Donald Ross Memorial at The Highlands (Boyne)

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.

I have no criticism of the golf course. However, there is not one sign indicating the Donald Ross Memorial golf course. Therefore, they got course was extremely hard to find. Not withstanding, the course was in excellent condition and since all of the holes were the best of Donald Ross design, there is not one bad hole on the course.

Course was in great condition, played later in the day and I was the only one on course. Only con I can think of is that after 4 it seems you can’t get any food on the course, but seems to be norm at any courses in up north MI.

There are lots of great options in Harbor Springs and over the years I have played most of them, but not the Donald Ross Memorial. It just seemed less exciting than the others for some reason. This was a mistake waiting so long! I loved it! Donald Ross designs are obviously amazing examples of classic architecture golf and I was amazed at how well that translated to this piece of property. It doesn't have as dramatic elevation changes as the Hills course, but it still has great holes going both up and down. Conditioning was excellent as it always is at Boyne and I'm kicking myself for not having played the Ross sooner.

After having been recommended by a friend, we looked forward to playing this course all summer. The course was in great shape. Donald Ross apparently loved sand with hole designs that included sand traps in the fairways as well as guarding most greens. Count on additional strokes.

Staff was friendly and attentive to keeping balls on the driving range. Our only complaint was pace of play. We had fairly long waits on most holes and starting at hole 10, groups were stacked 4 deep on some holes. We did not expect this on a course in the Boyne collection.

What an awesome course, loved that each hole was a duplicate of another course. Friendly and helpful staff. Course in excellent shape and greens were very fast.

The story behind The Memorial is a fascinating one. Top Boyne brass - like resort founder Everett Kircher and his son, Stephen - scoured the country looking for holes on Donald Ross courses worthy of bringing back to northern Michigan. Playing the Memorial will introduce you to replica holes from Inverness, Oakland Hills, Royal Dornoch, Pinehurst No. 2 and more.
But the real story is simply this: The Memorial is a really strong golf course, even if you didn't know or care about its background. It's got a good collection of holes, especially a few short par 4s. One caveat: More than 120 bunkers and thick rough make scoring difficult. If you can solve the Memorial, your game can travel anywhere.

The Donald Ross Memorial......wow...bring your A game and be ready for sand. Our groups third and final day at Boyne Highlands and what a way to finish. Every shot is a challenge, even if you look out and think the hole looks benign, don't be fooled. The Ross course is ready to grab you at any point and add strokes to your score quickly. The sand looks and is daunting. There is plenty of it on every hole and a lot of it is very deep. A game needed and that includes sand escapes. The greens are quick but fair and true. The problem is getting to them. Stay ouit of the sand and you will score well and have earned a good refreshment after the round.

Again the golf staff at the Ross was just as excellent and professional as we had seen our previous two days. I know I am repeating from other reviews but I can't say enough good things about the entire golf staff at Boyne Highlands. They were great to work with in advance of our outing and even more so with all of the people in our group upon arrival at each course.

This Ross design takes some of his leading holes from his other famous designs and puts them into one 18 hole challenge. It's a nice idea and you can read about the holes, where they are located course wise and realize the greats who have played them. Truly a gem of a course and a great afternoon playing it.

This course starts hard and finishes easier. You want to play Oakland Hills 16th hole, it's the finishing hole on this course. The first 8 holes will test you. Appears easy starting first hole until you get to the green. Surrounded by big traps and one of narrowest greens I have every played. It doesn't get much easier. Easy 2nd hole from the tee until you have to take that second shot. Dime green uphill that slopes away from you. 3rd hold uphill par 3 with elevated green surround in the front with big deep bunkers with lots of sand. The first Par 5 over 500 yards long from orange tees, plan on driver, fair wood and another long club if your not a big hitter. The 10th hole by far one of the hardest holes if your not a straight hitter. Long par 4 with elevated dime size green. Make it three good shot hole and you might have chance at par. Play its sister course The Arthur Hills and you have had one great day of golf.