Apple Mountain Golf Course Review

Apple Mountain
Freeland, MI
Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: So much water. So much sand. Fun, and well-kept.

Built around a now out-of-service ski hill, the Apple Mountain golf course is a residential and parklands style course with an abundance of water and bunkers.

Apple Mountain was built in 1998 from a design by John Sanford. A little research for this review revealed that Sanford has done much of his design work in Florida; that made me smile a little bit because one of my notes for Apple Mountain is that it felt a bit like it belonged in Florida.

That is not an insult; just an observation that the course was almost entirely flat (except for the two ski hill holes), lined by homes and had a plethora of lurking lagoons.

Fortunately, no alligators.

Large tracts of bunkers (waste areas? I treated them as bunkers) are as frequent as the ponds.

Some run for dozens of yards down the side. On other holes, they are scattered about like craters on the moon. The par three seventh is all sand between tee and green.

Indeed, every hole either has a loch or a desert to confound the wayward shot. Often it is both.

As a first time player, I was on occasion surprised at having rolled out into water or sand. The acts of discovery really ran up my score.

The houses at Apple Mountain for the most part are out of play. I am still not fond of residential courses, though. While I understand that there might be an economic imperative for them, they detract from my enjoyment of the course.

I think you’d have to miss very badly to hit one, though.

Only two of the holes on the course have any elevation, and both play off the small ski hill: the fifth and sixth. As a ski hill, it’s really not much to speak of. it does provide two interesting tee shots, though.

My favorite hole was the par four eighth. The tee shot is threatened on the right by a pond that runs the length of most of the hole. From 150 yards in, the hole becomes a peninsula, as the pond on the right wraps behind and along the left side.

Complicating the situation is that the raised green is bordered on all sides but the front by a seven bunkers.

The best angle into the open front of the green is from the right side, but that brings the pond into play. Slinging the ball to the left is safer, but doesn’t offer a friendly approach.

The seventeenth plays around the same pond complex and also is a peninsula. It does not, however, have the same bunkering.

I don’t think that Apple Mountain is overly difficult, but it will definitely reward repeat play.

Apple Mountain is a par 72 that tops out at 6, 962 yards.

Two of the holes at Apple Mountain have cute apple themed designs. Both play off the ski hill.

The downhill par three fifth has a green shaped like an apple, with two rear bunkers acting as leaves.

The other is the par four sixth, which has an apple shaped bunker. There’s also a bit of turf in the apple which is supposed to be a worm. Unfortunately, it is not as easy to see the shape as on the fifth.

Conditions on the day I played were quite good. I played on what had to be the hottest day of the summer, during the hottest week. For once, I was glad that the course did not allow walkers (although it is absolutely walkable). The heat had not wilted the course at all.

Greens, fairways and tee boxes were all in good shape. The edges of the course and fairways (those that were’nt people’s backyards) were tidy. The bunkers also were

Kudos to the grounds crew.

Indeed, the only demerit I have for this course is its residential setting. If you don’t mind playing past rows of houses, this might grade out at an “A” for you.

The Apple Mountain Golf Course Review was first published November 22, 2025 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2025.

Read all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course Reviews.

A photo tour of Apple Mountain follows:

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