Written By Len Ziehm with Pictures By Joy Sarver
Having three top golf resorts is somewhat like having three children. How do you decide which one gets taken care of first? That’s the dilemma at Boyne Mountain, The Highlands and Bay Harbor, three resorts with a combined ten golf courses, plus other amenities and attractions.
So, how does the Boyne management make those difficult decisions? It’s all about the ten-year plan that was drawn up in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.
“We have a 10-year plan for every hole on every course at all the resorts,’’ said Ken Griffin, the Director of Golf Sales and Marketing for the resorts. “There are very specific plans for continual upgrades.’’
And it’s been working – though not without an occasional hiccup. The biggest was at The Highlands, where the new par-3 course, Doon Brae was being built. They were almost finished last year when a super storm hit.
“We only had two holes to go,’’ said Griffin. “Then we got seven inches of rain in a single storm, which caused flooding over the course. Two completed greens had to be rebuilt this spring, setting us back several months.’’
Work resumed in the spring but neither the course, dubbed Doon Brae (Scottish for “short walk downhill’’), nor the 27-hole putting course have opened to the public yet. The Grand Opening for both has been pushed back to 2025.
Michigan architect Ray Hearn did the design work as part of a series of projects he’s undertaken at the resorts. Each of the nine greens at Doon Brae has a different template, each reflecting a style of green — Ridan, Punch Bowl, Volcano, Postage — played in Scotland.
Just as intriguing is the course’s location.
“It’ll be the only course that we know of where golf is played in the summer and skiing is done in the winter,’’ said Griffin.
Doon Brae will be a walking course, but the walks up the ski hill will be minimal. The longest hole is 136 yards and only two holes require uphill walks. Though pushcarts and carry bags will be available, Griffin expects many players will simply carry a few clubs to play the short course.
Despite the weather problems, affecting Doon Brae, upgrades are continuing full speed at all three resorts. Boyne Mountain built the very impressive Skybridge Michigan that opened in 2023 and has become a major tourist attraction, plus extensive work has begun on the lodge at The Highlands.
BOYNE has also taken on a new tournament beginning next year. The Epson Tour will conduct an event the next three years on The Heather course at The Highlands. The resorts’ courses haven’t been lacking for players, but pro tour events are another matter.
“We’ve never done a tournament like that,’’ said Griffin. “Pre-Covid we were close to getting a Champions Tour event, but negotiations fell apart.’’
Rain problems and tournaments aside, the beat goes on with new projects at the resorts.
“We’re re-investing at a higher level than I’ve ever seen,’’ said Griffin, who has worked for the resorts for 16 years.
Here’s what’s been happening at each Boyne resort:
Boyne Mountain, located in Boyne Falls, is the oldest and celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. The Mountain location opened the very impressive SkyBridge Michigan in 2023, plus Hearn supervised major upgrades on their two courses, the Alpine and the Monument.
The Mountain has only two courses, but that could change one of these days. Legendary architect Pete Dye designed a course for that resort about 20 years ago. Center lines were cut, then work ended abruptly, because Boyne Mountain management saw the declining trend in golf, at the time and instead built a water park. It opened in 2004 and is now the largest indoor water park in Michigan. Consideration is being given to either finishing the Dye course, or developing a fifth course at The Highlands. Only time will tell.
“There’s no further design plans for a course, but we know that we have the space for one,’’ said Griffin.
There are four courses at The Highlands and renovations to the Donald Ross Memorial course are ongoing. Every hole but one is a replica of memorable holes Ross designed around the world. Revisions have been completed to holes 1, 2, 13, 15 and 16. The work is being completed one hole at a time to minimize a reduction in play. Currently No. 10 is being completely renovated, meaning the Ross is temporarily a 17-hole course.
No. 10, a replica of the 14th hole at Scotland’s Royal Dornoch, is the only one of the 18 holes that wasn’t designed by Ross himself.
“But it’s the course where he grew up, where he learned golf,’’ said Griffin. It’s also the course where Ross worked as a golf professional for the first time.
The Ross course is not a project to be taken lightly. The BOYNE hierarchy takes these renovations very seriously and wants each hole to be as accurate as possible. A fact that is reflected by the work that has been finished on the 15th hole – a replica of No. 11 at Aronimink in Pennysylvania. The original version at The Highlands had five bunkers. Now, after renovation, it has 22.
“We thought what we had was the original, but it wasn’t,’’ said Griffin, “so we moved it up the line and redid it.’’
The Bay Harbor Golf Club offers three nine-hole layouts, The Links, Quarry and Preserve. The Links/Quarry combination, designed by the late Arthur Hills, may be the best of BOYNE’s 10 courses, but Crooked Tree may be a bigger success story. Harry Bowers was the original architect, and Boyne purchased the course from the family that had built it.
“It’s the only of one of our 10 courses that we didn’t build.’’ said Griffin. “The last three holes (16, 17 and 18) were not good holes. Ten years ago, Crooked Tree recorded the lowest number of rounds compared to the other BOYNE courses, however, after a redesign by Arthur Hills it has become one of the top three courses guests want to play, along with the Heather and the Hills Courses.’’
BOYNE Resort is in a class by itself in the Mitten State and management’s commitment to consistent improvements will keep it so a long time in the future.
SkyBridge Michigan
SkyBridge Michigan has become a popular tourist attraction at the Boyne Mountain Resort. It stretches 1,200 feet in length and hangs 120 feet above the valley below. SkyBridge Michigan can be accessed via the historic Hemlock Scenic Chairlift, the first chairlift built in the United States and installed at Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1938. It was later transferred to Michigan and rebuilt at BOYNE, in 1948.
The bridge offers spectacular panoramic views, plus the glass floor in the middle of the bridge enhances the views of the Valley floor. The number of guests that visit year-round has exceeded all expectations. The views of the surrounding Northern Michigan landscape in September and October, when the fall colors are at their peak, provide the best times to visit Michigan SkyBridge.
“It’s so much about how the valley looks then,’’ said Griffin, “He added the bridge’s popularity has exceeded even our lofty expectations.”
