ACME — Perhaps a high-profile corporate or association group wants a conference that includes after-meeting golf clubs and first-class amenities on signature-design courses. Or it could be that a vacationing group seeks the experience of a beautiful afternoon in one fun scramble around a gorgeous golf landscape. Then again, maybe it’s the challenge of 36 holes of competition each day for a hard-charging golf group that came to play, and play, and play.
It’s all possible at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme.
“We have three championship golf courses served out of the same pro shop. That allows us to be creative and make the golf experience easier for the group and the planner,” says Tom McGee, the resort’s director of golf. “We do as much of the work as possible, from setting up pairings to scorecards to signs on the golf cars so the group’s planner is able to hand-off things to us. Then he or she can just show up with everybody else, play golf and have fun.”
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is not just about golf, or the spa, or the resort’s nearby sister property Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, but it can be if the guest chooses. It can also be a little bit of everything, or some of just a few things.
Among the Resort’s non-golf facilities are include indoor and outdoor swimming pools and hot tubs, an indoor water playground for the kids, a 100,000 square-foot Health Club with indoor and outdoor tennis, a private Beach Club on Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, a licensed day care center and day camp for kids. The 900-acre resort also boasts 86,500 square feet of versatile meeting space, the 7,000 square-foot spa, nearly 600 guest rooms and condominiums, several on-property shops, and multiple restaurants including the distinctive Aerie Restaurant & Lounge on the 16th floor of the Resort’s glass Tower with spectacular views. Just four miles away is Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel.
To top it all off, winding around and through the stunning Northern Michigan property is first-class golf, including the Jack Nicklaus-designed The Bear, The Wolverine by Gary Player and Spruce Run by William Newcomb, not to mention the resort’s year-round Golf Academy with special events and programs for golfers of all ages.
McGee says the high standards of service and golf the Resort offers to major corporate and association outings are consistently offered to all groups. “We cater to their needs,” he says. “We do our best to take their ideas and make them a reality. And we offer a variety of ideas and options when they are looking for a unique experience for their players. We talk with the group contact, explore what they want from the experience, even find out the level of player they have in their group, and then try to put them on the appropriate golf course to make sure their goals are met.”
Many standard contests such as closest-to-the-pin and longest drive, are offered to groups with the resort’s well-trained golf staff taking care of the details. Things can get especially creative for groups that like the idea of a swing analysis on video during their play from the resort’s Golf Academy instructors. And for a small fee, each golfer is presented with a virtual locker to access the video, too.
“We can conduct all sorts of clinics, involve our teaching staff in different ways, really whatever the group might like to add to their outing,” McGee says.
For more information, visit grandtraverseresort.com or call 800-236-1577.
