Michigan Golf Journal February 2023

Editor’s Letter

February is the time of year Michigan golf lovers start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and know that, with the right kind of weather, golfing in March is possible and not that far off.

So, we are bringing you ideas about where to play with a piece on the wonderful small-town course in Brooklyn, near MIS Speedway, that’s owned by Jackson native Dave Hill, the former PGA Tour and Senior Tour 18-time champion. Also, we have the top10placestoplayinmetro Detroit.

Additional items you’ll find here in the February edition:

Michigan’s youth who earned full-ride college scholarships via the EvansScholars program

Locations for the upcoming Drive,Chipand

Puttqualifiers in Michigan

A cover story on the incredible growth of golf in the U.P. in such a short time period

Oakland University’s new women’s golf coach with LPGA Tour pedigree

The West Michigan Golf Show, new equipment reviews and more

We also share a summary of the state’s five public courses that turn100yearsoldin2023. We invite you to give them a try, as we also plan to do and report on later this year.

Thank you for joining us on these adventures and more.

TomLang EditorandPublisher

What's Inside:

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TPC Boston, Aronimink Golf Club, Sea Island Golf Club, Champions Golf Club, Castle Pines, Desert Mountain, The Golf Club of Tennessee, Chambers Bay and TPC Deere Run.

From these qualifiers, 80 finalists – 40 boys and 40 girls – will earn an invitation to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 7, the eve of the 2024 Masters Tournament.

Michigan Drive, Chip and Putt Michigan Drive, Chip and Putt

Qualifying Locations Qualifying Locations

118coursesaroundtheMittenthefirststoponthe2024competition 8coursesaroundtheMittenthefirststoponthe2024competition

ByTomLang ByTomLang

With the next Drive, Chip and Putt competition all set for early April at Augusta National, registration for the following year’s competition in 2024 are now open on DriveChipandPutt.com.

The 10th qualifying season begins April 30 with 340 local events across the country, including 18 locations in the state of Michigan. However, Michiganders who live close to border states can register and play in those locations if they chose. Local qualifying will continue throughout the summer.

Entrants will play in girls’ and boys’ divisions in four age categories, with scoring centered around skill development in driving, chipping and putting. Online registration makes it easy for parents to sign up their golfer and find a local qualifier near them. Registration is open to golfers of all skill levels with no prior experience required to participate.

Top performers at the local level will advance through subregional and regional qualifiers in July/August and September/October, respectively. This season’s 10 regional hosts feature several USGA and PGA Championship sites, including Scioto Country Club,

Turning 100: Turning 100: Centennial Courses in Michigan Centennial Courses in Michigan

ByTomLang

Unofficial research reliant almost solely on Google found that about half a dozen public golf courses were built in 1923 in Michigan– making this year their 100th anniversaries. Two more are private courses.

Our goal is to play the public courses this coming golf season and report back our impressions to readers:

BRAE BURN, Plymouth

Still in an area of metro Detroit that seems very remote, Brae Burn is on Five Mile Road, west of the Home Depot at Five and Beck Roads, imagine how far it was away from the crowd in 1923. Yet Wilfrid A. Reid designed a track that includes a double dog leg par five stretching to a massive 666 yards – easily one of the longest holes in the state.

An online review says: “The rest of the holes at Brae Burn Golf Course offer a good mix of challenges. It's a rolling layout, with lots of elevated greens and tee boxes and shots over depressions. Water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes.”

ROUGE PARK, Detroit

The 18-hole track is considered a wildlife oasis among the concrete and development of the city, often with deer, turkeys, pheasant, hawks, heron, and many other birds found on the property. The Rouge River runs through the course – not far from the intersection of I-96 and Telegraph Road – and influences shots on at least seven holes. Many fairways are tree lined yet the greens have some subtle but not

BraeBurn

aggressive undulations.

RACKHAM GOLF COURSE, Detroit

Technically in Huntington Woods but owned by the City of Detroit, Rackham claims to be the first 18-hole public course to open in Michigan, 100 years ago. (Other public courses are older but opened as 9 holes.) The Donald Ross original design had some alterations in the late 1980s due to the construction of I-696 that travels along the course’s edges and the bordering Detroit Zoo.

DEARBORN HILLS, Dearborn

A wonderful course for beginners and shorter hitters, Dearborn Hills usually cannot be played early in the spring as it’s in a natural watershed for the Rouge River and keeps the surrounding neighborhoods from flooding. But when it’s open, it is a treat. The total length is under 4,600 yards, but it’s not an all par 3 course. The layout has a nice mix of shorter challenges and feels like a lowlying wildlife refuge from the housing and commercial developments perched above that surround the property 100 percent.

INDIAN RIVER GOLF CLUB, Indian River

One of the oldest clubs in northern Michigan, Indian River’s modest beginnings of a 9-hole course that history describes as not much fancier than a cow pasture, has grown and transformed into a highly touted golf experience by national golf pubs. Only pieces and parts of the original holes remain (then called Burt Lake GC), while the second nine construction begin in 1983. The current clubhouse replaced other building iterations and opened in 1995.

The semi-private course, which allows public play, originally had no bunkers on the course and the only water hazard was a cement artesian-fed pond at the base of the current #1 tee. That has all dramatically changed.

Island Resort & Casino Comes a Long Island Resort & Casino Comes a Long Way in Short Time Way in Short Time

ByTomLang

Slow and steady growth is a common mantra to business professionals and organizations.

In the case of Island Resort & Casino in the Upper Peninsula, exceptional growth and demand for golf has been their reality since the day Sweetgrass Golf Club opened 15 years ago. The demand was partially due to a golfing boom in lower northern Michigan that extended up into the scenic U.P.

In the short years since the Sweetgrass Golf Club opened on the site owned by the Hannahville Indian Community, just north of Escanaba, Sweetgrass Golf Club has:

hosted 11 EPSON Tour events has won numerous golf awards for design, beauty and playability

ultimately ascended to the 2022 title of National Golf Course of the Year from the National Golf Course Owners Association

The resort has also created the very successful sister golf course, Sage Run, and expanded their on-site hotel towers to 454 rooms, the most in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula region north of Milwaukee.

All in just 15 years !

“Yes, it’s been on a rise for quite a while, and we hope to keep that going,” GM Tony Mancilla recently told me. “I’ve played Sweetgrass probably more than anybody, so it can be described as when you gain weight, if you see someone every day they might not notice it, but you wait a few years and it’s like, ‘ wow, he got big fast.’ So yes, it has happened pretty quick and it’s pretty impressive when you frame it like that.”

The Hannahville Indian Community became a federally-recognized tribe in 1913, about 80 years after their ancestors, who escaped the forced relocation of the Potawatomi people to Kansas, first settled in the U.P.’s Cedar River region. After decades of struggles and as late as 1965, members of the community still had little money, had no running water and no electricity. If you said, ‘ wow, what a change since then,’ we’d be forgetting that as late as 1984, what is now the large, financially successful and philanthropic resort was humbly referred to as a simple bingo hall.

Substantial changes began to happen in 1985. That is the year the Hannahville Casino opened near the Tribal Administration Center. It offered bingo and couple of card games in a pole barn. In 1987 the name was changed to Chip-In Casino, possibly foretelling of the future the game of golf would play in the resort’s special development.

More expansion came in 1991 at the present site with a new casino building and a 28-room motel. In 1997, a new Hannahville Medical Center opened when registered tribal members were at 611 living on the 5,000 acre reservation. Another 113 hotel guest rooms were added as well. From late 1998 to 2000, the Island Showroom, the Convention Center and the Island Resort & Casino RV Park opened.

A 2007 expansion of the 11-floor Palm Tower brought the total guest rooms to 326.

In 2008, Sweetgrass brought championship golf into the mix, and in short order demand was so high that since that time Sage Run was built a few miles away – and on New Year’s Eve less than 14 months ago, the latest hotel tower opening increased the total rooms available to 454.

“You see all this activity almost every day so it becomes kind of normal for us, to have all that going on,” Mancilla said. “Yet when you look back on it, you see there’s been a lot going on and a lot really has happened, it just might not seem like it does because you do it all the time.”

Designed by Paul Albanese, Sweetgrass features an open layout with some of golf’s most fun greens to putt (Redan, Biarritz, Island and

Holes9and18

Double-Green). Throughout the course, golfers will also come across a rich history of the Hannahville Indian Community, with holes named after traditional Potawatomi clans, villages, allies, medicines and symbols. The dedication to nature and the area’s heritage makes for a unique golf experience.

“There’s just so many ways to play the course,” Mancilla added. “You can walk right to the first tee (of the par 4) and take a driver and try to hit it to the edge of the green and get an easier birdie, or you can double bogey it if you don’t hit it straight. Now, I play it with a hybrid and make it a par hole and nothing higher. There’s

so many different ways to play, and a lot depends on the wind.

“The golf course rewards good play. If you’re playing well, you’re going to make up strokes on a lot of people, and if you’re not playing well you’ll be punished. It rewards good play. There’s nothing tricky about it. Some might say they played well but they didn’t get any bounces. On this course, if you’re playing well, you’ll score. I think it’s fair.”

Mancilla’s last comments were mostly in response to how the EPSON Tour players discuss playing Sweetgrass. The tournament

Hole14

this coming June 23-25 is its 12th season and brings in 156 players from all parts of the world as they seek their tour card for the LPGA Tour. Local charity monies raised account for about one-third of the annual budget of the local YMCA.

The event has long been recognized by the players as one of their favorite events on the feeder tour.

“People come here from all over the world,” Mancilla said. “This is the most international event that we have in the area. And that includes the Green Bay Packers. It’s just so unique and brings us something different to support. When the players get here and park their car, they never have to get back in it for a week because everything is right here – the hotel, restaurants, the practice facilities and the golf course.”

Sweetgrass features masterfully crafted rockwork with a prairie links style. The course challenges with an island green on number 15 and a pair of spectacular waterfalls that greet golfers as they play up the twin par five 9th and

18th holes to an enormous, shared green. My one career hole-in-one is at Sweetgrass.

Green complexes like a Biarritz and a Redan, along with historic wood and iron bridges rescued from other areas in the state, are compelling design components and part of the story of the course – along with links to its Native American roots.

Hole12

Sweetgrass has been ranked by Golfweek, GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest in various ‘best-courses’ lists.

“This also worked as inspiration for stories to share throughout the course. We put some wooden posts in the side of a hill (along the fairway) that are representative of (the remains of) a fort, from the 1650’s,” Albanese said about one of the design elements at Sweetgrass. “And the green complex itself worked out very nicely to be a redan style green. And a redan is the French word for fortress.”

Mancilla is grateful for the massive expansion that’s taken place at Island Resort & Casino. But staying in place is not part of the plan.

“You have to start small, make your mistakes and work and get better,” he said in reflection of what’s transpired in the last few decades, which he has all witnessed in person. “And every year you add a little more to it.

“And we’re not done growing yet.”

Hole17

“It’s my own philosophy and the Native American philosophy that we always try to make the design fit the land, and truly allowing it to reflect the principles of Native Americans’ respect for the land,” said Albanese, a Michigan transplant from east coast Harvard and now a Plymouth resident.

Small Town Golf Course Steeped Small Town Golf Course Steeped in Senior PGA Tour History in Senior PGA Tour History

ByTomLang

It’s not often golfers can walk into a clubhouse and see the walls adorned with multiple dozens of personal stories and photos of life for a Michigander on the PGA Tour.

Yet you’ll find that very modest museum-like setting in the small town of Brooklyn in nearly the dead center of Michigan, just SE of Jackson. The course – the Hills’HeartoftheLakes – has been owned by former PGA Tour Champions star Mike Hill, and his wife, Sandy, for more than 35 years. Their daughter, Kristen, has been working there and managing it ever since.

Older generation Michiganders will recall that Mike, now 84, was a ‘journeyman’ PGA Tour golfer who won three times on Tour – but when he reached the then Senior Tour, he burnt the

field to win 18 times, nearly topping $1 million his first year of 1989, then surpassing it in 1991, becoming only the second player to do so. Those are huge paydays compared to current adjusted dollars.

Mike recently told me about the family’s financial challenges as his regular Tour life was slowing down. In the early 1980s, they didn’t have enough money to retire so Mike needed to work while Sandy continued to teach school.

“I guess the reason we have a golf course is because I was forced to make a living and golf was something I thought I knew a something about and knew I couldn’t make a living in farming,” Mike said.

The former course owner eventually contacted the Hills to try selling to them, but they decided

Hole16

on a lease agreement to start in 1984. They had 6 golf carts and 9 holes. Within two years the Hills’ made enough money to buy the property outright, and it was after Mike’s first year on the Senior Tour they decide they could afford to build the back nine – which Mike designed with the helpful knowledge of playing great courses all over the country.

I’m glad they did. The back nine is a little hillier and has more interesting turns compared to the first 8 holes that are basically straight, designed by old Ford co-workers in the 1950s with pushup greens, which the Hills’ updated with strategic bunkering.

“It’s a very challenging course even though it’s under 6,000 yards,” Mike said. “I believe there are very few people who can shoot even par there. The greens are a little tricky and we keep

it in wonderful shape.

“I think the experience of seeing all the golf courses that I’ve played really played a big role in how I could (manage) this golf course; and being able to make money on the senior Tour gave us the money to buy equipment,” and keep it in great shape to this day.

“My wife and I used to be able to go up there and play anytime we wanted, and now we have to make a tee time. So, that tells you something about your course.”

Hole 16 is the signature hole at 410 yards. A player’s slightly-downhill drive needs to stay short of the large irrigation pond, which golfers need to clear on their approach to a large green. Both 17 and 18 are shorter par fours, both at under 300 yards – an example of how little land remained when building the back nine.

“When you come to 17 (a long poke uphill) and 18, they are fairly short holes,” Mike said. “But if you go ahead and think you can drive them you can make 6s and 7s pretty quick. But if you play smart golf and take an iron off the tee then

Hole13

pitch it onto the green, you’d probably make birdies and pars. Using driver, it’s easy to end up in the hazards or the swamp.”

In the end, things all boil down to family and small town pride and atmosphere. People come from Toledo and Detroit often with the easy access of I-94.

“I think people come here because we keep the course immaculate,” Kristen said, echoing her father’s comments. “It’s beautiful, a great place, and we have a homey feel here being in a small town. People come to the area for all the lakes in the area.

“It’s a really nice story (dad’s career and the course),” she added. “I think people enjoy it here, so we’re lucky. Golfers are always pretty optimistic people, so they’re always looking forward to the next good experience – and that’s what we do.”

Dave&MikeHill

LPGA Pro LPGA Pro

and D1 and D1 AllAllAmerican American Now Now Leading Leading Oakland Oakland Women Women Golfers Golfers

Oakland University’s women’s golf team, gearing up for a repeat of last year’s Horizon League championship win and another trip to the NCAA regionals, has a new leader with an exceptional pedigree.

SarahBurnham, a 3-time All-American and 2time Big Ten Player of the year at Michigan State, got the Golden Grizzlies women off to a fast start last fall with two wins and two second-place finishes in four matches. Burnham was hired by OU in July, 2022 after she spent three years on the LPGA tour where she played in 41 tournaments, notching two top-10 finishes.

Before graduating from MSU in 2019, Burnham set the women’s single-season and 4-year scoring average records of 70.68 and 72.92, respectively. She shot the most career rounds in the 60s (19) and set the Big 10 Championship

ByDavidBassett

lowest-ever score for a single round (63, nine under par). During her second season on the LPGA tour, she returned to Michigan to win the 2020 Michigan PGA Women’s Open by 10 shots.

How important to Sarah’s potential college coaching success is her pedigree as an elite amateur and an LPGA touring pro?

Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, Sarah’s coach at MSU, thinks it could make a tremendous difference. She said that Burnham is the hardest working player she has coached in her 27-year career, and that strong worth ethic is sure to translate into coaching success.

“Sarah has a powerful, uncommon ability to focus on what needs to improve and to keep grinding away at it until it gets better,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “Players will sense that dedication and tenacity quickly. They’ll see

that she not only understands what it takes to be successful, but that she has followed through and actually done it.

“Maybe most important, Sarah has no visible ego. Nothing is all about her. I’m confident that her players will respect her and work hard.”

Slobodnik-StollalsocitedBurnham’smaking theMSUDean’sListfourstraightyearsdespite havingdyslexia.

“College wasn’t easy for Sarah; she has worked awfully hard for everything she’s achieved, on the course and in the classroom,” she added.

Burnham is the fourth D1 women’s head coach coming from the MSU program: Caroline Powers-Ellis recently took over at Notre Dame, Emily Glaser is at Florida and Aimee Neff at North Carolina are the three others.

Nick Pumford, Oakland U’s director of men’s and women’s golf teams, also points to Burnham’s commitment to classroom and oncourse success as a key to being hired to replace Alyssa Gaudio-Guss, who was named 2021-22 Horizon League coach of the year before deciding to take a break from coaching.

“The margins on the LPGA tour are so small, a quarter stroke here and a tenth of a stroke there. The technical difficulty and mental pressure to not only play within those margins, but actually improve across 30 or 35 professional events a year, is enormous. Sarah has been there and done that,” Pumford said.

He spoke of Burnham’s mastery of the datadriven green-reading system AimPointÆ as another example of Burnham’s high-level experience helping her be a better coach.

experience helping her be a better coach.

AimPointÆ has been used extensively on the world’s pro tours for more than a decade by players, coaches and caddies. Less common is its use in college and junior golf. While it isn’t difficult to learn the basics of AimPointÆ, Pumford says becoming highly proficient with it in pressure-packed elite amateur and professional tournaments is uncommon.

As the 2023 spring season gets underway, Burnham said she and her team are committed to repeating as Horizon League champs and making a better showing at the NCAA regional tournament. In 2022, the Golden Grizzlies women’s team placed 12th out of 12 teams, 80 strokes behind winner San Jose State.

“I know we can do better than that just by learning to manage pressure better during the season, putting ourselves in difficult situations in practice and using stress management tools in tournaments to remain calm and confident,” Burnham said.

Burnham, a native of Minnesota, also mentioned her success with the Navy SEALs’ “4/4/4” calming technique: breathe in for four seconds, hold that breath for four seconds, and

slowly exhale for four seconds.

“Relaxed players play better than tense players,” Burnham said. She should know.

Introducing Michigan’s Evans Introducing Michigan’s Evans Scholars for 2023 Scholars for 2023

The state of Michigan has produced 25 caddies awarded the Evans Scholarship – a full housing and tuition college grant offered to golf caddies –each of which has a unique story that reflects the scholarship’s four selection criteria: a strong caddie record, excellent academics, demonstrated financial need and outstanding character.

They will begin college this fall as Evans Scholars, with most expected to attend the University of Michigan or Michigan State University. The Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $125,000 over four years.

“Each student has demonstrated excellence in the classroom, on the golf course and in their communities,” said WGA Chairman Joe Desch.

“We are thrilled for them to join an exceptional class of newly awarded Evans Scholars from across the nation.”

What stood out is the variety of locations the caddies come from, with the Wequetonsing Golf Club in northern Michigan’s Bay Harbor producing three winners, an unusually high number for that small club. The Country Club of Detroit also has three representatives, but Oakland Hills had the most at four.

Here is a closer look at four of the Michigan winners:

RitaShemmai ofGrosse Pointe Woods, is a senior at Grosse Pointe North High School and caddies at Lochmoor Club. Her parents immigrated from Lebanon

and she hopes to one day be an orthodontist.

“At 13 years old, I recall my mother telling me about an article on the Evans that she read just after I was born. Ever since that day, she pinned the article onto our fridge for the whole family to see,” she says. “That's when I knew that I wanted to become an Evans Scholar.”

She will study biopsychology at U-M.

“The perseverance and patience that I learned from caddying eventually translated into my daily life. I thought to myself that if I could caddy at such a young age, then I could do anything,” she says. “Caddying has made me believe that I can overcome many challenges, and it instilled a positive mindset that I have kept over the course of my life.”

“Being a caddie exposed me to a wide variety of people, personalities and professions, and allowed me to be surrounded by successful men and women, who exemplified what hard work and relationship building can achieve,” he says. “The work ethic I learned from caddying transcended into the classroom and my personal goals.”

AntonVulajof Sterling Heights, is a senior at Henr Ford II High School and caddies at Bloomfield Hills Country Club. Vulaj’s parents immigrated from Yugoslavia. Due to a heart block maker at the age of one. Although he has not been able to play physical sports, he found a love of caddying.

“Due to my pacemaker, I limited myself to a loop a day,” he says.

Aidan Feuersteinof GrandRapids, is a senior at Forest Hills Eastern High School and caddies at Blythefield Country Club. He and his older brother, also an Evans Scholar, were raised by their mother. He age of 14, in j ernships. He plans to study criminal justice at MSU.

“Growing up, I’ve persevered and look forward to receiving an education that will allow me to help others, as others have helped me,” he says.

OlinAlonziofHarborSprings, is a senior at Harbor Springs High School and caddies at Wequetonsing Golf Club. He comes from a family of six and will be the first in his family to graduate from college.

EVANS SCHOLARS

“I began to work at Wequetonsing as soon as I could, and just finished my sixth year at the golf club. Caddying has taught me the important life lessons of thriftiness, doing more than the required work and how to communicate with

people,” he says. “I spend almost every day I can during the summer working. Rain or shine, I always show up.”

He plans to study pre-law at MSU.

The Western Golf Association, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, has supported the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since 1930. Known as one of golf’s favorite charities, it is the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies.

Currently, a record 1,100 caddies are enrolled at 22 universities across the nation as Evans Scholars, and more than 11,800 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr.

To learn more about the WGA and ESF, visit wgaesf.org.

EQUIPMENT REVIEW

with three Graphite Design shafts for all launch profiles for an additional $200.

Titleist has taken the very successful TSI and refined each model for better overall performance. Below are key benefits and features of the three new driver heads:

TSR2 (Maximum Speed & Distance):

TSR3 (Precision-Tuned Speed & Distance):

TSR4 (The Ultimate Low Spin Driver):

TitleistTSRMetalsReview

ByKevinCaron,ClubFitter MilesofGolf

Not many equipment releases have a bigger impact on the golf industry than when Titleist drops new drivers and fairway metals. The new lineup for 2023 follows this tradition. With a handful of updates to the TSI, Titleist has taken things to the next level.

Whether you’re a tour pro, weekend warrior, or even a beginner, there is something for you in the new TSR line. When it comes to this new release, Titleist is utilizing a straightforward tag line of “Faster. Longer. Straighter.”

In this release cycle, we are given three new driver heads (TSR2, TSR3, TSR4) and three new fairway heads (TSR2, TSR3, TSR2+). Retail cost of the drivers is $599 with the fairway metals coming in at $349 with your choice of a stock shaft. Titleist also offers a premium option

When looking at the three different models listed above, it is easy to see that Titleist offers a driver model to fit every player. An important thing to note is that Titleist also offers another model besides the previously mentioned ones –the TSR1. This is for the golfer looking for maximum launch and spin control in an ultra-

lightweight option. Titleist will be releasing the TSR1 (driver & fairway wood) in the near future, so expect to see info on that new model in the coming months.

Shifting to the fairway metal portion, here are some of the key benefits of the updated models:

TSR2 (High, Far, Forgiving):

TSR3 (Precision Tuned Performance):

TSR2+ (Tour Inspired Performance):

Editor’snote:Thissummaryjustbarely scratchesthesurfaceofallthetestingand datagatheringKevincompletedandshareson theMilesofGolfwebsite.

For the full review, visit: https://www.milesofgolf.com/titleist-tsrmetals-review/

Why is Spin Important?

ByLukeNesbitt,ClubFitter MilesofGolf

During a fitting, some of the most common questions I get are centered around the topic of spin. What does it mean? How does spin affect the flight of a golf ball? Is there a proper spin rate?

What is spin?

Spin is lift, it’s what gets the ball in the air. Spin rate in golf is measured in RPM (Revolutions per minute).

The main proponent to spin is the amount of loft you have on a club.

More loft equals more spin.

How does spin affect ball flight?

Spin is lift but lift is also drag. So the more spin you have, the more the ball fights the air. For a proper spin, you want enough spin where the ball gets high enough in the air so that it lands and stops on the green, but not so much where it starts to fight the air and lose distance.

Spin also helps make the golf ball more stable.

The more spin you have, the more control you have over the ball flight/ distance. In most cases, higher spin is preferable to lower spin.

Is there an optimum amount of spin?

Yes there is, however it is based on how you swing.

The slower you swing/ the lower you launch it, generally the more spin you will want. Vice versa for faster swing speeds/ higher launch angles.

There are certain baseline numbers you should look for:

With irons, your spin rate should roughly be your iron number

multiplied by 1000. you want around 6500-7000 RPMs of spin. you want your spin rate to fall around 22002500 rpm

With a 7 iron, With a driver,

In conclusion, spin is a very important aspect when it comes to optimizing your ball flight. You want to make sure you have enough spin to control ball flight and have the ball fly high enough to land softly on the green. The amount of spin you want is dependent on how an individual swings, but there are certain baselines that create consistency for most golfers. To check your spin rates and discuss ways to optimize them, schedule spec check with a fitter here at Miles of Golf.

Another sign of Spring: the West Michigan Golf Show

with others,” said Alt. “And our exhibitors know the value of directly communicating with their customers.”

Along with robins and crocus buds, an early sign of spring for golfers is the West Michigan Golf Show. Now in its 35th year as one of the best consumer golf shows, it’s set to welcome golfers to DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, Feb. 1012.

“So many of our patrons tell us they’re excited about the Show because they know winter is largely behind them and getting out on the course is on the horizon,” said Carolyn Alt, Senior Show Manager. “To them, the Golf Show is the next best thing to actually playing the game.”

Alt is especially encouraged by the recent attendance at other shows produced by ShowSpan. “All of the shows so far have had increased attendance over last year. People want to get out, be entertained and connect

Patron surveys from past shows bear this out. More than 75% of patrons said they “ came to the show for golf equipment and accessories” and 50% came to “plan a golf trip this season.” One patron added: “I enjoyed the numerous courses, the special show pricing and the huge assortment of golf equipment.”

Shifting to the fairway metal portion, here are some of the key benefits of the updated models: Besides hundreds of exhibits from courses and resorts to equipment and merchandise there are interactive displays and contests to engage golfers of all ages and skill levels.

Topping that list is the ever-popular Treetops Hole-in-One Challenge where an actual parthree beckons golfers to try their luck and win $100 cash on the spot for an ace. All proceeds benefit Folds of Honor and Patriot Golf Day.

For those needing to knock some rust off their swings, free golf lessons are available all

weekend, courtesy of Ferris State’s Professional Golf Management Program. Another standby is the Seminar Stage where some of the best teachers in Michigan provide free presentations to improve one’s game.

Parents and juniors relish the Family Fun Golf Zone with its large inflatable targets and putting and chipping areas. The West Michigan First Tee program expertly manages this popular attraction.

Golfers also like to compete in the Long Drive and $10,000 putting contests which also benefit local charities. With many diverse interests besides the exhibits, it shouldn’t be surprising that the average patron spends almost three hours at the Show.

One noteworthy change this year is that everyone must now purchase their tickets online as there is no box office at the Show. But it’s easy to do at www.WestMichiganGolfShow.com

Tickets are $12 with juniors under 14 free. All tickets are good all weekend.

In terms of parking, it’s best to park below DeVos Place and enter off Monroe St. NW or Lyon St. You can leave your coat in the car and go up one level to the Show entrance. But there’s also $3 parking at the Dash Lot #9 on Seward Ave where the shuttle bus runs on an 8-minute loop and drops people off at the main entrance.

And first 100 early birds each day get a free sleeve of golf balls. And who

doesn’t need golf balls ahead of the season?

Show hours are: Friday, Feb. 10, 2 pm-9 pm; Saturday, Feb.11, 10 am-6 pm; Sunday, Feb.12, 10 am-4 pm. Sponsors for this year’s show are: Treetops, Golf Association of Michigan, Golf Car Plus, Alliance Beverage, Ferris State Univ. PGM Program.

For more information, visit www.WestMichiganGolfShow.com

Youth on Course 2023 Membership Registration Open Online

Whether you were a Youth on Course member last year or are interested in joining for the first time, the online join/renew section for Youth on Course is active. The $15 annual membership will be valid for 365-days from the date of purchase which allows juniors to play at participating facilities for $5 or less. To register or learn more, please visit GAM.org/YOC.

PGA of America Announces National Award Winners

Friedrich is a Michigan PGA Section Member and the Senior Vice President of Golf Operations for Boyne Resorts in Petoskey. The national honor recognizes outstanding services in an Executive Management position, as well as leadership, vision, courage, moral character

and a substantial record of service to the Association and the game.

A PGA Member for nearly 40 years, Friedrich started as a Golf Professional at Boyne Resorts in 1976 and has been instrumental in leading the Company’s growing golf division. Today, Friedrich oversees Boyne Golf’s 13 courses and semi-private clubs in Michigan, Maine and Montana, including all staff, course agronomy and marketing nationwide, plus two golf membership groups Bay Harbor Golf Club and Country Club of Boyne.

A multi-award-winning PGA Member at the Section level, Friedrich has been recognized as the Golf Professional of the Year twice (1998, 2001), Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient (2019), PGA Golf Executive of the Year (2021) and five times as Merchandiser of the Year (1990-’92, 1995-’96).

BOYNE Resort’s Bernie Friedrich was named PGA Golf Executive of the Year and is one of two Michigan members to win 2023 PGA of America National Awards.

IanZiska,PGA–AmericanDunesGolfClub–GrandHaven,istheother.

Similarly, Ziska’s 2023 award is for PGA Merchandiser of the Year - Public Category. He started working at American Dunes before the course opened and has been instrumental in helping get the new course up and running, in addition to pro shop duties.

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Golf Digest Best Teachers under 40, Two from Michigan

Gary Bissell, age 33 of Grand Rapids and coach of the Grand Valley State men’s golf team; and Country Club of Detroit teaching pro Adam Farabaugh, age 36 have again been voted to the top teachers in the country under age 40, by Golf Digest magazine.

The award is biennial and is for the 2023-24 time frame. According to Golf Digest, there is no one formula for who makes a great golf instructor as it ranges from translating golf skills to people skills to social media influence to long hours on the range, and all the other factors in between. Congratulations gentlemen.

Kendall Academy of Golf Sees Leadership Change

Dave Kendall, a Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member and past winner of numerous Michigan PGA events, is making a shift at the top for the Kendall Academy of Golf, which opened at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti, in 1997.

With two other partners in early 2020, Kendall took over the ownership and management of the Washtenaw Golf Club and has since been splitting time at both businesses. Until now.

He is handing over the ownership and reins of the teaching academy to longtime teacher Patrick Wilkes-Krier, former assistant men’s golf coach at the University of Michigan. Kendall will not fully retire from teaching but will cut back a lot, to focus more on family and Washtenaw GC.

“I am excited for the future because Patrick’s talent as a Teacher and Coach, his desire to build on and improve what Kendall Academy of Golf, at Miles of Golf, has started for many years to come, is very exciting for me personally,” Kendall said in an open letter. “The Kendall Academy team of coaches will remain intact. Four of our eight coaches started with Kendall Academy as students; Jim Yuhas, Scott Hayes, Patrick Wilkes-Krier, and John Karcher. Patrick and John started at Kendall Academy as Juniors golfers.”

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Top 10 Public Courses in Metro Detroit

ByCarlosMonarrez

Editor’sNote:thistop10listwascompiledby DetroitFreePressgolfwriterCarlosMonarrezin late2022andthesummaryisreprintedherewith permission.

The Free Press has released its full countdown of the Top 10 Public Golf Courses in metro Detroit for 2022, curated by sports columnist Carlos Monarrez, and we ' ve compiled the entire list in one spot below. For a detailed breakdown of each course, enjoy the "read more " links to each story (if you are a Free Press subscriber).

The Free Press ranking is based on criteria that takes into account a course’s overall attributes, like challenge, playability, versatility, condition and beauty. They did not account for price there are too many variables involved in estimating value. Only courses in southeast Michigan were considered.

No.10:CoyoteGolfClub,NewHudson

Website: coyotegolfclub.com

Opened: 1999

Course architect: Scott Thacker

What you need to know: The 2023 season might be Coyote's last, with a developer proposing a 310-housing unit. The layout meanders through woods, ponds and marshes, with the course opening up on the back nine with a demanding final stretch. The par-5 18th hole requires two different forced-carry shots,

including an approach over a pond to a wide, slippery green, sloping back-to-front.

Readmore:CoyoteGolfClub whichmayclose soon hasastrong5-holefinish

No.9:MooseRidge,SouthLyon

Website: mooseridgegolfcourse.com

Opened: 2001

Course architect: Ray Hearn

What you need to know: Beautiful piece of secluded property nestled in woods on a former raspberry farm and paintball battleground.

The rare metro Detroit course that can truly claim an "Up North" feel. Challenging course that will make you pay if you ' re spraying the ball, but eminently playable if you ' re hitting it decent. Shelve the driver on the plethora of shorter par-4s. The par-5 fourth is among the longest holes around.

Readmore:MooseRidge'sUpNorthfeelisrarein southeasternMichigan

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No.8:Stonebridge,AnnArbor

Website: stonebridgegolfclub.net

Opened: 1991

Course architect: Arthur Hills

What you need to know: Great conditions, swans and diligent owners are some of the reasons Stonebridge makes our rankings. One of three Arthur Hills original designs to make our list, Stonebridge presents some challenge but mostly serves as a straightforward test that never frustrates a player and always keeps the traffic moving. It’s probably no coincidence half the holes that aren’t par-3s are dogleg rights, complementing the trajectory of most amateurs’ tee shots.

Readmore:Greatconditions,swans,diligent ownersandanArthurHillsdesignthatknowsits customers

No.7:LyonOaks, Wixom

Website: oakgov.com/parks/golf/l yon-oaks/Pages/ default.aspx

Opened: 2002

Course architect: Arthur Hills

What you need to know: Lyon Oaks is owned and operated by Oakland County, which makes it the only municipal course on

our list. The words “muni golf” usually conjure thoughts of cheapness at an unchallenging course with sub-par conditions and low rates. But nothing could be further from the truth at Lyon Oaks. The course and facilities are upscale. The star of the show is the layout set on 230 acres of hardwood forests and wetlands. The consistent design cues of fairways carefully carved into the terrain and clean lines formed by the beveled edges of ponds provide a sense of familiarity without the feeling of redundancy.

Readmore:WhyLyonOaksisthebestmuniin metroDetroit

No.6:WestWynd,OaklandTwsp.

Website: westwyndgolf.com

Opened: 2002

Course architect: Craig Schreiner

StonebridgeHole4

What you need to know: The final three holes are laid out in a funky fashion, but it makes WestWynd unique and wondrous. The 16th and 18th share a double green, yet are equally daunting and beautiful, and essentially give you two finishing holes that mirror each other around a large pond. The course lacks a driving range, yes, but has an upscale feel, thanks to brick-paved cart paths and a course manicured and maintained to a spotless degree. There are streams and elevation, well-placed hazards and fluffy sand in the rugged-edged bunkers.

Readmore:Brick-paverpaths,‘two’closing holespartofWestWynd'scharm

No.5:EagleCrest,Ypsilanti

Website: eaglecrestresort.com

Opened: 1989

Course architect: Karl Litten

What you need to know: Eagle Crest pulls off the rare feat of being home to a Division I program and also a resort course. Eastern Michigan calls it home and a Marriott is on the property. Situated along beautiful Ford Lake, Eagle Crest offers a mix of elevation and great views, with some of the fastest public-access greens in metro Detroit and one of the coolest ranges, hitting downhill towards the lake. Several holes border its banks, but no hole makes better use of its spectacular vista than the signature 16th hole, a 531-yard par-5 that is beguiling as it is beastly.

Readmore:EagleCrest,araremetroDetroitresort golfcourse,iswell-deservingofNo.5spot

No.4:Greystone,Washington

Website: golfgreystone.com

Opened: 1992

Course architect: Jerry Matthews

Greystone Even driving the long path through the pine forest that leads to the handsome clubhouse presents a sense of occasion and anticipation – a little like driving up Augusta National’s Magnolia Lane. Three distinct nines make up 27 holes on 350 acres along Oakland County’s second-highest point. Yet the aspirational nature of the entire facility sets it apart.

Readmore:ThissereneTop10publicgolfcourse letsyouplay‘UpNorth’just45minutesfrom Detroit

What you need to know: The layout makes excellent use of an old quarry, which the final three holes a par-3 and two par-4s wrap around for a difficult but exciting finish to your round and one of the best closing stretches in all of Michigan. It's as tough a finish as you’ll find, but also gorgeous, which makes the holes equally fetching, fearsome and frustrating. They wrap around a water-filled quarry that has become a 35-acre lake. The shimmering presence of that water comes into play on each hole, starting with the 209-yard par-3 16th, which plays downhill to an island green.

Readmore:Epicfinisharoundoldquarrymakes

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No.3:Shepherd’sHollow,Clarkston

Website: shepherdshollow.com

Opened: 2000

Course architect: Arthur Hills

What you need to know: Tucked into rolling, wooded terrain shared by a park-like retreat for Jesuit priests, Shepherd’s Hollow takes full advantage of its serene and secluded setting.

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No.2:TheOrchards,Washington

Website: orchards.com.

Opened: 1993

Course architect: Robert Trent Jones Jr.

What you need to know: Built on 525 acres of an apple orchard, the unique layout, variety and playability means you'll never tire of playing it. It's not too hard or too easy and provides the perfect blend of challenge and fun. Senior amateurs can enjoy this course that features

few forced carries to the greens, but also provides plenty of scoring difficulty for PGA Tour pros as the site of the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s Monday qualifying tournament. Stand on the first tee on a clear day and you can see even 35 miles away in this northerly suburb the Detroit skyline and appreciate the history of a 300-year-old city that continues to remake itself.

Readmore:Famousarchitect’sonlyMichigan golfcourseisasubtlemasterpiece

No.1:UniversityofMichigan

Website: umgolfcourse.umich.edu

Opened: 1931

Course architect: Alister MacKenzie; renovated by Arthur Hills in early 1990s.

What you need to know: One of just two designs in the state by one of golf's greatest architects, the surprising elevation and tactics on the U-M Golf Course bring a small taste of The Masters to Michigan. MacKenzie's military camouflage techniques helped inspire his designs, and that's true here. Truly no one hole resembles the other, and rare boomerang greens on the drivable par-4 sixth and par-3 14th offer a glimpse back in time and demand thoughtful strategy. The 18th displays a view of Ann Arbor and plays downhill to a large pond guarding the green it's one of the best closing holes in the state.

Readmore:No.1publicgolfcourseinmetroDetroit bringssomeofTheMasterstoMichigan

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