Four more revamped holes are now open at the Donald Ross Memorial, part of the Midwest’s largest golf resort destination
HARBOR SPRINGS, Michigan – As part of a multi-year transformation project to renovate northern Michigan’s Donald Ross Memorial at The Highlands, four additionally renovated holes are now open at the BOYNE Golf facility built to honor the legendary architect.
The one-of-a-kind 18-hole layout is a composite re-creation of classic golf holes from iconic venues that the father of golf course architecture in America designed in the early part of the 20th century.
The latest holes to be completed include Hole 2 (No. 4 Plainfield Country Club), Hole 13 (No. 15 Seminole), Hole 15 (No. 11 Aronimink), and Hole 16 (No. 10 Pinehurst No. 2). Five holes have now been renovated to Ross’ original designs, and additional holes are on tap for renovation over the next few years.
Thirty-five years ago, BOYNE Golf’s founder, Everett Kircher, had a vision to create a new and unique golf course at the time that would pay homage to the golden era of classic course architecture and Ross. His vision was to re-create some of Ross’ signature holes from his top courses east of the Mississippi River. The course features classic renditions from historic venues like Seminole, Pinehurst No. 2, Oakland Hills, Oak Hill, Scioto, Detroit Golf Club, Aronimink, Wannamoisett, Plainfield, and Inverness, to name a few.
Today, President and CEO Stephen Kircher of Boyne Resorts continues his father’s vision by curating a pure Donald Ross experience for resort guests.
“When we began this journey in the late 1980s, Dad wanted to create a unique golf experience that no other resort had done before, replicating some of the great designs of famous holes in one compositive golf course,” said Kircher. “Bringing a focus on arguably the most prolific and successful architect of the 20th century was the driving force in the selection of Donald Ross’ works, especially since so many of his best works were not readily available to the general public.
“This has been very exciting for us and our resort guests, who will now have a more genuine Donald Ross experience.”
Kircher and long-time BOYNE executive Bernie Friedrich, the Director of Golf Course Renovations and Development for BOYNE Golf, who is leading the project, were also part of the original selection and execution team during the course’s original development. They enlisted Michigan-based course architect and Donald Ross expert Ray Hearn to oversee it.
“We are thrilled with how these memorable holes have turned out,” said Friedrich. “Our objective with every hole has been to duplicate Ross’s original designs. More accurately following Ross’s original designs, we reshaped the fairways, creating additional angles into the greens and improving shot values. Along with more accurate positioning of bunkers and more exacting green complexes, golfers will experience an even more authentic Donald Ross experience. We cannot wait for the golf community to see the transformation.”
When the course was first built, some effort was required to focus on Ross’ elite private clubs. More than 50 Ross courses were visited and studied to determine the best holes to create.
“The opportunity we now have through technology makes this process so exciting,” explained Friedrich. “We didn’t have iPhones or camera phones back then, so we took pictures of the holes with a Polaroid camera. We now have more access to Ross’ original drawings, Google Earth data (past and present), CAD drawings, and, maybe most importantly, Lidar maps.”
How uncanny is the accuracy? “We were at the PGA Show in Orlando and ran into Jeff Kiddie, the PGA Head Professional at Aronimink,” says Friedrich. “I told him he should come and visit us sometime, as we have a Ross course with renditions of golf holes from around the country. I mentioned we just remodeled our 15th hole, which is their 11th. We showed him a picture of our hole, and he looked at it for a while and then said, ‘Did you get that picture off of our website’? That is how accurate the construction and attention to detail has been.”
Ross was known for designing some of the most outstanding green complexes in the game at places like Pinehurst No. 2, Oakland Hills, and Seminole, to name a few. This is where BOYNE Golf is excelling.
“The green complexes have always been a priority,” explained Friedrich. “Today, through the new technology, we can gather photos and dimensions to replicate the green more accurately, creating an authentic Donald Ross experience. We are getting the greens within one inch of their original grades now.”
Next on tap will be the 10th hole, a rendition of No. 14 at Royal Dornoch, where Ross grew up, was the superintendent, and learned the trade under Old Tom Morris. Construction starts in June and will be done by 2025.
“This hole is being completely redone to render one of the greatest holes in the world accurately. Our prior work did not begin to capture what this version of No. 14 will be…it will be, without a doubt, in my opinion, the finest of all 160 plus holes we have at Boyne Golf,” explained Friedrich. “These new Donald Ross holes are more stunning to look at and have been met with positive reviews from our resort guests, who are core golfers. Last season, we had more rounds played on the Ross than ever before and much of it was due to the excitement surrounding the new holes we are creating.”
