HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan — A hallway timeline inside The Highlands reveals one of the secrets to Boyne Golf’s success, detailing decades of milestones and innovations at its three northern Michigan resorts. The display ends with a quote from founder Everett Kircher: “You have to make improvements. Otherwise, you won’t make progress.”
Boyne has always embraced cutting-edge technology, from early ski chairlift patents to being among early adapters of the golf cart. This ethos to constantly update and adapt keeps Kircher’s vision alive and guests returning yearly.
For more than two decades, golfers visiting Boyne’s three Michigan resorts — Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls, The Highlands in Harbor Springs and the Inn at Bay Harbor near Petoskey — and 11 courses have found that every trip introduces something new to see.
In 1947, Michigan State Senator William Pearson sold Kircher the initial Boyne Mountain parcel of land for $1 to encourage him to build a ski hill. Today, Boyne’s four-season snow sports and golf empire is virtually unparalleled anywhere.
The beauty of a northern Michigan Boyne vacation is choosing your own adventure. Because all three resorts sit within 45 minutes of one another, golf groups can easily mix and match courses or fully embed themselves in one particular place.
WHICH BOYNE COURSE IS BEST?
Ranking Boyne’s best courses will provide endless debate. The frequent top vote-getter is Bay Harbor Golf Club, an Arthur Hills-designed, 27-hole lakeside wonder. It made a splashy 1998 TV debut hosting a “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” match between Phil Mickelson and Tom Lehman. The shoreline views on the Links nine and the wild terrain and stone walls of the Quarry nine, carved from an old shale and limestone mining site, have been captivating golfers ever since.
Boyne counts the different 18-hole configurations for its three nine-hole loops at Bay Harbor as three separate courses; hence, the 11 courses in the portfolio.
Many stay at The Highlands for its 72 holes, plus the cool 2025 addition of Doon Brae, a nine-hole short course parading up and down the ski hill, and The Back Yaird, a free 65,000-square-foot putting green behind the Main Lodge. Golfers can putt all 27 holes in order, or if it’s not too busy, try to sink a massive cross-green putt. “People love it,” said Ray Hearn, the Michigan architect who designed both.
The Heather, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1966 as Boyne’s first 18-hole course, remains the signature championship test. A four-time Michigan Amateur host and the 2019 National Golf Course Owners Association Course of the Year, its final approach shot requires an intimidating 150-yard carry over a pond to the green. This do-or-die moment sticks with everybody who plays it.
“It’s the signature of the course, and really a signature of Boyne Golf. On almost all of our courses, the last hole has a pond in front of it,” notes Josh Richter, Boyne’s PGA senior vice president of golf and resort sales.
The Donald Ross Memorial, added in 1989, captivates architecture junkies with holes inspired by famous courses designed by Donald Ross, including Scotland’s Royal Dornoch, Pinehurst No. 2 and Seminole in Florida. It is, in essence, a Ross "greatest hits" compilation, created by architect Bill Newcomb, noted instructor Jim Flick, Kircher (who passed in 2002) and his son, Stephen Kircher, Boyne’s current CEO and president of operations and development.
Lately, Hearn has been using CAD and Google Earth to gather more accurate photos and dimensions to tweak and make The Memorial even more authentic. Since 2021, six holes have undergone extensive renovations, including a new par-3 third hole scheduled to open in 2027.
The Hills delivers Boyne’s most natural setting with no homes in sight. The stunning tee box of the par-5 13th sits nearly 150 feet above the fairway, overlooking miles of pristine forest from an elevated perch. Golfers can almost count to 10 before the ball lands — hopefully in the short grass.
Located 45 minutes south, Boyne Mountain’s two classic Newcomb courses — The Alpine and The Monument — ride the elevation changes of that resort’s ski hill. A scenic 1.2-mile cart ride up the mountain leads to the elevated tee boxes and creates a fantastic first impression of what’s to come.
Two philosophies — consistent conditions and dynamic pricing — have driven Boyne Golf’s growth over the past decade.
“We have so many people playing multiple golf courses. I’d hear ‘these greens are slow’ and ‘these greens are fast’,” said Bernie Friedrich, Boyne’s director of golf course renovation and development who has worked at the company for 50 years. “We (started replicating) the same green speeds within several inches. All the fairways are cut at the same length. The rough, too. You can go from one course to another and have the same conditions.”
Boyne was one of the first golf owners and operators to use dynamic pricing in 2014. This practice protects the courses from overcrowding and gives players a true country club experience.
“People will pay more based on (good) pace of play and turf conditions. Having 250 people out on a golf course is bad for both of those things,” Friedrich said.
THE RESORT LIFE OFF THE COURSE
Deciding where to stay might be even more difficult than a decision than where to play. The Inn at Bay Harbor, a luxurious shoreline resort, spoils customers with fine dining, a spa and upscale rooms and suites. Its setting and service rival the Midwest’s finest resorts.
Boyne Mountain looks like a Bavarian ski village hidden in the woods. Families enjoy the Avalanche Bay indoor waterpark, the Deer Lake beach near the two golf courses and SkyBridge Michigan, built in 2022. Reachable by chairlift, the world's longest timber-towered suspension bridge measures 1,200-feet and features a thrilling glass-floor section overlooking the valley.
At the Highlands, scenic chairlift rides, 22 miles of Bike Park trails, and proximity to Harbor Springs, one of northern Michigan’s most beloved lakeside towns, are other big draws.
All three properties share one thing in common: long summer days that never seem to end. The sun sets after 9 p.m. from June through August, leaving the sky lit well past 10 p.m. That’s nearly 16 hours of daylight for golf.
It’s hard to fathom that all this started with a dollar and a dream.
