The Heather Course in the Highlands hosts the Michigan Amateur

HARBOR SPRINGS, MI—The Heather Course at The Highlands will once again host the Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland this week (Monday-Friday, June 17-21). This will be the fifth time since 1998 that the state’s most prestigious golf championship will be played at the classic Robert Trent Jones Sr. course.

Defending champion August Meekhof of Eastmanville has turned pro, but 12 of last year’s “Sweet 16” return to make memories at the 113th edition of the state amateur championship. An added element of this year’s Michigan Amateur is that the winner will receive an exemption to the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship. The USGA recently added winners of select state championships to the exemption lists for its national championships.

“We are thrilled to once again host the state’s premier amateur championship and showcase one of the finest golf courses in the country,” said Casey Powers, Director of Golf for BOYNE Golf. “The Heather has become one of the premier golf competitions for Michigan’s best players and has produced unforgettable championships and great champions over the years.”

Opened in 1966, The Heather is BOYNE Golf’s first nationally recognized course. With its classic parkland design, narrow fairways, large greens, massive bunkers and one of the most exciting finishing holes in golf, it is sure to continue its tradition of producing great champions. This year will be a tough one.

• In 1998, Shawn Koch of Howell defeated Stephen Polanski of Livonia in the finals, 2 and 1. Koch, who also won the GAM Championship that summer, began an award-winning career as a professional PGA instructor in Georgia. He is currently the Director of Education at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
• In 2006, Greg Davies of West Bloomfield beat Ryan Brehm of Mount Pleasant in the final, 5 and 4. Davies, the 2023 GAM Senior Champion, is a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, was in the Sweet 16 a year ago and is back in the field this year at age 56. Brehm, the 2007 Amateur Champion, currently plays on the PGA Tour.
• In 2011, Willie Mack III of Flint beat defending champion Joey Garber of Petoskey in the final, 4 and 3. Mack III played on the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour in 2023, as did Garber, who has also played on the PGA Tour in recent years. Mack also competed in the most recent U.S. Open Championship.
• In 2020, Tyler Copp of Ann Arbor defeated James Piot of Canton in the finals, 2 and 1. Copp has since turned professional and plays mini-tour golf across the country. Piot, a two-time GAM champion, won the U.S. Amateur in 2021 and played on the LIV Tour in 2022 and 2023.

“It seems like the best players in our tournaments on The Heather have all gone on to achieve something even greater at another level,” said Ken Hartmann, senior director of competitions and USGA services for the Golf Association of Michigan, which hosts the state championship each year. “I think it shows that in a week with the best players, The Heather proves who has the all-around game.”

Powers agreed with Hartmann’s assessment. “The golf course requires you to hit every shot, it has several dogleg holes, there are moments where you can hit the driver and other moments where you have to slow down and keep the ball in play,” he said. “It becomes the ultimate test. You have to hit great irons and you have to putt well on the big, sloped greens.”

Hartmann said players need to have a plan for Heather.

“The scoring side is on the back side, it’s a little more open, but that doesn’t mean you can just hit it, especially on the last few holes, and 18 with the second shot over the pond creates a lot of drama and is a great sight,” he said. “The first six, seven holes through the woods on the front are difficult. You have to control your golf ball or you’ll end up in the penalty area. The Heather is a great test of golf.”

Named the 2018 Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association and the 2019 National Course of the Year by the National Golf Course Owners Association, The Heather is considered the founder of Northern Michigan’s golf resort industry. Boyne’s founder and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member, the late Everett Kircher, decided to get into the golf business, primarily to keep his ski resort employees in the state and employed during the snowless summer months. He sought out Jones, the most popular and successful architect of the era, and commissioned him to design The Heather. The course is consistently ranked among the best golf courses in Michigan.

To win the championship, The Heather will play to a maximum distance of 7,118 yards. The field will play two rounds of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday to determine the match field of 64 players. Two rounds of matches on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will determine the champion.