyne, Calderone and The Medalist.

In 1992, Spruce Run was shortened to a par 70 to accommodate The Wolverine. The new name reflects the “numerous spruce and pine trees that line the fairways and greens,” according to the resort.

There is a lot of variety at Spruce Run. The design of the park landscape runs over moderately hilly terrain, through meadows, along marshes and over water. I counted eight doglegs of varying degrees, and about twenty fairway bunkers. Water comes into play on eleven holes, five of which require carries. The carries are not overly long, but occasionally create a layup in the thought process.

I especially enjoyed some holes with long, slow uphill climbs, such as three, five, fourteen, seventeen and eighteen. The ascents were not so severe as to create awkward uphill lies; at the same time they asked for a judgment on the club selection.

The fairways at Spruce Run are wide for the most part and invite a grip-it-and-rip-it style. However, pay attention to the scorecard, as bunkers and hazards are often hidden.

It is striking that the routing is sometimes confusing. There is a moment when the first green, the second tee, the eighth green, the ninth tee and the twelfth tee are all within a stone’s throw of each other. I got turned around after completing the first and somehow ended up heading to the eighth tee before realizing my mistake.

Spruce Run’s reputation is that of the easier course compared to The Bear and The Wolverine, but I haven’t played the others and can’t say for sure.

I should note, however, that Spruce Run is objectively not a pushover from the back tees. According to the tips, this par 70 has a rating of 71.2 and a slope of 136. Although the fairways are wide, the frequent water, fairway bunkers, banked slopes and elevation changes make Spruce Run a game of distance and angles.

My favorite hole was the par 4 fifth. The game descends from an elevated tee and then winds its way up to the green.

The right side is flanked by a small hill, with fingers poking into the fairway at various points – most ominously on a direct line from the tee, at just the right point to check a drive.

An alternate route would be to play to the left of the overhangs on the hill. However, that makes the hole longer and can even result in a bad line to the green.

The green is in a small bowl, pinched at the front left and right by bunkers. The hill on the right continues along the greenery and around the back.

I liked the decision off the tee: challenge the hill on the right for a slightly shorter and better path, or play more safely on the left for a longer, less advantageous line.

Spruce Run is a par 70. From the back tees it measures a modest 6,204 yards. Still, it is on the more difficult side.

The conditions on the day I played were good, with a few exceptions. The fairway was bare in several spots where I was unlucky enough to roll out. And because it was the end of the season, the tee boxes on the par three had taken quite a beating. Overall it was well maintained, if not at the level of the “playing on a carpet” resort course.

I enjoyed my game of Spruce Run and wouldn’t mind going back. It gets extra points for being walkable, unlike many golf resorts in Northern Michigan.

The Spruce Run Golf Course Review was published on March 1, 2026 from notes and photos taken during a round played in the fall of 2025. Follow the link for all of GolfBlogger’s golf course reviews in Michigan.

A photo tour of Spruce Run follows:

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