Slightly off topic but related to your experience, many have commented that conditions at Lakewood Shores Resort where The Gailes is located, have deteriorated the last few years. Possibly Covid-19 related?
My two visits were about 15 years apart so I can't comment on what happened in between, but it sounds like covid has affected them in several ways. One, before I went in late summer 2020, I had heard that they had had a difficult time getting people to work on the grounds crew. Makes sense at that time with the availability of unemployment benefits; they weren't the only ones struggling with this. But they also have three courses to maintain.
Actually, apart from the bunkers, the Gailes looked pretty good. I'm pretty sure that it was getting the lion's share of the care. The Blackshire course looked absolutely dismal, which was a shame because it has a great set of greens.
But they were also struggling on the demand side. I think that was both covid and long-term factors. This only comes from one source, but I heard is that they used to get a lot of visitors from Canada and that that dried up with Covid-19. I would imagine that more generally, things have gotten a lot tougher for them the past few years with the Gailes falling off all of the rankings and places like Forest Dunes and Arcadia Bluffs getting all the attention.
That's too bad; the Gailes was a very original course and there's still a lot to like. The shaping of most of it is a bit too minimal for it to really have the feel of a great links but if it played firm and fast like the Loop, I'd want to play it all the time. Unfortunately, it shows just how important the grass is because it's all bent and plays like any regular Michigan course.
The Blackshire is a real tragedy. It dispelled to me the idea that a course with great greens must be at least very good. The first two holes have the Pine Valley look and I thought that I was going to experience a real hidden gem. But then the course just stops trying from tee-to-green.