You know about the Ryder Cup, golf’s foremost team competition pitting top U.S. professionals against the best players from Europe. Well, something similar happens every summer at Garland Lodge and Golf Resort.

It’s not televised and the level of play isn’t quite up to par. And instead of Team USA versus Team Europe, it’s Team Scotch versus Team Drambuie. Yet, The Rusty Nail is a passionate golf tradition all the same. 

There’s even a special jacket and ring awarded to the winning captain, and at one time there was an actual trophy cup, too. But the real prize for all involved is the chance to spend four days amid Garland’s 3,000-plus acres of unspoiled northern Michigan wilderness.

“The nature aspect of it is an incredible draw,” said Brian Kelly, a Texan and co-organizer of the trip. “Garland has so much property and it’s gorgeous. You’re in the middle of the woods. It’s not uncommon to be on the first tee and see deer come walking through.”

The Beginning Of The Rusty Nail

It was 1982 when The Rusty Nail got started, just a few weeks after Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with a miraculous chip-in. Four guys who worked for the same company in Metro Detroit went north for a golf weekend. One of the guys introduced the others to the Rusty Nail, a cocktail made with Scotch whisky and Drambuie that was a favorite of entertainers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. 

In the following years, the group quickly grew from a foursome to a dozen and then to two dozen. They played at a different Michigan golf resort each year – until they came to Garland in 2000.

“We’ve been mainstays at Garland the last week of July every year since,” Kelly said. “There’s four, now five, golf courses. The accommodations are always top notch. The staff makes planning easy. And pricing has had a lot to do with it, the economic value for the quality of the golf that you get.”

“Garland Is Just Wild”

Dan Waidelich had never heard of Garland when he visited with two foursomes of college buddies back in 1993. He fell in love with the place right away and has come back to Garland every year – sometimes two or three times per season – with different groups of friends and family.

They like a lot of things about Garland, from the affordable, high-quality golf with wide fairways and big, undulating greens to the diverse range of accommodations and the delicious food in the resort’s dining venues. (Waidelich recommends the Turkey Rachel sandwich.)

Most of all, they enjoy Garland’s spectacular scenery, spying everything from deer and turkey to extraordinary bald eagles.

“This place just does it for me,” said Waidelich, who has lived around the Midwest and now calls Northville, Mich. home. “The thing that gets me the most is the wide-open beauty of northern Michigan. Garland is just wild!

“There’s not a lot of back-and-forth holes, so you feel the seclusion of playing up there. It’s just you and your buddies enjoying your time up in a beautiful spot.”

Over the years, Waidelich has stayed in every style of lodging at Garland. They’ve had full kitchens and cooked their own food – ribs, rack of lamb, filet mignon. And they’ve stayed in the Garland Lodge and eaten every meal in the restaurants on site.

They’ve been to Garland in spring, summer and fall, sometimes staying two nights and golfing 72 holes and recently spending three nights and playing six rounds. Whatever the itinerary, Waidelich appreciates how you can park your car when you arrive and not need it again until you leave because everything is right there.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere that holds a candle to the scenery, to the quality of golf and to the accommodations you can get at Garland,” he said.

Stay & Play Packages at Garland: Where to Play and Where to Stay

Two Constants: Garland and a Round of Rusty Nails

Like a lot of long-running group golf trips, the makeup of the gang that competes in The Rusty Nail has changed over the years. It grew far beyond the original company connection decades ago and this year will gather a motley crew of 28 friends from different walks of life and different parts of the country. There are lawyers and judges, firefighters and salesmen. There are guys from Florida to California and from New York to Chicago. The youngest golfer this year is 22. The oldest is pushing 80.

They’ll come to Garland on a Sunday and play 18 holes a day through Wednesday – one round on each of Garland’s four 18-hole courses. Plus, they’ll get an extra 10 holes by playing The Sawyer, Garland’s new reversible short course. In fact, The Rusty Nail was the first group to hold a private event on The Sawyer after it opened in 2025.

Aside from the affordable variety of high-quality golf courses suitable for scratch golfers and 25-handicappers alike, the group likes the different lodging options at Garland, too. They’ve stayed in 2-bedroom Golf Cottages with full kitchens and outdoor patios right on the Fountains course. They’ve stayed in Single Villas within walking distance of the first tee. This year, they’ll each have their own room in the Garland Lodge, just a few steps from Antlers Bar & Grill and the outdoor Tiki Bar that was “an instant draw” when it opened several years ago.

For all the differences from one year to the next, however, some things never change. Each year the whole group gets together for dinner and any rookies buy a round of Rusty Nails for the veterans. 

“We’re this eclectic group of guys that has gotten to know each other over the years,” Kelly said. “There’s some good, deep friendship ties.”

Choose A Standard Stay & Play Package Or Customize Your Garland Golf Getaway