Great lakes guide sport

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Sports Spectacular!

Featuring: Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois PLUS Indianapolis, Springfield and a golf special GL2014 pp01 Cover.indd 1

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A bonanza for sports fans

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Lake Superior

Duluth

Minnesota Minneapolis

Wisconsin

St Paul

Madison Milwaukee

October-April; Play-offs: April-June; Final: June

American football (NFL): Regular season: September-December; play-offs January; Super Bowl: February

Ice hockey (NHL): Regular season: January-April; Stanley Cup Play-offs: April-June;

Baseball (MLB): Regular season: Aprilend of September; Play-offs and World series: October

Football (MLS): Regular season: March-October; Play-offs and MLS Cup: October-December

Basketball (NBA): Regular season:

Golf: March-November

*Only selected cites are included in the map above. Contact Cellet Travel Services Ltd (see information, right) for full driving maps of any of the Great Lakes USA states.

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Michigan

Contents

The top professional sports in the US take place at the following times:

Look up greatlakesUSA.co.uk and click on the Book Your Trip link.

Lake Huron

in Minnesota that it is known as the Lake Detroit State of Hockey.

Erie Rockford Chicago And Michigan is one of the leading Cleveland states in the country for the number of Ohio Indiana new golf courses it has.

Illinois Columbus The whole of the Great Lakes Indianapolis region is ideal for playing golf, with Springfield Cincinnati literally thousands of venues to choose from (Michigan alone has more than 800 public courses, and Springfield, the capital of Illinois, has ten excellent public courses).

That sheer number of courses, their top quality, the affordable cost and the weather (you don’t have to head south and be fried in the Florida sun!) make the Great Lakes just great for golf.

Motor racing, too, is popular throughout ILLINOIS: All fired up at Page 4 the region, no more so than in Indianapolis, the kick-off where the Indy 500 is staged every year.

SPRINGFIELD: Go public Page 7 So why not make the Great Lakes your on top ten courses destination for a great sporting holiday!

When to hit the States

Find a tour operator for your Great Lakes adventure

Traverse City

Green Bay

Mi Lak ch e iga n

ITH sports tourism around the world reckoned to account for 12 million international trips a year – either to watch or take part – there’s never been a better time to visit the United States … or the Great Lakes, for that matter.

For, whatever sport you are interested in is there for the taking – or watching – in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio or Wisconsin, or the cities of Indianapolis and Springfield.

Chicago in Illinois, for example, is one of the few cities in the States that claims all five professional team sports – American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey and football – and has repeatedly been called the USA’s Best Sporting City. Famous names such as the Chicago Bears, Cubs and Bulls vie for visitors’ attention in the city, as do Chicago Fire, the city’s ‘soccer’ team.

Move on to Michigan and the Detroit Tigers or Lions will have you cheering with all the locals, while Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers, four-times Super Bowl winners, draw huge crowds.

And in Ohio, there are not only two American football teams to check out – the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals – but two baseball teams as well – the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.

Some sports are hotter in one state than others. Ice hockey, for example, is so popular

For more information in the UK and Ireland

The Great Lakes USA Tourist Office, c/o Cellet Travel Services Ltd, 47 High Street, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire B95 5AA. Tel: 08456 020 574; Email: info@cellet.co.uk.

From Ireland: +44 8546 020 574.

MINNESOTA: Head out to the home of hockey

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WISCONSIN: Bucks were winners in name game

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OHIO: Sports fans hit the jackpot

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MICHIGAN: Tigers and Lions roam the Great Lakes State

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GOLF SPECIAL: No wonder it’s called ‘Ryder Cup Country’

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INDIANAPOLIS: Classic race that thrills the crowds

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Check out these websites

For more information on the Great Lakes USA region, log on to greatlakesUSA.co.uk.

To find out more about the various states, check out discoverillinois.org, discoverohio.com, travelwisconsin.com, exploreminnesota.com, michigan.org, visitindy.com and visit-springfieldillinois.com Great Lakes USA – Official UK Tourist Board

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ILLINOIS

Fan favourite Chris Rolfe in action for Chicago Fire

All fired up at the kick-off

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40% 5 famous attractions

Includes: • • • •

Shedd Aquarium Skydeck Chicago Fast Pass The Field Museum Your choice of Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, OR John Hancock Observatory Fast Pass • Your choice of Adler Planetarium OR Art Institute of Chicago

Buy at these attractions - Good for 9 days - Skip most ticket lines Connect for current pricing

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Prices and programs subject to change.

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LLINOIS is a hotbed of sport so it’s quite appropriate that the state’s professional football (soccer) team are called Chicago Fire.

Named after the Great Chicago Fire – which killed hundreds and decimated 3.3 square miles of the city – the club was founded on October 8, 1997, the 126th anniversary of the day the fire began.

Chicago may well have two baseball teams (White Sox and Cubs), an American football team (Bears), a basketball team (Bulls) and an ice hockey team

(Blackhawks), but none of them can match the start the Fire made.

In their first season in Major League Soccer, they did the ‘double’ – winning both the league title and the US Open Cup. Subsequently, they won the US Open Cup in 2000, 2003 and 2006, as well as (in 2003) the MLS Supporter’s Shield, which is awarded to the team with the best regular-season (pre-play-offs) points record.

The Fire (chicago-fire.com) kicked off their inaugural season at Soldier Field in Chicago and played there until 2001, followed by Cardinal Stadium in Naperville, then back to Soldier Field, before moving to their current home, Toyota Park in Bridgeview, 12 miles south-west of downtown Chicago.

Soldier Field is, in fact, the home of the city’s American football team, the Chicago Bears (chicagobears.com), who were founded in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys, named after the AE Staley food-starch company in Decatur, Illinois. They moved to LEFT: The Chicago Bears were originally called the Decatur Staleys

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greatlakesUSA.co.uk Chicago a year later (and became the Bears in 1922) and are, along with the Arizona Cardinals (originally from Chicago), one of only two remaining franchises from the founding of the National Football League.

They played their home games (North Division, National Football Conference) in Chicago’s North Side until 1971 when they moved (apart from 2002) to Soldier Field. They have won the Super Bowl once (in 1985) but have appeared in the NFL play-offs 25 times.

Wrigley Field has been the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team since 1916. The second-oldest ballpark in the majors behind Boston’s Fenway Park (1912), Wrigley has seen many historic moments, such as Babe Ruth’s ‘called shot,’ in 1932, when the slugger allegedly pointed to an area in the stands just before hitting the next pitch for a home run.

The Cubs (chicago.cubs. mlb.com), who play in the Central Division of MLB’s National League, can trace their beginnings (as the Chicago White Stockings) back to 1870. By 1890, they were known as the Chicago Colts and in 1902 became the Chicago Cubs. They have won the World Series twice (in 1907 and 1908) but have not won it since.

The Chicago White Sox, on the other hand, took the World Series title as recently as 2005, as well as in 1906 and 1917.

Nicknamed the ‘South Siders’ because they are based in the south side of the city (at US Cellular Field), the White Sox (chicago. whitesox.mlb.com) feature fireworks when the home team makes a home run.

Originally called the Chicago White Stockings (after the name was abandoned by the Cubs), they were established as a major league baseball club in 1900. After ten years at South Side Park, they moved to Comiskey Park and played there until the new Comiskey Park (now called US Cellular Field) was opened in 1991. The White Sox play in the Central Division of the American League.

Chicago’s professional basketball team, the Bulls (nba.com/bulls), joined the National Basketball Association in 1966 but it wasn’t until the 1990s that they hit top form when they won six NBA Championship titles between 1991 and 1998.

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The Bulls are the only team in NBA history to win more than 70 games in a single season when, in 1995-96, they were victors in 72 games. They play their home games in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference at the United Center.

So, too, do the Chicago Blackhawks, the city’s ice hockey team, who are members of the Central Division of the National Hockey League’s Western Conference. For 65 ➜

NASCAR and drag racing are top draws South-west of Chicago in Joliet, the $130-million, 1.5-mile track at Chicagoland Speedway (chicagolandspeedway.com) hosts NASCAR racing, including Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series.

The Route 66 Raceway (route66raceway.com) is also located on the property and is the home of drag racing’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

LEFT: NASCAR racing at Chicagoland Speedway

Benny the Bull, the mascot for the Chicago Bulls

FAST FACT π Michael Jordan, largely considered the greatestever professional basketball player, played for the Chicago Bulls.

He won six NBA championships.

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years, their home base was the Chicago Stadium, before they moved to the United Center. The Hawks (blackhawks.nhl.com), as they are known, have won the Stanley Cup Championship five times since their founding in 1926, the most recent being in 2012/13. They are one of the original six teams in the NHL. With around 640 golf courses (approximately 450 of which are public), Illinois (discoverillinois.org) is certainly golfing territory. Apart from Medinah Country FAST FACT Club (see Page 20), π In 1945, Billy three to check out are: Sianis, a local π The Conway tavern owner, was said to Farms Club have put a (conwayfarmsgolfclub. curse on the org) in Lake Forest, Chicago Cubs after being north of Chicago, asked to leave opened in 1991 and is Wrigley Field ‘designed around the because of the smell from traditions of Scottish the goat he links golf’. had brought π Cog Hill Golf for good luck.

Since then, & Country Club the Cubs have (coghillgolf.com), never won a located 30 miles World Series and talk of the south-west of Chicago, ‘Curse of the has four championship Billy Goat’ golf courses, including still exists.

‘Dubsdread’, ranked among the Top 100 US courses by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest.

Open to the public. π TPC DeereRun (tpc.com/ tpc-deere-run) in Silvis, west of Chicago, annually plays host to the PGA Tour John Deere Classic.

Its five sets of tees on each hole make for an enjoyable round at every level.

US Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox

SPRINGFIELD

Go public on top ten courses

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ITH its lush greens, lakeside tees and courses that have hosted LPGA tournaments, Springfield, the capital of Illinois, is major golfing territory.

Its ten great public courses include Piper Glen (piperglen.com), which was named as one of Golf Digest’s Top 50 courses costing less than $50. The venue, which has dramatic elevation changes, eyecatching prairie grass plantings and large, undulating greens, has also been selected as the top course in central Illinois by Illinois Magazine.

Also recommended is The Rail Golf Course (railgolf.com), which was home to the LPGA State Farm Classic from 1976 to 2006. Originally a sprawling, 240-acre dairy-farm site, it was converted into a golf course – with 82 sand bunkers and five lakes – by Robert Trent Jones Sr, is now rated with four-stars by Golf Digest, and is continually voted as one of the best places to play golf in central Illinois.

Over the years, Springfield has had a number of minor league baseball teams, the most recent being the Springfield Sliders (springfieldsliders.com),

a collegiate summer league team who play in the Prospect League at Robin Roberts Field in Lanphier Park.

Springfield did have an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team, the Springfield Sallies, but their poor performances in 1948/49 led to them being merged with the Chicago Colleens the following year.

The city also has a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team, the Springfield Junior Blues (springfieldjrblues.pointstreaksites. com), who play in the North American Hockey League’s Mid-West Division at the Nelson Recreation Center.

ABOVE: The Rail Golf Course was originally a 240-acre dairy-farm site RIGHT: Springfield is major golfing territory

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MINNESOTA

Head out to the home of hockey

FAST FACTS π The tiny town of Eveleth is the home of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame π Minnesota is home to the largest population of timberwolves in the lower 48 states. π Minnesota has the most golf courses per capita in the US.

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OOTBALL, American-style, may well be the No 1 sport in the US but as far as Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes, is concerned, it is THE State of Hockey… ice hockey, that is.

The state has produced some of the best American hockey players in the game’s history and Minnesotans love it so much they tend to eat, sleep and, in many cases, play the game.

In the 1880s, children of the immigrants who settled in the northern part of the state to mine iron ore passed the time playing hockey during winters that have almost five months of skateable ice. As a result, Minnesota became the self-styled “home of hockey”.

The state got its first professional National Hockey League team in 1967 when the League expanded, and the Minnesota North Stars subsequently played at the Met Center in Bloomington until 1993.

When the team moved to Dallas, Minnesota was without a team until a franchise was awarded

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Minnesota Wings’ defenseman Ryan Suter in action

in 1997. Minnesota Wild (wild.nhl.com), based at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, started playing in the Central Division of the Western Conference of the NHL in season 2000-01, and won through to the Conference play-off final two years later, when they lost to Anaheim’s Mighty Ducks.

The Minnesota Vikings (vikings.com), the state’s American football team, first played in the National Football League in 1961 as an “expansion” (new

franchise) at the Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, and then until 1982, when they moved to the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome (now called Mall of America Field) in Minneapolis. Currently playing in the North Division of the National Football Conference, they are due to move into Vikings Stadium, which is scheduled to be built on the site of their current home, in 2016.

Although they haven’t won a Super Bowl (they lost in all four appearances), the Vikings have one of the highest winning percentages in the NFL and are one of the few teams to win at least 15 games in a regular season.

When it comes to baseball, the Minnesota Twins franchise has a history that goes back to 1901, when the team was called the Washington Senators (later to become Nationals), based in the capital and playing in the new American League. In 1960, when the franchise moved to A Minnesota Twins’ night game at Target Field

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ABOVE: The Minnesota Vikings on the attack against the Buffalo Bills LEFT: Minnesota Lynx on court against Phoenix Mercury

the Twin Cites – Minnesota and St Paul – rather than alienate either city, it was decided to name the baseball team after the state, hence Minnesota Twins (minnesota.twins.mlb.com) After decades playing at the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome, the Twins – who have won the World Series twice (in 1987 and 1991), as well as once, in 1924, as the Washington Senators/Cardinals – moved to a new stadium, Target Field, in 2010.

The T-Wolves or, more simply, the Wolves, are what the fans call the Minnesota Timberwolves, the state’s NBA (National Basketball Association) team, who play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1989, they used the Metrodome in Minneapolis for their first season and then switched to the Twitter @greatlakesusa

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Target Center. The Wolves (nba.com/timberwolves ) made the play-offs eight years in a row between 1997 and 2004 but haven’t done so since.

The owner of the Wolves, Glen Taylor, also owns the successful Minnesota Lynx, who play in the Western Conference of the Women’s National Basketball Association. During their 15 years in the league, the Lynx (wnba.com/lynx) have qualified for the play-offs six times and won the WNBA

Finals in the 2011 and 2013 seasons.

Another men’s professional baseball team, the St Paul Saints (saintsbaseball.com), play at Midway Stadium, St Paul, in the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not linked to Major League Baseball. The Saints will move into a new, state-of-the-art, stadium in St Paul’s Lowertown in the spring of 2015.

Minnesota doesn’t have a Major League Soccer team, but Minnesota United play in the North American Soccer League, which has a colourful history. Launched in 1968, it ran with players such as Pele, George Best and Bobby Moore until 1984. During that period, the Minnesota Kicks played in Bloomington until they folded in 1981. They were followed, in 1994, by the Minnesota Thunder, who went under in 2009. The current club – after a couple of years as the NSC Minnesota Stars, during which time they won the NASL championship – changed its name to Minnesota United (mnunitedfc.com) in 2013. They play their games at the National Sports Center in Blaine, roughly 18 miles north of Minneapolis.

When it comes to golf, Minnesota has more than 500 courses. The Brainerd Lakes Golf Trail (brainerdgolftrail.com), which offers more than 180 holes of golf and hotel-style or cabin-style lodging, has been voted ‘one of the top 50 golf destinations in the world’ by Golf Digest magazine. The same magazine ranked The Classic at Madden’s Resort, Brainerd (maddens.com), The Quarry at Giants Ridge, Biwabik (giantsridge.com) and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay, Tower (golfthewilderness.com) as the three best public courses in Minnesota. The last two also received the same accolade from golf.com.

On course for some speedy action Brainerd International Raceway (brainerdraceway.com), Minnesota’s premier motorsports facility, has two championships road courses (the 3.1-mile Donnybrook and the 2.5-mile Competition) and a drag strip.

The raceway features year-round motorsports, including drag racing, road racing and snocross, hosts National Hot Rod Association Nationals, Sportsman Racing and US Superbike, and is a popular racetrack for the Trans

Am Series. The track opened in 1968 as Donnybrooke Speedway and, a year later, it hosted a twoheat USAC Indy Car race. In 1973, it was renamed Brainerd International Raceway.

On the Doonybrook course, cars can reach speeds of almost 180mph, while nine-times NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher set a world record for top fuel dragsters with 337.58 mph in 2005.

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©2012 Brand USA. All Rights Reserved.

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Let the silence move you on Birch Lake, Minnesota.

Discover this land, like never before.

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WISCONSIN

The Milwaukee Bucks take on Miami Heat at BMO Harris Bradley Center

Bucks were winners in name game

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EFORE the Milwaukee Bucks professional basketball team played their first game in 1968, a contest was run to find a name for them. Of the 14,000 people who entered, 45 came up with the same one, ‘Bucks’ – a male deer being seen as spirited, a good jumper, fast and agile.

For 20 years, the Bucks (nba.com/ bucks) played their home games at the Milwaukee Arena (also called the MECCA Arena), before switching to the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee for their matches in the Central Division of the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference. They have won one league title (1971), two Conference titles

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(1971, 1974) and 13 Division titles (1971-74, 1976, 1980-86 and 2001).

The Green Bay Packers (packers.com), on the other hand, can date their history back to 1919, when Earl (Curly) Lambeau asked his employer, the Indian Packing Company, to sponsor a local professional (American) football team. Because the company provided uniforms and allowed the use of its athletic field for practice, the name ‘Packers’ was a natural.

Packers fans are arguably the most loyal in the National Football League as the team have been a publicly-owned, nonprofit corporation since 1923. As a result, game tickets can be hard to come by.

Packers fans enjoy the pre-match party tradition of ‘tailgating’

FAST FACTS π Milwaukee is the home of the Harley-Davidson motorbike and also houses the HarleyDavidson Museum (harleydavidson.com). π Green Bay, the home of the Packers NFL team, is Wisconsin’s oldest city. π The town of Prairie du Sac hosts the State Cow Chip Throwing Contest on Labor Day (first Monday in September) weekend.

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greatlakesUSA.co.uk The Packers, who play at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, in the North Division of the National Football Conference, have won more championships (13) than any other team in NFL history. They also won the first two Super Bowls (1966, 1967) as well as in 1996 and 2010.

Miller Park – sponsored by the Miller Brewing Company – is the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, Wisconsin’s Major League Baseball team, who are members of the Central Division of the MLB’s National League.

Completed in 2001, the park has a fanshaped, retractable roof (which can open and close in ten minutes), natural grass and unique, intimate proximity to the players.

The Brewers (milwaukeebrewers.com) – who get their name from the city’s rich brewing history – actually started life in 1969 in Washington State as the Seattle Pilots. When the Pilots folded a year later, the franchise moved to Milwaukee and the Brewers were born.

Their one appearance in the World Series was in 1982, when they lost to the St Louis Cardinals after winning the American League East Division and taking the American League Pennant.

While Wisconsin doesn’t have a professional ice hockey team, it does have a college team, the Wisconsin Badgers (uwbadgers.com/sports/mhockey), who represent the University of Wisconsin-Madison and play in the Big Ten Conference at the Kohl Centre in Madison.

Wisconsin doesn’t have a Major League Soccer team either but the Milwaukee Wave (milwaukeewave.com) – who play in the Major Indoor Soccer league – have been around since 1984, making them the oldest continuously-operating professional football team in North America. They play at the US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee.

One of Wisconsin’s top golf courses, Whistling Straits (whistlingstraits.com) in Kohler, will host the Ryder Cup in 2020 (see Page 20) but two others to check out are: π Erin Hills Golf Course (erinhills.com)

in Hartford, north-west of Milwaukee, is a natural course set in the rolling Kettle Moraine area created by glaciers. Erin Hills, a public course that will host the 2017 US Open, is regarded as one of the best natural sites in the US. π Lawsonia (lawsonia.com) at Green Lake has 36 holes of championship-quality golf.

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Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers

Miles ahead as a racing venue The Milwaukee Mile (wistatefair.com/ wsfp/milwaukee-mile-speedway-andpeck-media-center/milwaukeemile) in West Allis is one of America’s premier, tradition-laden, auto-racing venues.

Motorised racing events date back to 1903, eight years before the first Indianapolis 500, making The Mile the oldest, continually-operating motor speedway in the country. The one-mile oval track hosts world-class auto racing,

with the stars of the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights Heritage Father’s Day weekend.

Called one of the finest and mostchallenging road courses, Road America (roadamerica.com) at Elkhart Lake, offers four miles and 14 turns of auto racing from May to September. The track features races such as the GRAND-AM Sports Car and American Le Mans series.

Its Links Course features gently rolling terrain, deep rough and moderatelyfast greens surrounded by 90 steep bunkers, while the Woodlands Course has densely tree-lined fairways, guarded by a series of about 80 traps, making it much tighter. Golf Digest magazine said it is ‘one of America’s best and most-affordable public golf facilities’.

Inside the Green Bay Packers’ Hall of Fame

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OHIO

Sports fans hit the jackpot

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ISITORS to Ohio who are keen on sport have hit the jackpot. For not only does the Buckeye State have two American football teams (the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals), but it also has two professional baseball teams (the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds).

The Cleveland Browns (clevelandbrowns.com) were formed in 1945 and played in the All-American Football Conference until it folded in 1949.

The Browns joined the NFL and have won countless championships over the years and made the play-offs many times.

They currently play in the North Division of the American Football Conference and are based at FirstEnergy Stadium in downtown Cleveland.

The Cincinnati Bengals (bengals.com), who were founded in 1966 by former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown, also play in the North Division of the American Football Conference. Based at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati, they have appeared in two Super Twitter @greatlakesusa

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Bowls (1981 and 1988), losing both to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Cleveland Indians (cleveland.indians.mlb.com) pro baseball team had various names, including Cleveland Lake Shores, Bluebirds, Blues and Naps, following the club’s foundation in 1901. In 1915, the club owner decided he wanted a new name and ‘Indians’ was chosen, although the ‘Tribe’ and the ‘Wahoos’ (after the club’s cartoon logo, Chief Wahoo) are popular nicknames.

The Indians play in the Central Division of the Major League Baseball’s American League and are located at Progressive Field,

The Cleveland Browns take on state rivals the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland

Cleveland. Although they’ve won the Central Division title several times, they haven’t won the World Series since 1948, having lost three times, in 1954, 1995 and 1997.

The Cincinnati Reds (cincinnati.reds.mlb.com), on the other hand, have won five World Series, triumphing in 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 and 1990.

The Reds – nickname the ‘Big Red Machine’ – can trace their history back to the 19th century when, in 1882, they were founder members of the American Association and subsequently, in 1890, joined the National League. They played in the National League West from 1969 to 1993 but have been in the National League Central since then. For more than 30 years, their home was the Riverfront Stadium but in 2003 they moved to the Great American Ball Park, which was built nearby.

Ohio also has several Minor League Baseball teams including, among others,

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Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians

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From superbikes to monster jams OHIO has three motor race tracks – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (midohio.com), Eldora Speedway, Rossburg (eldoraspeedway.com), and New Weston Lake County Speedway, Painesville (lakecountyspeedway. com). The Lexington Course has two different track layouts, a 15-turn, 2.4-mile circuit and a 13-turn, 2.258mile circuit, and hosts vintage grand prix, superbike weekends and both IndyCar and NASCAR racing. Eldora Speedway (the ‘Big E’) claims to be the ‘world’s greatest dirt track’ and among the events it stages are the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (racing modified production pick-up trucks) and the World of Outlaws sprint-car racing. The paved, banked oval race track at Lake Erie Speedway has been operating since 2002 and features events such as TQ Midgets, Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam and Crash-ARama as well NASCAR races.

who play their home games at the Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus, are now in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, having played in the Central Division of the Western Conference for the first 13 years of their existence. In 2009, they won through to the Stanley Cup play-offs for the first time.

Columbus Crew – or The Crew, as the fans call them – are one of two professional the Columbus Clippers, the Toledo Mud football teams in the Great Lakes ➜ Hens, the Akron Aeros and the Dayton area (Chicago Fire are the other) who Dragons. play in Major League Soccer. One of ten Unlike the Reds or the founding clubs, Columbus Indians, the Cleveland Cavaliers Crew (thecrew.com) FAST FACTS (nba.com/cavaliers), Ohio’s played their first MLS π Canton, Ohio, is the professional National Basketball game in 1996 at Ohio home of the National Football League’s Pro Association team, can only look Stadium, an American Football Hall of Fame back to 1970, when they started (college) football stadium (profootballhof.com), life as an ‘expansion’ team. The in Columbus. partly because the American Professional only remaining founder member In 1999, they moved to Football Association, of the Central Division of the later renamed the The Pro Football Hall of Fame Eastern Conference, the Cavs, as NFL, was founded in in Canton, Ohio Canton in 1920. they are known, play their home π The Cincinnati Red games at Cleveland’s Quicken Stockings became the Loans Arena. They have appeared first all-professional in the play-offs 18 times and won baseball nine in 1869. several Division and Conference π The 24,000sq-ft Jack Nicklaus Museum titles. (nicklausmuseum.org) Columbus Blue Jackets, the is located in the Ohio state’s ice hockey team, are even State University sports complex in Columbus, newer to professional sport, Jack’s hometown. having been awarded a franchise in 2000, although they were preceded by the Columbus Chill in the East Coast Hockey League and Cleveland Barons, who had a couple of years in the NHL in the 1970s. Their name was chosen to recognise the Civil War history of both Columbus and Ohio as well as ‘patriotism and pride’.

The Blue Jackets (bluejackets.nhl.com),

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Great Lakes USA – Official UK Tourist Board

Columbus Crew midfielder Tony Tchani outwits Sporting Kansas City’s Chance Myers and CJ Sapong

Columbus Crew Stadium, the first soccerspecific stadium in the United States built by an MLS franchise. Since then they have won the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (2002) and the MLS Cup (2008), as well as, in 2004, 2008, and 2009, the Supporters’ Shields, which is awarded to the team with the best regular-season points record.

With more than 840 private and public courses to choose from, golfers visiting Ohio are spoilt for choice. Check out the members list at buckeyegolf.com for a breakdown of which clubs are where.

Three public courses not to miss are the central-Ohio Longaberger Golf Club, Nashport (longabergergolfclub.com), the 27-hole Shaker Run Golf Club, Lebanon (shakerrungolfclub.com) and the semipublic Avalon Lakes Golf and Country Club, Warren (avalonlakes.com).

Twitter @greatlakesusa

23/10/2013 12:43

greatlakesUSA.co.uk

MICHIGAN

Detroit Tigers’ Torri Hunter hits out

FAST FACTS π Detroit may have been known as the car capital of the world but it is also nicknamed Hockeytown because hockey is one of the two (along with baseball) top professional sports in Michigan. π Michigan has more public golf courses than any other state. π Gerald R Ford, the 38th president of the United States, attended the University of Michigan, where he was a football star.

Tigers and Lions roam the Great Lakes State

D

ETROIT Tigers, the Great Lakes State’s Major League Baseball team, didn’t exactly get off to a flying start.

Despite a standing-room-only crowd of 10,000 at Bennett Park on April 24, 1901, their first-ever game in the official American League had to be postponed because of the terrible weather.

When it did go ahead the following day, the Tigers were 13-4 down going into the ninth inning but, following an amazing comeback, they eventually ran out winners 14-13.

The Tigers (detroit.tigers.mlb.com) – the oldest, continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the American League – have gone on to win the World Series four times (in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984) and been runners-up eleven times, most recently in 2012.

After moving in 1912 from Bennett Twitter @greatlakesusa

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Park to Navin Field (subsequently renamed Briggs Stadium, then Tiger Stadium), the Tigers’ home in Michigan since 2000 has been at Comerica Park.

Detroit also has a great reputation as a ‘hockey town’ – and no wonder. Of all the National Hockey League teams based in the US, the Red Wings (redwings.nhl.com/index.html) have

won the Stanley Cup championship the greatest number of times (11). Only the Montreal Canadiens (24) and Toronto Maple Leafs (13) have won more.

Playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the NHL, the Red Wings are based at the 20,000-seater Joe Louis Arena, following more than 40 years at the Olympia Stadium.

NHL hockey in Detroit was launched in 1926, when, after buying the rights to the players from the defunct Victoria Cougars, the team played until 1930 as the Detroit Cougars, became the Detroit Falcons for three years and, finally, the Red Wings in 1933. The Red Wings are one of the six original teams in the NHL. ➜ Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford in action

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S:190 mm

S:277 mm

Waterfalls. Forever flowing. Forever changing.

Swift waters that stir deep reflection.

Where the rush of cars becomes the rush of brilliant water.

And the world slows down just enough for us to step off for a while.

Feel the weight of the day cascade away.

And let the current take us to Pure Michigan.

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greatlakesUSA.co.uk 1988) and, finally, their current home, the Palace of Auburn Hills, in a suburb of Detroit. Since the move to Detroit, the Pistons have won the NBA championships three times, in 1989, 1990 and 2004.

Michigan may not have a Major League Soccer team but it more than makes up for it with the number of public golf courses (more than 800) it has scattered around the state (michigan.org/golf).

Regularly named as one of the best places in the US to play golf, Michigan has championship courses that take in woods, farmlands, hills and valleys – and some great views of the Great Lakes.

Three to check out are: π The Tullymore Golf Resort and St Ives Golf Club (tullymoregolf.com) in Stanwood, central Michigan, has two nationallyawarded golf courses. St Ives Golf Club and Tullymore Golf Club have unique layouts, challenging holes and stunning scenery.

ABOVE: The Detroit Red Wings on the attack in the Joe Louis Arena LEFT: Action inside the Detroit Pistons’ Palace of Auburn Hills

T:297 mm

B:303 mm

S:277 mm

Detroit Lions (detroitlions.com), the city’s football team – American football, that is – began professional life as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1929. The following season they joined the National Football League but, as Portsmouth could not support a pro team, they were bought and moved to Detroit in 1934.

The Lions are currently based at Ford Field in downtown Detroit and play in the North Division of the National Football Conference. Although they have won four NFL championships, they have the unenviable record of being the only franchise to have gone through a 16-game season (in 2008) without a win. Currently, they are also one of four teams never to have played in the Super Bowl.

The state’s National Basketball Association team, the Detroit Pistons (nba. com/pistons), were founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1941 as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, playing in the National Basketball League. The team name came from the owner, Fred Zollner, whose company, the Zollner Corporation, manufactured car

➜

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and truck pistons. In 1948, renamed the Fort Wayne Pistons, they competed in the Basketball Association of America, which – helped by Fred Zollner – then merged with the NBL to form the NBA. In 1957, Zollner moved the Pistons to Detroit, keeping the Pistons’ name because of the city’s long-held car connections. The new Pistons played in the Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons, followed by the Cobo Arena (1961-1978), the Pontiac Silverdome (1978-

π The Sweetgrass Golf Club (sweetgrassgolfclub.com) in Harris, Upper Peninsula, is a par-72 masterpiece with five sets of tees to accommodate all levels.

Sweetgrass is owned and operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, while holes are named after, and pay homage to, Indian legend. Both Golfweek and Golf Digest described Sweetgrass as one of ‘America’s Best New’ courses in 2009. π The Golf Club at Harbor Shores (harborshoreslife.com) in Benton Harbor, mid-west Michigan, is a Jack Nicklaus Signature course located along the shores of Lake Michigan. Three holes have sweeping views of Lake Michigan, nine border the beautiful banks of the Paw Paw River, Ox Creek and its wetlands, and six holes pass through rolling hills and ravines.

Scenic site for fastest track NASCAR’S fastest track is located in the lush, scenic Irish Hills of south-eastern Michigan, where Michigan International Speedway (mispeedway.com) has been hosting America’s best racing action on its 1,400-plus acres for 43 years. The two-mile track has 18-degree banking and 73ft-wide sweeping turns.

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, located on a 982-acre island in the Detroit River between the United States mainland and Canada, is the site of the annual Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

weekend event (detroitgp.com, May 30-June 1, 2014) and features cars from the IZOD IndyCar Series, the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series on its street course.

The I-500 Snowmobile Race (i-500. com) in Sault Ste Marie (Feb 4, 2014) is a 500-mile endurance race offering all the thrills of any professional racing event in the world, bar none! It is reckoned to be the largest, longest, single-day snowmobile race in the world.

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greatlakesUSA.co.uk

GOLF SPECIAL

No wonder it’s called ‘Ryder Cup Country’

I

F there were ever a case for tagging a particular area ‘Ryder Cup Country’, the Great Lakes is the perfect location.

The connection between the Great Lakes and the world’s most-spectacular team golf competition started in 2004 when the Ryder Cup took place north of Detroit at Oakland Hills Country Club (oaklandhillscc.com) in Bloomfield, Michigan.

It was the first time the cup had been contested anywhere in the Mid West, but the visiting Europeans enjoyed the occasion more than the host team and fans because Hal Sutton and his 12 players lost on home soil for only the third time.

However, the Ryder Cup – which was launched in 1927 as a match between an American and a Great Britain team rather than, currently, a European one – has since returned to the Great Lakes region in an unprecedented way. It began in 2012, when Medinah Country Club in Chicago entertained the two

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The Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, which will host the Ryder Cup in 2016

Great Lakes USA – Official UK Tourist Board

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teams, but that was merely the first of a three-match sequence of hosting courses all in the Great Lakes area. The next two will be at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, in 2016, and then Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin, in 2020.

Never before has one region of America staged all the US team’s matches in a single decade.

However, the Great Lakes-based matches have yet to provide a home win.

The European team’s stunning comeback

triumph in Medinah was an echo of the Bloomfield result.

The match itself set an unbeatable standard in terms of excitement as the strong US squad – including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a host of US PGA champions – somehow allowed a fourpoint lead to disappear on the final day.

The drama centred on the 17th and 18th on Course No 3 at Medinah – the 193yd par 3 and the 449yd par 4 – and now both holes are on the bucket list of millions of golfers around the world.

Medinah’s 87-year history is actually littered with many more high-quality championships, dating back to 1949, when Cary Middlecoff won the first of three US Opens to be staged there. Lou Graham (1974) and Hale Irwin (1990) won the others. More recently, two PGA Championships have also been played at Medinah,

Ryder Cup crowds watch during the series in 2004 at Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield, Michigan

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23/10/2013 12:33

greatlakesUSA.co.uk play-off spot, the tall American took a few practice swings in what he thought was a waste area and touched the sand with his club. It was only in the scorer’s hut after he finished the round that Johnson was told of his mistake and he suffered a two-shot penalty. Martin Kaymer eventually won in the two-man play-off against Bubba Watson.

It was the second PGA Championship to come to Sheboygan County in Wisconsin, with Vijay Singh winning the first in 2004.

The tournament will return for a third time in 2015.

There is a second course at Whistling Straits, the 7,201yd Irish Course, which was opened in 2000 and mimics the Ryder Cup course. The good news for visitors is that both courses are open to green fees, unlike both Medina and Hazeltine, where visitors will need to play with a member.

The club house at the Medinah Country Club, where the Ryder Cup was played in 2012

Rory McIlroy, one of the victorious European team in 2012

in 1999 and in 2006, when Tiger Woods won on both occasions.

All three courses at Medinah Country Club (medinahcc.org) were originally designed by the prolific Tom Bendelow, a Scottish-American who is believed to have been the architect of more than 600 courses during the first half of the 20th century. Course No 3 – now lengthened to 7,657 yards – underwent significant changes in the 1930s under the supervision of another great American course designer, AW Tillinghast.

In Minnesota, Hazeltine National Golf Club (hazeltinenational.com), in the small town of Chaska, is much younger, but still has a rich history of top-class golf. The course staged two US Opens – in 1971, when England’s Tony Jacklin won, and again in 1991, when the late Payne Stewart beat Scott Simpson in a play-off. Two PGA Championships have also been held there and both times the winner was a surprise – US PGA tour journeyman Rich Beem in 2002 and South Korea’s YE Yang in 2009.

The 7,678yd course was designed

by Robert Trent Jones in 1962 and has undergone several upgrades since then. It is known for its narrow fairways and small greens, with the par 4 16th the pick of the holes as the drive requires a 220yd carry over Hazeltine Lake.

In Kohler, Wisconsin, the two Whistling Straits courses (americanclubresort.com) are the products of one of America’s mostfamous designers, Pete Dye. It will be the youngest course to stage the Ryder Cup Twitter @greatlakesusa

GL2014 pp20-21 Golf feature.indd 21

and is noted for its views of a two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan and its linkslike feel, which includes many acres of grassy dunes. And it was these dunes that caused the most controversial moment in the short history of the 7,790yd Straits Course.

During the 2010 US PGA Championship, the long-hitting Dustin Johnson fell foul of the local rule about the huge sand bunkers. On the final hole, when Johnson needed a par to guarantee at least a

One of the two Whistling Straits courses in Kohler, Wisconsin, which will see Ryder Cup action in 2020

Great Lakes USA – Official UK Tourist Board

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greatlakesUSA.co.uk

INDIANAPOLIS

Classic race that thrills the crowds

M

ENTION Indianapolis to any sports fan and they think automatically of the Indy 500, the classic 500-mile American Championship Car race that is held every year over the Memorial Day (the last Monday in May) Weekend.

Thirty-three drivers battle out the Indy 500 at speeds of up to 220 mph on the iconic 2.5-mile oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (indianapolismotorspeedway.com). The track also welcomes the annual NASCAR’S Brickyard 400 and Indianapolis Red Bull Moto GP (and, from 2000 to 2007, the US F1 Grand Prix).

While the stage for the Indy 500 is world famous, Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts (colts.com) American football team, is not far behind. This stadium has been voted two years in a row as having the ‘best stadium experience’ in the world by Stadium Journey magazine

(albeit in a list of 101 stadiums that included Twickenham, the only non-North American entry, at no 101!).

The Colts, who play in the South Division of the NFL’s American Football Conference, were founded in 1953 as the Baltimore Colts (appearing in the Super Bowl twice, winning in 1970). They moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and won the Super Bowl in 2006 against the Chicago Bears. In 2008, the Colts took up residence at Lucas Oil Stadium, which hosted the Super Bowl in 2012.

The Indianapolis Pacers (nba.com/ pacers) joined the National Basketball Association when it merged

Editor: Neil Murray neil@murrayfeatures.com

UK Office: +44 (0) 1403 276091 angelaspencer@phoenixip.com

Contributing writer (golf special): Ross Biddiscombe

Advertising sales: Larry Cohen Northeast Media, Inc. +1 203 255 8800 larrycohen@northeast-media.com

Published on behalf of Great Lakes USA

by Phoenix International Publishing.

Web site: www.phoenixip.com Publisher: Simon Todd +1 682 831 0133 simontodd@phoenixip.com

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with the American Basketball Association in 1967. They play in the Central Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference, which they have won once. The Pacers – listed as the third-best sports franchise by ESPN The Magazine – play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

Indianapolis also has a Minor League Baseball team, the Indianapolis Indians (indyindians.com), whose home, Victory Field, has been named the ‘Best Minor League Ballpark in America’ by both Baseball America and Sports Illustrated magazines.

And Indy Eleven (indyeleven.com), a new North American Soccer League franchise, will start their first season in 2014 at the Michael A Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Design: CPL (Cambridge Publishers Ltd) +44 (0) 1223 477411 info@cpl.co.uk; www.cpl.co.uk

ABOVE: The classic Indy 500 is held on Memorial Day Weekend LEFT: The Indianapolis Colts play at Lucas Oil Stadium Photographs courtesy of: Illinois – Illinois Office of Tourism; Chicago Fire; Bill Smith; Springfield – Springfield Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau; Minnesota – Explore Minnesota Tourism; Bruce Kluckhohn/Minnesota Wild; Minnesota Vikings; Wisconsin – Travel Wisconsin; Visit Milwaukee; Milwaukee Bucks; Brian Malloy; Ohio – Tourism Ohio; Cody York; MLS/Columbus Crew; Michigan – Travel Michigan; NHLI/Dave Reginek; Mark Hicks; Golf feature – Explore Minnesota Tourism; DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau; Indianapolis – Visit Indy; and Shutterstock.

Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for mistakes or omissions. The publication may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publishers. © Phoenix International Publishing 2013

Twitter @greatlakesusa

23/10/2013 12:34

Chicago is just minutes away

when you stay on Chicago’s North Shore

The most beautiful area outside of Chicago’s city center can be found twenty minutes north along Lake Michigan. Gardens, museums, shopping, restaurants and affordable first-class hotels are located on the North Shore, which is connected to Chicago’s city center by the famed elevated train system.

Chicago Botanic Garden

“The Magnificent Mile” Millennium Park Shopping District

Bahá’í House of Worship

www.visitchicagonorthshore.com Contact us: askme@cnscvb.com

GL2014 pp22-24 Indianapolis.indd 23

21/10/2013 09:50

Z i M M E r / M A d i c h 2013 MOA Tourism Ad | Essentially America UK

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18/10/2013 12:58