The Highlands at Harbor Springs

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.

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 Heather Course was Boyne’s first golf course and is as challenging today as it was then. Having hosted numerous state and national championships, the Heather has earned its reputation as one of the finest championship courses in the entire United States. In 2019 it was named “National Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association). Number 18 is my favorite hole on the Heather Course; I can remember the first time I played it. It’s a long par 4 that requires a well-struck drive followed by a long approach shot over a lake into a green that slopes back to front. It may not be the toughest hole on the golf course but it sure is memorable!

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.

Perfect August day, course was great and greens were perfect.

This course is strikingly beautiful and very well maintained. It also has a huge grass driving range. I will definitely come back next Summer.

This is how golf was meant to be played.... in the woods, secluded, with a great variety of holes. Bravo Mr Hills, bravo.

As modern golf design tastes shift away from the boom-decades of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, I find myself looking for examples of that era’s golf that remain relevant even today. I believe the Heather, the best of the three courses I played at Boyne Highlands, to be one.

My admiration starts with the course’s enjoyably walkable routing (an unfortunate rarity among its contemporaries) and extends to the mix of meadow, wetland and parkland settings it traverses before climbing up to the climactic elevated 18th tee overlooking the base of the resort’s ski hill and plunging toward the pond use to produce its snow. Along the way, par 5s at 5 and 9 and par 3s at 4 and 6 build momentum, while the inward half has its own enjoyable mix of holes.

The Heather plays out of its own, quaint clubhouse across from the resort’s main Lodge. Walking across the street to prepare for my round as the sun came up over Northern Michigan will remain a highlight of my golf year.

Tribute golf courses are tough to pull off. Transplanting the concept of a particular golf hole hundreds or even thousands of miles, to a totally different environment, can lead to an uncanny-valley feeling. On top of it all, taking inspiration from a dozen or more distinctly different golf courses complicates matters exponentially; such a course risks feeling like a hodgepodge rather than a coherent unit.

The Ross Memorial is a bit of a mixed bag. Its namesake architect’s work is world-renowned, so the impulse to pick the greatest holes from his oeuvre is understandable. In the end, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The course is currently undergoing a multi-stage renovation, and naturally, the holes that have received the most work are the most enjoyable – the par-4s 1st (Seminole) and 15th (Aronimink) holes are especially striking. But then there’s the par-3 8th (Charlotte Country Club), which has no discernible Ross character and just looks like a pleasant but mundane hole that could exist on thousands of other courses. None of the holes are offensive by any means and there are plenty of genuine highlights (in addition to the same pristine conditioning that Boyne Golf guests know and love), but I left wondering whether the best tribute to Ross here would have been more interpretive than 18 attempted straight-up replica holes.

They may not quite challenge the Bandons, Kohlers and Sand Valleys of the world for total supremacy, but the three Boyne Golf resorts of Northern Michigan represent some of the America’s pleasantest summertime destination golf at a relative bargain. The most scenic of the four golf courses at The Highlands, the Hills leans into its spread-out, thoroughly unwalkable routing by taking golfers on a meandering journey through deep woods, scenic wetlands and up to some impressive hilltops. The plunging tee shot on the mammoth par-5 13th is a highlight, but don’t overlook some of the quieter holes, like the long par-4 5th, which plays alongside dense rows of foreboding pines.

This was our first time up here for any of the Boyne Highlands courses.We played the Donald Ross Memorial course, and it was an excellent choice.. Everything exceeded our expectations . Layout, greens staff all were great.
Thanks for having me, I will be back again and again.

The Donald Ross used to be one of my favorites but apparently Boyne Management decided to ruin a really good thing. Taking out over 80 Michigan trees on Hole 1 to try to recreate FLORIDA!! OMG! The result is a Florida like junk sand pit and they’ve killed another 30 trees plus on 15 which is still closed.

When you imagine a course that commemorates a great Golf Course designer, you don’t try to retrofit environs that destroy your local environment and waste money. And only a year ago they had patted themselves on the back for Environmental Stewardship with the Heather. What a joke!

Donald Ross would roll over in his grave to see this abortion that they’ve done to this course. Play it if you like. For my money there are plenty other non-Boyne courses to enjoy at lower costs.

Go ahead and let the chain saws and bulldozers roll! I guess they’ve lost sight of the Environment and Golf in favor of Land Devastation. Fore!!

The course is under repair and actually had a hole closed. If you; are going to pay 600.00 for a group of 4 I would steer somewhere else.

You won’t find much of its namesake here as most holes are lined with trees, but it’s a fine course regardless. Course was in great shape, staff was nice and it was about 2 minutes from our stay n play condo.

Greens are tough on approach as bunkers excellently protect the greens and will also demand accuracy to avoid fairway bunkers. A tad unimpressed as The Heather is consistently ranked a top tier Michigan course, it’s very nice but Boyne, The Highlands, and Bay Harbor boast a couple better courses in my opinion. Worth the play for sure