America’s Best Hidden Gem Golf Resort: Boyne Golf, Michigan

I’m often asked about golf trips by friends and friends of friends, and I’m always amazed at how many truly great golf destinations are overlooked. Not only do most people never get to Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes, and the few places featured in the mainstream golf magazines, most of these resorts have very little availability during peak season, even if you were willing to spend the money.

So I decided to highlight some great, but lesser known, resorts that are worthy of a serious golf getaway (i.e. 4-7 days in one location). I’ve been covering golf travel and ranking resorts and courses for 30 years, and I’ve visited some of the best-known golf locations around the country and the world, so I have a good standard. Media coverage is often focused on “what’s new” rather than “what’s good,” and I’m here to spread the good word.

We will return to this topic in the near future, but today we start with Michigan, because timing is everything. If you are looking for a last minute summer getaway or the perfect golf getaway to enjoy the fall foliage, look no further. Living in Vermont, I enjoy golfing while also enjoying some of the best fall foliage in the world. However, I am not a very good golfer. Michigan, on the other hand, has beautiful fall foliage and great golf, making for a great combination. The “Great Lakes State” is home to some of the best golf courses in the United States, ranking in the top three or four on most of the “Top 100 Courses to Play” lists from all the major magazines.

But nowhere is this state’s golf resort scene bigger than Boyne Golf, which offers a wide variety of accommodations and the opportunity to play all of its courses, thanks to three resort venues in close proximity and sharing access to the ten 18-hole courses known as “Michigan’s Magnificent Ten.” These venues also offer a host of lodging, restaurants and non-golf activities, from world-class fishing to spas to the spectacular Skybridge Michigan, one of the most popular aerial attractions in the nation. I recently wrote about the aerial attraction trend here. ForbesBoyne Golf also has one of the country’s top golf academies for those seeking instruction, providing the most fulfilling travel experience for golfers in the country.

The resort was also named “Best Value” resort. Golf Magazineand in 2020, the magazine ran a piece asking, “Where’s the best place to play three days of unlimited golf?” in which he wrote, “There are plenty of package hotspots: Myrtle Beach, say. Or the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. Or a ton of spots in Florida. But with the spring thaw rapidly approaching and the days getting longer in the Great Lakes region, I’m leaning toward Northern Michigan. Specifically, Boyne Resort.”

A gorgeous layout you definitely want to play is Bay Harbor, a 27-hole course set on the shores of Lake Michigan that has received numerous awards and accolades. Widely considered the masterpiece of prolific architect Arthur Hills, it features on the coveted list of the top 100 public courses. Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and Golf WeekThe on-site luxury accommodation, “The Inn at Bay Harbor” Golf Digest It was named Editor’s Choice Best Golf Resort in the Midwest, coming in at number 13.^Number Selected as one of Japan’s top 100 luxury golf resorts Golf Magazine. Golfpass.comThe NBC Sports (which includes the Golf Channel) website ranks it 13th.^Number It has been voted one of the 50 most beautiful courses in the world, but I want to say that despite these awards, Travel + Leisure Golf It has been named the most underrated resort in the Midwest and is the most famous of all the courses in the Boyne Mountains.

Just above the resort is Crooked Tree Golf Club, another 18-hole Arthur Hills design, with spectacular views of Little Traverse Bay. Bay Harbor is comprised of three spectacular coastal nine-holes, Crooked Tree 18-holes, and the luxury Inn at Bay Harbor, a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection (a one-of-a-kind independent property that doesn’t fit into run-of-the-mill brands and where you can use and earn Bonvoy points, the world’s largest hotel loyalty program). There’s a spa, a beach club, and multiple restaurants, including the Vintage Chophouse, a fine-dining steakhouse. This is the perfect choice for pampering in Boyne.

The largest property in the Boyne Golf Collection is Highlands at Harbor Springs. It’s a large, four-season ski and golf resort with four 18-hole courses. It has five restaurants and a wide range of accommodations, with the Main Lodge being the most upscale. The hotel is themed after an English country mansion and has recently upgraded rooms. Alpine Village offers two- to four-bedroom woodland cabin-style condos, while the more affordable Heather Highlands Inn is a family-friendly option. Highlands is also home to the Boyne Golf Academy, which offers all the high-tech amenities and immersion camps you could want. The academy has been one of America’s top golf academies for 40 years and has won multiple Editors’ Choice awards in the field. Golf Digest.

The Heather Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., is generally considered the best layout here, but for me the must-play course here is the Donald Ross Memorial. It is the first-ever replica or tribute course, recreating 18 of the best holes designed by Donald Ross around the world. Originally from Scotland, Ross later emigrated to the United States and is famous for designing Pinehurst’s first course, including the most famous layout outside the British Isles, Number 2, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest golf course designers of all time. The 18 courses here include many from very private clubs that you would never experience otherwise, such as Seminole. The family owners of Boyne Resort are currently working on an extensive hole-by-hole improvement program, using the latest GPS and aerial technology to remake each hole as an even more perfect replica of the original, increasing the level of authenticity while keeping the course open. It’s an incredible experience you won’t get anywhere else.

The other two courses, Arthur Hills, designed by Arthur Hills, and Moore, designed by Bill Newcomb, are both very good courses, and there are no courses you’d want to skip here. According to the National Golf Foundation, there are nearly 1,200 golf resorts in the country, but most have two courses or less, and many of those have only one. Once you get to three 18-hole courses, you’re cutting back significantly. To me, that’s often all it takes to make a golf resort a true destination, but there are 36-hole properties with courses good enough to make you stay for a week. But once you get past three, you can count the resorts on your fingers and toes, and having four 18-holes puts Highlands in rare company.

The latest additions are Doon Brae, a nine-hole short course, and an adjacent 1.5-acre grass putting course inspired by the famous Himalayas of St. Andrews, Scotland, both designed by renowned Michigan architect Ray Hearn. Short courses are currently the hottest trend in golf, with new courses being added at top resorts such as Pinehurst, Pebble Beach and countless others. Boyne is not late to the trend, and it’s a great place to warm up, fine-tune your short game and improve your score before tackling a full-sized course. It’s also a great amenity for families, along with the putting course. The unique design allows golfers to choose from multiple tees, with short lines that avoid hazards and longer, more challenging routes, all in the style of the British Isles links. The new facility is scheduled to open for preview play this fall, but is scheduled to be fully operational in spring 2025.

Just down the road is Boyne Mountain, a four-season golf and ski resort.^Number Celebrating Boyne Mountain’s birth, this is where the still family-owned Vine Resorts Company was founded (the company also owns several large ski resorts with golf courses outside of Michigan, most notably Big Sky, Montana, and the huge world-class resorts Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine). Boyne Mountain is home to the world’s longest wooden tower suspension bridge, Sky Bridge Michigan (pedestrian only), as well as fly fishing, zip lines, e-bikes, water sports, pickleball, horseback riding, tennis, a spa and an indoor water park. The vibrant base village is packed with shops and restaurants, and Sky Bridge has over a dozen eateries and food trucks.

Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa is the big main grad hotel, but there’s a dizzying array of accommodation options here; the very cool Chalet Edelweiss is a European-style guesthouse at the base of the ski slopes with a strong Alpine feel – perfect for summer; and Clock Tower Lodge is a smaller hotel in the heart of the base area, with villas, cabins and condos of all sizes and features.

Both of the 18 holes here are exceptional, with Alpine, at higher elevation, hosting the Michigan Tournament of Champions each year. It’s perhaps the most playable and user-friendly of the 10 holes, as it starts at the top of the ski slope and is mostly downhill. The monument evokes classic golf design, incorporating elements borrowed from notable designers such as Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie and Pete Dye, complete with tee signs explaining the origins of each hole. If you can only play one hole, make it Boyne Mountain.

So, if you’re not familiar with Boyne Golf and its Michigan resorts, you’ll understand why I chose it as a hidden gem: It’s home to a top 100 golf course, more courses than you could play 18 holes of every day of the week, plus a wide range of accommodations (from luxury to budget), restaurants, and a variety of other activities.