The Heather

The Heather opened in 1966 as the first golf course at Boyne Highlands near Harbor Springs, and it helped launch the resort-golf boom that turned Northern Michigan into a summer destination. Robert Trent Jones Sr., among the era's most influential architects, laid out the par-72 course over generous, tree-lined corridors, threading strategic bunkering and water hazards through the rolling terrain and finishing with an approach that must carry a lake. Golf Digest ranked it among the nation's top 100 courses shortly after it opened, cementing its early reputation. It has since remained a centerpiece of the resort's multi-course lineup, and in recent years earned Michigan Golf Course of the Year and National Golf Course of the Year honors from course-owners associations, a nod to both its pedigree and its upkeep.