Northern Michigan is noted for its range of golf resorts, but that phenomenon is relatively recent. The very first development in that trend occurred at Boyne Highlands Resort. Between it and Boyne Mountain, the resorts were very popular skiing destinations but ownership ultimately wanted to attract Summer visitors as well. That plan came to fruition when Robert Trent Jones and his associate Ron Kirby designed the Heather course at Boyne Highlands during 1968.
The course remains the toughest in the Boyne collection, stretching to nearly 7,200 yards and requiring well-placed drives to get around the trees for those hoping to find the green in regulation on the many dog-legged holes at Heather. Three of the four par threes on this route require long forced carries over water.
The success of the course fed into the development of numerous golf resorts around the region, and it also resulted in two other courses on the Boyne Highlands property: the Donald Ross Memorial and the Arthur Hills courses.