The Best Gift For Michigan Golfers

The best gifts are experiences, and for Michigan golfers, The First Tee of Northern Michigan Players’ Card just might be the best bargain in golf.

For just $150, the card offers discounts at fifty-four quality courses in Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. In total, cardholders can save as much as $1500 on tee times.

Thus, you can give a $1500 gift for only $150.

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

With just five or six rounds, the value of the card has exceeded its cost.

Even better: I know that the proceeds go 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 generally one round per course, and there are some restrictions, but I have never run into any difficulties.

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.

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 more than a thousands youths last in 2025, 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.