BOYNE Golf has announced the name for a new short course opening at the resort in 2024. It will be called Doon Brae and it's expected to open in the summer of 2024.
The 9-hole par-3 course is being designed by Ray Hearn and will include an adjacent Himalayan-style putting course near the Main Lodge at The Highlands Resort property in Harbor Springs.
It will be Boyne's 11th course and comes amid a rise in the popularity of short courses. Famous short courses include The Cradle at Pinehurst, The Hay at Pebble Beach, Bootlegger at Forest Dunes and more.
Doon Brae will be built on the backside of a ski hill and will stretch out between 678 yards from the forward tees and 993 yards from the back tees. Holes will range from 57 yards to 134 yards.
There will be a variety of lies, according to Boyne, and move back and forth across the slope.
“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. “What excites me most is how beautiful and different it is. There are three or four stacked wall bunkers. Instead of using tee boxes, we'll have just one marker on each hole and let guests play wherever they want."
The name comes from two words in Scottish – Doon means going down in a valley and Brae means steep bank or hillside
“Working with Stephen Kircher and Bernie Friedrich on this project has been really exciting,” said Hearn, who was inspired by his many overseas trips to Scotland and Ireland and in particular Royal County Down. “Stephen came over to Ireland on one of the first architecture seminars overseas while teaching at MSU and we both fell in love with Royal County Down and it inspired us during the design of Doon Brae.”
According to Hearn, his favorite part of the project has been designing the green complexes.
“Drawing on our inspiration from the British Isles allowed us to create scaled down versions of famous template greens highlighted by The Short at National Golf Links, a favorite of Stephen’s,” he said. “Other green templates include Eden, Punch Bowl, Redan, Reverse Redan, Volcano, Steep Slope, Postage Stamp, and Biarritz."
