http://michigangolfer.com MICHIGAN GOLFER Publisher/Editor Art McCafferty artmccaf@glsp.com Editor Emeritus Terry Moore
Associate Publisher/Producer Jennie McCafferty Writers Linda Allen Peter Allen Martin Ames Jeff Bairley Susan Bairley Phyllis Barone Jack Berry Mike Duff Keith Gornick Greg Johnson Doug Joy Brad King Tom Lang Chris Lewis Scott Moore
Bill Shelton Scott Sullivan
Photo/Video Kevin Frisch Dave Richards Carter Sherline Scott Sullivan Brian Walters Director of Accounting Cheryl Clark
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Special Olympics Michigan Fall Games, Eagle Crest GC The Stunning Beauty of Arcadia Bluffs LPGA Volvik Championship Debuts at Travis Pointe CC Elk Rapids Golf Club, A Donald Ross Design, Elk Rapids Lakewood on the Green - The Back Nine - Cadillac Golf Manistee National Golf & Resort - Cutters Ridge, a Jerry Matthews Design The Rose Golf Club - Front Nine - Cadillac Golf 2003 -2015 MGCOA Courses of the Year Preview: Tom Doak's Reversible Course Grow In - Forest Dunes Sycamore Hills GC - A Jerry Matthews Design Tom McGee, Dir. of Golf, Grand Traverse Resort & Spa - Season Wrap & Winter Golf Academy Jerry Matthews Chena Bend, Alaska MGCOA Awards Ceremony: Forest Dunes - Course of the Year Award with Chad Maveus MGCOA Matthews Lifetime Award: Richard Garn Oldsmobile Scramble MGCOA Lyle Leeke Disguished Service Award: Frank Guastella MGCOA Dul Family Player Development Award: Claire DeBlaay W. Bruce Matthews An Iconic Michigan Golf Architect - with Jack Berry and Jerry Matthews Interview With Steve Smyers the Architect of LochenHeath Golf Club ASGCA President, Steve Smyers Discusses the ASGCA Challenges and his Courses Steve Smyers - Designer, Old Memorial GC, Tampa, FL 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship - Oakland Hills CC August 15 - 21 2002 Amateur Championship - Scenes On the Last Day Pipers Open the West Michigan Golf Show Pine Cone Accommodations - Gaylord Golf & Lodging Michaywe Pines - Golf, Golf Lessons and Caddies Drive, Chip and Putt - Kids at the WMGS with Lily Zylstra Kevin Helm Outlines the 2016 Michigan PGA Year Golf Ireland with GAM & Sullivan Golf & Travel GAM’s David Graham Describes the Upcoming Year - U.S. Amateur & 100th Women's Amateur Mike Breed, Golf Channel, Interviewed by Jack Berry at WMGS The Heather at Boyne Highlands - a Michigan Golf Course Icon Turns 50 Manistee National Golf and Resort - With GM Doug Bell The Heather at Boyne Highlands - Everett Kircher, Robert Trent Jones and Bernie Friedrich Diamond Springs GC - A Mike DeVries Design Cape Wickham - A Mike DeVries Masterpiece
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In This Issue VOLUME 34
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2016 Shaping Up to be ‘Year of the Woman’ in Michigan Golf By Susan Bairley
The Berry Patch: Write of Spring By Jack Berry
GLSP – A Quarter of a Century in Michigan Golf Television By Art McCafferty
Any Way You Want It – Grand Traverse Resort and Spa has Something for All By Susan Bairley
The Big Picture: Gull Lake View Wins with Spectabular New Stoatin Brea Course By Greg Johnson Eastern Michigan University, Golf, The Internet & GLSP: A Great Foursome By Art McCafferty Red Run Golf Club to Host 2016 Western Junior
Slice of Life: My Masters Scrapbook By Terry Moore
About the cover:
Michigan’s own Shirley Spork in an undated photograph. She is one of 13 original members of the L.P.G.A. Photo courtesy of the L.P.G.A.
Michigan Golfer News
Weekly email newsletter To join: email artmccaf@glsp.com
MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE • SPRING 2016
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2016 Shaping Up to be ‘Year of the Woman’ in Michigan Golf By Susan Bairley
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Michigan Women’s Amateur Golf Championship, and one of the state’s strongest and most influential women’s golf organizations, the Michigan Women’s Golf Association, will mark its 30th year.
In addition to the six women’s professional golf tournaments scheduled in Michigan this year, the Golf Association of Michigan will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
Returning to the state will be three Symetra Tour Events – the Island Resort and Casino Championship at Sweetgrass Golf Club, June 26-28, in the Upper
Peninsula town of Harris; the Tullymore Classic, July 1-3, in Stanwood, near Big Rapids; and the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, July 19-24, in Battle Creek. All will showcase up and coming professional women golfers who are vying for cash prizes and one of 10 entries onto the LPGA Tour. Also returning are the Wendy’s Classic, Aug. 14-15 at Country Club of Jackson, featuring
Photo by Brian Oar
egardless of whether a woman wins the keys to the Oval Office later this year, 2016 is shaping up to be the ‘Year of the Woman,’ at least in Michigan golf.
Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris hosts the Island Resort and Casino Championship. Historic bridges are among the features of Sweetgrass Golf Club. 4
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Photo courtesy of Sweetgrass GC.
Island Resort Championship winner Dani Holmqvist celebrates her winnings. 25 Legends Tour senior LPGA players, and the Meijer LPGA Classic, June 13-19, at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, near Grand Rapids. New this year, is the Volvik LPGA Classic, May 23-29, culminating Memorial Day weekend at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor. And while furthest from new, the 100th running of the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship will bring back past champions for a special added celebration and golf event, in conjunction with the tourney, which runs Aug. 8-12, at Spring Meadows Country Club in Linden.
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100th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship Although it comes without the glitz and big commercial sponsorship glitter of the professional golf events, the 100th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship marks a major milestone in Michigan golf, U.S. golf and golf internationally. Early winners of the tournament, Violet Hanley (1924, ‘27, ‘30, and ‘34) and Dorothy Higbie (1925, ‘26, ‘31, ‘32, and ‘33), were not only a dynamic Michigan duo that tossed the title back and forth from the mid-1920s to 1930s, but both were known in USGA competitions and both were part of teams that played internationally. Hanley, chair of the
USGA Women’s Committee in 1930, managed and played on the U.S. team that traveled to England that year, marking the first women’s international competition in history. Higbie, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship 10 times, was a member of the first U.S. Curtis Cup team that followed in 1932. The Michigan Women’s Amateur also helped to develop greats like Shirley Spork. A Michigan native and Eastern Michigan University alumna, Spork won the 1949 Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship and went on to play professional golf, becoming one of the co-founders of the LPGA in 1950.
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“For the past 100 years, the Michigan Women’s Amateur has been the premier amateur women’s golf championship in Michigan,” said 100th Anniversary Celebration Chair Sara Wold. “Every year the best female golfers test their skills to determine if they have what it takes to be the champion and compete nationally at the college level and professionally in the LPGA.
where the tournament will occur Aug. 8-12. “We’ve contacted 34 of the 37 living champions since 1949,” Wold said. “We hope 20 to 24 will be able to attend. Shirley Spork is the oldest living champion and she is planning to attend” For more information on the tournament, visit www.gam.org and watch for more information on the celebration events.
“The most notable champions that turned professional are Shirley Spork and Meg Mallon,” Wold said. “Joyce Kazmierski, Elaine Crosby and Becky Iverson have also won LPGA Championships”
Volvik LPGA Classic What used to be one of Ann Arbor’s most quiet weekend’s is about to change. The inaugural Volvik LPGA Classic is coming to Ann Arbor’s Travis Pointe Country Club May 23-29, and its final
The 100th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship, presented by GAM and Carl’s Golfland, will include a 100th celebration breakfast and golf scramble at Tyrone Hills Golf Club in Fenton Monday, Aug. 8, followed later that evening by 100th Anniversary Champions Dinner at Spring Meadows CC,
Volvik LPGA Classic Director of Media/Public Relations Bruce Madej said the traditionally quiet weekend and its connection with veterans, which relates to the tournament’s charity, were major factors in selecting the May dates, but perhaps overriding the ‘when’ is just the fact that the LPGA Tour is coming to southeast Michigan. “It was 2009, when the last professional golf tournament (the PGA Buick Open at Warwick Hills) was in Southeast Michigan” he said, “so this is especially exciting” The LPGA Volvik Championship will feature a full
Photo courtesy of FireKeepers
In addition to Higbie and Hanley as notable amateurs, Wold cited Patti Shook Boice, who won the Championship seven times and Mary Jane Heistand and Joan Garety, who continue to win senior championships at the state and national level. Also, “Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll has won more golf championships in Michigan than any other woman and is an outstanding women’s golf coach at Michigan State University,” Wold said. “I’m excited that we are honoring the Champions, participants, host clubs, and the women who conducted the Championships since 1914” The annual tournament has run consecutively except for a threeyear break during World War II.
rounds over Memorial Day Weekend will bring a new band of excitement to this typically ‘backyard busy’ or first-weekend-north time of year.
Kathy George and Madeline Sheils with the Potawatomi Cup winnings at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship.
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Photo by Jennie McCafferty
Symetra Tour players enjoyed Tullymore at the inaugural Tullymore Classic in 2015. field of 144 players competing in a 72-hole event for a $1.3 million purse. In addition, proceeds will benefit the National Network of Depression Centers to support veteran’s mental health. The NNDC has 23-member centers, including the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center in Ann Arbor, which locally operates the M-SPAN Military Support Programs and Network initiative. LPGA Tour Player Katherine Kirk, who appeared at a press conference announcing the event with fellow Touring Pros Victoria Elizabeth and Amy Anderson, said 8
she’s looking forward to playing at Travis Pointe. “The (Michigan courses) are incredible,” she said. “The season’s so short, you have to make the most of it!” The women also commented on the uniqueness of the fan experience for those who follow the LPGA vs. the men’s PGA Tour. “The players are right up on the ropes. We embrace the fans and make you feel welcome, and you’ll see exceptional golf” Although golf ball producer
Volvik has been an official sponsor of the LPGA Tour for more than five years, it is the first time it has assumed title sponsorship, and has signed a three-year title sponsorship deal. For more information, visit http://volviklpga.com.
Meijer LPGA Classic The Meijer LPGA Classic presented by Kraft will return to Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, June 14-19, with final rounds played Father’s Day week-
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end. Now in its third year, the event will feature a full field of 144 golfers in 72-holes of stroke play, competing for a $2 million purse. Last year, Lexi Thompson sunk a two-foot par putt on 18 to capture the fifth win of her career, tallying eight birdies against two bogeys to post a final round 65 and finish at 18-under. This gave her a one-shot victory over Lizette Salas and Gerina Piller. The Blythefield course seems to be a happy home for tournament play. As host of the 1961 Western Open and 2005 Western Junior, the historical layout has a track record of proven champions, including Arnold Palmer and Rickie Fowler as respective champions of those two events. Proceeds from the tournament and weeklong community events will continue to benefit the Meijer Simply Give program. The first two Meijer LPGA Classics presented by Kraft raised more than $1.3 million for the Simply Give program to feed those in need throughout the Midwest. For more information, visit http://meijerlpgaclassic.com/
Island Resort Championship The Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass, June 24-26, will once again enlist the help of an army of local volunteers as it rolls out the red carpet for players and spectators at the casino resort’s Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris, near Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula.
When the Symetra Tour first came to Island Resort and Casino, it likely raised a few eyebrows, especially considering the size of the tiny Escanaba airport. But the beautiful U.P. draws visitors from Wisconsin, Canada and lower Michigan and is a unique summer destination for travelers nationwide. So what better place to come to watch great golf? Now in its the sixth year, the Island Resort Championship has a reputation that keeps players and spectators coming back. Last year, Dani Holmqvist of Stockholm, Sweden missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole by six feet, but made a tough par putt to avoid a playoff and claim the championship. This year, the women will be playing for a $125,000 purse. “We are excited to hosting our sixth Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass this June,” said Tony Mancilla, general manager of Island Resort and Casino. “The event is the highlight of the local golf calendar every year in the Upper Peninsula. “The Island Resort Championship not only showcases the world class professional golfers but it brings the community together and is a strong fund-raiser for local charities. We anticipate our 2016 event to best one yet,” he said. For more information, visit http://sweetgrassgolfclub.com/symet ra-tour-2016
Tullymore Classic The second Tullymore Classic will be July 1-3, 2016, and like the
other Symetra Tour events will feature the top 144 aspiring LPGA Tour players, competing for a $100,000 tournament purse and LPGA Tour membership for the 2017 season. The 54-hole, stroke-play format will begin Friday, July 1, and conclude Sunday, July 3, and will be preceded by practice rounds and Pro-Am competition – all open to public spectators. All 10 of the 2015 Symetra Tour players who earned their 2016 LPGA cards competed in the inaugural Tullymore Classic, including the 2015 Tullymore Classic winner, Daniela Iacobelli. Michigan native and Symetra Tour golfer Laura Kueny said, “I grew up playing junior golf in Michigan and college golf at Michigan State so it gives me great pride to see another women’s professional golf event in the state. The Symetra Tour continues to provide me an opportunity to hone my skills and realize a dream of playing on the LPGA tour” For more information, visit http://tullymoregolf.com/golf/tournaments/tullymore-classic/
FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship The Third Annual FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club, July1924, has been selected to be the first event on the Symetra Tour to have the top two finishers earn exemptions to play in the LPGA Evian Championship in France. The field
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“To have world class golf come to Battle Creek, and to have our communities and towns showcased for the golf world to see, is a wonderful opportunity for the entire area,” said Kathy George, general manager and vice president of hotel operations at FireKeepers. “We also look forward to many becoming involved in the tournament”
Photo by Sue Fracker
has increased to 158 players during the first and second rounds, with the final round being the top 60, plus ties.
This includes volunteers needed to work the events, https://events.trustevent.com/templates/index.cfm?fuseaction=templates.home&eid=2230, opportunities for sponsorships, Pro-Am team participation and “having spectators come out Friday, Saturday and Sunday to cheer on the professional golfers as they compete for the trophy and purse monies in the Volvik Race For the Card as well as the Potawatomi Cup,” George said. Tickets are available at the gate for a donation to benefit S.A.F.E. Place, a local charity committed to helping victims of domestic violence and their families in Barry, Eaton and Calhoun Counties. For more information, visit http://firekeeperscasino.com or 10
Jackson’s own Elaine Crosby hosts the Wendy’s Charity Classic. email fkchchampionship@firekc.com
Wendy’s Classic The LPGA Legends make their return to Michigan Aug. 14-15, at Country Club of Jackson. The 16th annual Wendy’s Charity Classic will feature 25 of the LPGA’s most storied players as part of The Legends Tour, the official senior tour of the LPGA. Hosted by Jackson’s own Elaine Crosby, a two-time champion on the LPGA Tour and long-time adoption advocate, this historic charity event has raised more than $2.5 million for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption since 1999.
The event is title-sponsored by the Wendy’s franchise Starboard Group, owners and operators of over 60 Wendy’s restaurants in Michigan. With additional support from Wendy’s vendor partners and Jackson area businesses, this unique long-established event gives supporters a fun opportunity to play with seasoned tour professionals while supporting a very meaningful cause. “I am excited to bring back my Legends friends from the LPGA Tour to once again help raise funds for adoption in Michigan,” Crosby said. “This is the largest event of its kind supporting adoption in the state, and we are thrilled to continue the tradition in Jackson” For sponsorship details and more information, visit http://wendyscharityclassic.com.
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- MG -
The Berry Patch
Write of Spring
Jack Berry
But then, golf definitely was in the air at the West Michigan Golf Show. Golf Channel’s Michael Breed was a hit, so energetic, so enthusiastic. And 20 cars were in the parking lot at Redford’s Glenhurst Golf Course. My friend Jim Lacey was poised to play with the big new driver his golf pro son gave him for Christmas. And then the snow. Face it. We live in Michigan. Actually when so much of the country welcomed the new year with floods, fires, blizzards and twisters, we’ve been fortunate. In spring we look forward to seeing how Tom Doak’s forward and backward course at Forest Dunes will play. Good chance it will be a bucket lister. We look forward to the golden anniversary of the Heather at Boyne Highlands. It’s the course that ignited the golf boom in Northern Michigan with Grand Traverse, Shanty Creek and Treetops scrambling to keep up.
Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Gaylord, Grayling and Traverse City have been big beneficiaries.
they are fan friendly with native Michigander Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer at the top of the list.
We look forward to the best menu of top competition that we’ve had in years. The PGA Senior Championship tees it off at Harbor Shores, May 26-29, the third time for the seniors to play the Jack Nicklaus course on the shore of Lake Michigan.
The “old-timers” are Michelle Wie, 26, Inbee Park, 27, and at 31 are Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, another bomber, Sandra Gal of Germany and Gerina Pilla, a heroine of the United States’ Solheim Cup victory last year.
We have two LPGA tournaments this year, in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, and women’s championship golf never has been better. You think the men have a lot of young folks, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Peter Berger, Matthew Fitzpatrick and more. The LPGA has them even younger. World No. 1 is 18year-old Lydia Ko. Longest hitter on tour is Lexi Thompson, 21. International stars Charley Hull of England is 20 and Canadian Brooke Henderson is 18. They can play and
Ann Arbor tees off the women with the LPGA Volvik Championship May 26-29 at Travis Pointe Country Club. Grand Rapids’ third Meijer LPGA Classic is June 16-19 at Blythefield Country Club with Lexi Thompson defending her title. The LPGA’s feeder tour, the Symetra, will return to Sweetgrass Golf Club in the Upper Peninsula, June 24-26, Tullymore in midMichigan, July 1-4 and the Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, July 22-24.
Video still by Art McCafferty
Photo by Art McCafferty
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Ah, the Spring edition of Michigan Golfer. Perfect timing. After a couple sunny days, so sunny that I got the car washed, it is snowing.
By Jack Berry
Michael Breed
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Photo courtesy of Eagle Eye
that’s a couple par 5s north of East Lansing.
Photo courtesy of Boyne
Eagle Eye in Bath will host the 105th Michigan Amateur.
The Western Junior’s list of champions is very impressive. Rickie Fowler won at Blythefield in 2005, Hunter
Ricky Barnes defeated Hunter Mahan 2 and 1 in the final. In a sense the only bigger championships in golf are the four majors and look at who won the Amateur and went on to win majors – Jack Nicklaus (two Amateurs), Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods (three Amateurs), Phil Mickelson, Mark O”Meara, Craig Stadler. There are young men from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Central and South America joining the homegrowns in the field of 312 starters at Oakland Hills.
It will be a great treat to watch them. A round of stroke play on the North Course and a round on the Championship South will cut the field to 64 for match play beginThe Heather at Boyne Highlands is celebrating its golden anniversary. ning Aug. 17. All June is busting out all over with matches will be on the South which Mahan won at Treetops in 1999, the Golf Channel-CBS TV duel Jim Furyk won at Michigan State in has hosted six U.S. Opens, three between Rory McIlroy and Rickie 1991 and Trip Kuehne won there in PGAs, the Ryder Cup and two U.S. Fowler at Detroit Golf Club, June 6, 1987. Jim Benepe won at Travis Senior Opens. Not as though the on the boys’ way to Oakmont CC Pointe in 1982 and University South hasn”t provided enough spice for the U.S. Open later in the week. Michigan winners were Jeff Reaume in the past. General Chairman Lee Juett indicated the tee may be up at in 1970 and Sam Kocsis in 1939. The 99th Western Junior, oldest some point on the short par 4 waterjunior championship in the game, Crowning all the championship guarded seventh hole. If and when, and the Michigan Amateur duel for golf in the state this year is the that will be a great spectator spot. media space the third week of the United States Amateur at Oakland month with the Western, open to Hills, Aug. 15-21. Fox will televise The snow still is falling outside boys age 15 and not older than 19, my window but I”m feeling better. it and for $20 you can walk the at Red Run Golf Club June 20-23 It looks like a great summer. rope-less fairways with the future and the 105th Michigan Amateur stars of world golf. When Oakland June 21-25 at Eagle Eye in Bath – Hills hosted the 2002 Amateur - MG 12
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GLSP - A Quarter of a Century in M
Video still by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studio
By Art McCafferty
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Arcadia Bluffs, shown here, was one of many courses we vid
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Michigan Golf Television
deotaped with our new drone.
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Golfing Michigan and Golfing the Great Lakes Television Shows 1991-1999
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LSP had been a partner in two television shows in the 90’s, Golfing Michigan and Golfing the Great Lakes. The first show, Golfing Michigan, was a partnership with Terry Moore, Tom Durant of Video Images and the Michigan Golfer. The show lasted a year as costs and revenues did not favorably add up.
Great Lakes show, we decided to go with PBS stations. The cost of PBS station time was basically the cost of the satellite feed each week. However, the opportunity for making money on the show was lessened by the non-commercial realities of PBS programming.
As publisher of GLSP and the basic sales person for the Golfing the Great Lakes Shows, I had firsthand knowledge of the frustration involved in producing and funding these shows. Our first year of the Michigan Golfer Television Show was placed on commercial television. For example, we were on WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids and had a great time slot. However, commercial time on a broadcast station is expensive. The shows were costing us a thousand dollars a week for the airtime. The financial clock was always ticking on that show. When we developed the Golfing the
During the eight year run of Golfing the Great Lakes, we introduced our audiences to many of the great courses in the Great Lakes area. Our cameras went to Eagle Ridge in Illinois; Juday Creek, Otter Creek and Sultan’s Run in Indiana; Quail Chase in Kentucky; Bay Valley, The Bear, Bedford Valley, Black Bear, Black Forest, Boyne’s Alpine, Bay Harbor, Heather and Moor courses, Captains Table, Chestnut Valley, Concord Hills, Dumaglas, Eagle Crest, El Dorado, Fortress, The Gailes, Garland’s Fountains and Swampfire, The Classic, The Loon, The Lake, Hessel Ridge, High Point, The Jewel, Little Traverse Bay, Marsh Ridge, The Meadows, The Pohlcat, The Rock, Stonehedge, and Treetops Smith & Jones courses in Michigan. In Ohio we did Eagle Sticks and Maumee Bay and, in Wisconsin, Blackwolf Run and The Brute. In all, we produced 71 Golfing the Great Lakes shows.
Photo: GLSP Archives
The second foray into the television market, Golfing the Great Lakes, was headed up again by Tom Durant of Video Images. A variety of partners comprised the group, with GLSP being one of them. All told, the series ran eight years and produced 71 shows on courses in the Great Lakes area. You can visit the program’s website at
http://webgolfer. com/golfgreatlakes/. The shows were well liked and we had a nice run on the 30+ PBS station network. Once again, the economics of producing the shows paired with the non-commercial realities of public television, ultimately led to the show’s demise.
Golfing the Great Lakes crew: Executive Producer Tom Durant, Host Larry Adderley, Bay Harbor professional Brian Sanderson and Associate Producer Art McCafferty. 16
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My responsibility was to sell the show and then Tom Durant and the Golfing the Great Lake crew would tape the show. As Publisher of the Michigan Golfer I was familiar with the Michigan courses and called on our best. The big surprise, were the great Wisconsin courses we did; The Bull at Pinehurst
While PBS stations offered a quality delivery system for the shows, the problems inherent in utilizing their platforms were significant. We put the shows up on a satellite feed each week, but they were not necessarily shown that week. Many stations taped the shows for later broadcast. As a result, it was difficult to promote the show times on the 30+ stations we had on the network. Thus, many clients missed seeing their show and we had to wait for word of mouth to get back to them from people who did see the shows. We also never knew until the end of the season, what stations were carrying the show. PBS stations were required to get back at the end of the season to tell various feeder stations, in this case, Detroit’s WTVS, what outstate stations were carrying the show. It was then that we knew that PBS stations as far away as Huntington Beach, California and Bozeman, Montana carried the show. Finally, there was the problem with establishing ratings for the show. PBS shows typically do not have ratings big enough to measure and really are not driven by ratings anyway. As the salesman for the show, it was always difficult to persuade courses to buy into our programming because I could only offer annedotal evidence of the show’s success. We did have some big time talent with the shows. Frank Beckman, Larry Adderley and Tom Cleary did a terrific job hosting the shows and Tom Durant and his
Photo: GLSP Archives
Farms, The Meadow and River courses at Blackwolf Run and The Brute at Lake Geneva.
Michigan Golfer TV begins with its first crew: (L-R) Jennie McCafferty, Associate Producer; Joe Yunkman’s assistant; Bill Shelton, Host; Joe Yunkman, Michigan Media; Chris Lahiri, graphic specialist; Thad Gutowski, reporter; and (front) Art McCafferty, Producer. Video Images studios did a great job in producing them. They were high quality shows and a pleasure to do. Other people involved in the shows included Tim Hygh, Peter Fletcher and Terry Moore.
The Michigan Golfer Television Show is Launched - 2001 After, we cancelled Golfing the Great Lakes in 1999, the thought of creating an Internet television show on golf began to enter my mind. The challenges for Internet video programming at that time were substantial. The technology that would allow such a media was just coming on board. While you could view video on dial up Internet connections, it was too slow and small to be useful. The broad-
band connectivity needed for video was running at about 9% when we started, but we felt that in a few years, this would change dramatically. Also, people were used to getting everything free on the Internet and therefore a new revenue paradigm had to be created. There was also the problem of the limited sophistication in Internet technology for most of the population which by default included the leadership in the golf industry. Therefore, not only did we have to create this new product, but we also had to provide an education of its value and potential to our customers. On March 9th of 2001, our first Michigan Golfer Internet Television show went online. Our team consisted of our host, Dr. William Shelton, former President of Eastern Michigan University and an avid golfer, our director, Joe Yunkman,
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of Michigan Media, Jennie McCafferty, the one responsible for understanding how all this technology was going to work, our editor Catherine Jones, Thad Gutowski our salesman and finally myself, as the producer. Bill Newcomb was our first guest and we featured that show http://michigangolfer.tv/2001 shows/show1/ as part of our display at that year’s Michigan Golf Show. On March 10th, our team visited the studios of radio station WJR to appear on the Internet Advisor show, with Foster Braun and Gary Baker. It was then and there that we announced that we had begun our programming. When we launched our Michigan Runner Television show in June and our Michigan Skier TV show in November of 2001, we became the 2nd Internet television network in the world and the first Internet sports network in the world. The first Internet network was Pseudo.com, a show that was featured on 60 Minutes. Jennie McCafferty’s sister, Jeanne was involved with that show and made a presentation to an Eastern Michigan University class I was teaching at the time. Small world. In March of 2006, Golfweek Magazine sent out a press release indicating they they were starting the first Internet golf television show in the nation. Knowing differently, I immediately pointed out that the Michigan Golfer was the first golf television show and that we had begun our television programming some five years earlier. To prove my point I directed their PR firm to our link http://michigangolfer.tv/2001s hows/show7/. The link is to a show we did on the WJR Internet Advisor 18
Show in March of 2001 announcing our new Internet television show. We now have been producing our Michigan Golfer TV show for 15 years Since our debut in March of 2001, our viewership has increased substantially. Then again, when you start with zero, the only way to go is up. Since the technology was so new, there were not many networks or shows around in which we could compare the traffic with. Thus, we are comparing traffic within our own shows for now. Since we launched our network, we have put up over 5300 Internet video shows on our five channels, with almost a thousand of them being on our Michigan Golfer channel. During that time, our golf shows have attracted nearly a half a million viewers. In looking back over the past 15 years I have selected some shows that have special meaning for our viewers, our state and our subjects. Oh yes, thanks for watching.
Benchmark shows 2001 http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2001shows /show1/ Our first Internet show with our host, Dr. William Shelton.
Bill Newcomb Interview
Michigan Golfer on the Internet Advisor Show
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2001shows/show7/ We announced our modest, yet inspired venture into Internet television on this WJR radio program.
Robert Trent Jones Treetops Interviews http:// michigangolfer.tv/ 2001shows /show19/ We were able to use video we shot at the Treetops Grand Opening in 1986 for these Treetops shows. It was worth the wait.
2002 http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2002shows/baymillsopen/ Mike Husby, Bay Mills Tournament Director at the time and Wild Bluff course architect, hired us to cover the event. It was our first coverage of a professional golf tournament.
Bay Mills Open
2003 Walter Hagen and the Ryder Cup
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2003shows/hagen/ The Hagen series featured our host Bill Shelton and our actor son, Mike McCafferty, who played Walter Hagen. It was a fun series and Dick Sporting Goods popped for the clothing. http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2003shows/thebull/ This was our breakout video on golf courses. It featured the deft hand of our director and videographer, Joe Yunkman. He captured the course and the course designer, Jack Nicklaus, perfectly. Probably our biggest budget for a show. Nicklaus was riveting when describing the course.
The Bull at Pinehurst Farms
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2004 Jeff Daniels Comedy Golf Jam
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2003shows /show22/ We flat out had a great time taping this show and working with Jeff and his staff. It was a fund raiser for Purple Rose and the day on the course was crazy and fun.
Michigan Golfer’s 100th Show - Rick Smith and the Big Break
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2004shows/show5/index.html We caught up with Rick at the PGA National Merchandise Show and had him talk about The Big Break. The show was taped at Treetops the first two years. Rich also brought in ESPN for the Par-3 Shootout. Rick is a great talent.
2005 Hall of Fame Series with Jack Berry (40+ shows)
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2005shows/ghf/ We worked with Jack Berry during a four or five year period on a series of interviews about Michigan Golf Hall of Fame inductees. http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2005shows/Loon/ Once again, Mike Husby came through with a budget that allowed us to create one of our best shows. Joe Yunkman was on camera and did the edit, a great combination. Regretfully, shooting budgets were usually small for this thing called Internet television.
The Loon
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2005shows/davis/ This show featured another look at the history of Michigan golf. Ben Davis, a Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member, struggled during his interview when discussing his challenges at being one of the first minority golf professionals in Detroit. Davis teared up a couple of places when responding to the questions posed to him by his friend and our interviewer Butch Rhodes.
Ben Davis
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2005shows /irish/ Covering the Ryder Cup in our state was a blast. It was big time media and we were just happy to be there. However, when it was discovered that our reporter Vanessa Bell lived in the same town as the Ryder family, everything changed. They had flown in the Ryder family for the event, and suddenly our reporter was front and center. What are the odds?
Ryder Cup Celebration
2007 Ryder Cup at the K Club with Susan Bairley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =WqXiD3dGZ2s This was our first International show of importance. Susan and Paul Bairley the event and did a nice job. However, IMG Management, had You Tube take down some of our shows, as we were using images of the Ryder Cup in the shows. It was our first taste of copyright issues on Internet video.
Jack Berry - PGA Lifetime Achievement
http://michigangolfer.tv/ 2007shows/jackberry/ Every time I watch these two videos of Jack Berry receiving the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, I feel blessed that he writes and reports for our Michigan Golfer Magazine and Television show.
Award in Journalism
2008 Treetops Ladies Golf School With Judy Mason
http://michigangolfer.tv/2008shows /treetops_ladies_golf_school/ This show really attracted the viewers and made us realize what a powerhouse Judy Mason is in Michigan’s golf instruction industry.
Oakland Hills CC and Robert Trent Jones
http://michigangolfer.tv/2008shows /oaklandhills/ In 1986, I had the opportunity to hire Video Images, owned by Tom Durant, to do a video on the Treetops Grand Opening. It was very cool, to set up a camera in one of the new lodging facilities at Treetops to tape a show, with Robert Trent Jones, Rick Smith, Harry Melling, Jack Berry and Terry Moore. During the interview he mentioned his work at Oakland Hills and his fondness for golf professional Al Watrous.
PGA Championships 1947 PGA Championship at Plum Hollow Country Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =DLz6Uvj6Z10
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1953 PGA Championship at Birmingham Country Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =cR1CNO3_YE0
Treetops is always tops with me, as they gave me my first video gig and got me thinking about a golf show. Of course, at that time, the thought of it being on the Internet was not in anyone’s thinking.
1955 PGA Championship at Meadowbrook Country Club 100th Michigan Amateur at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v Boyne Highlands =LIcsVp__4N4 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =agmB0xbTfXY
2009 http://michigangolfer.tv/2009shows /buickopen/ Obviously, a sad week for Michigan golfers, as our big time golf tournament closed up shop.
Buick Open Finale
2010 Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions at Boyne Highlands
http://michigangolfer.tv/2010shows /boyne_toc/ Boyne gave us enough of a budget to bring the crew up and tape 13 shows. Jack Berry was chatting with everybody and we got it all. We even interviewed Molly Kircher about her new book on Boyne. We were in high cotton for this taping.
2011 25th Anniversary of Treetops
http://michigangolfer.tv/2011shows /treetops_25/ 20
http://michigangolfer.tv/2011shows /gam_amateur/ We were happy to be on hand as the GAM produced, in cooperation with Boyne, the 100th Michigan Amateur
Terry Moore Inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame
http://michigangolfer.tv/2011shows /hof_terry_moore/ Terry Moore, the first editor of the Michigan Golfer, a lifelong friend and a mind that crackles with wit and wisdom was given his due.
2012 10 Years - Michigan Women’s Open at Crystal Mountain
http://michigangolfer.tv/2012shows /10years_womens_open/
Gaylord Golf Mecca 25th Anniversary Series (20 Shows)
http://michigangolfer.tv/2012shows /gaylord_golf_mecca/ One of Michigan golf’s great marketing stories. http://michigangolfer.tv/2012shows /dick_weber/ Dick Weber was a class act. He worked for the Otsego Club and
Marsh Ridge as their GM. http://michigangolfer.tv/2012shows /garland/ The Otto family created one of Michigan’s classy resorts.
The Otto Family & Garland
2013 “Otsego Club - The Gornick Era” The Movie
https://vimeo.com/84664737 We created our first Michigan Golfer Movie. Yes, it was a bit lacking in design, but the hour long Internet show, certainly summed up the 50 years of Gornick ownership of the Otsego Club.
2014 Eagle Crest GC Roy Wilbanks Building with Brad Shelton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =VMDky2ktdu8 I received many a paycheck from Eastern Michigan University during my employment there. It was a nice feeling to work with Wes Blevins to capture some of that history.
Bandon Dunes The Punchbowl Tom Doak & Jim Urbina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ZLKhUnakoRk Bandon Dunes is a special as they come. We had a blast there and really enjoyed our trip to Oregon.
Remembering Dick Weber
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2015
Cutters Ridge GC at Manistee National Golf & Resort
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =mVBa4S2w9L4
The Jerry Matthews Course Legacy Series Jack Berry Interviews The Majestic at Lake Walden
Birmingham Golf Springdale GC and Lincoln GC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =baeZ9BEyHwY
The Beauty of Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ekqotXlJmCA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =SGkwuZ_xXwU
Oakland Hills Country Club to Host 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =g_c7uIshCiY A great way to start our 16th year. Working with Oakland Hills on this project was and will be very cool. We look forward to many more stories this year and the years to come. It has been quite a ride. - MG -
Video still by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studio
St. Ives Golf Club
https://vimeo.com/122266528
2016
Aerial view of Eagle Crest Golf Course.
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Any Way You Want It – Grand Traverse Resort and Spa has S
Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
By Susan Bairley
Something for All
Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
Spruce Run Golf Course
F
amily fun, cozy romance, girls weekend, guys golf trip, singles or couples getaway – Grand Traverse Resort and Spa (GTR) in Acme, Michigan, can make it happen. Home to one of Michigan’s most challenging golf tracks – The Bear 24
(designed by Jack Nicklaus) – plus The Wolverine (Gary Player) and Spruce Run (Bill Newcomb), GTR has long been known as one of golf’s self-contained meccas. Yet, GTR is so much more. Rain or shine, amid crisp winter snow or summer’s indulgent heat,
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is a world-class, year-round destination. First of all, it’s spacious. There’s always room to roam on GTR’s 900-acre property. In addition to its three fantastic golf courses, it has a 7,000-square-foot full-service spa, accredited day care facility and in-
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room babysitting, indoor and outdoor tennis courts and an expansive state-of-the-art health center. There are multiple indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs, an indoor water playground and a nice array of specialty shops, ranging from one that sells sports and outdoor wear to a store with hip, natural goods and the delightful Dylan’s Candy store.
L
iterally above and beyond all of its other attributes, GTR offers one of the most spectacular views of Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay. Nowhere else in Northern Michigan is there a similar view. Rising 17 stories above ground, you can literally see for miles from the Tower’s glass paneled elevators, mid- to uppermost halls and guest rooms. And you can enjoy a birds-eye view in any direction at the Aerie Restaurant and Lounge at the top. The vistas are nothing short of breath-takingly beautiful. And if all of that is not enough,
Grand Traverse Resort now has another guest-pleasing feature – its Tower guest rooms have been completely renovated. Each of the Tower rooms have an attractive, contemporary design and neutral color scheme, feeling very cosmopolitan. There is modern art on the walls and good use of geometric squares and circles. Our standard king room had a smartlooking, comfy blue tweed couch and a dark wood credenza that hid a single Murphy-style bed and provided a nice big surface for travel items and the large TV. The bathrooms have gray, woodgrain ceramic floor tiles, speckled white granite vanities, sparkling
Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
GTR also has jogging paths, a year-round golf school, cross-country skiing in the winter and a variety of lodging options, from rooms and suites in the Hotel or Tower to beach or golf course condos. It has its own lakefront beach with watercraft rentals, a delightful on-property dog boarding facility, complimentary 24-hour shuttle service to near-
by Turtle Creek Casino, five restaurants and a spacious conference/banquet complex.
Tower guest rooms have been completely renovated.
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Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
The Bear’s Hole Number 8. white brick tile in the glassed-in showers and wonderful 121-stream shower heads. They also have attractive, vanity mirrors (square in the king rooms and round in the double queens) that light-up like giant make-up mirrors and back light like giant night lights.
goose-neck lamp over the couch that creates a perfect reading spot. Paintstriped window shades offer just the right amount of color when down, adding a nice night-time touch – although many will want to keep them up to enjoy the views day and night.
The room lighting also is uniquely functional and beautiful. Built-in night-stand lighting, located under a translucent white pane of glass, illuminates the table surface and room with relaxing, soft light. Guests can brighten things up with the bedside and desk lamps or in some rooms, a
The newly renovated rooms are crisply clean and attractive, offering a stylish yet comfortable sleeping and living environment for vacationers or business travelers.
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I
n addition, the GTR spa is just a short walk away to feeling like a million bucks. Located in the lower level of the resort hotel, the spa is its own haven and is staffed with a team that’s ready to bring out the queen or king in you with pampering treatments, expansive locker facilities and that perfect sip of herbal tea or mint-fresh ice water, or wine, brews, cocktails and food from its own Spa menu. Guests can choose from a basic relaxation massage or a host of specialty treatments including ‘cherry infused,’ aromatherapy, deep tissue,
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‘Grand’ stone, heat/cool and Thai bodywork massages; body scrubs, stress wraps or massages for two, and even a mother-to-be massage. The full-service spa also offers facials, manicures/pedicures, waxing and extended day spa options.
The on-property dog facility is also an amazing GTR feature for those who hate leaving their fourlegged family members behind. When our Australian cattle dog, Riley, stayed there, she was quite the happy camper, and while we never felt a need to look in on her, just knowing we could call, visit or take her out for a side trip was a wonderful, worry-free plus.
Just minutes east of Traverse City, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is a first-choice year-round getaway. There is so much to do in the city – great shopping, dining, wineries and outdoor fun, but there’s also enough at the resort, including special seasonal events, to keep most guests happily content. For more information, visit http://grandtraverseresort.com or call 800-236-1577. - MG -
Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
Food at GTR ranges from casual, tasty meals at Jack’s Sports Bar, Sweetwater American Bistro and The Grille at the golf course to more formal dinner or drinks at Aerie. High above the bustle below, Aerie is its own special place, especially at sunset. Each item on the
menu is carefully prepared and beautifully presented. It’s a great special occasion place or a perfect spot to unwind after an active day.
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa’s Golf Academy is open year-round.
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The Big Picture: Gull Lake View Wins with Spectacular New Stoatin Brea Course By Greg Johnson
AUGUSTA, Mich. – It has been busy around Gull Lake View Golf Club and Resort since Darl Scott, an entrepreneur at heart and golf course superintendent by trade, decided to build and open his own public golf course in 1963.
“A story from family history is that when Grandpa was 19 he bought a gas station on the north
end of Gull Lake and put his own father to work there.” The Scott family’s work over the last 50 years is clearly reflected in the golf and resort community that has grown steadily and remarkably in the heart of southwest Michigan and just north of Kalamazoo.
Photo courtesy of Gull Lake View
“It comes from Grandpa, always
having something going on,” said Jon Scott, the third generation to serve as president of the family business following his grandfather and his father Charlie.
Gull Lake View owners, operators and members from Renaissance Golf Design are, from left: Brian Schneider, Renaissance Golf Design; Bill Johnson, VP Golf Operations, Gull Lake View Golf Resort; Charlie Scott; Jon Scott Owner and President of Gull Lake View Golf Resort; Eric Iverson, Renaissance Golf Design; Don Placek, Renaissance Golf Design team. Missing from the group shot is Brian Slawnik, Renaissance Golf Design. 28
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Photo courtesy of Gull Lake View
Gull Lake View’s Bedford Valley Hole No. 7. Darl and his wife Letha worked, and Gull Lake View grew. Charlie, one of their three sons, directed the family in the golf business next and Gull Lake View grew. Charlie remains involved even as the mantle of leadership has been place on Jon’s shoulders, and Gull Lake continues to grow. “I love this place, my dad loves this place, and if you know our family you know this is not just how we make money, it is who we are,” Jon said. The Scott family, seemingly ever expanding its friendly, welcoming golf community, will open in 2016 a sixth golf course. Its name, Stoatin Brae, means Grand Hill in Scottish Gaelic.
In the language of the Scott family it is building business as it has been for the last four decades, only this one comes with a twist. Statin Brae is a departure from the norm at the same time it fits with the family’s version of Manifest Destiny. “When Grandpa decided to build his own golf course that was certainly out of his comfort zone, and as we’ve expanded over the years we have pushed those limits that others see,” Jon said. “What we are doing at Stoatin Brea is different, very different in the kind of course and how it compares to the others we have here, and in that we are not designing it ourselves.
with it, it is consistent with what our family has done from the beginning. We’re giving more to the golfer, our customers, giving them more reasons to come play golf here, another way to have fun.” What was 18 holes in 1963 has expanded to 108 holes of golf over five decades, and along the way the addition of the popular villas and restaurants as well as other realestate development turned the family into resort owners and creators of a community as well. “My grandpa, my dad, me we’re really dirt guys, but we’ve always looked at the big business picture,” Jon said.
“But in doing it, forging ahead
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Photo by Nile Young Photography
Gull Lake View’s Stonehedge South, Hole No. 18 Charlie, who has designed or designed with Jon three of the courses, admits building a golf course in Michigan in 2016 might raise eyebrows, but he backs Jon’s big picture philosophy. “We may seem a little crazy to do this, but we are contrarians at heart,” he said. “We quit building golf courses in the mid-nineties when there was a boom and we are starting to build now when others are closing. It may seem nuts, but we love golf and this site is one of those that begs to have a golf course on it.” Stoatin Brae is only the second course of the six that is not designed by the talented family with landscape architecture degrees and a 30
keen business sense, and is a dramatic departure from the current five that cut through the trees and hills on the area’s natural rolling land. Jon said Stoatin Brae is among other things an effort to reach the world’s travel-minded golfers who seek destination courses that offer exciting new adventures.
“This site is unique for us, and we decided it was best to add something different,” Jon said. “It’s a more wide open course, not cut through the trees like our other courses and like most of the courses in Michigan. This is really different from what you normally find in this part of the country.”
Brian Schneider, Eric Iverson, Don Placek and Brian Slawnik, senior associates for Renaissance Golf Design of Traverse City, are collaborating with the Scott family on the new course. Renaissance is owned by architect Tom Doak, but he is not involved in this project. Renaissance, however, is known for building destination courses that offer exciting new adventures around the world.
Brian Schneider of Renaissance said the design team is very happy with how it turned out. “It’s a really cool piece of land, unique for that part of the state and a big difference from all the golf they already have at the resort and the golf offered by the competition locally as well,” he said. “What we did there is really what we do all the time. We are rarely called upon to build a site for a major champi-
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onship or tour event. We work on beautiful sites with beautiful contour and try to come up with something that is fun for the golfer. “It tied in really well with what the Scotts like to do. When they brought us to the table initially we knew we were a good fit for what they are trying to do.” Jon is pleased. He said a trip to Bandon Dunes on the Pacific coast in Oregon by his father Charlie started the ball rolling toward working with Renaissance. The Pacific Dunes course there, designed by Renaissance, was what they have longed believed golf should be in its design form. “My father told me I had to go there, bought a ticket for me and wife, and once I did go there and play it, I walked away thinking “how can we do this?” Jon said. “Pacific Dunes was so much fun, and beautiful, and unique and interesting, and everything we believe a golfer wants, especially the fun value.”
an attraction for them.” The new course site is located atop a bluff overlooking the Kalamazoo River valley. Golfers will be able to see for miles off the bluff as well as across the expanse of the golf course. “The big takeaway is visually a vast openness,” said Eric Iverson of the Renaissance team. “Trees are ever present in Michigan. You rarely find a golf course where you see from one end to the other without the interruption of trees. Not having the trees is not always a good thing if the land is boring, but in this case the land is beautiful with a lot of natural undulations and reestablished prairie grasses. There is a point on the golf course where you should be able to see 15 flag sticks by looking around, and most of the
course is exposed to the wind. A little breeze always adds to the interest of a golf course.” Jon said the family sees an opportunity to grow the business with customers who seek out new golf. “The open, rolling terrain really lends itself to a course with very strong, links type characteristics,” he said. “That’s a dramatic departure from our other courses. We want to make this area a choice destination for all types of visitors and vacationers. We feel like golf, especially new golf, can do that.” The new course will play to par 71 over 6,800 yards draped over one of the highest spots in Kalamazoo County. A ground breaking event was held this summer and plans call
Schneider said globetrotting Renaissance loved the idea of coming home to Michigan to work, and that the site required little earth moving, very few bunkers and open spaces across interesting natural terrain. “What Gull Lake View provides is fun, affordable, really well-maintained golf,” he said. “Hopefully what we designed keeps the costs down and that people will give the new course a try and enjoy it as much or more than the others there. It will be something different to play there. Hopefully that becomes MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE • SPRING 2016
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for the course to be ready for some golf by the middle of the 2016 season.
work and present Stoatin Brea as another reason for the golfer to come spend time with us.”
It joins in the Scott family lineup the original Gull Lake West course, the East course, Stonehedge South, Stonehedge North all very near the main resort campus, as well as Bedford Valley near Battle Creek, which the family purchased in 1988. Bedford Valley is a parkland William Mitchell design, which fits well with the designs of the family.
Gull Lake View’s efforts to attract golfers to spend some time at the resort extend well beyond the new golf course. Bill Johnson, Gull Lake View’s vice-president reported that Larry Emery, an Illinois Golf Hall of Fame teacher, will be directing custom teaching programs at the resort this year.
“We see what we do and plan to do as consistent with what we’ve always done,” Jon said. “We’ve always been willing to evolve. We’ve always listened to our customers. We’ve always tried to attract new customers, tried new things. Stoatin Brea, our programs, everything we do, fits within our big picture.”
Photo courtesy of Gull Lake View
“Fundamentally we are a business, too,” Jon said. “We love the game, love the course but we know a great golf course doesn’t always feed the family. You need revenue to buy groceries, so we are going to
A strong junior program has long been a part of Gull Lake View’s practice, and supporting that is the involvement with the PGA Junior League and efforts to support local high school teams and competitions.
Also, a new five-hole league is being started this spring that will include free instruction each league night. Villa guest instruction remains available and is custom made for groups. Cookouts at the villas are popular when they include contests, prizes and instruction.
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Gull Lake View’s Bedford Valley, Hole No. 7
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- MG -
Eastern Michigan University, Golf, The Internet & GLSP: A Great Foursome
Photo from GLSP Archives
By Art McCafferty
Eagle Crest Golf Course, Hole, No. 18
I
n the over three decades GLSP has been reporting on the Michigan golf industry, we have featured a number of Universities in print and video. Michigan State University’s role has been legendary both within the state and throughout the nation. Their turf grass school has given golf course superintendent’s a place to go to learn and refresh their turf grass knowledge since the days of W. Bruce Matthews.
Michigan State University and University of Michigan host two of the 19 Evans Scholars locations in our nation. This program was begun at Northwestern University by storied golfer Chick Evans in 1930 with two caddies followed by the building of a house in 1940. The program, supported by the Western Golf Association, has been growing ever since then. Ferris State University has also
had national impact with their Professional Golf Management program (PGM). The graduates of the award-winning program are seemingly everywhere in our country and very successful. Of late, Ferris has taken on the responsibilities of housing the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. They are currently in a fund raising period, which will culminate in providing the resources to build a suitable home for the Hall.
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Woven into all of this were the talents of two sons of EMU Presidents, a surprise boost from EMU’s chief academic officer, the Provost and the start up of the world’s first Internet golf show– Michigan Golfer TV. We published the first issue of the Michigan Golfer in 1983 and brought in Terry Moore as our editor. Dr. John Porter was EMU’s
Dr. John W. Porter, President, Eastern Michigan University, 1979-1989. President then and I scored some major points with him when I covered an NAACP golf tournament at Washtenaw Country Club. From then on, whenever we would meet on campus, I got a positive nod and
Photo from GLSP Archives
Our collaboration included: the creation and administration of multiple Michigan Golf Summits at our brand-spanking-new Eagle Crest Resort, a golf research project for
the State of Michigan, inventing a university course delivery system that had its roots in golf instruction and had a profound impact on EMU’s course programming, the launch of Eagle Crest Resort and the support of two EMU Presidents.
Photo from GLSP Archives
The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the contributions that Eastern Michigan University had on the game during recent years. Admittedly, it is a bit of a personal history, as I was in the employee of Eastern Michigan University when we started GLSP in 1979 and the Michigan Golfer in 1983. We were publishers and later producers of golf media during golf’s explosive growth in the late 20th century and its spill over into the 21st century.
Dr.Patric Cavanaugh, back row center, cleared the way for Rick Smith, front row center, to teach golf at Eastern Michigan. 34
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he referred to me in meetings as “the golf guy.”
Education, Recreation and Dance, who cleared the way for Rick Smith to become an adjunct faculty member in the department.
Porter’s Provost was Dr. Ronald Collins, a former professor of chemistry. Having failed chemistry in high school, I did not see much of a chance hooking up with this guy and discussing some of the world’s greatest chemistry moments. However, it turned out that he had this great love of golf, particularly golf architects. Surprisingly, he did not play the game.
Eastern Michigan’s Eagle Crest Conference was the site for four Michigan Golf Summits and three Women’s Golf Summits.
Areal video still by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios
At the taping were Jones, Harry Melling, Rick Smith, Tom Durant, Jack Berry, Terry Moore and myself. Also in the room was Provost Collins and his daughter, Sharon. He also had the opportunity to meet Rick Smith. It was Collins and Dr.Patric Cavanaugh, Head of the Department of Health, Physical
Photo from GLSP Archives
In 1986, we did our first video, covering the Grand Opening of Treetops Golf Course with Robert Trent Jones. I had been working with Tom Durant in developing some EMU commercials for some of the programs I was putting together for the University and we were both interested in televising golf.
The year after we taped the
Treetops Grand Opening, I began to offer golf classes at Treetops. This was before our own EMU golf course was ready. EMU’s golf class before that consisted of taking students out to the stadium area to hit
Eagle Crest Golf Course
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marketing department, Dr. Dodge and Dr. Fullerton, took on that assignment. The results were put online for all to see, a very cool way to present information at the time. It was a first for the State of Michigan. The first of four Michigan Golf Summit was hosted at the Eagle Crest Resort. We worked with our local representative, Kirk Profit, who helped us get the grant. We hired Michigan Golfer Editor, Terry Moore, to work with various organizations to administer the grant. We ended up doing four Michigan Golf Summits and three Women’s Golf Summits. The Women’s Golf Summits were administered by EMU’s Susan Bairley. In 1989, Dr. William E. Shelton, became the President of Eastern Michigan University. I got a call from the President’s office saying the new president wanted to come to Michigan
The June 1989 issue of the Michigan Golfer featured Eastern Michigan’s conference center and golf course. whiffle balls. A year after I saw that I had them with Rick Smith and playing on the Jones Masterpiece. The short course format we used at Treetops was used with a variety of EMU classes and classes were soon held in Gaylord, Traverse City, Key West and Switzerland. The students loved it, the faculty loved it and the administration, with the help of Provost Collins, supported it as well. Shortly thereafter, EMU’s Corporate Education Center came on board. Suddenly EMU hit the big time. We had been known primarily as 36
an education school, now our College of Business and new College of Technology could get more heavily involved with business and industry with the new facilities. So there it was a new hotel, a conference and convention center and a new golf course. This site just asking to host a Michigan Golf Summit. The golf industry was becoming an economic force in our state, and I wrote for a State of Michigan tourism grant and nailed one for 25K. The grant had a research com- This ad invited folks to the first Michigan Golf Summit. Note the phone number as a single means ponent to it and a couple of of contact. Neither email nor a Web URL is listed. professors of the University’s
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Shelton was a part of the second and third summits at Eagle Crest Resort and a real cheerleader for golf. He served for 11 years as President and stepped down to a faculty position to complete his academic career before retirement.
In 2001, Jennie and I purchased GLSP. The company had accumulated a modest debt and we agreed to take the responsibility for it. Suddenly, we had the whole shebang. I bought out two years of service at EMU and retired, giving me more time to run the company.
One of the projects I had wanted to get into was Internet Television. Eastern Michigan had become a player in the swiftly rising Internet scene. Jennie Meyer, later to be my wife, had been impactful when she was hired away from the New England area to our campus. She was an Associate Dean of Instructional Technologies at EMU and had managed technology projects at Harvard, U Mass Dartmouth and Boston College.
Dr. William A. Shelton, President, Eastern Michigan University, 1989-2000.
Art McCafferty, center, and Tim Berners Lee, right, International World Wide Web Conference, Paris, 1996.
© Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios
We both were traveling in like circles and she essentially brought internet education to thousands of students, faculty and administrators. She helped me develop a lot of educational Internet related courses and I supplied them to a very hungry audience throughout Southeast Michigan. We went to a lot of conferences and met some of the early pioneers in the Internet world and then the World Wide Web. Our biggest coup was having lunch with Tim Berners Lee at the Louve in
As discussed, Dr. Shelton had stepped down as President and had a bit more time on his hands. As President, he served on the President’s Commission on NCAA
Photo from GLSP Archives
Paris. It was a special meeting for both parties– Jennie and I meeting one of the two individuals who created the World Wide Web, and for Tim Berners Lee, who later on received a five million dollar grant from the Knight Foundation. That grant that was initiated by Jennie’s brother, Bud Meyer who worked at the Foundation. It was really the brain power of Jennie that allowed us to take that next step– Michigan Golfer Television Show on the Internet.
Photo by Jennie McCafferty
for a week for a vacation prior to taking on his duties and he liked golf. They asked if I could show him and his wife around. Well, Michigan’s golf industry really strutted its stuff. I called around and set him up with Garland, Treetops and the Grand Hotel. He had a great time, got all but meals comped and I had a substantial leg up on all of the other administrators at EMU. Life was good.
Bill Shelton (left) and Brad Shelton report on the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, 2012.
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perfect for the new show, he knew the sport, he was a great communicator and he did not need the money. Shelton joined our team and did the first three years with us, before he left for East Carolina University, where he ended up as interim president for a couple of years.
Photo from GLSP Archives
Athletics. Also, he had picked up some experience in athletics while in school, primarily in radio. He was
Dr. John A. Fallon, President, Eastern Michigan University, 2005-2007.
We were able to hook up for some shows later on that included Bill Shelton’s son, Brad. The two of them brought us shows on the Father and Son tournament in Myrtle Beach, the Grand Opening of the Pete Dye French Lick Course, the
Taylor Made Practice Facility in Las Vegas and the Big Ten Tournament at French Lick. Brad Shelton was a natural on camera and some really interesting shows came from their adventures. A couple of years ago, Brad Shelton represented his father at the dedication of the clubhouse at Eagle Crest in the name of Roy A. Wilbanks. Wilbanks, as a VP for EMU, was the moving force in getting the Eagle Crest Resort done. He was also instrumental at getting a grant for a new College of Business building. We did a series of shows on the Wilbanks dedication which you will find at http://glsp.com/eagle_crest/ Brad Shelton not only helped with the dedication, but he worked with Director of Golf Wes Blevins and Craig Piscopink to promote their golf academy. Sadly, Brad Shelton passed away last year from a wicked strain of pneumonia He was a great talent, father and educator.
Photo from GLSP Archives
Our final tie with the University was with Dr. John Fallon and his wife Dr. Sydney Fallon. I had known the Fallons as part of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation internship program. He was an MSU intern a few year’s before me. Sydney was an EMU intern and was a year after me. All of the interns were brought to Flint for a year to learn about Community Education.
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Jamie Fallon, IV the Polymath, GLSP Composer SPRING 2016 • MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE
Long story short, they said their youngest child, Jamie, was a composer and it just so
happened that our company needed one. Internet video was highly scrutinized by music companies to make sure that producers were following copyright rules. As a producer, my small budget strategy was to find low cost music whereever I could, usually start up groups and pay them for the use of their music. Still that was only a stopgap answer as we were producing not only golf
videos, but running, travel and skiing videos as well. We needed a good assortment of music to cover the uniqueness of these shows. When I got the CD with Jamie Fallon’s music of on it, our prayers were answered. We have used his music for the past 7-8 years, and it has been a win-win situation for us.
We finalize this look at the symbolic relationship with EMU and GLSP, by indicating the relationship is continuing. We have produced a number of videos for Wes Blevins, Director of Golf at Eagle Crest Resort, with our latest being, “Eagle Eye View of Eagle Crest Resort” https://youtube.com/watch?v=rfM5l ZbMg3o. - MG -
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Photo courtesy of Red Run GC
Red Run Golf Club to Host 2016 Western Junior
The last time the Western Junior
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was contested in Michigan was in 2005 when Rickie Fowler claimed the title at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont. Other past champions include current PGA TOUR stars Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan. “We are excited to bring the Western Junior back to Michigan and to a first-class club like Red Run,” said Vince Pellegrino, the WGA’s Senior Vice President of Tournaments. “This historic course will undoubtedly present an exciting challenge to our top-notch field of junior players from across the country and around the world.”
The 2016 Western Junior will be the first time Red Run has hosted the Western Junior but the second time the club has been the stage for one of the Western Golf Association’s original three golf championships. Red Run hosted the 1958 Western Open, won by Doug Sanders.
Photo courtesy of Western Golf Association
F
or the first time in more than a decade, the oldest national junior golf tournament in the United States will return to Michigan when Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak hosts the 2016 Western Junior.
Sam Kocsis, Western Junior Champion, University of Michigan GC, 1939
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“Red Run is very happy to be hosting an event of the magnitude of the Western Junior in 2016,” said club president Chris Parrott. “The history of this tournament shows that it attracts top players from all over the United States and beyond. With players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and other PGA TOUR stars as past participants, we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this event.”
Originally designed in 1914 by Tom Bendelow and redesigned in 1916 by World Golf Hall of Famer Willie Park Jr., Red Run has seen golf greats Ben Hogan, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson pass through its doors. In addition to the 1958 Western Open, Red Run also hosted the Motor City Open in 1950 and 1951.
– Western Golf Association News Release
Photo courtesy of Western Golf Association
Red Run also has been a steadfast supporter of the Evans Scholars Foundation, a nonprofit administered by the Western Golf Association that has awarded full college tuition and housing scholarships to nearly 10,000 caddies since 1931.
Rickie Fowler, Western Junior Champion, Blythefield Country Club, 2005
Western Junior Winners at Michigan Courses 2005
Rickie Fowler
272
Blythefield Country Club
1999
Hunter Mahan
266
Treetops Sylvan Resort
1994
Brad Elder
2&1
University of Michigan GC
1991
Trip Kuehne
1 up
Michigan State University
1982
Jim Benepe
4&3
Travis Pointe Country Club
1970
Jeff Reaume
4&3
University of Michigan GC
1961
Phil Marston
2&1
Michigan State University
1956
Dick Foote
3&1
University of Michigan GC
1949
Dean Lind
2&1
University of Michigan GC
1939
Sam Kocsis
1 up
University of Michigan GC
1935
Fred Haas, Jr.
7&6
Oakland Hills Country Club
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Ubiquitous Michigan Golf
http://glsp.com
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24/7/365
http://michigangolfer.com
SPRING 2016 • MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE
Slice of Life By Terry Moore
My Masters Scrapbook
I
Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
f a picture is worth a thousand words I’ve well exceeded my word count. You see, I was planning to write a preview of the Masters and talk about how defending champion Jordan Spieth has rocketed to golf fame with sensational play, particularly with his bullet-proof short game, and with admirable manners and sportsmanship.
Terry Moore
In this preparation, I was looking at my Masters file and came across some images that helped me recount my 30 years plus tenure covering the tournament. As a result, I instead decided to do a personal photo essay instead about the Masters. Luckily, my spouse is an expert and diligent archivist when it comes to preserving photos. I had some good material. On second thought, you can be the judge about that.
Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
Frank Broyles and me (1978) My first Masters tournament was in 1978, five years before Michigan Golfer was born. Accompanied by my parents, my wife Deb and I went to a Tuesday practice round. On the course on that day, I saw and introduced myself to Frank Broyles, then Athletic Director of the University of Arkansas and a well-known college football TV color commentator. As evidenced by his green jacket and his cart, he was also an Augusta National member and served on the Press Committee. Before the days of selfies, he was nice enough to pose with me for this picture. Little did I realize six years later I would be a part of the Masters Press contingent overseen by Broyles. (’78 Masters Champion: Gary Player)
Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
Masters Press badge (1984) Dismissing the title of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984 to me is synonymous with the Masters. An editor of the upstart Michigan Golfer, I was granted my first Masters Press badge following an application process which didn’t include the Broyles photo. However, I did submit two copies of our humble monthly newspaper including exclusive Q & A cover stories with former President Gerald R. Ford (a charter MG subscriber!) and Tom Watson, Masters champion in 1977 and 1981. (’84 Masters Champion: Ben Crenshaw) MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE • SPRING 2016
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With Herbert Warren Wind (1992)
Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
In the early days of the Michigan Golfer, I corresponded with Herbert Warren Wind, the esteemed author and golf writer for The New Yorker. Ever the gentleman, Wind always replied with polite letters, some of which were handwritten, while always encouraging me to say hello at the Masters. This photo of us was taken at the awards dinner for the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), held annually in Augusta on Wednesday evening. On this occasion, Wind was honored with the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award. (’92 Masters Champion: Fred Couples)
Augusta National’s 13th hole & me (1995) For ten years, I submitted my name into the Masters Press lottery to get a chance to play Augusta National on the Monday following the tournament. In 1995, my name was finally drawn. To put it mildly, it was quite the thrill. I mean, what a treat to play Augusta National in such optimum condition amid such breathtaking beauty. I didn’t play particularly well on the back nine (where we started) with ruinous and watery triples on holes 12 and 15, but I fared better on the front with a two-overpar 38 and a somewhat respectable 84 total (If I were a 12 index). My request to sleep soundly that evening in the Butler Cabin was harshly denied. (’95 Masters Champion: Ben Crenshaw) 44
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Photo courtesy of Terry Moore
Tear-stained MGM Grand betting ticket (2012) In October 2011, my wife and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas. Long story short: At the MGM Grand Sports Race & Sports Book, I purchased a $10 bet at 100 to 1 odds for Louis Oosthuizen to win the next Masters. Even shorter: I cried when my beloved Louis, who had a double eagle during the final round on no. 2 while I was on the course at no. 5, eventually lost in a playoff to Bubba Watson. On no. 10, Bubba’s wicked-great hooked wedge shot out of the trees ended up trumping Louis’s albatross and my chance at a grand! Oh by the way, at the MGM, Grand Bubba was listed at 40-to-1. Some rube from Dubuque placed fifty bucks on him. (2012 Masters Champion: Bubba Watson)
Photo by Terry Moore
Adam Scott posing with Tiya Chowdary (2014) I love this image of the classy Masters defending champion posing for a picture with one of the finalists for the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship held on the Sunday of Masters week at Augusta National. Tiya Chowdary, competing in the Girls 10-11 age group, was a 5th grader who joined her father at a driving range at age 3, attended an LPGA event at 5, and now was photoed with Adam Scott at 11. What a day for her, her fellow juniors, their parents and for golf! (2014 Masters Champion: Bubba Watson)
Photo by Terry Moore
Stacy Lewis and Rory McIIroy (2015) Sorry, Stacy and Rory, for you to follow Tiya (above) but at least I didn’t include any cute animal acts. Ms. Lewis and Mr. Mcllroy stopped at a designated “photo op" area preceding the GWAA awards dinner last April where the handsome duo were honored as the Players of the Year for 2014. Luckily, I was joined by Ruth Moran and Bernard McMullen, longtime friends from Tourism Ireland, who knew McIIroy and thus he and Stacy stopped for my paparazzi moment. (2015 Masters Champion: Jordan Spieth)
Like the Masters itself in all of its glory, sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Founding Editor of Michigan Golfer, Moore was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2011
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