Welcome to the longest days of the year. There’s no better time to enjoy 36.
Is there anything better?  Maybe 54.  All this daylight makes it possible AND, if you’re hip to this little secret you just might have enough in the tank to go for it.

Secret, you say?

Yep.
 
Well, not really, but since so few people do this it seems like a secret.

The secret is shoes. 
A pair that fits great is good.  Two pair that fit great are better.
The second pair is the key to hitting round two and beyond feeling fresh and revived. After 18 holes, cool clean socks and fresh shoes are as invigorating as a shower.

You don’t have to break the bank. Boyne Country Sports has closeouts on high-end, fully waterproof models running from $49.99.  If you aren’t near a store, you can order men's or ladies' from our online partner SkiGolf.com. They’ll ship them to you for free.

So take care of those ponies. Your playing partners will find you annoyingly chipper when you tee up for the afternoon round- provided that they survive the olfactory assault when you change.

If you’re going for 54, just repeat the process, or put on your morning pair after they've had a chance to breathe for a few hours. The difference is pure magic.

-JJ

A golf tip from Jeff Eccleston - Boyne Golf Academy

Ben Hogan said that IF you have a sound grip, stance, and waggle, that you will never have a bad ball striking day.....  Wait a minute, A Waggle?  What does a waggle have to do with my golf swing?  Better yet, what is a waggle?

Well, provided that your grip and stance are fundamentally correct, the waggle portion of the equation goes like this.

From your address postion, allow your wrists to hinge the club so that the shaft is parallel to the ground and the toe of the club is pointed skyward.  Your arms should still remain in front of your body.  If done correctly, your top hand will have a slight cup in it, and the hands will move slightly ahead of the ball.  From here, simply return the club to address postion and repeat a couple of times as you let your eyes move between the ball and the target. 

By incorporating a waggle into your shot you are effectively setting the plane for your backswing, rehearsing impact, and removing tension from your swing.

The Nike Junior Golf Camps at BOYNE started Varsity Camp yesterday.  18 young men from Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, Connecticut, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, and Kentucky converged on Boyne Highlands for a full week of intensive golf training. 

Camp started with a warm up round on the Cuff Links par 3 course before pizza and practice and finally a 18 hole round on the Heather!  This morning will start with a gourmet breakfast buffet, video analysis with the BOYNE Golf Academy, and lunch.  The afternoon holds a round of golf on the Arthur Hills, Moor, or Donald Ross Memorial.  

This evening we will start a match play tournament on the Cuff Links, UNDER THE LIGHTS!!! 

Instruction continues all day with Golf Academy staff accompanying each group for further on the course tips, advice, and lessons.

Camp concludes on Thursday with a tournament style round and awards ceremony.  This is the second camp of the summer of a total of eight.  Some spots are still open for the upcoming camps.  Click here for more information.  

The first round has completed!   The Winners and Final Counts are in BOLD

We are frequently asked by our guests, "Who is the best player at BOYNE?"  Well that answer will be narrowed down with the 1st annual BOYNE Match Play Tournament.

The Matches will start on Friday the 5th of June with the finals taking place on July 26th.  Here are the first round matches. 

Mike Fay vs. Ryan Brown - CCU  

Leighton Smith vs. Ryan Thompson  2 and 1

Bernie Friedrich vs. Tristan Pitts 4 and 3

Austin Pieters vs. Mike Basinski  3 and 1

Mike Chumbler vs. Gaetan Biane  2 and 1

Mark Novak vs. Charlie Henninger  6 and 4

Dan Turcott vs. Drew Pillar  7 and 5

Casey Powers vs. Andy Niettering 2 and 1

Josh Richter vs. Mike Kollet  6 and 5

Steve Niezgoda vs. Brian Dionisio 1 up

Steve Good vs. Gary Day

Steve Hueston vs. Ryan Tubbs  2 and 1

Dave Trudell vs. Ryan Brown - CS   1UP

Ian Hirsch vs. Brian O'Neill  4 and 3

Jeff Eccleston vs. Brad Wanckett   2 and 1

Colin Stackus vs. Dave McWorter  3 and 2

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

A lesson from Brian O'Neill - BOYNE's Director of Instruction!               
Email Brian with questions or to book a lesson!  boneill@boyne.com

One of my favorite practice routines is hitting balls out of a fairway type bunker with a 6 or 7 iron! Several years ago while working on the driving range with a friend of mine, who happened to be one of the best ball strikers I knew, he mentioned this tip to me and it seemed to stick like no other has before.

He would work for 30-35 minutes in the bunkers hitting mid-irons, his point was that it really seemed to improve his ball striking with his irons. After watching him practice this drill I began to realize its ramifications on his particular golf swing. It helped slow his lower body down so his "overactive leg drive" was forced to slow down….creating some type of synchronicity between legs and arms and club. It also battled his steep angle of attack into his impact area, which in effect improved his ball striking all together. Every golfer I know hates a fairway bunker….so maybe it is time to get in there with a focus of improving ball contact, while at the same time creating some efficiency out of fairway bunkers. Next time your are on the range I challenge you to begin to spend time hitting balls from a bunker with a mid-iron, and watch, and listen, to the improved ball striking as you head for the links!

If you are like me, opening day of golf season is the holiday equivalent to Christmas and this year Santa (Nike) showed up with a brand new SQ Str8 Fit Driver!  Could this be true?  I can set my driver up 8 different ways?  Now I have a new setting for each of BOYNE's eight courses!!  This is the  perfect club if you are up here for the Gr8 Escape, which is still America's best golf vacation!

This is how I decided to set my magic wand up this year to split the fairways!
Alpine - #4 High and Straight
Monument- #3 High Fade
Arthur Hills- #8 High Draw
Donald Ross Memorial- #5 Low Straight  
Moor- #1 Fade
Heather- #2 Low Fade
Crooked Tree- #7 Low Draw
Bay Harbor- #6 Draw 

Check the 'Str8 fit' out for yourself at our Nike Demo Days May 19th at Boyne Highlands! 

-Ecc

Today is opening day and first opportunity to play our courses that were featured on the Golf Channel's hit series Big Break X: Michigan.  Check out this video of the first tee shot of the year featuring Matt from Grand Rapids.  I think he may have an idea now of what the contestants felt with the cameras on!  I hope the rest of the round went better. 

Watch the video on Facebook here.

Don't forget that if you don't play today, you can't play every day this summer!  There is still time with daylight until after 9 p.m. and twilight rates are just $29 at almost every course up here until May 14th! 

-Ecc

Ski and golf on the same day? Sounds fun. How about teaming up with a buddy to compete in both sports against other teams made up of equally unique individuals? Naw, that's crazy talk.

Exactly. 

I read over the rules (a very short document indeed), and I see that helmets are required. I assume that just means for the ski racing part – but if they let me on the golf course, a person might be well advised to keep their helmet on all day. 

UPDATE: Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're ready for summer activities), the recent warm weather and rains have diminished the snowpack so much that a safe ski race isn't possible. Read about it here. Hopefully, the weather next spring will cooperate.

 Thanks to the entire Boyne snowsports community for an awesome ski/ride season. I am off on the mountain bike to scout morels. 

Cary Adgate - BOYNE SnowSports Ambassador