Bernie Friedrich

Boyne's Legendary Bernie Friedrich Among 2021 Michigan PGA Special Award Winners

Bernie Friedrich, Senior Vice President of Golf at BOYNE Resorts, has captured the first Golf Executive of the Year award by the Michigan PGA.

By Brian Weis

The honor bestows special recognition on a PGA Golf Professional who has performed outstanding services for a multiple facility/course management/ownership operation, allied association, or golf industry executive management position. As one of the highest honors the PGA can bestow, candidates must possess outstanding qualities of leadership, vision, courage, strong moral character, and a substantial record of service to the Association and the game of golf.

"I am thrilled to receive this award," says Friedrich, a 38-year PGA member who oversees BOYNE Golf's 13 courses and semi-private clubs in Michigan, Maine, and Montana that includes all staff, course agronomy and marketing nationwide plus two golf membership groups-Bay Harbor Golf Club and Country Club of Boyne. "It's such an honor to be recognized for helping BOYNE become the premier golf destination in the Midwest. Our staff here is best-in-class and this award is every bit representative of their hard work as much as mine."

The Schondorf, Germany native moved to Michigan as a young boy. He's now in his 46th year working at Boyne, where he started as a golf professional. He was inducted into the Michigan PGA Hall of Fame in 2019, when he was also awarded the Bill Strausbaugh Award that recognizes a top PGA member for outstanding integrity and character, a significant contribution through mentoring fellow PGA professionals, and maintaining a high level of service, values and image within the organization. In addition, the Michigan PGA also honored him as the Professional of the Year twice (1998, 2001), and was recognized five times as Merchandiser of the Year (1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996). He also serves on the Michigan PGA Employment Committee.

Friedrich is also a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and received the Lyle Leeke Distinguished Service Award (2018) from the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association (MGCOA) where he also serves on their Board of Directors. He was recognized by the American Junior Golf Association (A.J.G.A.) as the Golf Course Executive of the Year and serves on Adidas' Dassler Board.

In Northern Michigan, Friedrich is a founding member and past board member of the America's Summer Golf Capital, a founding member and board member of The First Tee of Northern Michigan and co-founder of the Harbor Cup Fund, a charitable fund that has raised over $525,000 since its inception in 1997.

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Revised: 08/25/2021 - Article Viewed 6,691 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.