The best gift for Michigan golfers

The best gift for Michigan golfers

The best gifts are experiences, and for Michigan golfers: The first tee of the Northern Michigan players map perhaps the best bargain in golf.

For just $150, the card offers discounts on fifty-four quality courses throughout Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas. In total, ticket holders can save as much as $1,500 on tee times.

So you can give a $1,500 gift for just $150.

This is not a paid advertisement. I’ve bought the card for myself each of the last two years and got more than my money’s worth. I bought another one for next season.

With only five or six turns, the card’s value has exceeded its cost.

Even better, I know the proceeds support the work of the First Tee of Northern Michigan.

With this gift you can give to your golfer, but also to a good cause.

The card allows players to get tee times at participating courses after 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday for $39, and after noon on weekends for $49. Generally it’s one round per course, and there are some limitations, but I’ve never run into any problems.

Among the courses taking part: Boyne’s Crooked Tree, Monument and Moor; Shanty Creeks Schuss, Summit and Chief; the Torch, Antrim Dells and Charlevoix Golf and Fitness; The Lakes, the Loon, the Ridge, Michawye Pines; Garland’s Swamp Fire and Reflections; and much more.

Please review any other possible restrictions on the First Tee website.

Kevin McKinley, PGA, executive director of the First Tee of Northern Michigan, said the First Tee started in 1997 as an effort to make golf more accessible and affordable for children who might not otherwise be able to play.

“It has grown into an organization that not only introduces golf to kids, but the life lessons that come with it,” McKinley said. “With every golf lesson we also try to teach one of the five most important commitments: pursuing goals, growing through challenges, working with others, building a positive self-identity and using common sense.”

These are people who are really growing the game.

The First Tee of Northern Michigan last served more than a thousand youth in 2025, with programming in the Highlands, Gaylord, A-Gam-Ing, Indian River Golf Club, Cheboygan Golf and Country Club, Mackinac Club, Boyne Mountain, Charlevoix and on the Upper Peninsula.

“In the summer we host day camps where we teach a different golf skill and life skill every day,” McKinley said. “With all these different locations, we want people to know that we have a program in their own backyard.”

During the off-season, First Tee coaches visit local schools’ gym classes to further expand the program’s reach.

Fundraising – like the Players’ Card – and donations help ensure First Tee of Northern Michigan’s programs are available to all children, regardless of their ability to pay. Scholarships are available to cover costs for those who need them.

You can also donate directly to the First Tee of Northern Michigan here: Support Northern Michigan’s first tee.

Buy a First Tee of Northern Michigan Players Card for your golfer this Christmas. Or buy one for yourself, like I did. It’s a great gift.

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