Go Boyne - Michigan!

Traveling to Michigan's Northern Lower Peninsula for golf at its finest has become a yearly tradition with me and this year was again a great treat as I visited two of the finest golf resorts in the Midwest - Boyne Highlands and Shanty Creek.

This story highlights Boyne Highlands, which is part of Boyne USA Resorts , which operates 162 holes of golf in Michigan.

Boyne Highlands is where it all started with the Heather Course designed by famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones.

The Heather is where my visit started.

The Par 72, 6,890 yard Heather Course is quite demanding and requires accurate tee shots due to tight landing areas.

I did not pull my driver out the entire front nine due to the need for accuracy and the length of the holes. I chose to play the Gold Tees, which were the middle tees of five choices. The longest par four was 363 yards, so the driver was not necessary and could have caused some tough shots out of the woods.

The beauty of The Heather Course is that it is serine and full of mature native Northern Michigan trees. There is definitely a risk/reward factor in play at The Heather. The Heather is also nice to play because you can literally fall out of bed and be on the first tee since the Main Lodge is right next to The Heather Clubhouse.

I visited Boyne Highlands on a Monday - Wednesday trip in the middle of June and was surprise at the amount of golfers there. I was happy to see that the Cubs would be on WGN on Tuesday night, so I was prepared to sit in the bar in one of the comfortable leather chairs in front of the big screen, but I had forgotten that the NBA playoffs were on and Detroit is in Michigan, isn't it?

The bar was packed with Pistons fans and was hopping with excitement as the Pistons one game three.

While a round at The Heather Course started my day and trip, the afternoon was highlighted by a round at Bay Harbor in Petoskey.

Bay Harbor is the crown jewel of Boyne Golf, with 27 holes of golf on the shores of Little Traverse Bay. I played The Links and The Quarry nines during my round. The three nines are quite distinctively different. The Links nine is reminiscent of a Scottish links-style course, with thick grass, sand dunes and shoreline viewable from every hole.

The Quarry nine is a rugged stretch of golf carved through a former quarry and features numerous gorges and very scary golf shots.

While Bay Harbor is quite beautiful and picturesque, it is a rather forgiving course for those of us who play middle tees, while offers a real challenge to the scratch golfers.

I feel that Bay Harbor was designed with playability in mind throughout, although some of the tee shots over hazards on the back nine were a real challenge.

My nephew was playing along with me and he played the fourth-shortest tees - the White Tees.

I would recommend that any golfer who shoots 100 or above to play the White tees and enjoy their round, but if you are normally in the bogey golfer category, you will have a great time playing the Gold tees.

I usually like to get a scratch golfers perspective as well, but did not have that opportunity in this trip, so I visited the back tees when I had the chance and I could picture the challenges that awaited the low handicappers.

One of the biggest reasons Northern Michigan golf appeals to me is that there are hardly any 'parkland' golf courses. My definition of 'parkland' golf courses is basically all the golf courses in the Chicagoland area. There are not too many golf courses in the Chicagoland area where you do not see another golf hole your entire round. That is the norm in Northern Michigan.

We in the Chicagoland area are lucky because if we spray one, we can normally find it in the next fairway over. In Chicago, we yell 'FORE!', in Michigan, you yell 'TIMBER!' Northern Michigan golf is a treat and Boyne Highlands is one of the finest treats in the Midwest.

While my nephew and I stayed at Boyne Highlands, on the north side of Little Traverse Bay, accommodations can be had at Boyne Mountain or Bay Harbor.

All three are situated near Little Traverse Bay, with Bay Harbor overlooking it. The Bay Harbor area is highlighted by the quaint towns of Petoskey, Charlevoix and Harbor Springs.

These three towns are rich in history and full of beauty. For more information on The Boyne Resorts, visit www.goboyne.com.