The Heather at The Highlands (Boyne)

The rough was thick and made balls hard to find which affected the pace of play!

I've been playing this course at Boyne Highlands Resort for over 40 years. It was the first course built there in the 60's I believe. (9 holes of the Heather + 9 holes of the Moor course).
This course is a challenging layout that will test your game in all facets. The greens will break according to the ski mountain that borders the the course to the west.
The 18th hole is one of the finest finishing holes I've played anywhere.

First time back since 2021 - it remains an awesome golf course with thick rough and slick bit true greens. It's always a pleasure to play.

No golf trip to Northern Michigan is complete without a visit to Boyne Resorts near Petoskey, MI. In my mind, no other Michigan golf resort offers the variety of golf courses that Boyne has. Golfers have the opportunity to play ten uniquely different golf courses; stay in a variety of accommodations designed to meet anyone’s needs and dine at some incredible restaurants.

Recently, I was able to play several courses in the Boyne Resorts lineup including two of my favorite Highlands courses, the Arthur Hills Course and the Robert Trent Jones-designed Heather Course. The Heather Course was Boyne’s first golf course and is as challenging today as it was then. Having hosted numerous state and national championships, the Heather has earned its reputation as one of the finest championship courses in the entire United States. In 2019 it was named “National Golf Course of the Year” by the National Golf Course Owners Association). Number 18 is my favorite hole on the Heather Course; I can remember the first time I played it. It’s a long par 4 that requires a well-struck drive followed by a long approach shot over a lake into a green that slopes back to front. It may not be the toughest hole on the golf course but it sure is memorable!

Boyne continues to reinvest in the infrastructure of their golf courses which will pay huge dividends down the road and have an immediate impact on their golf courses. For example, work was recently completed on the Central Irrigation installation on Donald Ross Memorial and Arthur Hills courses. This new system can be controlled remotely and is significantly more efficient. There were also upgrades to the pump houses and irrigation systems on several other courses and a brand new system that services The Heather and The Moor courses.

Other improvements include over five miles of new cart path on The Heather, Arthur Hills, and Donald Ross Memorial golf courses, and taking measures to speed up play on a couple of courses.

Perhaps the biggest news at Boyne this year is that during the summer of 2023, construction began on the Ray Hearn completely redesigned nine-hole short course which will be routed across a sloping site set among fescue grasses. Hole length will range from 8 to 120 yards. “Hearn will be recreating nine of his favorite greens from Scotland, Ireland, and England. With no formal tees golfers will have the opportunity to put tees anywhere they want so they can play shots from different lies and angles.

As modern golf design tastes shift away from the boom-decades of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, I find myself looking for examples of that era’s golf that remain relevant even today. I believe the Heather, the best of the three courses I played at Boyne Highlands, to be one.

My admiration starts with the course’s enjoyably walkable routing (an unfortunate rarity among its contemporaries) and extends to the mix of meadow, wetland and parkland settings it traverses before climbing up to the climactic elevated 18th tee overlooking the base of the resort’s ski hill and plunging toward the pond use to produce its snow. Along the way, par 5s at 5 and 9 and par 3s at 4 and 6 build momentum, while the inward half has its own enjoyable mix of holes.

The Heather plays out of its own, quaint clubhouse across from the resort’s main Lodge. Walking across the street to prepare for my round as the sun came up over Northern Michigan will remain a highlight of my golf year.

You won’t find much of its namesake here as most holes are lined with trees, but it’s a fine course regardless. Course was in great shape, staff was nice and it was about 2 minutes from our stay n play condo.

Greens are tough on approach as bunkers excellently protect the greens and will also demand accuracy to avoid fairway bunkers. A tad unimpressed as The Heather is consistently ranked a top tier Michigan course, it’s very nice but Boyne, The Highlands, and Bay Harbor boast a couple better courses in my opinion. Worth the play for sure

The Heather is not a bomb and gouge course, it's more of a classic shotmakers route. If I recall correctly there are only 3 (non-par 3) holes on the course that don't have some degree of dog-leg to them... and - while it is straight - 18 presents it's own set if shot making decisions. As an example, on the par 4 3rd and hit 7i off the tee and on the par 5 ninth, I led with a six... and parred both holes (it's worth noting that if I had played one tee box back, I probably could have hit a bigger club on #3, there is a corner to cut, but I couldn't reliably get my driver high enough fast enough, and it was short enough to par with the 7i anyway... but... there are a few holes that might actually be a little easier to play from the back tees, something to consider). To me, this never got boring and I enjoyed having to think as much about my first shot at my approach.

The course itself is beautiful, excellently maintained and framed with trees most of the way around.. There is plenty of water on the course, although not much of it really needs to come into play (you'll ned to carry it on a couple of the par threes, but it's all right in front of you and none of them are long enough to make you question if you can make the shot). What was particularly cool about the water (as you can see in a couple of my pics) is in the morning it can get very pretty with the "smoke on the water." Even the slightly smokey skys played into the scenery, and made the sunrise a bit more dramatic.

As mentioned, the courses primary defense is angles; however, there are some large and occasionally deep bunkers to contend with around the greens as well. Fortunately, the sand is terrific and plays exactly as it should, so these shouldn't be too big of a problem if you are comfortable from the sand (I was 1/2 on sand saves).

It's worth noting that the service we received was top notch all the way around... up to and including the grounds crew who we caught up to on (I think) the 12th hole (we play pretty quickly... the entire round took about 2:35). They were very accommodating and worked with use to make sure our experience wasn't compromised while we worked through the holes they were busy maintaining.

The 18th hole is an interesting example of having to make decisions even on a straight forward hole. The large pond that protects the green is certainly reachable to the right (and everywhere to a big hitter) so I elected to skirt the left edge and allow for a big hit to play through to a slivery of fairway that runs to the left of the pond. My ~250 yard drive (which probably would have been wet if it had been to the right) left me about 175/180 to the center of the green about 165 of which was carry. Fun hole, but I can see a lot of ways to have ti ruin a round if you don't carefully consider each shot.

#9 is an interesting hole as well, and might be my favorite on the course just because of the strategy options available.I opted for a pair of six irons which allowed me to navigate the somewhat narrow fairways (most of the Heather is wide in the landing areas, #9 was a little more challenging) and left me a pretty stock (145) pitching wedge into the green. There's certainly an option to try a bigger club off the tee and try to reach the relatively short par 5 in two, but this seemed like an "easy 5, or... a 7" type of hole to me and I opted for the 5.

I had a ton of courses to choose from on my vacation to Northern Michigan, I can say without any regret I'm glad I chose The Heather as one of them. I'd absolutely recommend it to a friend and will probably include it in future trips back to the area.

We play here every year as part of our annual golf outing (32 players this year) and as always, it never disappoints.

The course remains in pristine condition. The rough is thick but not too long. The fairways are impeccable and the greens run true.

Plenty of dog legs (to the right and left) and keeping it in the fairway on your tee shots as opposed to having it run out into the rough is key.

9th hole is always the toughest hole for me, but I escaped with a bogie. The 18th is a classic finishing hole with the pond in front of the green.

Don't know the exact price we paid as it was part of an overall package with lodging and was handled by our commissioner.

The Heather is a must play course for those traveling to Petoskey / Bay Harbor!

The Heather is a classic Robert Trent Jones Sr. course. The course is set at the base of ski slopes and is framed by mountains and is now my 5th favorite mountain course all the time. While the majority of the year this course is a ski track it becomes a golfers getaway in the summer months. While relaxing The Heather is moderately challenging as it weaves through tall mature trees and the majority of the holes are doglegs that require proper distance and position to advance to the green. The course has minor elevation changes but the elevated greens are usually guarded by large and deep bunkers. Note to golfers coming from warmer summer climates, bring some light colder weather gear, The Boyne Courses can start in the 40s before they reach the perfect 70s as it did with my morning tee time. The fairways while tree-lined were generous in size and good for a wide range of golfers, especially from the correct tee box.

Course was in fantastic shape. We played right before a storm rolled through and flew around in around 3 hours. The finishing hole is perfection. Knowing where the mountain is certainly helps when trying to read putts. Highly recommend playing this course!