Boyne Highlands Remodels Hotel and Donald Ross Memorial Golf Course
By Tom Lang
Changes abound at Boyne Highlands north of Petoskey with really cool and sophisticated, modern updates to 87 rooms at the iconic Main Lodge, which has operated with an English Tudor-style design for several decades.
Also seeing updates is the work on the Donald Ross Memorial Course’s opening hole, which is a replica of Seminole No. 6 along the coastline in Florida. A completely restyled green is going in right now to be more accurate with Seminoles’ design plus changes to the fairway surround has more sand and fescue and fewer northern Michigan trees, all to add increased authenticity to the hole’s overall look.
The initial goal from the beginning was to replicate as much as possible some excellent Donald Ross holes from around the country. The Boyne team some 30 years ago picked from over 400 hole designs and narrowed the choices down to those that fit the Boyne topography the best they could, to help make the replications that much more accurate. The course won Golf Digest’s ‘Best New Resort Course in the U.S.’ in 1990.
It was never constructed to be a “top 18” type course, but rather one that fit the land’s authenticity and give golfers a strong flavor of Ross. If selections came down to the last few holes, priority was given to those holes at private clubs so the public golfer would have a chance to see and play some.
“Some of the technologies today allow us to have better access to the designs,” said Ken Griffin, Director of Golf Marketing. “And one of the ones we thought we could improve upon today from the original (development) was to better replicate Seminole No. 6, our first hole. It’s especially important being the first hole you play, and we wanted to get it right.”
Griffin noted that other holes are under consideration for change – in part because just one of the Boyne holes has undergone four changes at its home course since the time Boyne built the one it has now. Changing it would remove the original Ross design for people to see.
“We are not going to change it otherwise we’d have nothing but a course always under construction.”
My recent hotel stay in the updated section of the hotel was impressive. The bathrooms are stunning, and the seating and bedroom areas have improved use of space and style. Information provided by the property explains how the changes took place to blend traditional English countryside with contemporary features. The colors draw on rich earthy tones of the surrounding seasonal landscape, along with classic materials from tufted leather headboards and rich wood built-in cabinetry to wainscoting and metal elements.
Bathrooms feature marble floor and wall tiles, fixtures from British manufacturer Lefroy & Brookes, with hand-casted, forged, polished, and assembled taps, Euro-style toilets, custom designed lighted mirrors, vanity toe kick nightlights, and local art decorating the walls.
The Moor Course is undergoing even more changes that we’ll explore in the future.
