St. Ives & Tullymore Golf Clubs near Canadian Lakes, Michigan

It was a lovely day to explore a new place! Lucky me that is exactly what I got the chance to do today. Since I returned to Michigan, the state I was born and raised, I looked forward to the chance to explore and reacquaint myself with the mitten. I feel blessed to have returned back to the love and support of my family that loves to go places and take advantage of a bright and sunny day that we all have off from work as well as a job that is not the typical Monday to Friday 9 to 5!

This random Thursday off from work provided me the opportunity to visit a timeshare property my parents invested in last year nearby the Canadian Lakes in central Michigan. My dad has had this week off from work and has been using his weekdays off to go golfing at the Tullymore Golf Course, which from my understanding is connected to their timeshare. They were supposed to have a small meeting about the timeshare sometime in the afternoon providing us all with an excuse to take a day trip up to visit.

Prior to stopping at the resort, we had lunch at a restaurant in the center of the Canadian Lakes called Antlers Fireside Grille.

This restaurant is at the site of the former Gregory’s Grille and has opened only this year.  This restaurant is fantastic! It has a modern cabin-like ambiance to it inside the restaurant as well as 2 patios to eat outdoors.

For those that prefer to travel by boat, there is ample boat parking behind the restaurant. The prices were relatively inexpensive for the upscale feel of the restaurant as well as the quality of food. The food! So delicious! Since I just got back from the dentist that day, I did not want something too fussy yet I wanted to order something I usually don’t eat at a restaurant.

The seven cheese macaroni and cheese hit the spot! Coming with the meal was the choice of either a house salad or cole slaw.

I ordered the house salad with French and ranch dressing. Both dressings were delicious and looked handmade. The ranch was quite thick and tasted amazing! The veggies in the salad appeared local and fresh. The mac and cheese was delicious and creamy, cooked to perfection.

Prior to her meal, my mom ordered the spicy cheddar ale soup. I tried a bite and it was exactly as you would expect it to taste (aka amazing). Spicy and cheesey and satisfies that craving oh so well!

My parents both ordered the bacon cheeseburger, which came with a side of fries. The presentation was awesome with the fries coming in their own mini frying racks. I just know my husband’s mouth must be watering looking at them!

After we ate, I walked over to the boat parking at the lake behind the restaurant and watched small fish relax in the warm shallow waters.

Then we were off to visit St. Ives for the meeting.

While the parents were in the meeting, I was planning to watch some wildlife from the patio area behind the resort. However the meeting didn’t happen so we all watched a deer munch in the forest behind the resort, a groundhog soak in some rays, and a black squirrel run around.

This resort seems so small and word is that it is near impossible to even get a room in the summer. It does have an indoor pool so if one stays during winter it wouldn’t be so bad, however, the indoor pool is in the building next door so that is a drawback.

Our next stop was St. Ives Golf Course to have a drink and relax on their porch. At first I thought this clubhouse looks like a castle until I saw something later that would change my mind on that.

This clubhouse is very prestigious looking! Out on the back patio we went where we could watch golfers drive at the start of one hole and putt at the end of another. On one of the fairways was an entire herd of deer.

The community around Canadian Lakes is not for hunting and is rife with deer and other wildlife. As we relaxed on the porch, I ordered an unsweetened ice tea, which was delicious. To play a round of 18 at St. Ives, the fee per person is $100.

Once that stop was done, we decided to cruise around the neighborhood to check out the real estate. Most of the houses were real nice with either lakefront backyards or yards that open up to the golf courses that are in the area. As we took a turn by the Royal Highlands Golf Course, we noticed a huge castle on a hill in the distance.

As we continued on, we stopped at a road that was labeled Castle as we turned onto it. There we found the parking lot to the Castle. As we got out and walked around the Castle we were still confused as to its purpose.

It is not labeled with anything. The gates were open allowing us to walk fully around it and look down below on the golf course.

We guess it is a community center for the people that live in the neighborhood but did not run into anybody that could confirm that.

The final stop was Tullymore Golf Course, the course my dad played the day before. I was very impressed! To play, this course will set you back $160 a person. This course reminded me a lot of the Windsor Golf Club in Kenya. As you pull into the course, you are greeted with a gorgeous fountain with an eagle sculpture above a fountain.

Once you climb the steps, you enter into a large open restaurant/bar.

The restrooms are huge doubling both as a restroom and locker room for anyone that may need to change clothes or shower after a game.

From the patio is a pleasant view of the 9^th hole as well as the driving range.

The restaurant at Tullymore is upscale in every way, but the prices for the food are very reasonable. Dessert sounds good!

Tullymore itself is the golf course that is a part of a much larger real estate/vacation home community that is developing. Construction is going on now to complete the development and it sure looks awesome!