The Number One Holiday Gift For Michigan Golfers

The Number One Holiday Gift For Michigan Golfers

Searching for a gift for that hard-to-buy-for golfer? Or the one who has everything?

Look no more: get them a First Tee of Northern Michigan Players’ Card.

For just $149, the card offers discounts at fifty-one quality courses in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. In total, cardholders can save as much as $1300 on tee times.

Thus, you can give a $1300 gift for only $149.

Even better: one hundred percent of the proceeds goes to support the work of the First Tee of Northern Michigan.

This gift allows you to give to your golfer, while also giving to a worthy cause.

With the card, players can get tee times at participating courses Monday through Thursday after 10 a.m. for $39, and on weekends after 12 noon for $49. It’s one round per course, and there are some restrictions, but I had a card last summer and didn’t run into any difficulties.

On a personal note, I “made my money back” on the card I bought last summer after just four rounds. For example, last summer, Garland’s rate was $85 on weekdays. I played Swampfire for $39 — a $46 saving.

Among the participating courses: 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 Swampfire and Reflections; and so many more.

Check out any other potential restrictions on the First Tee website.

To ensure you get a physical card for your golfer as a gift, make your purchase before December 17. Not to worry, though. Even last minute purchases receive an immediate email which you can print, fold up and put in an envelope. Last year, I also got a nice brochure showing all the course locations and outlining the good work of the First Tee of Northern Michigan.

Kevin McKinley, PGA, Executive Director of the First Tee of Northern Michigan, said that the First Tee began in 1997 as an effort to make golf more accessible and affordable to kids who might not otherwise be able to play.

“It’s evolved into an organization that not only introduces golf to kids, but also to the life lessons that come along with it,” McKinley said. “With every single golf lesson we are also trying to teach one of five key commitments: Pursuing goals, growing through challenge, collaborating with others, building positive self-identity and using good judgment.”

These are people who truly are growing the game.

The First Tee of Northern Michigan served 902 youths last summer, according to McKinley. In 2025, McKinley said they hope to grow to 1,300 kids with programming at the Highlands, Gaylord, A-Gam-Ing, Indian River Golf Club, Cheboygan Golf and Country Club, Mackinac Club, Boyne Mountain, Charlevoix and in the Upper Peninsula.

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

In the off-season, First Tee coaches visit local schools’ gym classes to further extend the reach of the program.

Fundraising — such as the Players’ Card — and donations help to ensure that First Tee of Northern Michigan programs are available to all kids regardless of ability to pay. Scholarships are available to defray costs for those who need them.

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

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