Boyne Mountain Resort

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 courses, the Alpine and the Monument at Boyne Mountain. Regardless of which course you play, both start with a one-mile drive up the mountain to the first tees. Then it’s all downhill from there, so to speak. Each of the resort’s 36 holes presents a challenge in its own right and uses every aspect of the beautiful northern Michigan terrain, from the summit of the ski slopes to tee boxes with views of the lake. The Alpine Course plays host to Michigan's Tournament of Champions each year and offers stunning panoramic views of Deer Lake from its mountain setting. Since you’re starting at the top of the mountain, most holes play downhill, and well-hit drives are rewarded with much more manageable approach shots. The forgiving greens will give you more confidence in your short game, something that will come in handy at Boyne’s two off-property courses – Crooked Tree Golf Club and Bay Harbor.

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.

We apparently played behind a league on the front 9. 3 hour 9 hole pace of play. Then on the back 9, 7 of them grouped together and played together. We got done after sunset when we would have ordinarily been done 2 hours earlier. Those league members need to have some rules to follow or be split apart. Shameful way to ruin an experience golfing on an otherwise beautiful course in great conditions.

Boyne Mountain was a ski resort for decades before its two golf courses were built, and it shows. Both the Monument and the Alpine start after lengthy uphill cart rides before zigzagging down the [north] face of the eponymous mountain like some enormous complicates slalom setup. Playing an open-jaw golf course is an occasionally disorienting but overall enjoyable experience, especially as the lakeside clubhouse finally comes back into view. Along the way, the Alpine is an exercise in gradual downhill golf, playing shorter than its yardage but still throwing enough long rough, bunkers and trees at players to keep things interesting.

Boyne Mountain is also the domain of one of America’s great beer cart attendants: Jerri Lee, who is a burst of sunshine to every golfer who visits. If you can’t be persuaded to buy at least a beer and a frozen candy bar from her, yours must be a cold, cold heart.

Everything was perfect about the course and staff except they don’t sweep the dew off the greens in the morning. Range is also closed on Monday morning which isn’t posted on the website. I wouldn’t have made the tee time for 710 on Monday if I knew those things.

Course was in great shape and scenery was beautiful.

A very picturesque layout, running around/across the backside of Boyne Mountain. Excellent course conditions and a really fun track.
Thumbs way up!

Tucked in between the trees working your way down Boyne Mountain with views of Deer Lake. Absolutely beautiful course and the team there are fantastic, every single staff member I ran into was incredibly helpful and friendly . Played Alpine and Monument the same week, preferred Alpine but Monument was also great. If you’re doing both play Monument first and graduate to Alpine. Oh and I played on weekdays but the pace was also very quick.

The course was in good shape. A few wet spots because of recent rain. No graphics near the tees to show hole layout. No wi-fi to access gps for yardages. Love the course.