The Highlands Resort, Harbor Springs, MI

No golf trip to Northern Michigan is complete without a visit to Boyne Resorts near Petoskey, MI. In my mind, no other Michigan golf resort offers the variety of golf courses that Boyne has. Golfers have the opportunity to play ten uniquely different golf courses; stay in a variety of accommodations designed to meet anyone’s needs and dine at some incredible restaurants.

Recently, I was able to play several courses in the Boyne Resorts lineup including two of my favorite Highlands courses, the Arthur Hills Course and the Robert Trent Jones-designed Heather Course. The Hills Course is one of Hill’s best efforts and showcases the beauty of the Northern Michigan terrain. Strategically placed bunkers dot the landscape in many of the landing areas and narrow approach passages lead to surprising yet subtle greens. Miss the fairway and you’ll find a lot of mounding on the peripheries of each hole. The 13th hole is considered by many to be one of the most spectacular holes in Northern Michigan. It measures 516 yards from the Blue tees and plays downhill. It begins with a tee shot from the top of a ski slope down to a landing area that is wide enough to land an aircraft. A good drive will leave an option to go for the green in two. There are no bunkers in the landing area on this hole, however, the four traps around the green complex more than make up for it. The green slopes in from all sides creating a bowl effect. While this may make for a shorter putt, rest assured it will have plenty of break!

Boyne continues to reinvest in the infrastructure of their golf courses which will pay huge dividends down the road and have an immediate impact on their golf courses. For example, work was recently completed on the Central Irrigation installation on Donald Ross Memorial and Arthur Hills courses. This new system can be controlled remotely and is significantly more efficient. There were also upgrades to the pump houses and irrigation systems on several other courses and a brand new system that services The Heather and The Moor courses.

Other improvements include over five miles of new cart path on The Heather, Arthur Hills, and Donald Ross Memorial golf courses, and taking measures to speed up play on a couple of courses.

Perhaps the biggest news at Boyne this year is that during the summer of 2023, construction began on the Ray Hearn completely redesigned nine-hole short course which will be routed across a sloping site set among fescue grasses. Hole length will range from 8 to 120 yards. “Hearn will be recreating nine of his favorite greens from Scotland, Ireland, and England. With no formal tees golfers will have the opportunity to put tees anywhere they want so they can play shots from different lies and angles.

what a huge course. I've played most of the Arthur Hill designed courses in the state, and this is one of his best, on par or slightly above Red Hawk in East Tawas. Huge undulating greens. The 13th hole has to be one of the highest tee boxes in the state, gives you huge confidence when you can convert a 225ish drive to a crushed 300 yarder down hill, and watch it against the blue sky and the tops of trees all the way down. We must have hit 4 balls a piece. Worth every shot!