Port Austin, Michigan · Mid-Michigan & the Thumb
Bird Creek Golf Club
Locals bought shares, then built it themselves, some working by headlight, to a Bruce Matthews plan. The creek is in play on eight holes.
- Port AustinLocation
- W. Bruce Matthews IIIArchitect
- daily-feeAccess
About Bird Creek Golf Club
This is the Thumb's volunteer course. In 1987 the Port Austin Men's Golf League, then playing its weekly matches at Pointe Aux Barques, started asking why the town didn't have its own. They hired Lansing architect Bruce Matthews, bought land from three local farmers in 1988, and sold 250 shares at $2,000 apiece, many to people who lived nearby. Then they built it themselves: about sixty volunteers a day picked rocks, dug trenches, seeded and moved dirt, and some worked at night by the light of their car headlights, with Glen Caverly shaping the greens. Everyone who worked on it celebrated on July 26, 1990, and it opened for play the next day.
Bird Creek, the stream that gives the club its name, runs from the south through the property toward Lake Huron, and eight holes play along or over it. The ground rolls gently and the fairways are tree-lined. Matthews placed the ponds and bunkers to bother better players while leaving higher handicaps a way around. Wind off Lake Huron can come from three directions, so the same hole won't play the same way twice, and he picked the ninth and eighteenth as the best finishing holes on the course.
Four sets of tees: blue at 6,487 yards (72.2 rating, 132 slope), white at 5,954, gold at 5,559 and red at 4,789.
It's one of 27 courses Yoink watches in the Mid-Michigan & the Thumb area, and the closest alternative is Scenic Golf & Country Club, about 5 miles away — handy when your first choice is booked solid.
How to get a tee time at Bird Creek Golf Club
Yoink
Prime tee times at Bird Creek Golf Club — weekend mornings, twilight in summer — tend to go fast, and the ones that open up later usually come from cancellations nobody announces.
Yoink watches Bird Creek Golf Club's online tee sheet around the clock. Tell it the day, the time window and how many players, and it sends you an alert the moment a matching time appears. You book direct with the course, so there's no markup and nothing to cancel with us.
- Pick Bird Creek Golf Club in Yoink.
- Choose your day, time window and number of players.
- Get an alert when a matching tee time opens — then book it directly with the course.
Golf courses near Bird Creek Golf Club
- Scenic Golf & Country Club · Pigeon · 5 mi
- Verona Hills Golf Club · Bad Axe · 17 mi
- Red Hawk Golf Club · East Tawas · 29 mi
- Lakewood Shores Resort - The Gailes · 36 mi
- Lakewood Shores Resort - Blackshire · 36 mi
- Lakewood Shores Resort - Serradella · 36 mi
All 27 Mid-Michigan & the Thumb courses in Michigan · Michigan golf courses
Bird Creek Golf Club FAQ
Where is Bird Creek Golf Club?
Bird Creek Golf Club is in Port Austin, Michigan, in the Mid-Michigan & the Thumb area — about 5 miles from Scenic Golf & Country Club.
Who designed Bird Creek Golf Club?
Bird Creek Golf Club was designed by W. Bruce Matthews III.
Is Bird Creek Golf Club open to the public?
Bird Creek Golf Club is daily-fee, run by Bird Creek Golf Club, Inc., funded by shares sold largely to local residents.
How do I get a tee time at Bird Creek Golf Club when it's booked up?
Set a watch for Bird Creek Golf Club in Yoink with your date, time window and group size. Yoink monitors the course's tee sheet and alerts you the moment a matching time opens, including cancellations. You book directly with the course.
What golf courses are near Bird Creek Golf Club?
Nearby options include Scenic Golf & Country Club, Verona Hills Golf Club and Red Hawk Golf Club. Yoink watches 27 courses in the Mid-Michigan & the Thumb area.
Sources
Facts on this page come from these pages, checked 2026-09-28. Rates and booking rules change, so confirm with the course.
- birdcreekgolf.com · official
- birdcreekgolf.com · official
Never miss a tee time at Bird Creek Golf Club
Yoink watches the tee sheet so you don't have to. When a time you want opens up, your phone buzzes — you book direct.