Cadillac & Houghton Lake Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Cadillac & Houghton Lake

There's no county or city golf system here; public golf means resorts and privately owned courses that take daily play. In Cadillac, Evergreen Resort has the 18-hole Spruce course above Lake Cadillac and the nine-hole Norway. Lakewood on the Green, a par-70 course that a father and son spent seven years building before it opened in 1980, is just outside town, and Missaukee Golf Club near Lake City has been open to the public since 1970. Caberfae Peaks, the ski hill west of Cadillac, sells a 2026/2027 golf membership for $129 and takes tee times by phone. Near Houghton Lake, The Quest was built in 1994 to a design by Tour pro Ken Green. In Grayling, The Patriot sits on 225 acres of hardwoods and lists rates for military, veterans and first responders.

Public courses worth knowing in Cadillac & Houghton Lake

• Forest Dunes Golf Club - Forest Dunes: Tom Weiskopf design with a parkland front nine through red and jack pines and a sandy back nine that recalls Pine Valley, plus a par-3 19th to settle ties. No. 37 on Golf Digest's 2025 America's 100 Greatest Public Courses.
• The Loop at Forest Dunes: Tom Doak's reversible course: the Black routing plays clockwise, the Red counter-clockwise, on alternate days. Nos. 63 and 68 on Golf Digest's 2025 public list; The Loop was No. 3 on Golfweek's 2026 Best You Can Play in Michigan.
• Evergreen Resort - Spruce Golf Course: Resort 18 on a hillside above Lake Cadillac with rolling fairways and small greens that slope front to back.
• Lakewood on the Green: Built by Norm and Pete Smith over seven years and opened in 1980; par 70 at about 6,100 yards, back under its original name since 2013.
• The Quest Golf Club: Houghton Lake's 18, built in 1994 to a Ken Green design, minutes off US-127 at the M-55 exit.
• Missaukee Golf Club: Public since 1970, 6,045 yards from the back tees, between Lake City and McBain.

Booking tee times in Cadillac & Houghton Lake: the local rules

Tee times are booked course by course. Forest Dunes and Missaukee take bookings online, while Caberfae Peaks asks golfers to call (231) 862-3000. The Loop plays its Black and Red routings on alternate days, so check which direction is up on your date.

Why tee times in Cadillac & Houghton Lake are hard to get

The season in Cadillac & Houghton Lake is short, running roughly from late spring into fall, so every good weekend in that window is contested. The first warm Saturdays of the year are the hardest tee times to get.

Each course releases its tee times on its own schedule, commonly a week or two out, with residents of town and county courses often booking first. Leagues, outings and members claim chunks of the sheet in advance, and whatever prime weekend times are left tend to go on release day.

When tee time cancellations happen

Booked-up doesn't mean gone. Plans change: groups cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline (often 24 to 48 hours out), players drop when the forecast turns, and a group that shrinks leaves an open spot. Those times quietly come back on the booking page, usually for minutes, not hours.

How to get a tee time in Cadillac & Houghton Lake

Doing it by hand? Here's what works.

1. Know the booking window. Find out how many days ahead each course releases times, and whether residents get an earlier window. Be ready the morning it opens.
2. Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
3. Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
4. Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.
5. Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Cadillac has 5 courses on Yoink and Belleville has 1.

Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked