The Patriot / Fox Run Country Club Review

The Patriot / Fox Run Country Club
Grayling, Michigan
Grade: C
Teacher’s Comments: Good basic golf.

Formerly known as Fox Run Country Club, The Patriot is a park- and wood-lands course near Grayling, Michigan.

The Patriot’s architect is Jeff Gorney, who also designed The Dream and Nightmare in West Branch and the now-closed Little Traverse bay. It was built in 1989 or 1990. I will note, however, that it does not at all remind me of any of those. That is probably due to a much less dramatic landscape at The Patriot.

The Patriot is good basic golf. There’s nothing outstanding about it, but from a design point of view, there’s nothing to criticize either.

A majority of The Patriot’s holes are flat, and more or less straight shots from tee to green. A few, particularly on the back end of the property, are more rugged, with the par 4 fourth and par 3 fifth having meaningful elevation changes.

The Patriot is a generally friendly play, with just four holes asking for forced carries off the tee — and two of those are negligible. There is marsh on the sides of several of the holes, but water is only a real threat on the par 3 fifth and par 3 seventeenth.

Fairways are wide enough that any decently good shot will stay out of the trees. The greens are on the more gentle side. Bunkers are confined to greenside, and all of the greens are open in front, allowing a variety of approach shots.

Ball placement off the tee can be important, though, as several of the holes have trees blocking lines of play from one side. The eighteenth in particular comes to mind on this matter. Some consideration of which side to play off the tee is important.

My favorite hole was the 377-yard par 4 fourth. The tee shot is downhill through a relatively narrow opening in the trees. A good shot will hug the left side to get a clear line to the green for the approach.

At the bottom of the hill, a bit of marsh and some trees encroach from the right. Too far right off the tee, and the line become indirect and treacherous.

The fairway around the marsh is narrow and flanked to the left by a slope.

The green itself is slightly uphill again. It is flanked on the left by a slope and right by bunkers.

I play the hole poorly, finding myself too far to the right on the landing zone off the tee. That left me with a shot to the left of the green as my only safe second.

On a second trip around The Patriot, I would angle my tee shot more to the left to give myself a better approach.

What I liked about the hole was the twofold elevation change: down from the tee, and back up to the green. If you know what you’re getting into on the hole, there are a pair of opportunities to make a meaningful club choice decision.

This is also the number one handicap hole on the course.

The Patriot is not a long course, coming in at just over six thousand yards from the back tees.

Conditions on the day I played were truly mixed. Some holes were in good shape. Others were suffering. A couple looked like they had forgotten to mow for days. I can’t recall a course with such variance.

Still, I feel as though management is making an effort. There are very pretty hanging baskets of flowers on the tee signs, and a nice “The Patriot” floral design on a hill near the fourth green and fifth tee.

I don’t know that I’d venture out for another round at The Patriot, but locals are lucky to have it. The Grayling area has just a couple of “local” courses, including Forest Dunes and The Loop, which as resort courses are in another category altogether, especially price-wise.

The Patriot also is very conveniently located off of I-75, so it may very well serve as a conenient stop either going or returning from a northern Michigan vacation.

The Patriot Golf Course Review was first published on GolfBlogger.Com on January 27, 2026 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2025.

A course photo tour follows.

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