Even though the golf season is slowing down, golf news in Michigan is heating up for the fall and winter. It’s the time of year we can do some additional fun feature stories and golf course reviews.
Golf trips continue to grow in popularity, so it’s already past time to start signing up for your special 2025 opportunity. You can find ideas in this October magazine.
Readers can also find:
A feature story on Tom Doak returning to High Pointe in Traverse City, the very first course he did alone and what launched his star-studded career in course design.
Jacqueline Setas, a former star at Lansing Catholic High and MSU, survived cancer that attacked her body while at MSU, and recently was medalist at the USGA’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Am. We catch up with her life.
Local and Hollywood actor Jeff Daniels shares with us his perspective on how golf and acting have some similarities.
Gull Lake View Resort is one of t largest family-owned golf resort the world. Learn their secrets an commitment. And so much more !
Thank you as always for joining us.
TomLang EditorandPublisher
What's Inside:
TOP COURSES UNDER $100
GOLF’s Top Courses in Michigan GOLF’s Top Courses in Michigan Under $100 Under $100
GOLF magazine recently put out its list of top courses from across the country for under $100, at peak weekend rates for walking.
The list was broken up by sections of the country, and Michigan landed five courses from the ‘Heartland’ region, stretching from the Canadian border to Texas, which only had about 20 courses listed, so Michigan had great representation.
Courses like StoatinBraeatGullLakeView
ResortandBlackLakeup north are most often below that cost, but narrowly missed the list due to a handful of prime weekend tee times going over $100, according to GOLF, which also explained it as “ we had to omit courses as we had to establish a cut off, and $100 felt like a nice round number.”
GOLF’s story did not explain how each course got on their overall “top list.”
The Michigan locations are, with their designer’s listed and top-end walking rate cost (cart fees extra), as of Sept. 4, 2024:
Diamond Springs Hamilton, Mich.
Mike DeVries, 1999
$60
Lakewood Shores (Gailes) Oscoda, Mich.
Kevin Aldridge, 1992
$65
Mines Golf Club
Walker, Mich.
Mike DeVries, 2005
$69
Wolf River Golf Park Bear Lake, Mich.
Pilgrim’s Run Pierson, Mich.
David Wisen, Scott
Pierre and Jerry Trannell, 1998
$99 (with cart)
Unknown, 1964; Steven Biehl, 2022
$37
MICHIGANDER MEDALS AT USGA
By Tom Lang By Tom Lang
Jacqueline Setas had some deep personal memories resurface in early-September when the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur was played just outside Boston, where she earned T1 before heading into match play and reaching this year’s quarterfinals for the second time (2022 prior).
Setas, a Lansing Catholic grad, state champion and MSU grad who played college golf there, has found her niche playing high-level amateur golf balanced with a working career at Allstate. Now a resident of Nashville, Setas said the tournament in Boston was the first time she returned there after getting her cancer diagnosis second opinion in Beantown in 2017.
Thankfully, Setas got the all clear in July 2018
Cancer Cancer Survivor Survivor
Jacqueline
Jacqueline Setas of East Setas of East Lansing Lansing Medals at Medals at USGA USGA
that she beat cancer after being forced to drop out of classes at MSU for the entire 2017-18 school year to fight the disease. Setas went through 6 months of chemotherapy in the fall and winter, followed by pin-point radiation in the spring, and rejoined the Spartans’ team for her 2018-19 senior season.
“There was a lot of perspective for me in Boston this year,” Setas told me. “So, I think locationally speaking, Boston holds a lot of significance to my life story. I hadn’t been back there since getting that second opinion so as this course (Brae Burn CC in West Newton) was playing so difficult, there was a pretty good perspective for me.
“The year going into my senior year (at MSU) was definitely the most difficult thing I’ve ever been through. So, I think I appreciate the little things, my friendships; really just everything. I still hold a lot of that perspective.”
Setas cited her daily visits from MSU teammates and others for getting her through. Even Tom Izzo and basketball player Miles Bridges wore ‘Setas Strong’ wrist bands showing support.
Now in 2024, it doesn’t hurt that every part of her golf game was on point for the national event, her fourth straight, despite having almost zero prep time.
“I was super proud; I didn’t have a traditional warm up for this event,” she said about taking time off to heal her left wrist, then getting COVID that allowed only one week left to practice for the Mid-Am. She’s also busy coaching a private school girls’ golf team.
“So mentally, I really didn’t know where my game was at. I didn’t have a bunch of reps. And I think that helped me as there weren’t any real expectations for me coming in. So,
staying in it mentally for 36 holes that didn’t involve any big numbers I was proud of that.”
Setas was one of five Michigan women who made the cut for the field of 64 match play. They included defending national champion Kimberly Dinh of Midland, Laura Bavaird of Trenton, Elayna Bowser of Dearborn and Mary Janiga Kartes of Kentwood.
“Kim is a great friend,” Setas said. “We play Thursday practice rounds together
each year at the Mid- Am. Kim and her husband, Tony, came out to follow when my round of 16 match got tough. I think they both may have been my good luck charms.”
Setas said she doesn’t touch a golf club October through March each year, saying that it’s healthy for her to step back from the game.
“Having found this mid-Am circuit, it’s nice that you can have a career yet still be super competitive as well,” she said about opportunities for many mid-Am tournaments in regions across the country. “It’s been great playing in them the last few years and it’s great seeing a lot of the same people, so I’ve made some great friends through it all.”
Setas is already exempt into next year’s USGA Women’s Mid-Am, her fifth consecutive.
“One of these year’s we’re going to get past the quarters.”
Oceana Golf Club Oceana Golf Club Continues Expansion Continues Expansion
The sport of golf has gone through a bunch of changes and explosive growth since the Covid pandemic hit and cleared – and one such golf property showing how it’s done is Oceana Golf Club in Shelby, north of Muskegon.
In the past two years, the small-town public golf course with a history of ‘can-do’ attitude, has made serious, yet tactical and thoughtful changes for the future of golf in their region, by adding four new holes and starting the creation of its first ever practice center.
It was the 1960s when a group of townspeople decided to build a golf course in their community that had none. It was a great run until the doors almost closed at the end of 2019.
Enter Shelby High grad Jason Wenk – who built and maintains financial investment businesses he developed in California – to infuse needed financial capital and has led the changes to his boyhood home all these years later.
Last month, Oceana opened a new 14th and 15th hole from acquired land on its north border and made changes to the new 16th (old par 5 hole 14) that have already been impressing members and the public. The updates created a run of a par 4, par 3 and par 5 all with elevated tee boxes.
In 2022, Oceana opened a new 5th hole downhill par 3 and developed a new 8th hole par 4 dogleg by combining two previous holes.
“We want to make improvements every single year and when you see a hole like that (14) it’s
pretty beautiful and breathtaking,” Wenk told me recently.
“I’ve noticed that it seems easier to build a new hole than to reshape or refactor an existing hole. I do think that will be the next phase here after we build the practice center –that we hope to not replace any of the existing holes, but find ways to elevate them in terms of their esthetics and the way they play, so
when you play all 18 holes they play with that same special feeling like our new 14th.”
Hole 14 is now the ‘ crown jewel’ of the back nine. It’s a tree-lined downhill par 4 over heather rough near the tees, to a large, receptive green slopping a little back to front. Golfers then head to the 15th tee to find a downhill par 3 as good as any you’ll find in a wooded setting. They next venture to what used to be hole 14, a shorter par 5 that was straight as an arrow with tee shots coming out of a tunnel of trees. Now the tee is in the side of a hill about 50 feet higher in the air and 50 yards to the right of the old tee, making the hole play as a slight dogleg left to right.
“Esthetically it was probably regarded as the least memorable hole on the
course,” Wenk said about the old 14/new 16th. “Now I think it’s going to be one of the highlights for people – and I think we’ll have a lot of other opportunities to do something like it as well.”
Head pro Marc Inglis said a main reason for the hole expansion was to incorporate some of the natural terrain in the area that wasn’t being utilized – and eliminate some of the back-andConcludesonnextpg.>>
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OCEANA EXPANDS AGAIN
15thHole
forth layout of the original back nine that was designed and laid out by the townspeople 60 years ago using more primitive means.
“This gives us a little bit more of the northern Michigan feel,” he said.
To add the new 14 and 15, Oceana acquired neighboring land that wasn’t available to the original creators. From my golfer perspective, it infuses a burst of excitement in the middle of the back nine.
“They didn’t have the equipment back then to do what we did, nor could they have done it economically,” Inglis added. “We don’t want to change the feeling of Oceana, we just want to improve the experience of Oceana.”
Oceana superintendent Corey Parmalee, who as a teenager began working on the grounds crew at sister course Benona Shores, has been leading the new hole designs and construction –despite his only experience being “dreaming about it as a kid; I thought it was cool to draw pictures back then.”
The entire project has all come together with local help – similar to the original townspeople chipping in – and all the
staff at Oceana expanding their horizons and adding the elbow grease. Much credit for ground shaping and the major legwork has been given to a local vendor as well: VandeZande Excavating.
“This experience was fun, and it was stressful. I seemed like it went from, ‘this could be really fun, to oh boy, this is really overwhelming.’ But in the end, I feel it turned out really cool,” Parmalee said. “It was one of those things when you’re walking through the woods and can barely see where you’re going, trying to figure out lines
and what trees to keep and what trees to take out. I’d put Xs on trees, and then change it, and put them back.
“The new par four I absolutely love. I think it has a lot of character.”
Wenk still lives in California but comes home to Michigan when he can, especially in warm weather. He is the first to acknowledge all the
hard work and effort put in by all the staff at Oceana.
“There is always a certain nostalgia of coming back every summer, you see some things that are familiar but you’re also going to see some things that are brand new,” Wenk said. “That’s exciting, and it’s exciting to share it with my wife who is learning to play golf – and with our two-year-old who wants to grab a club. So, we are super grateful of everyone on the staff who are insanely committed to making this place an awesome golf course and a great place for people to be.”
EnhancedBenefits:
So, what do these additions mean in the big picture? The shift allowed Oceana staff to close down old holes 15 and 16 and start building a true driving range and practice center, keeping the 16th green as a short game area.
This is a huge change for the community that for nearly 60 years only had a small net near the maintenance building to hit into, one-at-a-time, before teeing off on No. 1.
“For me, the practice facility is a place that hopefully will bring in a whole new generation of golfers and maybe everyone can come and Concludesonnextpg.>>
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OCEANA EXPANDS AGAIN
come out and use it a lot. They’re getting some exciting young players here and giving them a place to start young and practice, improve, and make it really a complete golf course with a great place to play and practice. And if my own kids would want to spend the vast majority of the day here at the golf course, it’s a lot better than other choices.”
Inglis’ vision includes adding a small building at the range, tapping a teaching pro to give many lessons, and storage for the West Michigan First Tee, which has expanded into Oceana County. His daughter, McKenna, is the program director for the region.
“My dream is that they can have a permanent home here, to build a facility that can house their needs,” Inglis said of the First Tee. “One of the things we want to do is increase
practice and get better, but I’m also most excited about it for kids, with our deep roots here with First Tee and other junior programs,” Wenk said. “I think we’ll have a world-class practice area, for short game practice and a deep enough range for every club in the bag.
“I’m hopeful the Shelby High golf team will
our junior golf participation, and the best way is from the ground up. We’ve got a market for that here.”
Just like they did when Wenk and others were growing up on the rural, fruit producing landscape.
What could be more hometown all-America than that?
Golf Q&A: Actor Golf Q&A: Actor Jeff Daniels Jeff Daniels
Like previous Q&A’s you’ve found in the MI Golf Journal over the years, we like to talk golf with people who love the game, yet the sport is not necessarily their main gig.
Actor Jeff Daniels fits that bill, when he’s not on the Playbill of the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, other theatres around the country, or making Hollywood and independent films.
We caught up with Daniels when he played in the Celebrity Shootout at the PGA Tour Champions Ally Challenge in late August.
Question: Do you see any correlations at all between movie prep or stage prep and the game of golf?
Daniels: “Seriously, it’s the repetition. Learning the swing, getting that fundamental golf swing. It’s the same thing as memorizing lines. I don’t have a photographic memory, so it’s reps. The athletes like (Joey) Kocur does as a Red Wing, what the Lions do in training camp. They are running that same pass play 100 times a week so they can do it right in games. It’s the same thing with lines and repping and repping until you’re so prepared that when they turn on the camera, you’re there.
“It’s similar with golf. You forget a line, your right elbow flies out. Things go wrong, but then it’s how you recover. But the preparation that athletes do, that golfers do, the great actors I’ve known all do that.”
Q: Do you have a Michigan golf course bucket list?
With Tom Lang With Tom Lang
Daniels: “I think I have played all the ones I’ve wanted to play. But the Cardinal (at Saint John’s, Plymouth) is new; I haven’t played there yet. (I have played) Oakland Hills, Arcadia Bluffs, Bay Harbor and Greywalls in Marquette. That’s worth the drive for those who haven’t played it. It’s just gorgeous and it’s cut out of granite mountain that you’re standing on top of I think it’s the 9th tee and you can see Lake Superior. It’s really beautiful, it’s cool. And there’s the Bear, that torture chamber.”
Q: Did you have a parent or grandparent or someone who got you into the game?
Daniels: “My dad did that. He was a golfer and member of the local 9-hole country club in Chelsea. I had a baseball swing that I tried to hit a golf ball with for years. And then I was a member at Jackson Country Club, and the pro over there, Ron Beurmann, taught me a great swing that I can’t do anymore.
“And then I quit for like 10 years. I kept playing a lot, and I came home one day after I shot an 81, and my fiveyear-old said, ‘how’d you do?’
I said good, good, but I have to play tomorrow, I have to fix that. And he asked, ‘how long are
you going to be gone this time’ and I just hung up the clubs for like 10 years.
“Now, my sons are in their 30s. They used to play hockey and now they absolutely love the game of golf. So, I have to pick it up again.”
Q: What are your memories of the tournament fundraiser for the Purple Rose Theatre at Polo Fields Country Club, the Jeff Daniels Comedy Golf Jam:
Daniels: “All the greats came out, the media, local athletes. Bob Segar came out. I had Al Kaline teeing off on the 17th hole wearing a wig and a dress. We had the Gettysburg hole, a par four, when as you were setting up for your approach shot, the Civil War would break out. You’d have the Union Army coming out of the crick and the Confederates coming down – and some of these guys brought their cannon one year, and you could hear that every time, ooff. We had marching bands playing while you’re trying to tee off.
“I remember the grand prize went to the 6th place finisher. That way you couldn’t put a bunch of ringers in there. But it was also my tribute to Al Kaline. He was a hero.”
Daniels went on to explain his upcoming acting job, working on an independent film this month. It’s called Reykjavik. Daniels said it’s for the city (in Iceland) where Reagen and Gorbachev met in 1986 to discuss lowering the nuclear weapons build up as much as they could, an arms reduction. Jared Harris is going to play Gorbachev and J.K. Simons will play George Schultz…and Daniels will play Reagan.
“I have to come up with a Reagan (impersonation),” he quipped. “I’m getting there, I’m working on it. And so that’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to film in the house where they met, in the same room, and the whole movie is the weekend of that negotiation. I’m looking forward to it.”
GOLF IN INDIANA
Indy has Racing – But Great Golf Too Indy has Racing – But Great Golf Too
By Tom Lang By Tom Lang
Michigan golfers who want to extend their season in the fall or go where spring starts a little earlier can do so easily by considering a trip to Indianapolis – where the weather is often 5-10 degrees warmer than the Great Lakes State but it’s only a 2.5 hour drive south of the border.
My recent trip took place in Hamilton County, the northeastern quadrant to the Indianapolis metro area. Michigan’s I-69 thoroughfare runs the full length of Indiana and goes right through the heart of Hamilton Co – an area rich in Midwest heritage, featuring a nice mix of farmland and surging metropolitan growth of new hotels, shops and daily-living amenities – while maintaining small charming, historic villages to explore like Carmel, Noblesville and Cicero.
I joined up with locals at the two courses I played – Plum Creek, a Pete and Alice Dye
design – and Bear Slide in the tiny farm town of Cicero. My third planned round of golf at Prairie View Golf Club was rained out due to the leftovers of Hurricane Helene reaching the area. We’ll catch it next time.
BearSlideGolfClub:
At one time, Bear Slide was ranked the No. 2 best course in Indiana. Frenck Lick has since grabbed away No. 1 and No. 2, but I can see why Bear Slide got the original ranking.
Like almost every course in the region, it’s situated on what was once farmland – but it’s some of the hilliest farmland you can find, especially the area on the back nine that follows Bear Slide Creek that I cannot imagine was ever farmable land, and makes for some challenging golf holes nestled into the land that features some deep crevices once cut out by the creek.
I was paired with two locals who are buddies and neighbors in the built-up Indy suburb of Fishers.
“It’s not a flat course by any stretch of the imagination whatsoever,” said Matt Mulvihill. “The hills make it challenging, even having some blind shots you wouldn’t expect. It’s definitely one of those courses that’s easier to play the second time, or with someone who’s been here.”
Local pediatrician Hank Knouse added: “It’s a very strategic course. There’s blind shots, with left and right bends where you need to be very specific where you place your first shots to have any chance to reach the green on your second shots. A lot of fun.”
The front nine is more open and shows more of the manmade land moving during construction. It was done well, adding to the challenge and the visuals on the course. I
really liked the par 3s of Holes 4 and 6, followed by the No. 7 par 4 downhill to a wide open fairway and back up to a skinny, elevated green complex.
PlumCreekGolfClub:
Pete Dye is well-known for moving a lot of dirt to shape his designs. At Plum Creek, he and Alice saved most of that for the back nine. As I played the front, I kept thinking this doesn’t feel all that much like Dye. That changed in the afternoon, when the green complexes became more alive, more dramatic in shaping and more “Diabolical Dye” in a few cases as people say.
Midway through the front nine were four consecutive par 4s with a ton of differentiation
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GOLF IN INDIANA
from one to the next. No. 4 was a long par 4 dissected by the creek ranked as the No. 1 handicap hole. Hole 5 became a short par 4 with the easiest handicap on the front, but holes 6 and 7 were the longest on the front, even longer than the No. 1 handicap. Plum Creek itself went right down the middle of the front nine, coming into play on six holes.
My favorite hole was 17. It’s a hard-right-turn dogleg par five with water running the entire length down the right side. Large mounding guards the back of the green and provides a good visual for incoming shots.
The one visible drawback to the course is that it winds seamlessly through a well taken care of housing complex of upper-end homes and townhomes.
Other overall course observations included:
Uneven lies are prevalent
Solid GPS service on the carts
The former Lynnwood Farm site has two nice public parks around the outer edges
A good mix of men and women were out playing on a Wednesday
The clubhouse has a nice upper-level deck and covered lower area for relaxing after the round
The entire Hamilton County area offers many festivals for music and arts and crafts, with a Top Golf facility right along I-69 in Fishers. I had great meals at Fork & Ale House in downtown Carmel within the town confines of its wonderfullymodernized small urban experience; at Wolfies Grill not far from Bear Slide on a huge waterfront inside the Noblesville northern city limits; and finished off with a great homemade breakfast on the way home at The Roost in a little strip mall in Fishers.
All in all, ‘variety is the spice’ in Hamilton County – a great place to visit for all kinds of tastes for golf and other off-course activities.
I will return.
GULL LAKE VIEW RESORT
The ‘All in the Family’ Golf Destination The ‘All in the Family’ Golf Destination
A wildly popular Southwestern Michigan golf destination came about because of one man’s vision – more than 60 years ago.
A superintendent at nearby Gull Lake Country Club in Richland, Michigan for 25 years, Darl Scott decided to tap into his entrepreneurial spirit in the early 1960s. He and his wife, who already owned and operated a nearby motel, set out to build the Gull Lake View West golf course in 1962 on adjacent land. Little did the couple know that the small motel and golf course business would lead the couple to become pioneers in destination golf.
AffordabilityFirst:
Fast forward to today, this stay-and-play lake region golf grouping is one of the largest family-owned golf resorts in the country – one that offers an affordablevalueproposition not commonly found with larger multi-course golf resorts. Gull Lake View’s six championship courses offer a special experience for golfers, all while not breaking the bank. Imagine, for the price of one round
at Pebble Beach or Bandon Dunes, golfers could experience a three-day, two-night golf package and play up to three or four rounds of golf.
TheCourses:
The original Gull Lake View West is depicted by fields, ravines, hills, woods, ponds, and domed greens. In the early 1970s, the couple sold the motel and built Gull Lake View East – which features hilly scenic terrain, lots of unique water hazards, and demands good shot placement. Alongside the East course, Darl built villa-style condos for golf groups to stay in, which was a new experience at the time.
During the late 1980s and 1990s golf course boom, the Scotts' son Charlie, who had built golf courses for Wadsworth Construction for seven years before coming home to build the East course, designed and built Stonehedge South down the road in 1988. The golf course is set on dramatic, rolling wooded countryside reminiscent of the Carolinas. Then, in 1995, Charlie and his son Jon built Stonehedge North, which showcases dramatic elevation changes
and plays roughly five shots easier than the South. At the same time, the family bought and refurbished nearby Bedford Valley Country Club, a local course that had hosted multiple Michigan Opens but fell into disrepair.
“Darl (who passed away in 1999) liked to buy land, and in that spirit, Jon and I looked at the land next to the South course, and it had an Irish-Scottish feel to it with a lot of movement,” recalls Bill Johnson, CEO of Gull Lake View who was the company’s vice president back then. “And that's how Stoatin Brae came about, which opened in 2017. We were playing at Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes and talked about getting in touch with architect Tom Doak. Within a couple of days, he was here to look at the plans with us.”
Due to a project conflict, Doak handed the Stoatin Brae job to his Renaissance Golf A-
Team of designers
Eric Iverson, Brian Schneider, Don Placek, and Brian Slawnik. They were responsible for the layout and critical shaping, bringing the Scottish influences alive. They created a minimalist classic links style with architectural elements from golf’s golden
design era of the 1920s and 1930s to create a stunning and memorable golf experience.
And now, the course is ranked in the state’s top 5. Unlike anything else in Michigan, it’s located on one of the highest points in Kalamazoo County and commands sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.
“Most of our guests will spend a whole day at Stonehedge during one of their days visiting, playing the North and South,” says Johnson. “They like to play the East and West together, as well. And then Stoatin Brae; it's mature now and it's beautiful. The views are great, and it's totally different than any of the other golf courses.
“And Bedford Valley gives you that old country club feel. It's a big golf course that we can stretch to way over 7,000 yards if need be. These Continuesonnextpage>>
GULL LAKE VIEW RESORT
six courses have withstood the test of time. They're just good-quality golf courses. And everybody knows when they come here, they're gonna get great conditions.
“We pride ourselves on country club conditions,” Johnson added. “We're all about golf, and we have the amenities, restaurants, snack bars, and condos that people love. We’re located right in the middle of Detroit and Chicago, an easy drive from both (about two hours either way) or from up north and Wisconsin. It's really grown in popularity.”
For people in the Detroit-to-Chicago corridor, it’s a much shorter drive than going to Northern Michigan, and the golf quality is
equally good. What’s really special about all six courses is that they’re playable for all skill levels. Golf has become more about fun, relaxation, and hanging out with friends. That’s what Gull Lake View emanates. You don’t have to be a great player to enjoy your stay.
As popular as Gull Lake View Resort has become particularly since the pandemic ownership is reinvesting roughly $2 million per year into improving the course conditions, irrigation, overnight accommodations, and infrastructure in an effort to keep everything top-notch. They really care about the overall experience. Golfers will likely see that spill over into more rooms available in the near future, as well.
"We're definitely at lodging capacity a lot,” says Johnson. “In fact, we work
with a lot of host hotels, the biggest one being the Radisson in Kalamazoo, that we fill up for weekends because we ' re just full. So, by having the six courses, we can spread guests around. As for more golf courses, you never know. I wouldn't rule that out. We’re always looking at land and continuing Darl Scott’s spirit.”
Going on the fourth generation of ownership since the early 1960s, this homey and relaxing golf resort is a fun and rewarding experience for everyday golfers. It is the ultimate destination where buddies can have the same experience and camaraderie without breaking the bank or traveling great distances to high-end or oceanfront destinations that often receive all the attention. Visit https://gulllakeview.com
New MIGOLF Apparel Online Store Launched
to Support Golf in Michigan
We can support the game of golf in Michigan with the new MIGOLF apparel online store.
At www.migolf.store the apparel is more than just being adorned with a great logo; all proceeds go directly to the Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association (MiGCSA) to support their mission of providing opportunities to their more than 700 members through programs and services that enhance and promote the profession.
“This is where your passion meets our profession,” said MiGCSA Executive Director Adam Ikamas. “For many years, this logo has been used by the MiGCSA for member apparel and has been very popular with golfers as well. Many golf facilities in Michigan have sold hats with this logo with no marketing or cause behind them. Providing an opportunity for golfers in our state to support the people who are the foundation of the game and provide fantastic conditions seemed like something we had to try. Our hope is to see golfers all over
Michigan wearing this logo, knowing they did their part to help support their passion for golf.”
The online store features top brands in golf clothing, including Peter Millar, Linksoul,
Straight Down, Bobby Jones, and many more. With rotating styles of apparel and various other items there is something for everyone who wants to support the men and women of the golf industry. This concept was spearheaded by MiGCSA’s immediate Past-President Doug Hoeh, Director of Recreation at Treetops Resort.
Plan Early: Your 2025 Golfing Adventure in Plan Early: Your 2025 Golfing Adventure in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has long been an adventurous travel destination. Its miles of scenic terrain, lakes, and rivers, along with the shorelines of Lake Superior to the north and Lake Michigan to the south, make it a great destination for anyone – and the western side of this region boasts several high-quality golf options that rival those in the Midwest.
The economics of golf are at an all-time high, with golf trips booked earlier and earlier each year; waiting until the last minute or even a few months out does not guarantee the best tee times.
This is especially true at Island Resort & Casino, which also recently announced that a new nine-hole course called Cedar Course –Kishki on the Sage Run Golf Course site – and a short course will break ground and open for the 2026 season.
The resort is also expanding with a new golf
shop and convention center. The golf shop will overlook the golf course ' s scenic 9th and 18th holes, which share the same double green complex, and the new convention space will feature 16,900 square feet of meeting and event space.
“We are very busy in the summer and often booked on both of our other courses in the morning,” said Tony Mancilla, General Manager for Island Resort & Casino. “We decided to add nine holes to accommodate our guests looking for early morning tee times before they head home. Demand has been at an all-time high. Many of our golf packages are booked 6-9 months in advance. If golfers want the best tee times and room options, they must plan early.”
This golfing road trip takes Lower Michigan golfers over the scenic Mackinac Bridge and west across beautiful US-2, one of the most visually breathtaking drives along Lake
Sweetgrass
Michigan bringing you west of Escanaba to Island Resort & Casino in Harris, MI, one of the Midwest’s largest golf, casino, and resort destinations, the anchor to this premier golf destination. Together with Greywalls in Marquette and Timberstone in nearby Iron Mountain, the “Perfect 4-Some” package is Michigan’s great golfing adventure – and at a dollar rate so good its unlike almost any other.
Golf in this region has been described as “unforgettable” and “underrated.” The resort’s original course, the exceptional Sweetgrass, designed by Paul Albanese, opened in 2008 and consistently ranks among the top 10 courses in the state. It was also named the 2022 National Golf Course of the Year by the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), and is home to the Island Resort Championship, one of the premier stops on the EPSON Tour – the official “Road to the LPGA.”
The resort’s second course, Sage Run, also designed by Albanese, was inspired by the “rough and rugged” appeal of Northern Ireland’s Royal County Down. The course, which was named to Golf Digest’s prestigious
list of “Best New Courses, 2019,” features a stunning ridge running through it with scenic views that stretch for 30-40 miles and plays down to an open area with wide fairways and rugged fescue grasses.
GreywallsGolfClub, designed by Mike DeVries, is part of the popular Marquette Country Club and is a truly unique golf experience. Spanning 230+ acres, it combines views of Lake Superior with several natural rock outcroppings. Located west of Escanaba in Iron Mountain -- home to legendary Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci -Timberstone spans up and down a mountainside showcasing scenic vistas, wetlands, and tall pines.
Fully customized packages offer 1-, 2-, 3- and 4night lodging options with up to four golf rounds, which can also include Greywalls and Timberstone. The very competitive package price options range from $95-$758 depending on time of year. Compare these rates with those from other noteworthy golf destinations and you'll have yet another convincing reason to choose the Upper Peninsula because of the high quality and diverse array of golf.
For more informati on and to book your Perfect 4Some, visit www.isla ndresortg olf.com or call 877475-4733.
Wyandotte’s Jon Swint Wins
GAM Net Match Play Championship
ByGregJohnson ByGregJohnson
Jon Swint made a putter change on Labor Day and later rolled in putt after putt in winning the 13th GAM Net Match Play Championship at Lakes of Taylor Golf Club.
Swint made natural birdies on three of the first four holes and never trailed in turning back Jerry Tranzow of Macomb, 5 and 4, in the championship match.
“I got it, a TaylorMade Spider, from a buddy (Kory O’Brien), put it in the bag and he might not get it back,” Swint said. “I was feeling pretty good with it right away, and it really paid off this week.”
It was the first GAM Net tournament for Swint, who normally plays in gross scoring GAM tournaments. It wasn’t his first trophies though. He has previously finished second in the GAM Tournament of Champions as a member club champion entrant.
“The main reason I played in it was that it was here, Lakes of Taylor, my home course and where I play a lot,” said the 36-year-old shipping and receiving manager for Hascall Steel.
Fenton’s Rick Crandall Claims
His First State Title at GAM Senior Championship
Rick Crandall of Fenton expected one of the senior golfers with a resume full of past wins to shine in the final round and win the 38th GAM Senior Championship.
Instead, he surprised himself, shot a shining 5under 67 Tuesday at Muskegon Country Club and won his first GAM tournament and claimed his biggest win since he started playing golf at age 23 and started competing in tournaments at age 27.
“I just wanted to go out and shoot a good score like in every tournament I play,” said the 57-yearold who works in computer automotive design for Strattec Security Corp. “I was happy to sort of be in contention after the first round. I never looked at the leaderboard all day.”
A Super Senior champion (ages 65-plus) ended up being a familiar name in the GAM Senior Championship. Rick Herpich of Orchard Lake won among the older set for the fourth time in the championship since turning 65 in 2017.
Lewiston’s Lori Schlicher Wins
Second Consecutive Michigan Women’s Senior Amateur
Lori Schlicher of Lewiston felt the pressure of being the defending champion, managed it and won the Michigan Women’s Senior Amateur Championship presented by Stifel Investment Services for the second consecutive year.
Schlicher took a 2-up lead through five holes and never trailed in topping Shelly Weiss of Southfield 3 and 2 in the championship match at Sugar Springs Golf Club.
“I did feel a little pressure,” Schlicher said. “I felt like I should definitely win if I played well, and I did play well today.”
Schlicher, medalist and the top seed from the stroke play first-round with a 73, earned her spot in the final match with a 3 and 1 semifinal win over Donna Benford of Linden, and Weiss earned her finals berth by turning back Barb Schmid 6 and 4 in the other semifinal.
Sugar Springs has hosted the championship for three consecutive years.
U-M’s Hunter Thompson Earns Exemption into Canadian Open, 2025
With a 202 (-14) total, senior Hunter Thomson led from start to finish and earned his second career medalist honor while guiding the University of Michigan men ' s golf team to an 852 (-12) team total and runner up at the inaugural Canadian Collegiate Invitational.
In addition to his second career win, Thomson's victory earns him an exemption to play in the 2025 RBC Canadian Open (June 3-5) to be played at the TPC of Toronto.
With 18 pars, 15 birdies and three bogeys during the Sept. 16 opening 36 holes, Calgary-native Thomson posted back-to-back 66s (-6) to build a four-shot lead heading into the final round. Four more birdies and a pair of bogeys in his final 18 saw Thomson close with a 70 and hold on for the two-shot win.
Thomson was a single shot away from tying his career-low of 201 (-15) carded at the 2024 Palmas del Mar Collegiate (Feb. 11-13), where he recorded his first career win.
MSU’s Ashton McCulloch placed third individually, and the Spartans took 5th overall.
Designer Tom Doak has Traverse Designer Tom Doak has Traverse City Homecoming City Homecoming
By Tom Lang
By Tom Lang
Almost 40 years ago, Tom Doak was a young man in his mid-20s, a nomad, assisting Pete Dye at designing and building golf courses from here to there.
Putting down roots was not in his immediate plans.
When Doak was given his first solo shot at doing a course, it was to create High Pointe Golf Course just northeast of Traverse City.
He never left and – despite traveling and designing courses globally – Doak made his permanent home in northern Michigan.
“I thought eventually this would be a summer home and I’d live somewhere else the rest of the year,” Doak told me as part of a nearly-one-hour conversation back in May. “But my wife and family love it here, even through the winter, and I travel enough I don’t go stir crazy in the winter, so it works out.”
great reviews, especially for the natural beauty of the back nine, but it closed in 2008 after the death of original owner Don Hayden combined with the tough financial times.
Now High Pointe is back – but with Doak’s vast experience thrown in to create 12 new holes – and has opened recently as an exclusive private golf club located south of main drag M-72 just east of Grand Traverse Resort.
Doak said it was not a complete shock that someone would come along to try reviving High Pointe – of which the front nine along the highway had become a hops farm. The idea of finding his own investor crossed his
mind, too. It was just sitting there, the back nine left untouched he discovered, not far from his year-round home. Understandably, it was egging him on whenever he drove by. It being his first solo design tugged hard on the strings of nostalgia.
Five years ago, Doak met an owner of the hops farm who said they weren’t taking over the back nine of the old course, that business wasn’t booming like they thought it would.
“And that was the first time I thought, well
maybe there is a scenario where this could come back,” Doak told me. “Obviously, I was very attached to it as my very first own project, but I had kind of written that off as long gone. But I still live here and to have my first golf course here about 20 minutes from my house is a lot nicer than flying to New Zeeland for one of my other nice courses,” he said with a chuckle.
“I had originally designed another nine holes (to the east) that were never pursued so I knew there was enough land there to have 18 holes behind the hops farm.”
Doak said when he was working for Dye, that Pete and Jack Nicklaus were the powerhouse designers at the time.
CourtesyofHighPointe
LIFE AND TIMES OF TOM DOAK
“They moved a ton of dirt, they (both) reshaped the entire golf course from wall to wall to create something different. And I just thought we’re starting to look too similar,” Doak said.
“So, at High Pointe the first time, with a fairly small budget, my idea was we’re leaving as much alone as we can. And if anything, I will error on the side of doing too little, because I was sick of seeing people error on the side of doing too much.”
Doak told me he leans a little bit toward allowing things to stay the way God made it but went on to say: “It’s so much more efficient building it; it’s so much more environmentally friendly building it that way
if you don’t tear everything up. You don’t need five rows of irrigation to grow it back in… It just makes it simpler. It made it so I could shape … greens, tees and bunkers and I could do most of that myself in the summer, instead of having five others’ help.
“I’m lucky that High Pointe and a couple other projects established me as someone who could work that
way, and if you had a good piece of land, he’s a good guy to talk to. And that’s been huge for my career because in the late ‘90s and 2000s, clients started thinking the same way I was thinking of, like, yes, I should find a really good piece of land in order to build a good golf course. I got a good chance to do that, and I’ve never looked back.”
Today’s rebuild of High Pointe was more stressful than he would have liked, because the Renaissance Golf Design team was busy with three other projects going on around the globe, and so when Doak would normally be home in Traverse City for a break, he really wasn’t home for dinner as much as he’d like as there was work needed to be done at High Pointe.
“It’s a very different golf course,” Doak said about
the new course with the same name. “There are six holes from the original routing that we put back together pretty much the way they were. And one of the things we decided to do to make it a different project was move the clubhouse. It will be at the very east end, instead of turning in (on the road) where the hops farm is. The new clubhouse faces west and the starting holes go west and the finishing holes play east so you never have to play into the sun.
“So, the new holes are the first seven, and the 17th and 18th. What is new 8 and 9 are the old 10th and 11th. There’s two new holes behind them, and now 12 through 15 are the same number they always were. And there’s a different version of the old 18th hole that’s now 16 to get you back… then cross a little road to get to the new 17. So, yes, there’s most of the old back nine as part of the new course, but it’s not all the back nine anymore.”
Doak loves working with northern Michigan’s sandy soil, and no need to truck it in.
“I planted fescue grass fairways out there 37 years ago and everybody thought I was nuts; saying that doesn’t make any sense in this state and that nobody should do that,” he said. “I’m trying to make my reputation as a designer, not a grass guy. But by the same token, if you look at what are the top 20 modern golf courses in the country according to the magazines, half of them now have fescue fairways. All the courses in the Sandhills in Nebraska, the courses at Bandon Dunes (where he designed Pacific Dunes and Sheep Ranch), and Kingsley
Club, here, went with fescue fairways. And Dan Lucas was there and is now the Superintendent here at High Pointe.
“So, we are having fescue fairways again and people are not giving me the same grief they were ages ago.
“With High Pointe, I’m hoping that people come to visit me here instead of me traveling so much.
I’m 63 now and I’ve put a lot of miles on my body the last few years. So, it’s not like I’m going to park here and never go see any of my other courses, but I’ll be here a lot in the summer and I hope that’s a chance for people to come visit me and play golf.”
It would be hard to find a community claiming to love golf more than tiny Port Austin at the very northern tip of Michigan’s “Thumb.”
After all, it was the local Monday night men’s golf league that put the words ‘for the love of the game’ into full-blown action.
Their access to golf only once a week on the local 9-hole private course just didn’t sit well.
That was in the late 1980s.
“A group of guys got together drinking beer one night and just said, ‘what the heck can we do, can we build our own course?’” ringleader
and U.S. Navy veteran Paul Heinrich, now in his mid-80s, told me 7 years ago.
By the summer of 1990, Bird Creek Golf Club opened to the public as an enjoyable, attractive and playable 18-hole layout designed by Bruce Matthews III.
But it wasn’t easy.
Everyone pitched in.
The huge undertaking truly became a rallying point for people to add fun and value to their community. It still is today, making golf yet another recreational attraction for vacationers to the Thumb with an excellent marina, kayaking, hiking, two historic lighthouses, gorgeous Lake Huron shoreline and more activities – providing a unique experience of Michigan’s natural resources without the longer drive Up North.
“It’s one of the most memorable projects I’ve
ever been involved in,” Matthews told me. “You had this group of volunteers that stuck it out for two-and-a-half years, building their own course.
“When I first heard the idea I said this wasn’t going to happen – it won’t get done. But every time I hit the site there were 10 volunteers around me asking, ‘what do we do next? We’re ready, let’s go.’ It really was fun and I still smile today when I think about it.
“They all got it done when nobody thought they could. Everyone was just go, go, go, and they went, went, went,” Matthews added with a chuckle.
Heinrich expressed a similar sentiment.
“This place had an unbelievable amount of turnout from the public, people who bought into it and wanted a golf course, then stuck around and made sure we had one,” he said. “Anybody that didn’t have anything to do in the evenings went to the golf course and
worked. I think it was the friendship of the people that made it happen.”
Friendship, desire, drive, determination – and beer for the weary workers.
“People who were older and couldn’t work with us would bring us a case of beer and after we were done working we’d sit around and
drink it,” Heinrich said. “It really was a working party.”
Shares to Bird Creek Golf Club were sold at $2,000 each, limit one per family. In all, Heinrich said the shares sold and some borrowed funds covered the roughly $700,000 in costs for materials and a couple paid professionals who guided the throng of volunteers.
PlayingBirdCreek:
Bird Creek itself is the main natural water feature that traverses throughout the entire property and Matthews used it as the backbone for the overall design. The creek fronts both the 9th and 18th greens as a visual aid and hazard to cross safely to reach the respective putting surfaces. Bird Creek additionally comes directly into play on Holes 4, 7 and 8 on the front nine, plus Holes 14, 15 and 17 on the back, for a total of eight crossings.
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Five ponds add beauty and challenge on additional holes throughout the layout. At least four holes on the course require strategy off the tee for golfers to decide to lay up or try blasting over water hazards.
The surrounding land has a nice, gentle flow to it where fingers of low areas drain water toward the creek. The rolling topography on course gives contrast to the flat farmers’ fields further away from the creek.
Matthews designed subtle shaping along the edge of many fairways, but it’s not overdone. Green complexes are straightforward and challenging, with moderately undulating putting surfaces, while avoiding any golf design curse of being tricked up.
The most interesting holes to me are:
No. 6 with its two ponds angled to fit the dogleg shape approach to navigate reaching the green in regulation.
No. 8, a dogleg right par 4 that allows the big hitters to try clearing the trees and driving the hidden green.
No. 17 as it goes along the creek off the tee before turning left over Bird Creek to reach the green on the dogleg par 4.
No. 18, a tough closing hole. The par 5 requires two nice hits to still be short of the creek before popping over it to the green.
The surrounding countryside is loaded with DTE Energy wind farms, so that’s an in-yourface clue that wind speed and direction, coming off Lake Huron or Saginaw Bay, can have a huge effect on play and course strategy. Thousands of trees on the property add beauty and some wind protection but there is a reason all those modernized windmills are located in the Thumb.
Bird Creek Golf Club is located on Van Dyke Road just south of Port Austin and the Lake Huron shoreline – the same Van Dyke Road that begins in Detroit.
It’s a drive north from the city that’s well worth exploring.
Par3Hole9
ByGregJohnson ByGregJohnson
Chelsea Collura of Wyandotte won for the third time in the last four years, and Justin Sui of Lake Orion won for the first time since junior golf in the GAM Tournament of Champions at Oak Pointe Country Club.
Champions were invited for having won a 2024 GAM member club championship, a GAM title this season, or for being among the top golfers in GAM Player of the Year points.
Sui, 19, made consecutive birdies on holes 10 and 11 to survive a three-golfer playoff for the win. He shot a wild 4-under 67 in regulation play with nine birdies and five bogeys and was tied with two other 67shooters, Jon Swint of Wyandotte and Michael Coriasso of Royal Oak.
Collura said she didn’t make many of her birdie chances but played steady golf.
“I hit a few close, didn’t make a ton of putts, but that was all right because tap-in pars are not a bad thing,” she said. “It was a good round. I had real good tempo and hit the ball well.”
Collura, a West Shore Golf & Country Club member, shot 70, slipping past host course member Erin Larson of Brighton, who shot 71.
