Elmbrook Golf Course

Overview: Elmbrook is one of Traverse City’s most established public golf settings, laid across a high, rolling property south of town with views toward East and West Grand Traverse Bay. The operator describes an 18-hole par-72 course framed by mature trees, while the terrain supplies the changing lies and elevated outlooks that make the round feel more substantial than a city course might suggest. Hardwood and pine corridors shape the driving lines, and the property remains informal enough for a local round while still giving visitors a genuine northern Michigan landscape between resort days.

History: Five Traverse City businessmen began building Elmbrook in 1964 on land that had been part of the Sleder family farm. The first nine came into play in 1966 and the second nine followed in 1968, creating the complete course now associated with the property. The family connection continued through later ownership and improvements, helping Elmbrook retain a community character even as the Traverse City golf market grew around it. That combination of long local continuity and a public 18-hole offering is the course’s central historical fact.

Did You Know? Elmbrook was built in stages rather than appearing as a finished 18-hole course. Its initial nine-hole phase dates to 1966 and the second-nine completion to 1968, part of why the property feels like a long-standing local institution rather than a recent resort project.