We’ve hit the halfway point of 2024 and are busier than ever in the golf world of the Great Lakes State.
With most of the state’s golf tournaments behind us – ranging from high school state finals to the PGA, Champions and LPGA Tours and everything in between now that June has expired – we return to a more relaxing portion of the summer season. But that doesn’t mean great golf is gone. Upcoming in the next two months are:
The U.S Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills in July, where Tiger Wood’s son, Charlie, qualified and will be playing the ven bl South Course. Will fans leave Tiger enjoy his son’s accomplishments? I hope so.
The Cairns Cup, a Ryder Cup style International competition for Adap golfers taking place in Macomb Co. and featuring a bunch of Michigan who do amazing things with a golf c despite their physical challenges.
The PGA Tour Champions’ Ally Cha with all the best age 50-plus golfers Grand Blanc … and a community co with country recording artist Thom
What's Inside:
In the spring we advised readers about four courses in the state that have turned 100 years old in 2024… but we missed two of them off the list: Elk Rapids Golf Club and Grayling Country Club. Both are open to public play, and we’ve reviewed the two gems on these pages. All this and more in the July magazine. Thank you as always for joining us.
TomLang EditorandPublisher
Pg. 4 Pg. 28
U.S.
Top Junior Players in the World Descending Upon Oakland Hills
Field of 264 Junior golfers includes Charlie Woods
ByTomLang ByTomLang
Future PGA Tour players get their start at events like the U.S. Junior Amateur.
That means golf fans can come to Oakland Hills, July 22-27, and walk alongside the next great generation of talent as the club in West Bloomfield hosts the 76th annual tournament.
Michigan last hosted this international event at Egypt Valley near Grand Rapids in 2010. Players that year included Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Shauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Wyndam Clark.
Tiger Woods won three of them as a teenager; Speith, two.
Who will be next?
Could be Tiger’s own son, 15-year-old Charlie, who recently won a local qualifier in Florida.
“These kids hit it a long way. Their level of talent is incredible,” said Jeffrey Judge, Oakland Hills member, former club president and current U.S. Junior Amateur Championship Chairman. “A lot of these top players who
are exempt are on a path, certainly to play college golf, and have aspirations to get to the pro tours. But being able to see this level of play, and walking down the fairways with them, is an experience you really can’t get anywhere else.”
The best part for golf fans – it’s all free.
Free parking at Bloomfield High School, free shuttle ride to Oakland Hills and free admission. Just show up.
A few other notables include Blades Brown, comedalist at the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. The feat surpassed Bobby Jones as the youngest medalist (to qualify for match play) in U.S. Amateur history. In May, the 16-year-old shot 10under par at the PGA Tour Myrtle Beach Classic and placed 26th.
Miles Russell received a sponsor’s exemption into the Rocket Mortgage Classic. This spring, at age 15, the 2023 AJGA Player of the Year became the youngest golfer ever to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Also qualifying was Michigander Ieuan Jones of Ann Arbor, who as a sophomore two years ago won the Division 1 state championship out of Skyline High. Another Michigan player, to be determined, is the eventual champion of the Michigan Jr. Amateur, to be played July 811 at Ferris State University.
The most telling speech at the recent Media Day for the tournament at Oakland Hills was made by Rob Doone, Director, Championships, USGA.
“I’m responsible for course set up, so my speech will be short,” was his opening line. “It’s going to be hard.”
A little later Doone added that the rough will be grown to at least 4 inches, and: “Here, we are getting a U.S. Open test. We don’t get many golf courses that allow us to do that. They’ll play at over 7,300 yards and set at par 70.”
Anyone in golf knows that Oakland Hills lost
its beloved and historic clubhouse in February of 2022 to a fire that all but leveled to the ground the nearly 100-year-old all-wooden structure. Less than two months later, the USGA announced a slate of eight future tournaments to be hosted by the West Bloomfield club. The U.S. Junior Amateur is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first USGA tournament the metro Detroit club hosted, the 1924 U.S. Open.
“Hosting the U.S. Junior Amateur I think is something our members can come together and rally around,” Judge told me. “It’s true that it’s been a hard two and a half years since losing the clubhouse. We’re looking at the Junior championship coming here … as a way for everyone to come together, maybe get to know someone they haven’t gotten to know ... So, doing this as an opportunity for all of us to help heal a little bit.”
More information at: https://championships.usga.org/usjunioramateur .html
All New Logos Launched at Treetops
Treetops has been a solid staple of ‘Up North’ golf for as long as most golfers can remember. It’s five unique and distinct courses are an anchor for the venerable Gaylord Golf Mecca and act as a main drawing card for the region nestled in both the Pigeon River Valley and the Sturgeon River Valley, to the east of the small Bavarian-themed town of Gaylord.
Treetops is a good place to create unforgettable memories. Whether it is a family outing where familial bonds are strengthened, or a large group where bragging rights become part of the lore, golfers can find something for everyone at Treetops, and use it for a basecamp of the North.
The Resort consistently earns accolades from both critics and players alike. Its inclusion in lists of the top 200 golf courses in the United States is a testament to its legacy. Whether playing a round amidst the vibrant colors of autumn or reveling in the peacefulness of a summer morning, golf enthusiasts find both solace and challenge in the natural surroundings of Treetops.
This year, the five golf layouts at Treetops earned new logos, each with a backstory of invention.
“Crafting singular and unique visual marks each one of our golf courses was a necessary evolution of the overall Treetops brand,” said Yves LeSieur, director of sales and marketing. “The characteristics of the logos enables us to tell the story on how and why the courses were named and their individual attributes.”
Jones Masterpiece: A pigeon represents the connection between the Jones Masterpiece and the Pigeon River Valley creating a memorable symbol for the golf course.
Smith Signature: In play with a golf academy feel, this icon represents the study of a golf swing and includes the initials of the distinguished golf instructor, Rick Smith.
Fazio Premier: Referencing Tom Fazio’s eyeglass frames, the frame arms are created with golf clubs.
Smith Threetops: The three golf tees “T” represent the three par course of Threetops.
Smith Tradition: Known for its tall native grasses wisping in the wind, the script “T” is highlighted with a graphic representation of the tall grass.
No Truer North: Grand Traverse Resort
and
Spa a Top Destination
Tens of thousands of golfers head to northern Michigan each summer and fall season to hit the golf links.
Yet before scrambling immediately to the first tee upon arrival, many guests at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa are first taking advantage of a lesson or two to sharpen up their game, thanks to the Resort’s year-round Golf Academy.
Mark Hill, Director of Golf Instruction, said they teach everyone from the beginner golfer to the more experienced – with programs to fit all. He said groups of four can come in, take a small group lesson, then go play for a few days and practice what they learned.
“We’ll make it fun; we’ll tailor it any way you like,” said Hill, who first interned decades ago under the famous Golf Hall of Famer Ken
Venturi. “We can do it for families too. For first time golfers, we’ll go over some etiquette and go on the golf course to show them how to play a hole. It’s so great that we have all the room at the Golf Academy, and the three different golf courses that we can take our students out to.”
Private lessons are available as well, ranging from one-time only, to doing a series of lessons. Hill indicated that 10 years ago his lessons were 80 percent one timers. Now, that has completely flipped so 80 percent of his lessons are taken as a series. “It just shows you how much people are getting into the game.”
Especially youth and women.
According to the National Golf Foundation, from 2020 to 2022, more than 800,000 women in the U.S. took up the sport to bring the total to 6.4 million female golfers. While the number of women
golfers rose about 15 percent, the male golf pool increased by just two percent in the same time frame.
“We have ladies only, three-day schools that’re a big hit,” Hill said. “We make it fun, and half the time with the ladies we’re out on the golf course. And they love that.
“We have a junior clinic that runs from midJune all the way to the end of July. Any juniors from as young as 5 to 17 years old.”
The Resort’s support of junior golf also is huge. Not only do multiple area high school teams practice and play on The Bear, The Wolverine and Spruce Run, but the Resort has played regular host to high school and college invitationals and the 41-year-old Traverse City Junior Golf Association.
TheGrandExperience:
If anyone can claim they’ve seen it all, Tom McGee can.
The Director of Golf Operations has worked at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa more than 35 years. He pointed out that nearly $11 million has recently been invested in updates for guests. The most noticeable are the 242 hotel rooms that were totally renovated in 2023 and a new
restaurant off the main lobby, formerly Sweetwater American Bistro – now NIIJII Restaurant.
The new modern and fresh restaurant will serve guests breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant was designed with inspiration from northern Michigan’s colors, textures, and nature with cultural touches incorporated in the space celebrating the heritage of Resort ownership, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. This is also where the restaurant’s name comes from. Niijii is the Anishinaabe spelling for ‘friend.’
“Reinvestment by our ownership certainly makes this a great destination – and that’s what we’re very proud about,” McGee said.
“If a guest hasn’t been here in a while or they’re first-time visitors, they come to our property and they’re always surprised by the quality of the golf
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courses, the design of the golf courses, the great conditions. And there’s the great weather as well – and we really hear about the great service, especially larger groups like 12 or 20 golfers. They’ll show up and we have their name on a golf cart, we have their name personalized on a scorecard, we’ll have their contest holes. We do that for every group on property. Even if a foursome wants to do something like that, we are ready to go.
“It starts with the service, and we can back it up by the great courses’ layouts and conditions – and the variety – and having all three golf courses start out of our one clubhouse.”
“It starts with the service, and we can back it up by the great courses’ layouts and conditions – and the variety – and having all three golf courses start out of our one clubhouse.”
The magnet to the location is Jack Nicklaus’ first northern Michigan creation – The Bear.
“The fairways are pretty wide so the key is the approach shot,” McGee said of The Bear. “Every hole is very different. The greens are tiered so if you’re good with your irons you can score pretty well with a flat putt. But if you’re on the wrong tier, good luck. The Bear is fun, it’s challenging and it’s very memorable.
“It’s got holes out in the open. You’ve got some hardwoods, some orchards, so the beauty of it is no two holes are identical. The variation in holes creates more memories for individual holes played. Every hole is an adventure.”
Gary Player’s The Wolverine was designed to be flexible and playable with four sets of tees to accommodate golfers of all abilities. The course is enjoyable for high-handicappers yet can be set up to be a true test for professional tournaments. The Wolverine has distinctive nines. The front nine is woven through water and wetlands. The back nine is constructed on rolling highland terrain with hardwoods and views of East Grand Traverse Bay.
The original golf course at the Resort was Spruce Run, which has gone through modifications over the years to accommodate the addition of The Wolverine.
“It’s well maintained; the difference that stands out is it’s tighter. When you stand on the tee box it just looks so narrow,” McGee said.
“There’s a lot of undulating greens. It’s a course that’s not built for fast greens. You can see the entire green in front of you, slanted back to front, but my advice is always play it short; if you go beyond (above) the cup you can be looking at a double bogey.”
OffTheCourse:
Names are important, which is why the property is officially called Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. The on-site spa is world-class.
It’s a place and experience to elevate your senses, calm your mind and renew your inner soul – and who doesn’t need that, whether a golfer or not?
Guests utilize the spa for a midweek pick me up, or even full days or weekends of getaway ‘ me time.’ Offerings include massage therapy, skin care, nail care and hair artistry all while featuring natural products.
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The Spa has been honored with awards and recognition from AmericanSpa and SpaWeek and is listed in SpasofAmerica’sTop100.
Great dining options include the previously mentioned NIIJII Restaurant and the longtime favorite, Aerie Restaurant & Lounge, sitting majestically at the top of the 16-story Tower portion of the Resort. The views go on for miles, just like the wide variety of things to do in the Traverse City region.
There’s also the private Beach Club complete with an outdoor pool along East Grand Traverse Bay and the opportunity to utilize water rentals. Plus, the Resort’s Governors’
SpecialDates:
August30–September2:Labor DayWeekendGolfSpecial $89 for The Bear and the Wolverine; $59 Spruce Run
October5:13thAnnualBigHole GolfTournament
$260 per foursome. Includes golf, cart and prizes – utilizing 10-inch cups on Spruce Run
October20:15thAnnualTuff EnuffGolfTournament
$130 per twosome. Includes golf, cart and prizes. Play The Bear at its absolute toughest at more than 7,000 yards
Pool, two indoor pools, and hot tubs. Landmarks like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore make for a great half-day excursion along the magnificent shoreline of Lake Michigan. You can also hop on a private tour and enjoy the tastes of the Traverse Wine Coast. After enjoying 18 by day, play 21 by night at Turtle Creek Casino. The Resort will even bring you back and forth with their complimentary shuttle.
Experience No Truer North at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.
More info at: https://www.grandtraverseresort.com/
ShannonKennedy
Two MSU Golfers Heading to U.S. Women’s Amateur
ByTomLang ByTomLang
Shannon Kennedy, the 2020 Miss Golf from Bloomfield Hills Marian High, and MSU teammate Brooke Biermann of Wildwood, MO are headed to the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship by virtue of winning their respective State Amateurs in June.
Kennedy is the 108th Michigan Women’s Amateur Champion, and Biermann won the 94th playing of the Missouri Women’s Amateur. In a new move this year by the USGA, champions from selected states are now automatically qualified into the national tournament.
"It's so great that I'm going to get the chance to share that
experience with Shannon," Biermann said. "I think it says a lot for our (MSU) program that we ' ve got amateur champions from two states playing in it and I hope we both can make a run at it."
Kennedy was heavily doubting herself just two years ago about not getting out of the stroke play portion of the Michigan tournament to reach the five rounds of match play.
“I missed the (stroke play) cut at this tournament a couple years ago and I think that was, honestly, a really big turning point in my career,” Kennedy said. “I said to my dad, ‘I’m done; like I don’t even want to do this anymore, it’s embarrassing.’ I’m a college golfer at Michigan State … I said to myself ‘ you should be winning this tournament, not missing the cut.’
"And my dad said to me, ‘look Shannon, you have the rest of your life to play golf. It doesn’t matter if you miss the cut, make the cut, you can still play golf the rest of your life. From then on I’ve tried to have the mentality I’m going to play in the Michigan Amateur as many times as I can for the rest of my life. If I don’t win it now, I can get it the next time.”
Well, she won it now – a 2-up victory over MHSAA state champ Elise Fennel of Caledonia who is on
her way to play golf at Illinois State.
Kennedy added her name to the Patti Shook Boice Trophy with 13 other Spartans since the mid-1960s.
“I feel really good looking at that trophy and seeing other Spartans on there, like Ally Geer, and coach (Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll),” Kennedy said, after noting she didn’t realize until right before the final round began that the winner got a USGA invitation.
Biermann’s victory in Missouri was a 3-day stroke play event, where she fired a 5-under par 211 (73-6870) to top the field. She took the lead in the second round with a 4-under par 68 and closed out with a 2under par 70 to hold on for the win.
After opening the championship tied for fourth place at 1-over par 73, Biermann bounced back with her 68, a tournament record, thanks to five birdies, including four on the back nine.
Mr. Golf: Will Preston
ByTomLang ByTomLang
The highest honor each boys’ high school golf season comes with the naming of Mr. Golf.
That ‘opening-of-the-envelope-moment’ goes to – Will Preston of Grand Rapids Catholic Central for 2024.
“I remember sitting with my coach at a practice my freshman year, talking about goals for the team and for myself for the first year, and all four years of high school golf,” Preston told me. “One of them was to win a state championship and eventually earn Mr. Golf. It’s really nice to do that. This is pretty cool.
“Like some of the past winners, with Lorenzo (Pinilli), Bryce Wheeler, PJ (Maybank). They’re all obviously great golfers and are doing some great things. So being there with my name up with them is pretty cool.”
He won the Division 2 individual state championship in early June. His team didn’t make the trip out of Regionals this season, but with his leadership, won Div. 3 team titles in his freshman and junior years.
This spring he was medalist six times, and runner up five more times, with a third and a fourthplace additionally.
“Drew has been an excellent mentor, starting right in his freshman year,” said coach Kim Napieralski. “He took the young fellas by the hand and led them down the path of ‘this is how you practice, this is how you play, this is the demeanor you should have.’
“And he’s probably one of the most confident and calm players I have ever met. I have been coaching for 25 years and I have never had such a quality human being on my golf teams, and that’s outside of his golf. A coach’s dream. I’d like to have eight more of him next year.
“He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s kind, he’s genuine,” she added. “He’s so many good things wrapped up into one person.”
Preston learned golf from his grandfather, an accomplished amateur in Indiana, who at age 72 still shoots his age or better on many occasions. He’s won the Indiana Mid-Am and the Sr. Amateur.
“He brought me up through the game and I’ve always looked up to him,” Preston said of his maternal grandfather, Sam Till. “It took quite a few years of my life to do so, but I can beat him now, but he’ll still beat me, as recently as this winter, playing a tee up.
“His role was more of a golf buddy. He obviously helped me with stuff throughout my life, whether it be struggles or just some simple tips. (Mr. Golf) is a big honor and he said he was very proud I was able to do that.”
Other accolades include:
All State as a freshman and sophomore. Super Team honors as a junior and senior.
Tied the school record for the lowest round at the MHSAA Regionals: 69 (2023)
School record - lowest round in an 18 hole nonleague event: 66 (2024)
MHSAA Team State Championship (2021, 2023)
MHSAA Team State Championship Runner-up (2022)
School record - lowest team score at an 18 hole event of 293 (with teammates Matthew Sokorai, Sebastian Deimel, Tommy Jandernoa, Charlie Maczka, and Noah Onstott); in which Preston carded a 4-under par 68.
Academically, Preston was the Salutatorian of his class, on top of his athletic successes – being named GRCC’s 2024 Man of the Year, as voted by the senior class.
State Champions:
Div. 1: Detroit Catholic Central, team; Julian Menser, medalist
Div. 2: Orchard Lake St. Mary, team; Preston, medalist
Div. 3: Traverse City St. Francis, team; David Ansley, medalist
Div. 4: Clarkston Everest Collegiate, team; Will Pennanen, medalist
JulianMenser
EricLilliboe McCoyBiagioli
Ferris State Dominates State
ByTomLang ByTomLang
Ferris State University golfers had a fabulous few weeks in June.
Bulldog graduate Eric Lilleboe, age 36 of Okemos, won the 107th Michigan Open while on break from the PGA Tour Americas where he often plays – and not long after, current Bulldog sophomore McCoy Biagioli took home the 113th Michigan Amateur title played at Boyne Highlands.
One year ago, Biagioli was playing golf for White Lake-Lakeland and finished a respectable T5 at the high school state finals. Now reaching Michigan Amateur champ; that’s a major improvement over 12 months, one Biagioli said came from focusing on his short game.
“I’ve really been working on my short game and having a caddie (former high school
teammate Marcus Kainhofer) helping read the putts definitely helps,” Biagioli said after the final round besting of Jimmy Dales of Northville, 3 and 1. “But I struggled all fall during college season with chipping, and today I got up and down four times the last match, so that was big.”
Lilleboe kept his lead through the final three rounds and won the Michigan Open Championship played at Oakland University Golf & Learning Center.
It was the second time Lilliboe won the coveted state professional title. He also won in 2019 and will have his name inscribed on the James D. Standish Trophy for the second time. He did it by shooting a closing 1-over 72 in wind-whipped conditions on the Katke-Cousins course and finished with a 6-under 278 total, four shots clear of the field to earn the $15,000 first-place check.
“It’s very nice,” he said of winning for the second time and taking the winners’ walk up the final hole with a significant lead. “That course was a
bear today, really firm greens, really tough to play in the wind, and I was very happy obviously to be where I was.”
Lilleboe’s lead was trimmed to two strokes a few times during the final round, but
even after he made a double-bogey to start the back nine, he still managed to have a three-shot lead as the others chasing him had issues with the whipping winds and fast greens, too.
“After making the double-bogey, I just told myself to keep going because I figured that hole was playing over-par for the day into the wind,” he said. “I was looking (at the leaderboard) more today because you just don’t
know if someone’s playing well and is maybe 5under or something. So yes, I was looking, and I saw a lot of bogeys being made. So, I was hanging on and trying to hit good shots, get on the green in regulation and have putts at it.”
Biagioli’s Michigan Am win earned the almost 19year-old a trip to the U.S. Amateur in mid-August. It’s the first year the USGA added several state champions to their qualifying list.
The Michigan Amateur tournament is two days of stroke play and six rounds of match play to determine the winner. This was the first year Biagioli has made it to the 64-man match play field after two prior attempts.
“Our motto this week was all gas, no brakes,” he said. “We just kept the peddle down and kept going.”
New Vintage Golf Accommodations
HuntersRidgeHole18
ByTomLang ByTomLang
In the golfing world hype of ‘everything is new’ or has received a major overhaul, the owners at Links of Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Howell are banking on golfers who want something a little different for their overnight stays.
How about a 150-year-old farmhouse that sleeps 12 ?
They’ve got it, one of the more recent additions to Airbnb, sitting right at the 13th tee of the golf course.
“We booked the Farmhouse at Hunters Ridge for a family golf outing,” said Sarah of Novi in an online 5-star review. “This place was perfect. The house was extremely well stocked, clean and beautiful. We had nine people and we all slept very comfortably. The house was so spacious from the screened (back) deck to the living room to the
beautiful yard. I would recommend (in fact I already have) this place to anyone looking for a golf weekend of a peaceful getaway. This is probably my favorite Airbnb!”
Hunters Ridge
was purchased by a group of MSU alumni friends about half a dozen years ago, and they have been reinvesting money into getting the course back on solid ground as it grows in popularity – including a GolfPass ranking as one of the better conditioned courses in Michigan. Brand new this year are fullGPS Ezgo carts.
A separate family member of one owner refurbished the Farmhouse 8003 and has been renting it out to golf groups, wedding parties and reunions.
The Links at Hunters Ridge was designed by the late Jerry Matthews, and Paul Albanese, the latter who was onsite almost daily for two years overseeing the construction in the mid-1990s on the Miesle family farm, dating back several generations of theirs to the 1870s. Within a few years of opening, Hunters Ridge hosted a U.S. Open qualifier.
My favorite stretch of holes on the front nine are holes 4-6. The 4th is a short par four that goes a little uphill and slightly to the right.
The 5th is a downhill par 3 requiring a good poke to clear a marsh, to a thin front-to-back, but wide green. Then comes No. 6, a long par five that has a creek cutting across and one of the few large trees on course to navigate around.
Perhaps the crowning jewels, though, are the
closing holes. The 17th tee is the highest point on the property from where you can see the entire course and drops 45-60 feet to the par three green. Then 18 is a par 5 risk-reward hole with water guarding the right side of the three-tier green complex.
A year ago Elayna Bowser of Dearborn made a career switch to selling houses instead of chasing professional golf dreams, but she clearly has not given up on the game.
The 27-year-old reinstated amateur shot a final-round 1-over 73 for a 2-under 142 tournament total and a seven-shot win in the 26th GAM Women’s MidAmateur Championship at Travis Pointe Country Club.
“I gave it a good go for four years,” the 2019 Michigan Women’s Amateur champion said of playing professionally. “I can sit here and say I gave it my all and it led me to why I decided to switch back to amateur golf. I didn't want to continue the route I was going and end up hating the game.”
Four golfers finished at 5-over 149 in her wake: Isabella Gimenez de Garcia of Portage, who shot 75 to close, 2022 Mid-Amateur champion Chelsea Collura of Wyandotte, who shot 74, last summer’s Michigan Women’s Amateur Champion Katie Chipman of Grand Rapids, who shot 73 and Ashley Mumby of Ann Arbor, who shot 72. Chipman took home the secondplace trophy by winning a four-way scorecard playoff.
Kevin VandenBerg Adds GAM Senior Match Play Championship to Resume
Mattawan native Kevin VandenBerg, ranked the No. 1 senior amateur golfer in the country last year by Golfweek, came home to Michigan once again to claim a significant Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) victory.
The financial advisor who competes across the country and lives in Pulaski, N.Y., but maintains his GAM membership so he can visit home in the summer to play in tournaments, won the 16th GAM Senior Match Play Championship.
He beat Gunnar Karlstrom of Clarkston 5 and 4 in the final match at Polo Fields Golf & Country Club to add his name to the Jerry A. Walker Memorial Trophy.
A Super Senior Champion (age 65-andover) was also crowned. Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Randy Lewis of Alma held off Ian Harris of Bloomfield 2-up in that division’s title match. Lewis is a two-time Michigan Amateur champion and the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion.
100 Years at Grayling Country Club
ByTomLang ByTomLang
With holes 17 and 18 meandering parallel along the AuSable River, a round of golf at Grayling Country Club can feel as peaceful as a lazy river float.
That’s been the scene for 100 years in the small northern Michigan town, once an epicenter for logging and the manufacturing of arrows at the former Bear Archery company. Old wood moorings of a former lumber company dock on site still poke up out of the river along the 18th hole shoreline, marking an eerie connection to the past.
It’s very common that 100-year-old courses in Michigan first started as nine holes and later expanded to 18. What’s a little unique about Grayling CC – which is open for public play – is that it remained nine holes for almost 70 years before the expansion in 1990.
When the redesign took place to double the course’s size, the new holes were weaved into open land on property – instead of creating an entirely new back nine. The nine original holes are now played as holes 1-4, then there is a jump to 9 and 10, then finishes off as holes 16-18.
The course is filled with old, majestic white pines that survived the lumber days of Grayling. Two of them guard the front of the 15th green. Since the course plays only 5,800 yards from the tips, it’s a great layout for families, friends and social outings –but there remains enough obstacles and twists and turns to make it a strategic challenge for even the best golfers.
Former manager of the club, Rob Lawe, is currently one of 75 stockholders in the club. Now a lawyer by trade, he first began in 1992 at age 12 cleaning carts for free golf. He’s been on staff or involved with the club for 32 combined years. Lawe is focusing on saving those majestic trees, “ as long as Mother Nature allows” to help battle the shorter yardage of the course.
“Having those in play can dictate your shot,” he said. “That also makes it one of my favorite things about the course.
“We have enough doglegs and water features that you definitely have to keep the ball in play and hit it to certain spots. And from some of the back tee boxes you really have to shape many of your shots right and left.”
A severe tragedy hit the Grayling CC in April of 2013, when the Grayling High School golf team was involved
in a fatal car crash traveling home from a Traverse City tournament. Head coach Jason Potter and player Louis Menard IV were killed. The crash and aftermath made national news and former Golf Channel personality Matt Ginella attended the one-year anniversary. Now, a permanent memorial sits at the back of the clubhouse near the 18th green, made of stone pavers, a firepit and three rocks with commemorative wording carved in stone.
A third player, Jake Hinkle, was in critical condition with brain injury and a shattered femur and went many months in rehabilitation – yet made an amazing recovery to play golf in the following year’s high school state finals, and at a D3 college after high school.
From that tragedy, a foundation honoring Potter was established, with the funding going to promote and fund junior golf for the kids in town. It supports:
Hosting the club’s own golf clinic for 4 days each June
Sponsor the costs for kids to attend additional youth clinics in the region
Purchasing dozens of sets of youth clubs to have onsite all summer long at the club, up to 80 sets, for kids to use free anytime. Clubs are stored in what they call Jason’s Locker. $1,000 golf scholarships each year, for each of two kids from the Grayling golf team.
More info at: www.jasonpottermemorial.com and www.graylingcountryclub.com
100 Years:
Elk Rapids Golf Club
ByTomLang ByTomLang
Donald Ross designed.
A century of service.
Vintage.
Beautiful waterfront on turquoise-tinted Elk Lake.
Playable and filled with charm.
All are appropriate descriptions of the 100year-old Elk Rapids Golf Club, a half hour drive north of Traverse City up the coastline of Grand Traverse Bay.
Prior to opening on July 17, 1924, the townspeople of Elk Rapids were struggling to make the area relevant for tourism after the logging and ironworks industries began to
slow down in the early 1900s. Summertime retreats were not all the rage as they became more so a few decades ago, but Elk Rapids had a great location squeezed between the GT Bay and area lakes to draw people out of Chicago and Detroit for relaxing retreats.
Historians indicate that Ross must have been swayed to help guide a design for their small town by wealthy Chicagoans who frequented Michigan’s northern woods in an era when Ross was at the height of his golf design business.
The course is classic Ross, a links style using the shores of Elk Lake – which can be seen from every single hole except No. 8 – as the main core.
The course opens with and closes with par 5s. With yardages ranging from 2465 to 3067 yards, most golfers will not need driver. Accuracy is more important on the open yet heather-lined fairways.
Fairway bunkers are trimmed with tall grasses and have elevated ridges on the back side of each, requiring a higherlofted club to get out. Some, but not all, greens have typical Ross ‘false fronts.’
My playing partner in June was Chris Blasy, a Midland native. We had never met before and although he visits in the summer, like me he had never tried the course before.
"Beautiful little track. A lot of fun and great for just a nice afternoon round to
catch 9 holes,” Blasy said. “You could shift around to different tees and play it twice, or just being able to fit in a quick 9 before going out on the lake.
"The layout was very playable. I've played several Ross courses but don't remember the specifics about them, but absolutely this was made very playable and a fun track, and you can score. "
My favorite stretch were holes 4-6.
is blind to the green because of a slight ridge before reaching the more sunken green complex near water’s edge.
No. 5 is a par 3 right along the lake. The green is elevated with a false front and is guarded by a natural mound framing the hole on the left side, and a huge tree on the back right.
No. 6 is the longest par 4 on the layout, also along the beach.
Most golfers walk this course. It was designed that way in the first place, and although it’s not flat, the slightly rolling hills are not taxing. When it rains, the course drains dramatically well with
No. 4 runs along the south edge of the property and heads toward the lake. The approach shot its sand base and natural drainage to Elk Lake.
Members have made recent improvements in and around the already nice-looking clubhouse in anticipation of reaching the century mark.
If you cannot have fun on this course, you might want to consider playing a different sport.
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Adaptive Golf Team International Match Play Comes to Michigan
Celebrating their adaptive golfing achievements and fueling their competitiveness are events like the Cairns Cup, which will make its first-ever U.S. hosting appearance in late July at Cherry Creek Golf Club in Shelby Twsp.
The Cairns Cup is a week-long festival of disability golf, with the main event taking place July 31-August 2. It features six Fourball matches, six Foursomes and 12 Singles – basically a Ryder Cup for Adaptive Golf. After the inaugural event in 2022 in England, the 2024 match moves to American, and Michigan, soil.
“Allied golf associations like the GAM as well as the USGA have really stepped up their support of adaptive golf in the past five years and this is an important community of golfers to us,” said Chris Whitten, Executive Director of the Golf Association of Michigan, which is providing volunteers to track scoring, handle rules officiating and more.
ByTomLang ByTomLang
People who love golf but must adapt to play by overcoming amputations, blindness, cerebral challenges and the like are a true inspiration to others who take their own ‘normalcy’ for granted.
“The fact that this event showcases the best adaptive golfers from the United States versus Europe is special; then add in that the competition is taking place in our own backyard. It’s an honor for us to help make the experience as memorable as we can for these players.”
Of the 16 American players, seven are Michiganders:
Kim Moore (Captain) – Michigan – Leg Amputee
Kellie Valentine (Vice Captain) –Pennsylvania – Arm Amputee
Jonathon Snyder (Vice Captain) – North Carolina – Arm Impairment
Evan Mathias – Indiana – Double Leg
Amputee
Tracy Ramin – Michigan – Leg Amputee (2022 Captain)
Jeremy Bittner – Pennsylvania – Leg Amputee
Brian Bemis – Michigan – Leg Amputee
Sophia Howard – Michigan – Arm Impairment
Brandon Williams – Ohio – Leg Amputee
Kevin Holland – Michigan – Cerebral Palsy
Steve Doudt – Indiana – Seated Player
Greg Hooper – Georgia – Partially Sighted
Kelsey Koch – Michigan – Leg Amputee
Amy Bockerstette – Indiana – Down Syndrome
Marcus Williams – Georgia – Seated Player
Jason Rose – Michigan – Neurological disorder
Having Moore as captain is not a stretch at all; she is the coach of Western Michigan’s women’s golf team. Despite having a leg prosthetic most of her life, Moore played college golf and spent a couple years on the Epson Tour before college coaching. She was a player on the winning-inaugural Cairns Cup team in Europe two years ago, after Moore won the women’s division of the first ever USGA Adaptive Open, played at Pinehurst in 2022. “Every
including myself, are so humbled and honored to be representing our country,” Moore told me. “The comradery between the two teams will be very evident, but once the first tee is in the ground on the first day, the competitiveness will be on full display. I hope that the Cairns Cup will continue to bring awareness and notoriety to adaptive golf and I hope that anyone watching or following along will be inspired by the stories and the golf they see.”
Cherry Creek has been deeply involved in the planning the past year, led by Erle Webber, Managing Partner at Cherry Creek.
“I encourage everyone who enjoys the game of golf and is perhaps equally curious about seeing these courageous men and women play the game with such skill despite their physical disadvantages,” he said. “Those who choose to attend will have their perspectives forever changed.
For more information visit: https://www.thecairnscup.com/
CherryCreek
Three New Inductees to the Mich Golf Hall of Fame
ByTerryMoore ByTerryMoore
Greg Johnson, an award-winning sports journalist and now a media consultant for Michigan’s largest golf associations, Stephen Kircher, the President and CEO of Boyne Resorts and a leader and advocate of destination golf in northern Michigan, and Kevin VandenBerg, a many time amateur champion in Michigan and ranked nationally as the top Senior Player of the Year in 2023, have been elected to the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame for 2024.
The threesome will be inducted on Oct. 27 at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Club, home of the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center that houses the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (MGHOF). The 2024 class will bring the number of inductees to 140.
Johnson, 67, a long-time journalist and golf writer for the Grand Rapids Press, was a constant presence at Michigan’s biggest tournaments sharing the stories of players and action with his readers. In addition to covering numerous Buick Opens, PGA Tour Champions and LPGA tour stops in Michigan and several major championships including the Masters, Johnson also reported on the local, state, and amateur golf scene. While at the Grand Rapids Press, he was honored for sports writing and as a columnist by the Michigan Press Association. In 2012, the Michigan Golf Course Association recognized Johnson with its Bruce Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the game.
Kircher, 59, following his late father, Everett, into the MGHOF, has maintained if not elevated the family traditions of vision, excellence, customer service, and community support for Boyne
GregJohnson
StephenKircher
KevinVandenBerg
Resorts, the largest family-owned four-season resort company in North America. Long a leader in northern Michigan golf, Boyne boasts 11 courses in Michigan and annually hosts a number of tournaments, including the 2024 Michigan Amateur (fifth time), as well as the Tournament of Champions held continuously since 1982. Drawn to the game as a junior, Kircher became a scratch golfer, but he also has a long history of advancing and promoting northern Michigan travel and golf. He was a founding supporter of America’s Summer Golf Capital Association, the groundbreaking collaborative that positioned northern Michigan as a national golf destination. VandenBerg, 58, has demonstrated playing excellence at both the state and national levels. Originally from Mattawan, Mich., where he served seven years as President of
the Kalamazoo Golf Association, VandenBerg is the only golfer to win the Michigan Amateur, GAM Championship and GAM Mid-Amateur Championship, all prestigious amateur titles, in the same year (2000). Later, he moved to Pulaski, N.Y., and focused on his career and building a financial management business.
After turning 55, however, VandenBerg began playing in more national Opens and two U.S. Senior Amateurs. In all, he has competed in eight USGA championships. The past two years are particularly noteworthy as VandenBerg was ranked runner-up in Golfweek’s Senior Player of the Year in 2022 before being named Golfweek’s Senior Player of the Year last season.
For more information and to learn about the current members of the Hall of Fame, visit mghof.org
Michigan Section PGA Awards Announced
Annual awards for the men and women who serve all golfers in the state of Michigan were recently announced after the 2024 Michigan PGA Spring meeting.
Doug Brody of Warwick Hills Country Club won Golf Professional of the Year; Chris Whitten of the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) won Golf
Executive of the Year; and Teacher of the Year went to Kyle Martin of The Fortress in Frankenmuth.
Brody is a 27-year PGA Member. This prestigious honor is awarded to the professional who has demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership and strong moral character. The individual must also maintain a substantial record of service to the Association and game of golf and be well-regarded as a model PGA of America Golf Professional.
Brody is being recognized for his service to the Section and the Association, his leadership ability, image and ability to inspire others, and his promotion of the game. He was chosen by his peers
based on his overall performance as a golf professional which is highlighted by his club’s success in Junior Golf, hosting multiple PGA TOUR events, strong business management, and successful team building. His wife, Jenn Brody, last year was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and she runs the pro shop at Warwick Hills.
Whitten earned the honor bestowing special recognition on a PGA Golf Professional who has performed outstanding services for a multiple facility/
course management/ownership operation, allied association, or golf industry executive management position. As one of the highest honors the PGA can grant, candidates must possess outstanding qualities of leadership, vision, courage, strong moral character, and a substantial record of service to the Association and the game of golf.
As the GAM Executive Director, Whitten – the former men’s golf coach at U-M – leads his current team to provide the services and training that professionals need relative to USGA services such as Handicapping, Course Rating, and the Rules of Golf.
In Martin's nine years at the Fortress Golf Course, there has been substantial growth in teaching and club fitting with the use of an indoor studio that he designed in 2018. Martin teaches over 1,000 lessons per year as he utilizes Trackman, Flightscope, Blast Motion, and the Titleist Performance Institute. A 2023 highlight of Kyle's was his student, Kim Dinh's U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship victory this past September.
OtherMichiganPGAAwardswentto:
CodyHaughton,PGA, Red Run Golf Club, earned Assistant Golf Professional of the Year.
KevinMcKinley,PGA,Executive Director at First Tee of Northern Michigan, has been selected as the recipient of the Bill Strausbaugh Award, given for outstanding integrity, character, and leadership through a commitment to mentoring and making significant impacts on the careers of PGA Professionals.
JoeHatch,PGA, Director of PGA Golf Management Program at Ferris State University, has been selected recipient of the Professional Development Award.
DeanKolstad,PGA, Director of Golf at Gull Lake View Golf Club and Resort was honored with the Patriot Award, for personifying patriotism through the game of golf and demonstrating unwavering commitment and dedication to the men and women who have valiantly served and protected the United States of America.
KellyKuhlman,PGA, Teaching Professional at Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club has been selected by the Michigan Section PGA as the Player Development Award Winner. This award recognizes a PGA Golf Professional, who has displayed extraordinary and exemplary contribution and achievement in player development.
ReneeFluker,Founder and President of the Midnight Golf Program, has been named for the Distinguished Service Award, for outstanding individuals who display leadership and humanitarian qualities, including integrity, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm for the game of golf. Fluker founded the Midnight Golf Program in 2001 as a social worker and single mother who noticed the impact golf had on her son’s life.
