Field notesPlayed Firsthand
Blackshire at Lakewood Shores, Oscoda
- Paid
- $85, $55 at twilight
- Plays like
- A $125 downstate course
- For
- Everyone
- Slot it
- Early, on its own day
Still one of my favorite courses in northeast Michigan. It's in better shape than years past and it's challenging but fair enough for everyone to get around. If I was forced to only play this course for the rest of my life, I'd be fine with it. I had a different picture of it when I was a worse golfer that maybe propped it up a bit in my mind. Still great, but I'd take the Gailes over Blackshire if the Gailes is in prime shape. Blackshire punches above its weight for the price and would easily be in the mix for a top 10 to 15 public course downstate.
How it played
It played much better than I remembered, with the fairways in great shape and greens that were pure. There's some damage on a few greens and tee boxes, and it didn't impact play. The carts are super old, and there's no range to warm up on, which I wish there was.
The bunkers are the weak spot. They were in pretty bad shape, with heavy sand and weeds growing through, not the true greenside bunkers you'd expect from a course this good, and the waste areas had better sand than the bunkers did. I hope they address it soon.
The holes worth talking about
The closing four are the best stretch on the course, the most challenging set and the best design, ending with a short par 3 into a dogleg-left par 5 with a massive elevated green behind the clubhouse. Visually, holes 1 and 2 are my favorites. The first is a par 4 that forces you to put driver away or wind up in a huge waste hazard, and the second is a true three-shot par 5 where a waste area makes long hitters lay up or get eaten up, which makes the next shot a lot harder.
The con
There's a lack of creatively designed holes in the middle stretch, a few straightaway par 4s that don't offer much challenge and bring down the overall quality of the course.
Who it's for
Everyone. High handicappers can get around and see it as a fun challenge, and the tips stretch it into a beast. The bunker quality might bother someone expecting top-tier conditioning, but it's not the end of the world, and I've played worse.
What it costs
It was $85 regular and $55 at twilight when I played in July 2026, and it's 100 percent worth the money. It's a course that would cost $125 downstate easily.
Routing it into a trip
The Gailes is still the headliner at Lakewood Shores, and some people prefer Blackshire because of the Gailes' difficulty. Never stack Blackshire and the Gailes on the same day. Blackshire gets its own day or pairs with the Serradella. Tee it early to beat the big groups that logjam the afternoon, since it plays slow for a lot of groups when the tree lines swallow balls and people burn time hunting.
Blackshire has its own clubhouse, a 3 to 5 minute drive from the main property, with hot dogs, beers, and a beverage cart making rounds. When I played, the new main clubhouse was under construction.
From the round
The bugs were awful after the rain stopped, and a friend's bug spray saved the group. We were the second group off, so no hot dogs yet. An employee pulled carts up to our cars as we parked so nobody had to go get one, a small thing that sets the tone.