Garland Reflections Golf Course Review

Garland Reflections
Lewiston, Michigan
Grade: B+
Teacher’s Comments: A pleasant resort course for an afternoon of low stress golf.

Garland’s Reflections is a pleasant resort style course routed through woodlands, past lakes and streams, with some small elevation changes. While not notable in any particular way, it fulfills what no doubt is its goal: an enjoyable afternoon of low stress golf.

Fairways at Reflections are wide and receptive, with just a handfull of forced carries. Difficulty off the tee primarily is provided by a couple of dozen fairway bunkers, which appear on half the holes. Eight and fifteen have four fairway bunkers each; seventeen has six.

I think fairway bunkers are an underused feature on golf courses. Adding them at strategic points adds a level of thoughtfulness to a tee shot that, say, a forced carry does not. Forced carries dictate a shot. A well-placed bunker, however, demands an evaluation of several options. For me, it is usually the decision space that makes a hole interesting.

Half of the holes at Reflections are doglegs to varying degrees. Water is visible on many of the holes, but only really comes into play on a couple, notably the fifth, where ponds cross the fairway twice.

Greens are on the large side and somewhat mild. Again, the green design is befitting a friendlier course at a golf resort.

A curious feature of the design is that both nines end on a par three. The ninth is quite pretty.

If there is a criticism of the design, it might be that Reflections would not offer enough challenge for the better golfer. Garland has other options for that player, however. I think Reflections is aimed more at the recreational golfer.

Garland’s Reflections (and also its Monarch, Fountains and Swampfire couses) was designed by Ron Otto, son of Garland founder Herman Otto.

My favorite hole was the par four thirteenth. Measuring 419 from the tips, the fairway plays straight out from the tee, jogging left and upward at the last second to the green.

A large slightly raised bunker, shaped like a clover (the three leafed kind), pinches the fairway around three quarters of the way to the hole. It is daring a player to try to fly it. The green is on a smaill rise above, and to the left of the fairway line, guarded by two large bunkers in front.

What I liked about Fountain’s thirteenth is that it forces a decision from the outset: Do I have the length to fly the bunker? Dare I risk running the tee shot out into the bunker? Do I play left to sneak past it, but bring the treeline into play? Or do I just play safely to the tee side of the bunker?

The safe shot off the tee, however, makes for a longer approach into that elevated green. The fairway doesn’t actually run up to the green, so a high approach is the play to avoid uphill rough or the bunkers. Long is also not great, as a return shot brings the front hill and bunkers back into play (as one of my playing partners found out)

There’s another choice. Play it as a par four-and-a-half: hit short of the green, lay up in front of the greenside bunkers, and then lob a wedge onto the green, hoping to get close enough for a one-putt.

The thirteenth is the number two handicap for a good reason.

Another hole I enjoyed was the 381-yard par 4 seventh. The tee shot looks intimidating, but once past the trees, the fairway opens to a wide landing area. That was a pleasant surprise. From the tee, it looks more narrow than it is.

Water runs down the left side of the hole, and a long drive could possibly run out into the treeline. I think it would be a very poor shot indeed to actually reach the water. On the right side, a fairway bunker threatens.

Along the length, the fairway snakes, starting narrow, widening until the midpoint near the fairway bunker, where it is pinched. Beyond the bunker, it widens toward the green.

The green is on a mound above the fairway, with a long bunker guarding the right side. The good play on this hole is to hug the left side to take advantage of an approach to the open front of the green.

From the back tees, Garland measues 6, 373. That’s not long by today’s standards, but in its defense, Reflections is a resort course, not the host of national or state championships. For a longer, more challenging couse, try Garlands’ Monarch, which clocks in at 7, 203 yards.

Conditions on the day I played were good. Tees, fairways and green were all healthy. The edges of the holes were well tended. Reflections’ conditions were what I would expect of a Northern Michigan resort course in its price range.

I enjoyed my play of Garland’s Reflections. If I was at the resort and playing several rounds over the course of my stay, it would be a nice breather between the resort’s tougher courses. In that, I give it good marks. Reflections does what I think it set out to do.

The Garland Reflections golf course review was first published on GolfBlogger.Com on December 11, 2025 from notes and photos on a round played in August 2025.

A course photo tour of Garland’s Reflections follows.

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