Doon Brae Short Course Review

Doon Brae Short Course Review (with a brief comment on the Back Yaird putting course)

Doon Brae Short Course at The Highlands; The Back Yaird Putting Course
Grade: A+
Teacher’s Comments: Lots of fun and a unique experience, thanks to Ray Hearn’s thoughtful design.

The best development in golf in recent years has been the growth of short courses. While “executive” and “par three” courses are not new, they’ve hit their stride as an additional play option at notable (and some not so notable golf resorts). Pinehurst has The Cradle; Forest Dunes has The Bootlegger; Bandon has The Preserve (which I’ve played but now discover that I’ve never reviewed); Black Lake has The Little Course (which I have played but also neglected to review); Big Cedar has Top of the Rock; Sand Valley has The Sandbox; and so forth.

There’s a rumor that Indian River Golf Club, which is close to GolfBlogger Summer HQ, is considering a nine hole short course addition. I hope it’s true and that it happens soon.

And of course, there is what is possibly the grandaddy of all the resort short courses: Threetops at Treetops, in Gaylord, Michigan, which dates to 1992 (and once again, I discover that I’ve played it but never reviewed it; I’ll have to remedy that this summer).

Now, Boyne Golf at The Highlands has Doon Brae.

Doon Brae is a nine-hole short course routed along the sides of one of Boyne’s ski hills just behind the Main and Day Lodges.

In Scottish vernacular, “Doon” apparently means “down into a valley” and “Brae” is a “steep hillside.”

It’s a great name for a course that plays up and down a ski slope.

When I first heard about Doon Brae, my reaction was that a walking-only course where one plays up and down a ski hill would be more work than it was worth. Fortunately, some great routing by architect Ray Hearn manages to get the player through nine holes without strenuous exertion. I found myself at apex of the course before I realized it.

Doon Brae plays between roughly 600 and 900 yards. I write “roughly” because Hearn has created a course with large teeing areas rather than restrictive tee boxes. Holes can range from 57 to 150 yards, depending on where you drop the ball.

I’m sure that as the course gets more play, there will be more guidance on where to drop the ball, but on our round, we just agreed on a spot. One hole looked as though it would be interesting playing a little longer. Another looked like fun as a pitch and putt. There’s no reason everyone couldn’t choose their own distance and angle.

There is joy in that sort of freedom.

The stars of the Doon Brae are the greens. Each is a tribute to a classic design: Eden, Punch Bowl, Redan, Volcano, Postage Stamp, Biarritz and so forth. Doon Brae is not a tribute course, however. Greens do not exist in a vacuum; they are part of a larger local ecosystem of mounding, bunkers and approaches. The entire complex surrounding a green is furthermore ideally integrated into the surrounding terrain — and a ski slope is a pretty unique piece of terrain.

The ninth, for example, is a Biarritz (a deep rectangular green with a swale running through the center). It often (although not always) has long bunkers along the raised edges.

Compare the photo of the Biarritz at Doon Brae above to the photo of the Biarritz I took at The Old White below.

While both have the classic green contours and bunkering, Doon Brae’s higher right slope and lower left, dictated by the hill, give it a unique look and play. The angle is different as well.

A unique thing about Doon Brae’s Biarritz: it has two holes and flagsticks. One flagstick is on the front shelf, and the other on the back shelf. Hit two balls; one at each hole on the green and see which one you can sink in the fewest strokes.

Fun.

The sixth, with a volcano green.

The sixth has a volcano green. Picture a volcano, with its sloping sides and flattish top. Similarly, a volcano green is a sloping mound with the green on top.

Here’s the volcano green at Washtenaw Golf Club. It’s perched on a little ridge that runs through the parallel third and sixth holes.

As at Washtenaw, Doon Brae’s volcano hole is a part of the land’s contours. It doesn’t look like Hearn had his crew bulldoze out a flat stretch and pile up a bunch of dirt in a mound.

While they weren’t in operation while I was there, the plan is to pipe music in while players are making their way around. There’s also a snack house roughly halfway through. The starter shack has canvas bags to help you transport the three or four clubs you choose to take.

The plan also is to use the existing lights the slope has for night skiing to immuminate Doon Brae for night play. As you can see from the photos, I played in the early evening; it doesn’t get dark here in Northern Michigan until well after 9 p.m.

Adjacent to the course is The Back Yaird, a one-and-a-half acre (65,000 square feet) 27-hole putting green. It is inspired by St. Andrews’ Himalayas putting course, and is in a similar vein as Pinehurst’s Thistle Dhu and Bandon’s Punchbowl. Every day, holes will be laid out, with a numbered stick indicating the “tee box” and a matching number flag and hole indicating the target. As with Doon Brae, players can make their way around in about an hour for a relaxing experience.

Food and drink will be available throughout.

I can imagine Doon Brae and the Back Yaird being primary activities for parents with children. Both are kid friendly, and a great way for a family to bond around the game without the tedium (for young ones) of a four or five hour round.

Doon Brae and the Back Yaird also are going to be great offerings after full rounds for players who aren’t quite ready to put up their clubs for the day. I can see the pair as favorites of golf groups.

I had a great deal of fun at Doon Brae and The Back Yaird. There is joy in grabbing a couple of clubs and a putter and heading out to express your golf creativity.

For what it’s worth, Doon Brae and The Back Yaird are my 300th Michigan golf course review. You can read all at the link, along with another 44 from other states and countries.