More Golf Courses Coming in Michigan:
Boyne’s Doon Brae opening this summer; Forest Dunes announces new course build
BOYNE Golf will open for play its new par-3 short course Doon Brae, and the Back Yaird (Scottish word for yard), a Himalayan-style putting course, will open in a few months. Located behind The Highlands Main Lodge, the new short course will be BOYNE Golf’s 11th golf course, expanding their tagline to Michigan’s Magnificent 11.
Doon Brae, now accepting tee times, will be a nice add-on to any golf and resort package. The name, Doon meaning going down into a valley, and Brae, meaning steep bank or hillside in Scottish, is fitting as the routing of the course is on the site of the former Cuff Links nine-hole par-3 course set along the hillside that doubles as a ski slope during the winter months.
“As far as I know, this is the first modern golf course ever built on a ski hill,” said Bernie Friedrich, Director of Golf Course Renovations and Development at Boyne Resorts. “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. It also provides a wonderful option for families, kids, and beginners to try golf for the first time.”
Although Doon Brae is routed on a ski hill, designer Ray Hearn focused on minimizing the walking uphill. The course, which measures between 993 yards and 678 yards, will feature a variety of fun yardages with downhill, flat, uphill, and sidehill lies, generally moving horizontally back and forth across the slope. Holes range from 57 yards to 134 yards, providing multiple angles and fairway options, with shorter-length holes having fewer bunkers on the path toward the greens, while longer holes provide more strategic angles with bunkers more in play.
Complementing Doon Brae is the Back Yaird a 1.5-acre 27-hole putting course featuring three nine-hole combinations. Inspired by great putting courses like the Himalayas at St. Andrews and Thistle Du at Pinehurst, this exciting golf experience features a variety of slopes and swales, providing endless excitement for golfers of all abilities, families, and kids. The location, just off the Slopeside Patio of The Highlands, will be convenient for Boyne lodge guests.
Forest Dunes announces SkyFall:
Forest Dunes already has three Top 100 golf courses in the country and hopes to add a fourth in the next couple years – SkyFall, a new private club announcement – designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner that will also allow limited resort guest play.
“The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting,” says Rich Mack, who owns Forest Dunes alongside business partner Tom Sunnarborg. “Gil and Jim are two of the most influential golf course architects of our era…we know they will find the best of the land to work with and turn it into something unforgettable that members and guests are going to thoroughly enjoy, hopefully many times.”
With elevation changes of up to 70 feet, the new golf course will weave across 300 acres of forest land adjacent to the current Forest Dunes public play courses. While SkyFall will be a private membership club, public guests staying on property at Forest Dunes will have access to limited tee times.
“This design is focused on the key landforms on the property,” Hanse said in a news release. “When you look at some of the great old courses by Tillinghast or Ross, there tends to be a landform they go away from and return to. That’s also the case at SkyFall, and it is those features that are the key to creating a truly compelling design.”
With the addition of SkyFall to Forest Dunes, the Roscommon-area resort will bring another top-tier option to the highly acclaimed northern Michigan golf region and be the only golf facility in the world with courses designed by three legends of the game — the late Tom Weiskopf, Michigander Tom Doak and the Hanse/Wagner team. The popular Forest Dunes course, designed by Weiskopf, is rated among America’s Top 100 golf courses, as is The Loop, Doak’s highly ranked and innovative reversible layout with both designs among the best in the U.S. Forest Dunes also offers a popular 10-hole short course named The Bootlegger, designed by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns.
