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SOMEWHERE IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN - There's a sign you pass about halfway between Traverse City and The Highlands at Harbor Springs that informs you that you have just traveled closer to the North Pole than to the Equator.
And for those who know the area well, that line has slightly more than symbolic significance. Up here, crossing the 45th parallel means that it's vacation time. The sky feels a little closer, the nights are a little cooler and the drinks seem to get into your hand just a little easier.
Likewise, the golf gets good and plentiful in a hurry. The Highlands at Harbor Springs is one of three BOYNE Golf resorts north of that magic latitude, joining Boyne Mountain and the Inn at Bay Harbor. Far enough apart to be distinct but close enough together to be mixed and matched into a movable golf feast. Each with their own unique touches, they comprise a sturdy anchor for vacation golf in northern Michigan, and help make its case as one of the world's great golf destinations.
The Highlands at Harbor Springs
Previously known as Boyne Highlands, this resort is the largest of the triad, with four "big" courses and a fifth being built. The newest addition to The Highlands golf complement: a par-3 course designed by Ray Hearn, who is the consulting architect across the company's golf portfolio (including at Big Sky Resort in Montana and Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine). Hearn's new short routing will sit beside a new putting course, both laid out at the gentle base of The Highlands' off-season amenity: one of Michigan's most popular ski areas. The par-3 loop will straddle the base of a new high-speed chairlift being erected, lending a unique sense of place.
The Highlands' existing golf courses hew toward the modern for the most part. The (partial) exception is the Donald Ross Memorial Course. Built in 1989, more than 40 years after its namesake died, it represents one of the first "tribute" or "replica" golf courses, seeking to transplant an architect's ideas or entire holes into a new setting. The routing, which is being renovated in stages by Hearn, includes multiple replica holes from Ross masterpieces like Seminole Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 2 and Oakland Hills Country Club, as well as one-offs from Plainfield Country Club, Inverness Club and others. Inspired by Gil Hanse's restoration work at Aronimink Golf Club, Hearn's own interpretive renovation to the Ross Memorial's 15th hole (which invokes Aronimink's 11th) has meant bringing back striking strings of bunkers and a large, tilted green to spice up the course's closing stretch.
Another showpiece of The Highlands' golf is the Arthur Hills course, which takes advantage of some dramatic terrain to supply golfers with several scenic views of the surrounding forest and, well, hills. The spread-out routing means several long cart rides up to some of its elevated tees, especially at the often-photographed par-5 13th. The course is a rare par-73, with five big par 5s making it seem a little longer on the scorecard than it actually plays.
My favorite of the three courses I played at The Highlands was The Heather, a midcentury-modern Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design that meanders through flat meadow and marsh scenery on the front nine before stretching its legs into some hillier terrain on the back, punctuated by a long par-4 finisher with an oversized pond that doubles as a feeding system for the resort's artificial snow-making system. An unusual local rule permits golfers who hit their drives into the pond to drop without penalty behind it - a concession to the long approach it forces. Nevertheless, The Heather gets my appreciation for its walking-friendly routing - a rarity among modern courses.
(Ed. Note: I did not play The Moor, a Bill Newcomb design that graces similar terrain to The Heather.)
Boyne Mountain
Even more than at The Highlands, skiing is part of the DNA at this resort in the town of Boyne Falls. Boyne Mountain dates back to the late 1940s, when Boyne company founder Everett Kircher brought skiing to the area, including the first powered chairlift east of the Mississippi (it is still in use today). Kircher's aforementioned snowmaking innovations helped turn the area into a viable ski destination, and Boyne Mountain's main lodging surrounds the quaint Swiss-inspired ski village that he dreamed up to welcome visitors.
Even Boyne Mountain's golf is ski-inspired. Both courses - The Alpine and The Monument - start at the top of the mountain and zigzag their way down to the clubhouse, which overlooks Deer Lake. Bill Newcomb, who laid out both courses, did a nice job of avoiding 18 repetitive downhill holes, adding some pleasant switchbacks to the routings that keep golfers on edge. The Alpine has been improved in recent years via some valuable tree removal and fairway expansion, greatly increasing playability. Just like skiers, golfers whose games more resemble a slalom than a linear path appreciate wide corridors in which to work.
Bay Harbor
Water is a significant part of northern Michigan's appeal, with not only Lake Michigan but dozens of smaller, crystalline expanses providing the backdrop and platform for relaxation. Bay Harbor Golf Club, a 27-hole Arthur Hills design, takes advantage of the site's blufftop perch above Lake Michigan, especially on its postcard-worthy Links and Quarry Nines (the Preserve nine winds through forest). While the Links nine's look invokes the likes of Whistling Straits and nearer-by Arcadia Bluffs, the Quarry nine has a run of true one-off holes that sometimes look more like something Mike Strantz concocted at Tobacco Road. The short par-5 5th hole and short par-4 6th are a wild one-two punch, each demanding careful planning and deft short approaches for golfers who resist the temptation to try something foolish. Playing them is a bit of a tightrope walk.
Less than 10 minutes from Bay Harbor is Crooked Tree Golf Club, another Boyne-owned course designed by Harry Bowers and renovated by Arthur Hills and, most recently, Ray Hearn. Originally opened as a private club, it has been a Boyne property for a decade, and the company has invested both in some moderation to some of the course's more severe features and the property's infrastructure, including new on-site cabins that are ideal for buddies trips.
BOYNE Golf in Northern Michigan: Other news and notes
- Its lakeside setting makes Bay Harbor the priciest of the BOYNE Golf courses by a margin, with peak summer green fees surging past $400. The Boyne Highlands courses top out around $225 while the Boyne Mountain courses range up to $200 or so. A wide variety of golf packages help golfers pay well less than rack rates.
- A fire that damaged roughly half of The Highlands' main lodge in 2016 prompted a large-scale renovation of the rooms; they are very comfortable. My room had an incredibly powerful shower - a welcome amenity after any long day of golf. Elsewhere throughout the resort are multi-bedroom cabins that serve couples and buddy groups well.
- Boyne Mountain's lodging is particularly eclectic. The main hotel, the Mountain Grand Lodge & Spa opened in 2005, while the Clock Tower Lodge harkens back to the resort's early days, with a charming patina on its common spaces. The Chalet Edelweiss, a three-level boutique building benched into the mountain, is as cozy as it gets, with nightly Godiva truffles left on your pillow and a sleeping bag-style bedspread that will warm the coldest sleepers.
- At the top of Boyne Mountain sits the new Michigan SkyBridge, a scenic suspension-bridge walkway that visitors can traverse for a fee. The views are wonderful if you're not averse to heights.
- Interacting with great people tends to elevate any golf experience. At Boyne Mountain, one of those characters is Jerri Lee, who has been driving the beverage cart for more than a quarter-century and is an unfailingly cheerful presence for golfers. Any course looking to increase its on-course F&B sales and customer happiness should send employees to Jerri Lee for training.
- As is the case at practically all resorts of any reputation, BOYNE's three Northern Michigan sites have stepped up their culinary game of late. Restaurant fare is solid-to-very-good at each, and each site has upscale and casual eateries that provide good variety. Walleye - the local catch in area lakes - finds its way onto practically every menu. At the Inn at Bay Harbor, the Vintage Chophouse is an excellent steakhouse, while Boyne Mountain's Beach House restaurant, next to the golf clubhouse on Deer Lake, is a great spot to take in a sunset. Local morel mushrooms are the must-try appetizer. Last but not least, The Highlands' daily breakfast buffet - served in a space that is unchanged in decades - is well above-average, while the Seminole Pub at the Country Club of Boyne (the clubhouse serving all but The Heather) is nice for lunch or dinner.
- Getting out and about while visiting any of these three resorts is worthwhile. The towns of Charlevoix and Petoskey, both overlooking Lake Michigan, are excellent hangout spots. The Back Lot Petoskey - a semi-permanent installation of food trucks parked beside a beer garden - is a fun, casual outdoor food and drink hub.
- Fly-in visitors generally take advantage of Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, about 90 minutes from The Highlands, 75 from Bay Harbor and 65 from Boyne Mountain. Daily service from American, Delta and United makes it easily reachable via nearby hubs like Detroit (DTW), Chicago (ORD, MDW), Twin Cities (MSP) and even farther-away airports like Atlanta and Charlotte. Allegiant and Sun Country also fly in on certain days.
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