Elk Rapids has 3,000 feet of frontage on Elm Lake on the east side of Elk Rapids, 30 minutes northeast of Traverse City.

The golf club is on an isthmus between Elk Lake and Grand Traverse Bay on mostly level land, with a few fairways bordering the lake and the occasional lake view. It's a proper 9-hole layout along fairways defined by trees with 25 fescue-topped sand bunkers in play and mid-sized, raised greens. It's a Donald Ross original design, mostly untouched, and plays to 3,067 yards off the back tes, 69.0/121 course/slope ratings, with two shorter tes.