BOYNE Golf - Raising The Bar to Elevate The Guest Experience - By: Neal Kotlarek

This summer, the hills will come alive with the sound of golf at Northern Michigan’s spectacular The Highlands golf resort. The base of the very same mountain that has thrilled skiers for decades will, every spring, summer, and fall, be transformed into Doon Brae, a delightful and unique 9-hole short course designed by Michigan architect Ray Hearn as a loving tribute to Scottish golf.  The course features greens inspired by legendary courses across the British Isles and is situated alongside The Back Yaird, a massive 27-hole putting green that spans over 65,000 square feet of rolling terrain. 

The addition of Doon Brae now provides golfers with five courses to choose from at one of the nation’s most expansive resort properties. The Highlands is just one of three four-season resorts spread across a short expanse of Northern Michigan that is collectively known as Boyne Resorts. Stationed at or around these properties are 11 delightful, challenging, and amazingly diverse golf courses, including two Boyne Mountain courses, Crooked Tree Golf Club, the Highlands courses, and Bay Harbor Golf Club. Ask someone who has played any or all of them, and they will tell you that all are picture-postcard-perfect in beauty and conditioning. 

“Doon Brae and The Back Yaird are great additions to The Highlands,” said Ken Griffin, director of sales and marketing at BOYNE Golf. “Not only is Doon Brae a terrific course, it opens up the resort to guests who are new to golf or who might not have the time to play one of our ten championship courses.”

In Scottish, Doon means going down into a valley and Brae means hillside. Even though most holes on the course do indeed head down the ski slope, a few others call for an additional club as they climb upwards and across the slope. The course plays to 1,050 yards from the back tees and a polite 678 yards from the front tees. The longest hole is 150 yards; the shortest is 77 yards.

While most short courses are built at golf resorts to cater to golfers as a way to unwind after a long day on the links, Doon Brae will also accommodate the broader audience of The Highlands that includes vacationing families. Large greens and open tee areas make the course a great and picturesque way to introduce new players to the game. But the course is also no pushover. Downhill, uphill, and sidehill lies are the norm for those who miss the green off the tee. And a few greens are protected by massive bunkers that require deft sand play. The greens are the star of the show on the course as many play subtle tribute to the green complexes of legendary architects, including Seth Raynor and CB McDonald.

Across all three BOYNE Golf resorts, fans of great golf architecture are treated to the works of many of the world’s premier designers. The Monument Course at Boyne Mountain incorporates holes inspired by the greatest holes of Dr. Alister Mackenzie, George Fazio, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and Pete Dye. And speaking of Jones, Sr., his 1966 masterpiece, The Heather Golf Course, is located at The Highlands and remains one of Michigan’s premier layouts. Earlier this summer, Heather played host to the inaugural Great Lakes Championship, an LPGA Epson Tour event featuring aspiring young female golfers aspiring to qualify for the LPGA Tour. The lucrative purse of $250,000 drew the tour’s top players, who will take on one of the top championship courses in Michigan.

Over the past four years, six holes across the Donald Ross Memorial Course at The Highlands have received meticulous renovations by Hearn who has worked from the original Ross hole drawings to provide a better approximation of the legendary architect’s works at courses including Royal Dornoch in Scotland, Pinehurst in North Carolina and Seminole in Florida.

The rolling Arthur Hills Course is my personal favorite golf experience at The Highlands due to both its massive green complexes and its sheer beauty. Any golf trip should necessarily include this tract on the itinerary. The course highlight is the par-5 No. 13 that begins from a tee built on top of the world and descends across and over a valley before climbing up and then down a knoll toward a massive green. 

Along with amenities that include swimming pools, an indoor waterpark, ziplining, horseback riding, the three resorts continue to expand with a European Spa and the Prime and Vine steakhouse in the future at The Highlands. Everyone visiting Northern Michigan must visit the 1,203-feet-long pedestrian SkyBridge Michigan at Boyne Mountain, which provides exhilarating views and light displays of the stunning Northern Michigan landscape. 

In total, the three anchor Boyne properties offer hundreds of accommodations options, from the elegant cottages and suites at the Inn at Bay Harbor to family villas at Boyne Mountain; townhomes at The Highlands and charming, affordable hotel rooms at each resort. 

Golf, of course, remains a point of emphasis at all three Boyne Resorts in the summer. Located in Boyne Falls, Boyne Mountain is renowned throughout Michigan for its towering and popular ski hills. Parts of those hills serve double duty during spring, summer and fall in the designs of both the Alpine and Monument courses. Players get to understand the size and scale of both courses right from the start, as the ride between the clubhouse and the first tee takes you up the mountain for a magnificent view, and sets us up for towering drives toward fairways below. The Monument Course incorporates the aforementioned tribute holes, while The Alpine Course-- which serves as annual host to the Michigan PGA’s Tournament of Champions—offers up breathtaking views on holes lined with soaring trees.

Designed by Art Hills, the 27 holes at Bay Harbor Golf Club comprise three distinct 9-hole courses, each with its own unique landscape. The Links takes players alongside cliffs hugging Lake Michigan. The Scottish links-inspired course is highlighted by the stunning par-5 No. 7 that serves up a huge tee shot landing area in between mounds and thick rough. Following a well-placed second shot which avoids the perilous right side of the fairway, the approach must keep to the right side of the putting surface which hovers above the lake. You will need an additional few minutes following the hole to take photos of your foursome standing behind this green, seemingly on the edge of the world. 

The Quarry is a reminder of the property’s humble roots, having been the site of a cement factory that was decommissioned in the 1980s. One hole calls for a tee shot over a 40-foot gorge, while others weave around the quarry and around natural ponds and wetlands. The par-3 No. 8 features Lake Michigan as both a backdrop and a hazard behind the green. No. 9 is a memorable finishing hole lined by the lake on the left and drops down to a huge green protected on the right side by a massive bunker.

The Preserve is nestled in hardwood forest and abounds with wildflowers, native wetlands and an abundance of wildlife. Following 8 holes through the woods, the course ends on a 186-yd. par-3 featuring a sloping green postured above the crystal blue waters of Lake Michigan.

Located just across the highway from Bay Harbor, Crooked Tree Golf Club provides 18 perfectly manicured championship holes perched high on bluffs overlooking Little Traverse Bay. No trip to Bay Harbor is complete without drinks and dinner at the opulent Inn at Bay Harbor, a Marriott Collection Hotel. A gourmet dinner on the veranda overlooking the lake will make for the most memorable meals of your year.  

In addition to hosting the LPGA Epson Tour event and once again having the Links/Quarry course rated in Golf Digest's Top 100 Public courses, USAToday 10Best 2025 ranked The Highlands as #2 in their Best Golf Resorts category and BOYNE Golf as the #1 Golf Destination in the United States. 

“We owe it to our residents, members and guests to offer new and unique ways to improve the Boyne Experience,” said Griffin.  “There’s a phrase in business that argues ‘Go big or go home.’ At Boyne Resorts, we have no interest in going home!”

To book a trip or for more information, visit BOYNEGolf.com or call 877.269.8034