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 

Ceilings too low in your living room to practice your golf swing? Local courses not open yet? Just not sure what to do with yourself? You could clean the garage - always tons of fun.

I've got the perfect solution for your problem. Check out this photo which I took about an hour ago.

If you need interpretation, you are looking at a handful of skiers and riders enjoying what is virtually their own private ski area. Because of the recent and upcoming cold nights, you can expect great snow conditions, lots of sunshine, and no waiting for anything. And did I mention that there are great lift and lodging deals now through the upcoming Easter weekend? Speaking of Easter, you can find out here about the Egg Hunt and other activities planned for the weekend at Boyne Mountain.

Great skiing and riding - fun activities - Avalanche Bay Waterpark - fantastic dining - best prices of the year. The garage can wait. Gather your gang and come up and put this awesome winter to bed properly . . .

Cary Adgate - BOYNE SnowSports Ambassador 

UPDATE: One more weekend of skiing and riding! Boyne Mountain will be open on April 18 - 19. Help us slide the 09 season into the history books. Toss something on the Barbie at the Halfway House and spruce up your spring break tan - that garage will just have to wait one more week.

If you have a golfer in your life that plays the Titleist Pro V1 or ProV1X you might want to briskly head up to your favorite golf shop and buy all that you can carry. A Delaware District Court Judge has just issued a permanent injunction barring the Accushnet company (owner of Titleist) from selling Pro V's beyond 2008.

Callaway Golf has claimed for years now that the Pro V ball was based on a design patent obtained by Top Flite (owned by Callaway). Here are the details
I would expect appeals, but you might want to load up on a few just in case. 

I'll keep tabs on things and let you know if there are any developments. 

-JJ