ACME, Michigan – The structural changes at Grand Traverse were made last year when owners of the 30-year old resort spent $7 million to renovate the tower that is the facility’s centerpiece.

Grand Traverse has three courses on its 1,400 acres and the resort features 660 rooms, diverse restaurants and lounges and 49,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space, unique shops, health club and spa, children’s center and beach club. Last year’s upgrades were – most understandingly – very well received and they’ll keep Grand Traverse in the forefront of U.S. golf destinations for many years to come.

That was last year, this is now.

This year’s big change came in personnel, and it’s a most interesting one. During the winter Scott Hebert, the resort’s director of instruction and head golf professional the previous nine years, opted to move to Traverse City Country Club.

His replacement in both roles is Mark Hill, and his background is much different than Hebert’s. Hebert’s playing record is outstanding. He won the Michigan Open six times and captured the PGA Professional National Championship in 2008 at Reynolds Plantation, in Georgia.

Hill’s strong point is on the teaching side, and that’s a big factor in the new approach to instruction at Grand Traverse.

“We don’t even offer golf schools anymore,’’ said Hill. “People don’t have time to go to three- or four-day golf schools. I’m old school. I really get into playing lessons.’’

In short, Hill is a and one-on-one guy teaching-wise.

Grand Traverse had, for many years, been the Midwest resort home of the high profile Jim McLean Golf School. It’s no longer there, but the indoor and outdoor practice facilities are still busy places.

“The days of golf schools are done,’’ said Hill. “People get in a rut hitting on the range. I see them going backward instead of forward.’’

Hill, like Hebert, is a product of the golf management program at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. Hill has been a PGA member for over 30 years, all of them spent at courses in northern Michigan. He bought one of them, Twin Birch in nearby Kalkaska, in 1999 and enjoyed two successful years before economic downturns in the area led to him selling it.

“I got a little burned out on golf and went outside into teaching,’’ he said. He started working with children with special needs during the school year and kept involved with golf by giving lessons in the summer months at Grand Traverse.

“I absolutely loved working as a teacher’s assistant in the special education room for five years,’’ he said, “and – by working here in the summer months – I had the best of both worlds.’’

When Hebert left in February the job was offered to Hill. He took it and added Shane Hollinsworth as an assistant to go along with Randy Ernst, who was on staff last year. They’re working with director of golf operations Tom McGee and have the luxury of using three quality 18-holers – the Jack Nicklaus-designed Bear, the Gary Player-designed Wolverine and Spruce Run, the original course on the property designed by Bill Newcomb.

The courses offer lots of opportunities for Hill and his staff to give playing lessons. Hill offers them over both nine and 18 holes.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,’’ he said. “We’ve got our Golf Academy going gangbusters. The feedback I’ve been getting has all been thumbs up.’’

Grand Traverse has a double-ended outdoor range and the indoor facility has three hitting bays, a video room and club-fitting equipment. There’s also a putting green that will be expanded in time for next winter’s programs.

BAY HARBOR, Michigan – This is anniversary time for Boyne Golf, the biggest golf course conglomerate in the Midwest. It has 10 courses among its three northern Michigan resorts and two are celebrating milestones in 2016.

The Heather course at Boyne Highlands – the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that got the golf boom started in the area – is marking its 50th season and the most upscale of the Boyne layouts – Bay Harbor – is marking its 20th season.

For Bay Harbor it’s more than just a case of turning a page on the calendar. On June 15 what is now the Renaissance Inn at Bay Harbor will drop the Renaissance brand and become a member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. That’s Marriott’s highest end property. There are only 100 worldwide and Bay Harbor will be just the second in Michigan.

Though Bay Harbor’s stunning three Arthur Hills-designed nines on Little Traverse Bay won’t change, the overall facility will get a more manageable name (Renaissance will be dropped from the title) and an upgrade in stature. It’s definitely a big deal.

“By being part of the Autograph Collection we’ll be exactly what we need to be without changing to fit a brand,’’ said Erin Ernst, Boyne’s director of communications.

The Inn at Bay Harbor opened in 1998 and joined Marriott’s Renaissance brand in 2003. Members of the Autograph Collection are all uniquely different, and the Inn at Bay Harbor has been working towards that eventuality. A $2 million renovation, in which the lobby area, café and 35 guests rooms were redone, is in the final days prior to completion.

There’ll be two more phases to the renovation. The second will begin in January, when the spa and workout area will be the focus. The final phase will begin in the winter of 2018.

Meanwhile, the celebrating of The Heather’s No. 50 anniversary will be done largely on the course. Bernie Friedrich, vice president of golf and retail for Boyne USA, said a $50 special rate to play The Heather would be offered after 1 p.m. for every Thursday in June. The formal anniversary celebration will take place on Aug. 20 when all the past Heather head professionals (there were only seven in 50 years, and all still live nearby) return to play in an outing with members and guests. They’ll all take caddies for that special occasion.

“The Heather was the first golf course in the area, and when we build another one there’s always the question of whether it’ll be as good as The Heather,’’ said Friedrich. “That’s our measuring stick for all our courses.’’

The Heather certainly has held its own over the years as Boyne Highlands added the Donald Ross Memorial, The Moor and the Arthur Hills Course. Boyne Mountain now has its Alpine and Monument layouts and Bay Harbor – in addition to the Links, Quarry and Preserve nines – has Crooked Tree nearby.

They all come under Friedrich’s jurisdiction and he instituted the price-yielding (or dynamic pricing) concept last year. As is the case with so many things in Michigan golf, Boyne was the first to try it.

“We don’t publish green fees anymore,’’ said Friedrich. “We take tee time sheets and blocks of the day – 6 in the morning until 10 at night. When we reach a certain capacity at one price, the price goes up. What it does is it gets people who are price-sensitive to book ahead and that spreads out our tee sheet.’’

Friedrich calls the concept – still not in widespread use nationally — “very successful ‘’ and has the statistics to back it up.

“Two years ago was our best ever in rounds,’’ he said. “We had 8,000 more than in this past year (2015), but in this past year we were much more profitable than we were two years ago.’’

Next new thing on the docket are GolfBoards. Four are in use now at The Moor and the Donald Ross Memorial. Eight more will be coming soon.

“We’ve got a waiting list for them every day,’’ said Friedrich, who is attuned to all the changes in the golf marketplace since his arrival in Northern Michigan in 1975. He notes that Boyne’s clientele isn’t so local any more.

“Fifteen years ago 90 percent came from Detroit or Grand Rapids,’’ he said. “Now probably 20 percent are from outside the state.’’

Michigan has 685 public courses, down from the 700-plus in recent years, but is still second only to California in the number of such layouts.

“In my opinion we haven’t lost anything that shouldn’t have been lost,’’ said Friedrich. “Some of the courses (that are now gone) were poorly run or not very good. Some were sold off for the building of subdivisions, but I’m still bullish. Last year was a really good year, and the whole country is growing in rounds percentages.’’

MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan – There’s a lot of reasons why people take the 20-minute boat ride from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace to Mackinac Island from May through October every year. The Island is an interesting place. It’s different, and not just because of the boat ride required to get there.

Visitors – up to 15,000 a day during peak times – want to check out the elegant Grand Hotel – even if they don’t spend the night there. They like the shopping and dining options. They like the bike, carriage and horseback rides. They like the historical attractions, notably Fort Mackinac. The list goes on.

Very few visitors consider playing golf a high priority when they head for the Island, but maybe they should – especially the very serious golfers.

Mackinac has a course like no other, one that’s well worth checking out. Its Wawashkamo nine-holer is one of the very few unvarnished courses left from the pre-1900 era when American golf got its start. Golf historians say there are only about a half dozen courses throughout the entire U.S. that have been preserved as close to their original state as Wawashkamo.

The course that its aficionados simply call Wawa was built in 1898 on land that was already historical. A battle in the War of 1812 was fought there and a tree that was on the premises way back then – it was estimated to be 200 to 220 years old when it fell down a few years ago – is still eulogized on the course.

A group of Chicago guys who had cottages on the Island were looking for things to do on their visits, and a golf course was good for starters. They brought in Alex Smith, a Scotsman who was greenskeeper of the Washington Park course in Chicago, to design a one. Smith visited the Island and did a preliminary design before focusing on playing. He went on to win the U.S. Open twice.

The Chicago gang decided on the Indian-inspired name, which means “Crooked Trail.’’ Smith’s design underwent some changes in its early years but it remains very much like the one that Smith designed, and that makes it very historically significant.

“But,’’ said Chuck Olson, the head pro at Wawashkamo for the last five years, “hardly anyone knows it’s there.’’

Motorized vehicles are extremely limited on Mackinac Island, so Wawashkamo’s players get to the course by walking, riding a bicycle or – most of the time these days – taking a horse-drawn carriage ride that takes about 20 minutes from the Grand Hotel.

In the early years players built their own tees, using sand and water, and you can still do that on the first tee at Wawashkamo. You can also rent clubs from Hogan that are from the pre-1935 era. (I did both). Modern day clubs, balls and tees are used by most of the players now however.

They take on a course that has nine holes but can be played as an 18-holer thanks to the availability of alternate tee placements. As an 18-holer the course measurers 5,949 yards. It features cross bunkers and chocolate drops (which are piles of stones) as hazards. Most unusual, though, is the Circus Ring that surrounds one of the greens. In the early years the ring was made up of high grass. It was there to force golfers to loft their approach shots. That became a problem because the golfers who couldn’t do that couldn’t find their balls in the grassy Circus Ring.

Now the “ring’’ is simply a roped off area around the green, and golfers aren’t allowed to set foot in that area.

Olson resides in a house a few steps from the clubhouse, so rarely leaves the premises until the winter weather sets in. He doesn’t get much company from players, since the course gets only about 5,000 rounds a year – from May to October – but Wawashkamo has about 120 members who enjoy the social life there. The outings that Olson organizes for them are a big reason the club can survive financially.

Olson obviously enjoys his job, but he’ll never be around as long as Frank Dufina, one of his predecessors. Dufina was Wawashkamo’s head pro from 1904 until 1967. That’s believed to the longest run by any pro at one club. Olson has carried on the Wawashkamo tradition.

“It’s a great place that has existed for 118 years with little change, and we are very interested in continuing to be good stewards to allow the club to have many more years as a great example of 19th century golf,’’ said Olson.

Mackinac Island has more golf than that offered at Wawashkamo. It’s hard to see most of the holes, though, because they’re off the beaten path. The holes that are easily visible comprise the front nine of the Grand Hotel’s course, which is called The Jewel.

The Jewel is no modern day marvel, either. The front side dates back to the 1920s. Now called the Grand Nine, it was one of the umpteen designs of Tom Bendelow. He inexplicably is not in the World Golf Hall of Fame, but his creations dominated the courses built in the early years of American golf.

Bendelow designed the Grand Nine across the street from the Grand Hotel, which opened in 1887. His nine has views of Lake Huron and Round Island. Unlike Wawashkamo, however, the Grand Nine was renovated by Michigan architect Jerry Matthews in 1987 and Matthews designed a second nine, called The Woods, in 1994. The Woods has views of the Straits of Mackinac and the Mackinac Bridge.

Those two nines are over a mile apart, so a carriage ride of about 20 minutes is required to play all 18 holes.

Jason Horlicks, the head pro for 17 seasons, says The Jewel gets about 14,000 rounds a year, many coming from corporate outings.

“That’s not bad, considering the short season we have and the fact that we close at 6 p.m. each day,’’ said Horlicks. Daylight is available until 9 p.m. for much of the six-month season, and the other courses in Michigan take full advantage of that, but the schedule of events at the Grand Hotel necessitates shorter hours for The Jewel.

The Grand Nine is shorter and tighter than the Woods and both have nice finishing attractions. Together they form a 5,457-yard par-67 course from the back tees. Those going just nine holes can stop off at the Jockey Club for post-round socializing and The Woods concludes in front of the even more unique Bavarian-style restaurant of the same name. The Woods restaurant includes Bobby’s Bar in addition to full-service dining and the oldest duckpin bowling alley in the U.S. is also located in the clubhouse.
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Here’s the latest for golfers who like to travel:

The Heather Course at Michigan’s Boyne Highlands Resort hit a milestone when it opened for the season on Friday the 13th. The 2016 campaign will mark the Heather’s 50th anniversary season. The Robert Trent Jones Sr. design was the first course at Boyne.

Heather opened for the season on the same day as The Preserve and the Quarry/Preserve at nearby Bay Harbor, and that was cause for celebration as well. Bay Harbor, with its three distinct nines, is beginning its 20th anniversary season, and Friday’s openings meant that all of the Boyne courses are now taking players.

Four of them – the Arthur Hills Course at Boyne Highlands, Alpine at Boyne Mountain and Crooked Tree and Links/Quarry at Bay Harbor opened on April 29 and The Donald Ross Memorial and The Moor at Boyne Highlands and The Monument at Boyne Mountain opened on May 6.

Purdue course to open soon

Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., will soon have two Pete Dye-designed courses. Dye’s Kampen Course hosted the 2003 NCAA women’s championship and the 2008 NCAA men’s championship.

Now the second course at the Birck-Boilermaker Complex will be known as the Ackerman-Allen course. Staffers hope to have it available for the Purdue Club Scholarship Day on June 4.

Ackerman-Allen was previous known as Purdue South. It was designed by Bill Diddle in 1964 and hosted a memorable NCAA men’s championship in 1961 when the host Boilermakers won the team title and Jack Nicklaus was medalist.

That course was modified by Chicago architect Larry Packard in 1968 to accommodate some residential building and the course underwent still more changes from 1996 to 1998, when the Birck Boilermaker Complex was opened.

Reynolds Lake Oconee unveils Quick Six course

The Plantation Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., re-opened on May 1 after a multi-phase restoration project directed by architect Bob Cupp. A flexible short course routing was added as part of the project.

Cupp’s design also incorporated a Quick Six course within the regular layout. None of its holes are longer than 130 yards. Mark Lammi, Reynolds’ vice president of golf, said the Quick Six will appeal to golfers of all age and skill levels and offer the option of playing a quick few holes as well.

Handa Cup is leaving U.S.

The ISPS Handa Cup matches, a fixture on the LPGA Legends Tour for 10 years, won’t be played in 2016 at the request of long-time title sponsor Dr. Haruhisa Handa. The matches, held last fall at Palm Aire, in Sarasota, FL., were scheduled to return there this year until Handa requested a postponement.

Handa wants to hold the event, which matches a team of American-born Legends players against a squad from around the world, outside the U.S. for the first time. No site for the next Handa Cup matches has been announced, but it’ll likely be held in either late spring or early summer of 2017.

Bits and pieces

The Broadmoor, in Colorado Springs, has named John Johnstone as vice president of food and beverages. He had been director of club operations at Augusta National.

St. Lucie Trail, which was added to the PGA Village complex in Port St. Lucie, FL., last year, will close on Sunday for aerification work. It’ll re-open on June 4.

Brett Schoenfield has returned to The Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia as managing director. He’ll oversee Homestead’s 250th anniversary festivities.

Crystal Springs, in Hamburg, N.J., has launched a new golf academy featuring instructor Brian Rogish. He had previously work at Turning Stone, in Syracuse, N.Y., and Nemacolin Woodlands, in Pennsylvania.

Wild Dunes, in Charleston, S.C., has announced the completion of renovations at its Boardwalk Inn and new Coastal Provisions restaurant.

Two Canadian resorts – Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and Cobble Beach – were able to open before the first day of May. Jasper Park’s opening on April 30 was its earliest in 10 years.

The Edgewood Tahoe course in Stateline, Nev., has opened for its 48th season. It’s a George Fazio design that was renovated by Tom Fazio. The course will be open through Oct. 16, 2016.