Tucked into Benzie County about 28 miles southwest of Traverse City, Crystal Mountain has been quietly running one of the best four-season operations in the Midwest for seven decades. And 2026 is the year to take notice. The resort is celebrating its 70th anniversary, with a festival-packed summer that doubles as America’s 250th birthday party. Next year, 2027, marks 50 years of golf at the property, dating back to Betsie Valley’s opening in 1977. If you’re a destination golfer with any sense of timing, this is the window.
Most non-Michiganders know Crystal Mountain because of the ski hill -- 59 downhill trails and 25km of cross-country -- but for golfers, this is northern Michigan’s stealth power play. Two 4-star Golf Digest courses, a spa that has landed on multiple top-100 lists, lodging that runs from hotel rooms to mountainside townhomes that sleep 14, and Iron Fish Distillery sitting two miles down the road. That last detail alone should make every buddy trip planner sit up straight.
Crystal Mountain is also one of eight resorts that make up America’s Summer Golf Capital, a collective representing 26 courses across northern Michigan. So whether you’re planning a base camp for a regional golf tour or settling in for a long weekend without ever moving the car, it works.
Where to Play
The headliner is Mountain Ridge, named the 2025 Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association. Opened in 1995, it plays up to 7,007 yards from the tips and carves through heavily forested highlands with 200-foot elevation changes, generous tee shots, and putting surfaces that other courses in the region wish they had. The signature hole is the par-three 17th -- 169 yards straight downhill to a green that slopes front to back, which is a polite way of saying you better land it soft or you’re putting from the back fringe. The closing stretch climbs up the ski hill and finishes with a downhill, go-for-it-in-two par five. It is exactly the kind of finishing hole that makes the post-round beer taste better.
Mountain Ridge is also the host venue for one of the biggest news items in Michigan golf this year. Starting in 2026, the Michigan Women’s Open is an official stop on the ANNIKA Women’s All-Pro Tour, the developmental circuit founded by Annika Sorenstam that feeds directly into the LPGA’s Epson Tour. The 2026 event, presented by Coca-Cola with GameAbove as co-presenting sponsor, runs June 30 to July 2, with the Pro-Am on June 29. The top two finishers earn exemptions into an Epson Tour event, and points count toward LPGA Q-School advancement. Translation: this is no longer a state open. It’s a legitimate launching pad to the LPGA, played on a course you can book a tee time on. If you can swing a trip that week, the Pro-Am is open registration -- four amateurs and a tour pro in a five-person scramble. Worth every penny.
Betsie Valley, Crystal Mountain’s original course, opened in 1977 and just turned 49 this year. Next year is the big anniversary, so book early. The course is a mix of links and parkland with water in play on nine holes, natural waste bunkers, and tree-lined fairways. A. John Harvey led a major renovation in 2021 that opened up corridors, improved turf, and made the course more playable without sanding off the edges. It’s also walkable, which Mountain Ridge is not, so if your group has a couple of walkers in the bag, plan accordingly. Both courses share the same clubhouse -- a Scottish-castle-style pro shop called Kinlochen that houses The Thistle restaurant and bar plus an outdoor patio with live music on summer nights.
Before either round, the 10-acre Golf Learning Center has a grass range, multi-tiered chipping greens, and TrackMan 4 instruction if anyone in your group is finally ready to admit their swing needs help.
The Events Calendar Worth Planning Around
Crystal Mountain has built out a slate of golf events in 2026 that punch well above what most resorts offer. Three are worth circling.
Fish and Skins is the one that makes me wish I lived closer. Held during Michigan’s Free Fishing Weekend on June 13 and 14 -- which is exactly what it sounds like, no fishing license required for anyone, residents or out-of-staters -- it’s a two-person team dual-sport competition. Glory on the water, glory on the greens, all weekend. The Betsie River runs right through the area and is prime trout territory. The two championship courses are obviously waiting. Registration closes June 7, so move quickly. This is the kind of event that belongs on every Michigan buddy trip group chat.
Date Night Couples Scramble is a recurring nine-hole evening event that rotates between Mountain Ridge and Betsie Valley all season long. Social pace, post-round dinner at The Thistle, and the kind of low-pressure golf that lets couples actually enjoy each other on the course. For couples who both golf, this is a no-brainer. For couples where only one of you plays, this is exactly the kind of friendly format to bring your partner into the game without it feeling like a death march.
The Michigan Legacy Art Park Golf Classic supports the 30-acre sculpture park on property -- yes, there’s a major outdoor art park integrated into the resort, more on that below. Registration closes June 1.
Where to Stay
Crystal Mountain has the widest variety of lodging I have seen at any resort property in the Midwest -- more than 260 units across hotel rooms, suites, cottages, condos, and mountainside townhomes that sleep up to 14. For a buddies trip of six or eight, the townhomes are the obvious move. You get full kitchens, multiple bedrooms, room to spread out the golf bags, and you are walking distance to The Thistle when nobody feels like driving.
Couples and smaller groups can grab a suite or a cozy hotel room in the village, which puts you steps from the spa, the market, and the coffee and wine bar. The Inn suites get specifically called out by repeat guests, and the wooded cottages are the move if you want a quieter base.
The Spa Is Not Optional
The 18,500-square-foot Crystal Spa has been ranked among the Spas of America Top 100, and it is genuinely one of the best spa facilities at any golf resort I have covered. For couples, the Couples Spa Retreat is the headliner: private access to the spa, two 60-minute massages, and a bottle of wine. There is also an Ultimate Romance Retreat upgrade if you really want to commit to the program.
For buddy trips, do not skip this. After 36 holes a day, an 80-minute deep tissue massage is the difference between playing well on day three and limping through it. Massage menu runs deep -- Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone, plus body wraps and facials -- and houseguests can book amenity access before and after services. The indoor lounge is quiet, the outdoor hot tub area is private, and the staff has the kind of polish you would expect at a destination resort twice this size. Book ahead. The good time slots go fast, especially in summer.
Off-Course: Whiskey, Wineries, and Yes, a Casino
Two miles from the Mountain Ridge first tee sits Iron Fish Distillery, Michigan’s first farm-based distillery and an absolute must-stop. The owners visited Kilchoman on the Isle of Islay, came home, and turned a 120-acre abandoned farm into a working field-to-glass operation that grows its own rye, distills small-batch bourbon, rye whiskey, gin, vodka, and rum, and pours it all in a tasting room with live music, wood-fired pizza, and craft cocktails. They even can your cocktail to go using a machine invented by Western Michigan University students, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes a golf trip memorable. Crystal Mountain runs a shuttle to Iron Fish. Use it. Iron Fish is also celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2026 -- another milestone in a milestone year.
If you want to stretch beyond Benzie, the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas are 45 minutes to an hour northeast, with names like Chateau Grand Traverse, Black Star Farms, and Shady Lane Cellars. Couples traveling together will absolutely want to dedicate a day to a wine tour. Locally, Stormcloud Brewing in Frankfort is 20 minutes away and worth the drive.
And yes, there is a casino. Little River Casino Resort in Manistee is about 25 to 32 minutes southwest of Crystal Mountain. Michigan legalized sports betting in 2019, so the sportsbook is fully operational alongside the table games and slots. If your buddy trip needs a late-night gear shift after dinner at The Thistle, you have options.
The 70th Anniversary Bonus
The 2026 anniversary year is loaded. The resort kicks off summer Memorial Day weekend with the 19th Annual Michigan Beer and Brat Festival on May 23. The Fourth of July weekend will be a true blowout -- a backyard barbecue, a silent disco, carnival games, a golf cart parade through Crystal Village, and a fireworks display over the mountain to celebrate both the resort’s 70 years and America’s 250. Anniversary energy carries through the calendar with the North Mitten running races, the Bike Benzie Tour, a Total Archery Challenge, and a steady drumbeat of live music and events. If you have ever thought about visiting, this is the year.
The Day-Trip Bonus: Sleeping Bear Dunes and Frankfort
Crystal Mountain is a short drive from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which Good Morning America once named the most beautiful place in America. They were not wrong. Frankfort, on Lake Michigan, has beaches, breweries, and a downtown perfect for an afternoon when you want a break from the course. Couples will love this. Buddy groups will too, even if nobody admits it. The Michigan Legacy Art Park is on property -- 30 acres, 40-plus sculptures along a two-mile woodland trail, plus an outdoor amphitheater that hosts live performances all summer. Built right into the resort, this is the kind of off-course amenity that quietly turns Crystal Mountain into more than just a golf-and-ski operation.
Bottom Line
Crystal Mountain pulls off something most resorts cannot. It works equally well for a foursome on a serious golf mission as it does for a couples weekend where one partner wants 36 holes and the other wants the spa, the wine bar, and a day on the Leelanau Peninsula. The golf is legitimate -- Mountain Ridge is championship-grade and now the host of an ANNIKA WAPT event, and Betsie Valley is back better than ever after the 2021 renovation, with 50 years of history clicking over in 2027. The spa is a destination in its own right. The off-course lineup of distillery, wineries, casino, and Lake Michigan beaches gives you genuine variety. And the 70th anniversary calendar in 2026 turns an already-strong destination into a full-on celebration.
Add in the fact that you are a short drive from 24 other America’s Summer Golf Capital courses, and Crystal Mountain becomes one of the smartest base camps in Michigan.
Pack the clubs. Bring your better half or your foursome. Either way, this one belongs on the short list.
