I get asked about golf travel all the time, by friends and friends of friends, and I’m always surprised how many really good golf travel destinations fly under the radar. Not only can’t most people afford the handful of places the mainstream golf magazines cover, like Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes and so forth, but availability at most of these resorts is virtually non-existent in busy season even if you wanted to spend the cash.

So, I’ve decided to share some great but lesser-known resorts that are worthy of a legitimate destination golf vacation (meaning 4-7 days at one place). I’ve been covering golf travel for three decades, I’ve been a resort ranker and course ranker, and I’ve visited the marquee golf spots all around the country and all around the world, so I have a good frame of reference. Often the focus of media coverage is more “what’s new” than “what’s good,” and I’m here to spread the good word.

I’ll be revisiting this topic in the near future, but today I am starting with Michigan, because timing is everything. If you are looking for a last-minute summer getaway, or a perfect fall foliage golf trip, look no further. Living in Vermont, I take fall foliage seriously, because we have the best in the world, but the golf is not very good. Michigan on the other hand has pretty good autumn colors and awesome golf, and that is a beautiful combination. “The Great Lakes State” is usually in the top three or four states for most Top 100 Courses You Can Play on lists of all the major magazines, and simply is home to some of the best golf in the United States.

But there is no bigger player in the state’s golf resort scene than Boyne Golf, a combination of three resort venues that are all close together and share access to “Michigan’s Magnificent Ten,” ten eighteen-hole courses, so you can choose from many different lodging options and play all of them. Between them there is a huge range of lodging, dining and non—golf activities, from world-class fishing to spas to one of the nation’s most popular aerial attractions, the magnificent SkyBridge Michigan. I wrote about the aerial attraction trend recently here at Forbes. Boyne Golf also has one of the nation’s top golf academies for those seeking instruction, and simply offers one of the most complete travel experiences for golfers in the country.

It has also been named a “Best Value” resort by Golf Magazine, and in 2020 the publication ran a story titled “Where’s the best location to play unlimited golf for three days?” and in the answer, wrote, “I could point you to a lot of package-deal hotbeds. Myrtle Beach, say. Or the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. Or any number of spots in Florida. But with the spring thaw fast approaching and the days growing longer in the Great Lakes region, I’m leaning toward northern Michigan. Specifically, I’m leaning toward Boyne Resorts.”

The must-play deluxe layout is Bay Harbor, a 27-hole design perched on the edge of Lake Michigan that has won tons of awards and accolades. Widely considered the greatest work of prolific architect Arthur Hills, it’s made the coveted Top 100 Public Courses list of Golf Magazine, Golf Digest and Golfweek. The onsite luxury lodging, The Inn at Bay Harbor, was Golf Digests’ Editor’s Choice Award for Best Golf Resort in the Midwest, and ranked 13^th in the nation’s Top 100 Luxury Golf Resorts by Golf Magazine. Golfpass.com, the website of NBC Sports (which includes the Golf Channel) ranked it 13^th on the 50 Most Beautiful Courses in the World You Can Play, and to my point, despite all these awards, Travel + Leisure Golf named it the Most Underrated Resort in the Midwest—and it’s the most famous of all the Boyne courses.

Just above the resort sits the Crooked Tree Golf Club, another Arthur Hills-designed eighteen with stunning views of Little Traverse Bay. Bay Harbor consists of the three magnificent coastal nines, the Crooked Tree eighteen, the luxury Inn at Bay Harbor, a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection (for one of a kind, independent properties that don’t fit into cookie cutter brands, and you can use and accrue Bonvoy Points, the world’s largest hotel loyalty program). There’s a spa, beach club, and multiple dining options including a high-end steak specialist, the Vintage Chophouse. This is the splurge option at Boyne.

The biggest facility within the Boyne Golf collection is The Highlands at Harbor Springs, a large four-season ski and golf resort with four eighteens. There are five dining options and a wide range of lodging here, with the Main Lodge being the most upscale. The hotel has an English country estate theme and recently upgraded rooms. There are 2-4 bedroom woodsy cabin-style condos in the Alpine Village, and the more affordable Heather Highlands Inn is a family friendly hotel. Highlands is also home to the Boyne Golf Academy and all its high-tech bells and whistles and immersion camps. This has been one of America’s top golf academies for four decades, and has won multiple Editor’s Choice awards in that category from Golf Digest.

The Robert Trent Jones, Sr. designed Hether course is generally considered the top layout here, but to me the must-play course here is the Donald Ross Memorial. It was the very first replica or tribute course ever built, with recreations of eighteen of the best holes from around the world designed by Donald Ross. Ross, a Scotsman who later moved to the States and famously designed the first courses at Pinehurst, including Number Two, the most storied layout outside the British Isles, is widely considered one of, if not the greatest golf course designers ever. The eighteen here include many from very private clubs such as Seminole that you could not otherwise ever experience. The family owners of Boyne Resorts are currently undertaking a massive hole by hole improvement program using the latest GPS and aerial technology to redo each hole as an even more perfect replica of the original, upping the authenticity level but in a way that allows the course to remain open. It’s just a stunning experience that you cannot have anyplace else.

The other two courses, the Arthur Hills-designed Arthur Hills and the Moor by Bill Newcomb are both very good courses, and there’s not one I would skip here. According to the National Golf Foundation there are nearly 1,200 golf resorts in this country, but most have two or less and many of those have just one course. There is a serious drop off when you head up to three eighteens, which to me is what you need in most cases to make a golf resort a true destination, though there are some 36-hole facilities with courses so good you could stay a week. But after three you can start to count resorts on your fingers and toes, and having four eighteens puts the Highlands in rarefied company.

The newest addition is a 9-hole short course, Doon Brae, and adjacent 1.5-acre grass putting course inspired by the famed Himalayas at St. Andrews, Scotland, both by prominent Michigan designer Ray Hearn. Short courses are the hottest trend in golf right now, with new ones added at Pinehurst, Pebble Beach and countless other top resorts, and Boyne did not miss out on the craze, which makes a great way to warm before tackling a full-sized course to dial in your short game for better scoring. It is also a great amenity for families, along with the putting course. A unique design lets golfers choose from multiple tees, with shorter lines that avoid hazards and more challenging longer routings, all with a British Isles links flair. The new facilities should open for preview play this fall but will be fully on board come spring 2025.

Just down the road is Boyne Mountain, another four-season golf and ski resort. Celebrating its 75^th birthday, this is where the still family-owned and run Byne Resorts company began (They also own several major ski resorts with golf courses outside of Michigan, most notably huge world-class Big Sky, MT as well as Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine). Boyne Mountain is home to SkyBridge Michigan, the world’s longest timber-towered suspension bridge (pedestrians only!), as well as a fly-fishing operation, ziplines, e-biking, watersports, pickleball, horseback riding, tennis, spa and indoor waterpark. The vibrant base village is full of shops and dining, and there are more than a dozen food and drink outlets, plus a food truck at the SkyBridge.

The Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa is the big main grad hotel, but there are dizzying lodging options here. The very cool Chalet Edelweiss is a European-inspired guest house at the base of the ski slopes, with a pronounced alpine flair, but also great in summer. The Clock Tower Lodge is a smaller hotel in the heart of the base area, and there are villas, cabins and condos of every size and description.

Both eighteens here are very good, with the higher up Alpine hosting the annual Michigan Tournament of Champions. It starts on the upper slopes of the ski mountain and runs mostly downhill, making it probably the most playable and user friendly of the ten options. The Monument is a nod to classic golf design and inspirates elements borrowed from acclaimed designers such as Donald Ross, Alister Mackenzie, and Pete Dye, complete with tee signs explaining the pedigree of each hole. If you only had time for one, this would be the Boyne Mountain must-play.

So, if you are not familiar with Boyne Golf and its Michigan resorts, you can understand why I pick it as a hidden gem, with Top 100 Golf and enough courses to play a different eighteen every day for a week and still not make it through them all, plus a vast array of lodging and dining from luxury to budget, with a whole lot of other activities thrown in.