Latest news with #BoyneResorts
Forbes
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Why This Outstanding Golf Resort Played It Short
No. 7 green at Doon Brae with a view Seems as if you cannot visit any top golf resort these days without encountering a short course to complement the full-length layouts. Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst Resort and Pebble Beach all have one. And now you can add The Highlands at Harbor Springs, Mich. to that list. Part of the mega-popular BOYNE Golf in Northern Michigan, the brand-new par-3 Doon Brae course is located on the backside of the main lodge, right across the parking lot from the highly acclaimed Heather course that just hosted the Epson Tour's Great Lakes Championship this month. Doon Brae is the first modern golf course to ever be built on a ski slope.'Short courses have been coming along nationally, and places like ours should have them,' says Josh Richter, senior vice president of golf operations at Boyne Resorts. 'We certainly like to be on the front side of trends. We ultimately selected this site, in part because it's on property with four of our courses and main lodge, where we typically experience the most golf package-related stays. And the uniqueness of this space adds plenty of ambience. Doon Brae gives guests and members the opportunity to play a round of golf in about an hour. It's also a really good golf course for people to learn on, whether that be children or brand-new golfers.' As a seasoned golfer, I can personally attest after playing it this week that it can be challenging and fun for any skill by renowned Michigan course architect Ray Hearn, the first seven holes gradually zig-zag up the hill and the last two back down – it was designed to be an easy and steady climb. Each green is inspired by a famous golf green around the world. A large sign on each tee box displays a map of the hole, as well as a blurb about the green. And it's actually all pretty interesting. Officials encourage golfers to play their tee shots from anywhere on the tee box they want. That way, smaller children can enjoy the course even more while low-handicaps can make it an extremely challenging experience. Holes can play from 57 yards and up to 150, depending on where you tee it up. The traps are well officials here have high hopes for the course, they are mowing the grass at the same height as all of their other courses. The greens were also in amazing condition when I played the course. Yes, there are a couple of crazy breaks because of the hillside, but the greens are deliberately set up to roll a little slower so that balls don't start rolling off the greens on putts encountering undulation. I think my favorite green is on the 9th hole – inspired by the Biarritz at Chicago Golf Club – and has two flagsticks, one near the front and the other in the rear. Very creative and again should enhance the fun. And the views from up top are spectacular – you can see for says the course was planned around the Harbor Springs/Petoskey community as a place where throngs of people visit all summer. In other words, you don't have to be a hotel guest to come play. In fact, the course provides short clubs and a Sunday-stye bag for those who don't have clubs. And if you want to bring your own clubs, you can borrow a throwback Sunday bag, as well. Green fees are priced dynamically between $50 and $60. And to add a nice ambience, music is piped in over speakers. 'It's not just playing golf, it's an experience,' says Brae is flanked by the Back Yaird (Scottish spelling for 'yard'), a 65,000-square-foot, 27-hole Himalayan-style putting course featuring three nine-hole combinations. Inspired by great putting courses like the Himalayas at St. Andrews and Thistle Du at Pinehurst, it features subtle slopes and swales, and is a blast to play. As it's just off the back patio of the hotel's Slopeside restaurant, our group ordered dinner and then held a putting contest while we waited for dinner to be served. I can truly say that of all the massive putting greens I've played, this is far and away the most fun and Links nine at Bay Harbor Golf Club flanks Lake Michigan And honestly, I would expect nothing less from BOYNE Golf. This 11-course, four-location golf resort offers every type of golf experience you can imagine. This week, I played the Alpine and Monument mountainside courses at Boyne Mountain, followed by the Links and Quarry nines along Lake Michigan at Bay Harbor Golf Club, followed by the Heather and Ross Memorial courses – as well as Doon Brae – at the Highlands. I have been visiting Northern Michigan to play golf most of my life and feel like BOYNE Golf perpetually offers a collectively amazing golf variety for any Northern Michigan visitor. The courses always seem to be in spectacular condition from tee to green, very playable, and with excellent and friendly service all along the way. The short course is icing on the cake. No. 8 at the Ross Memorial course
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ski Patrol Union Movement Hits East Coast
Ski patrollers from an east coast ski resort have begun the processes of unionizing. On February 17, 2025, more than 70% of ski patrollers at Maine's Sunday River have have signed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to form a union. Patrollers from Sunday River hope to join United Mountain Workers, the labor organization that represents more than a dozen unionized mountain ops teams in the US. They plan to conduct a union election later this winter as the first step in becoming a unionized patrol Instagram post announcing the petition touched on the patrol unit's responsibility to provide medical care and guest services, as well as perform hazard mitigation and terrain management across the resort's 800 skiable acres of terrain. By unionizing, Sunday River Ski Patrol hopes to create a sustainable working environment with fair compensation, safe working conditions, and professional development opportunities. "From White Cap to Jordan Bowl, we love our work in the mountains of Western Maine. With our union effort, we are asking Sunday River and Boyne Resorts to invest in us so that we can continue to perform our jobs at the highest level," said the post. Sunday River is the first east coast resort ski patrol unit to be potentially represented by United Mountain Workers. Their petition to unionize comes on the heels of a larger movement within the ski patrol community to form unions. The resort is located in Western Maine about an hour and a half from Portland. Sunday River is owned by Boyne Resorts, which also owns Big Sky, Brighton, Sugarloaf, The Summit at Snoqualmie, Loon, and a handful of other ski areas. As mentioned, the mountain has more than 800 skiable acres of terrain, 2,300 feet of vertical drop, and 19 lifts. It is amongst the largest and most popular ski resorts on the east has reached out to Sunday River for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publishing. We will continue to provide updates on Sunday River's patrol unionization as this story the first to read breaking ski news with POWDER. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing. From ski resort news to profiles of the world's best skiers, we are committed to keeping you informed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Michigan resort plans June opening for new par-3 course on a ski slope, putting course
Doon Brae and the Back Yaird, the new par-3 course and putting course at The Highlands in Michigan, will open late this spring. Guests can begin booking play on the short course for a planned June 6 opening. The lighted, nine-hole Doon Brae is touted by Boyne Resorts as being the first modern golf course built on a ski slope. It will be the 11th course for Boyne, designed by architect Ray Hearn – a Michigan native – on the site of the former Cuff Links par-3 course. The course will feature music, fire pits and food service. 'The combination of small greens inspired by some of the great green templates from overseas with sod-faced bunkers and tight mowing patterns will be a fun, perfect add-on to the daily golf itinerary,' Bernie Friedrich, director of golf course renovations and development at Boyne Resorts in Harbor Springs, said in a media release announcing the planned opening. 'It also provides a wonderful option for families, kids and beginners to try golf for the first time.' Stretching between 678 and 993 yards, the course moves mostly horizontally across a steep slope to minimize any dramatic uphill hikes. Holes range from 57 to 134 yards in length. 'I wanted to make sure we were creating something fun and unique without being a difficult walk,' Hearn said in the media release. 'We also considered all the families taking their kids out to play the short course and then the putting course.' The Back Yaird (Scottish for yard) will be a 1.5-acre, 27-hole putting course with three nine-hole combinations. It will sit just off the Slopeside Patio of the Highlands Main Lodge. 'Every time I visited Scotland with friends, I was always inspired by the Himalayas (a famous putting course) at St. Andrews,' Hearn said. 'We just kept playing it over and over and never got bored. The Back Yaird will provide that kind of experience.' This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The Highlands will open its Doon Brae par-3 course in June
USA Today
30-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michigan resort plans June opening for new par-3 course on a ski slope, putting course
Michigan resort plans June opening for new par-3 course on a ski slope, putting course Doon Brae and the Back Yaird, the new par-3 course and putting course at Boyne Highlands in Michigan, will open late this spring. Guests can begin booking play on the short course for a planned June 6 opening. The lighted, nine-hole Doon Brae is touted by Boyne Resorts as being the first modern golf course built on a ski slope. It will be the 11th course for Boyne, designed by architect Ray Hearn – a Michigan native – on the site of the former Cuff Links par-3 course. The course will feature music, fire pits and food service. 'The combination of small greens inspired by some of the great green templates from overseas with sod-faced bunkers and tight mowing patterns will be a fun, perfect add-on to the daily golf itinerary,' Bernie Friedrich, director of golf course renovations and development at Boyne Resorts in Harbor Springs, said in a media release announcing the planned opening. 'It also provides a wonderful option for families, kids and beginners to try golf for the first time.' Stretching between 678 and 993 yards, the course moves mostly horizontally across a steep slope to minimize any dramatic uphill hikes. Holes range from 57 to 134 yards in length. 'I wanted to make sure we were creating something fun and unique without being a difficult walk,' Hearn said in the media release. 'We also considered all the families taking their kids out to play the short course and then the putting course.' The Back Yaird (Scottish for yard) will be a 1.5-acre, 27-hole putting course with three nine-hole combinations. It will sit just off the Slopeside Patio of the Highlands Main Lodge. 'Every time I visited Scotland with friends, I was always inspired by the Himalayas (a famous putting course) at St. Andrews,' Hearn said. 'We just kept playing it over and over and never got bored. The Back Yaird will provide that kind of experience.'
